Iron Posts in wall?...mystery!

[jungle_jim01]

Hi, as you may have gathered from my other posts i'm in the process of repointing. For a while now, i've pondered over some cut down iron bars protruding from between the stones. (photo attached) I had wondered if it was part of an old downpipe. They run in straight line most of the way down the building from roof height, but i cant see any in the lower couple of meters (may have been removed already). On removing the pointing I can see these are well bedded and wedged in with wood. I'm wondering if i can remove them or if there may be some structural reason not to? Also...any thoughts on if i should remove them from a preservation perspective?

Any comments would be welcome.

 

[MdB]

I would leave them in so that the owner in 100 years time can wonder what they were for as well...

 

[Lime]

I would leave them in so that the owner in 100 years time can wonder what they were for as well...

I agree.
Part of the character of the place.

 

[Penners]

I agree.

Me too. Yes, they may have been downpipe supports (although they're closer together than one might expect for this), or supports for some other structure.

But they'll give you plenty of future opportunities for discussion at the dinner table.

 

[philpjuk100]

They look a bit"over engineered" for downpipe supports,certainly stronger than my bits of bent strip steel!could they be the remains of something that went for the "war effort"?

 

[robgil]

lightening pole?

 

[MdB]

There for fixing naughty girls / boys to. For each infraction, you get put one peg higher.

 

[LadyArowana]

I wondered about some sort of support for a fire escape ladder, where the last section could be extended downwards but wasn't peramanently attached at ground level for security reasons. It looks a little flimsy for that but I suppose in an emergency one would be grateful for anything. Have you tried looking for old pix of the house or asked around elderly neighbours who might remember ?

 

[LadyArowana]

There for fixing naughty girls / boys to. For each infraction, you get put one peg higher.

I don't think that would be effective, most little boys would be deliberately misbehaving to be dangled as high off the building as possible!

 

[Feltwell]

I agree with what others have said - they look a bit chunky to have just been supporting a downpipe.

My natural inclination is to leave them in, but how tight are they to the stone? Rust occupies more volume than the steel / iron from which it corrodes - as those bars corrode, they will exert a force on the stones around them if they are tightly wedged in, which can cause damage. My house is brick but has stone lintels, cills and (on the gate posts) hinge blocks - old iron fittings have done damage, my gate hinge blocks I've had to replace as a result.

It's the same problem that affects reinforced concrete when you see "spalling" - the steel reinforcing bars within the concrete corrode, leading to an expansive force pushing out within the concrete - concrete like stone is weak in tension and the "cover" layer breaks off.

Having said all this it's better that your fixings are between the stones, rather than inserted into holes drilled into the stone blocks themselves.

 

[worms]

Having said all this it's better that your fixings are between the stones, rather than inserted into holes drilled into the stone blocks themselves.

...and hammered into wooden blocks, which should crumble before the stone does, if the posts are all the same as the one in the picture.