how easy is it to build flint walls?

[Becka]

Hello all,

I'm gradually getting rid of the asphalt and concrete than covers most of my tiny garden and underneath it I'm finding a truely vast quantity of flints so I'm wondering if theres any way of using this free resource in my new garden? My initial idea is to use it to build a long raised bed type planter only maybe 2 feet tall (tho lower is an option) but ideally only about a foot wide which i could plant lavenders in to mark the boundary of my garden. Is this feasible? and how would I practically go about it? what kind of foundations etc? I'd like to avoid concrete for the base having spent weeks bashing up and carting out bucket loads of the stuff.. Also any other ideas of how to incorporate flint into a garden design gratefully recieved..

many thanks,

Becca

 

[Nemesis]

Well if you can wait until next summer you can go on a course...

http://www.cressingtemple.org.uk/Courses/Building%202007.htm



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bottom of the page.

'Most of the courses are held at the historic site of Cressing Temple between Braintree and Witham. However, some of the courses are held at sites around the county however, where possible our students work on 'real' projects for example St Botolph's Church, Hadstock.



Flint Walling Course
For the last 10 years we have been running our flint walling course at the beautiful grade I listed church of St Botolph's in Hadstock. On the three day course the students have the opportuntity to learn and then practice their new found skills on the perimeter wall under the expert eye of our tutor.

The courses were started because the Historic Building Advisers at ECC recognised that there was a skills shortage and owners of historic buildings were having problems finding craftsmen with the right skills to repair their buildings. Those attending the courses range from owners of historic buildings, practising craftsmen who want to specialise in traditional repairs and enthusiastic amateurs who are just interested. The tutors used for these traditional building skills courses are all excellent craftsmen and run their own businesses using their skills every day.'


Seminars at Cressing Temple
Running alongside the hands-on courses are a series of one-day seminars all concerned with the conservation of historic buildings. The seminars run each summer and cover different subjects every year, seven national speakers attend each day. The seminars run from May through to September with one each month and are based at the wonderful medieval historic barns at Cressing Temple in Essex.

For more information contact Katie Seabright on Tel: 01245 437672
Email: Traditional.BuildingSkills@essexcc.gov.uk

I think this place runs courses - go to Homepage and have alook at the site, it's interesting, good pics too:

http://www.flintman.co.uk/content/past.html


Weald and Downland do courses too:

http://www.wealddown.co.uk/adult-education-continuing-education.htm#buil

Next course in December.

 

[Becka]

thats not to far away so might well be a good idea.. depends how impatient I get.. I have a tendency to throw myself into trying these things with the logic that I'll learn by where I go wrong (works by and large too..) the garden's still a way off building the new boundary anyway, still have quite alot of concrete to shift and hopefully a pond to dig, can save my flints up as I go along, at the present rate I won't be ready till next summer anyway..... incidentaly, anyone ever heard of flints being used as cobbles? there seem to a truely enormous number of them so I'm wondering if there were either a floor, or possibly the remains of knocked down walls..? or am i just naturally 'blessed ' with the stoniest ground ever? any idea how I tell? My cottage seems to be built on a big pile of flints (which 'may' be what remains of the old castle walls, the back wall of the house lines up with where the wall is hypothesised to have run) so I suppose i could also be digging up the rubble from those walls..

 

[Nemesis]

SPAB has a pamphlet you could buy...

http://www.spab.org.uk/bookshop/TP16.html

I'm sure they were used as cobbles.


Go on - have a go... must be easy, blokes do it.

 

[Becka]

thats often what I tell myself.. so long as my learning stages aren't likely to be actually dangerous I tell to give it a go (I've yet to pluck up the courage to tackle electrics in any form for complex than light bulb changing, but after the debarcle last year I fully intend to try my hand at plumbing before I bring in the 'professionals' (in the loosest possible sense for the 2 i had in last year) for anything involving pipes...) Just need to make sure I can put up something that doesn't immediately fall on one of the cats or next doors 4 year old!

 

[Geoffrey]

Go for it Becka
I built (well re-built) a garden wall last year and was a diy virgin - amazingly it's still standing!

 

[Becka]

I think I will.. feel quite fired up to start now, which might not please the neighbours.. Will post pics once I get going (may be a while..gotta get together all the flint, and remove the dreaded concrete!) Any handy hints still very welcome..

 

[Nemesis]

Handy hint 1

Large bottle of gin required.

Handy hint 2

Getting too late for lime mortar...

Handy hint 3

Get more gin to drown sorrow.

 

[Becka]

Good hints.. think i might have to take the first one as soon as possible lime putty and a good supply of booze seem to be 2 of the absolute essentials for old house ownership.. the lime to do the job and the booze to cheer you up when its taking 6 times as long as you thought and to celebrate when you finally finish it (before to remember the rest of the 'to do' list.. )

 

[NT]

I see cobblers as well as rot!

NT

 

[andrew gayton]

B - try using shutter boards; as you are proposing to build a long 'box' you could form a shutter box, size of which would allow for the bed size and thickness of walling (which should be a minimum of 1/4 thickness to overall height). the flint face would be shutterd up on inside face of box - not important about inside face as this will be covered by soil/lavender - remove shuttering after initial set to point up..... a shallow lime/sand/20mm stone founding bed will do........ have fun. build in the spring unless you want to use a 'compo' and try absinthe instead of gin..... - A

 

[Penners]

Becka - if you can force yourself to wait for the course at Cressing, you'll get a double whammy. You'll have fun doing the course, and you'll get to see Cressing Temple Barns. They are absolutely gorgeous!

http://www.cressingtemple.org.uk/CTaerial.htm

 

[worms]

An off topic thought related to all the debris you are shifting about. Has the site been looked over by an archaeologist? It would be a shame to remove the evidence of potential earlier walls without them being recorded.

 

[CHRIS]

You can call Katie Seabright at the Essex council offices in Chelmsford and get all the updated course dates and be put on the mail list. she will also send details of local people who have various traditional skills and have dealings with the council on listed buildings and conservation areas etc.

http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/dis/gui.jsp?channelOid=15274&guideOid=37944

as pointed out most are at Cressing Temple (watch out for a nice mix of people such as a couple of Essex brickies and a few soccer mums who drive Large 4x4s) good fun.

 

[Becka]

hello, all, been away from the copmputer for a few days enjoying my birthday.. :O)

Shutter boards sound a great idea, I'll definatly try that when I come to do it (before or after the course, looks like its likely to be spring now anyway before I get to do it so I might as well wait and learn properly..)

I reply to worms, no I haven't had anyone else look it over, tho I am keeping a very close eye, what I have found at the moment is just an excessive amount of loose flints, most of which seem to be within a fairly restricted size range which is what made me think they had been gathered together for a purpose rather than just be a natural stoney patch.. but no sign of any mortar tho there seems sometimes to be orange sand with them.. I wonder if they are what remains of the outer wall of the castle, which was then knocked down and spread out maybe as a flooring of some kind.. I've not been removing the flint as yet, just the definatly modern asphalt/ concrete on top of it, once thats all gone I'm hoping I mifght have a better overview of whats going on. All the archeology I've discovered so far is a selection of handmade nails (one about 8 inch long!) and in the one hole I've dug to try and dig out a bramble an old bit of broken pipe presumably from the old privy.. :?