Reclaimed?

[Gareth Hughes]

Or why I always resist offers to use "salvaged" materilas:

http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp2...=xDefault&itemid=NOED20 May 2009 21:15:34:407

Thieves have stolen irreplaceable floor tiles from the entrance of a Norfolk church which have been at the site for more than 500 years.

The theft, from the porch of the historic St Peter's Church in Crostwick, near Norwich - the latest in a list of crimes against churches - has infuriated villagers and parishioners who believe the rare tiles were stolen to order.

Now defiant officials are to open the Grade I listed church, hidden from the road and discovered only by exploring the common, on Sunday to prove they will not be discouraged.

The Rev Andrew Beane, rector of Crostwick, St Faiths and Spixworth, said the thieves smashed some tiles to free others so that even those left behind were ruined.

“It is utterly unbelievable that someone should feel they can just help themselves to these unique and precious tiles,” he said.

The thieves stole about 150 tiles on the morning of May 8, which probably date back to when the porch was built in 1504 after money was bequeathed for that purpose.

“Of course, at a great deal of expense they can be replaced, but the new tiles will not be our tiles that have been at the entrance of the church for over 500 years. I can't imagine for one moment this was a spontaneous theft, someone planned this and stole our floor to order,” he added.

 

[Feltwell]

Sadly, some people really do have no morals at all.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

As long as there's a demand, there'll be a supply

 

[JoceAndChris]

They'd probably have earned more from doing a weekend of delivery driving, but you can't apply logic to such people.

They should be crushed to death under several lorry-loads of Norfolk pamments.

There are a number of "reclaimed" things here, which make me sad although I appreciate their beauty. Including some stone carving that looks like it came from a church.

I see that some of the architectural salvage websites have a good section on what's been stolen lately, but, yes, you have to wonder about the original provenance of the stock. This has put me off buying it.

 

[Hatster]

Golly, you've got some creative ideas on how to kill people today, Joce!

 

[Gareth Hughes]

And there are hardworking types traditionally making new pamments, handmade bricks, tiles etc, who are being kept from realising their full potential, and whose businesses are suffering, because of the salvage trade.

 

[robgil]

there are recycling issues as well to consider though guys , it is good to recycle when possible.
id say that a tiny tiny percentage of reclaimed building parts are stolen.

you could pretty much say all this about almost any second hand market.
i blame e bay my self. second hand stuff used to be cheap.

 

[Pford75]

I tend to agree that the recycling issue outweighs (from my perspective) the negative consequences of reclamation. I would encourage any PPUK'ers to purchase only from a reclamation yard which subscribes to the salvoweb code (who do at least try to police thefts).

Saying that people who use reclaimed materials are responsible for theft is a bit like suggesting that people who buy paintings/antiques are responsible for burglaries.

Besides....my last CO, not my current angelic one (in case he's reading) actually specified reclaimed materials under the terms of our LBC.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Actually I've really been tussling with my conscience over whether I should help myself to the bricks in the next field. It's an old farmhouse, completely gone except for its foundations, maybe Viccy.

No one wants 'em. Farmer doesn't care, landowner is one of those landowners with thousands and thousands of acres who gets his property managed by a lettings agency. But it marks what once stood there, and I'm sad it no longer does.

On the other hand I need some old red bricks just like those to recreate my Victorian garden, and they're just lying around... and as each year goes by, they'll crumble slightly more, be overtaken by weeds, and smashed up by warrens. It's a hard one.

 

[Flyfisher]

The C17 part of our house is built around a wonderfully carved oak beam believed to have originally come from a monastery, so the pilfering/re-use of building materials has a long tradition.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Joce - I'd reuse them and give them a new lease of life, rather than let them crumble to dust. Of course there is the small ownership that they currently belong to someone else...

 

[Cloudscape]

as each year goes by, they'll crumble slightly more, be overtaken by weeds, and smashed up by warrens

Yes... you said that you have problems with yobs coming up from the town. :lol:

(Actually, I was going to say that I have never seen rabbits smashing bricks!) :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:
Come for tea, Cloudscape, and I'll show you the world's most prolific and destructive rabbits.

Thanks FW-I guess I should write to this mystery landowner, invite him round, ply him with wine, and ask him his plans for this plot of land and these bricks. A fine house could be built there... a project for robgil perhaps?!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Joce - just make sure he catches you doing a bit of Bacchanalian gardening first - he'll agree to anything after that. :lol:

Incidentally when do you sleep - or are there 3 of you working your profile in shifts?

 

[Penners]

And there are hardworking types traditionally making new pamments, handmade bricks, tiles etc, who are being kept from realising their full potential, and whose businesses are suffering, because of the salvage trade.

Gareth - this is a genuine and (IMO) insoluble dilemma.

I fully understand your attitude towards dodgy "reclaimed" materials, but I wonder what proportion of the stuff found in the average reclamation yard actually is dodgy.

I fully understand that you want to see traditional crafts preserved and fostered.

But set against those two problems is, I suspect, the much greater imperative of making the very best use of anything that has already been manufactured by man.

Whether it's a couple of thousand re-usable clay peg tiles or a secondhand frige - we can't just keep throwing serviceable stuff away and buying new.

And I'm afraid it's a fact of life that, so long as there is someone, somewhere prepared to part with money for something, there will always be a villain prepared to nick it, in order to ensure that that money comes their way.

 

[Cloudscape]

I do sometimes wonder where some reclaimed stuff comes from. When I see 16th- and 17th-century panelling that would have covered a whole room, or wooden Tudor walls with doors in them, I find myself trying to imagine the situation (and the building) where these weren't listed and where they were somehow surplus to requirements. I sometimes feel that somewhere, jiggerypokery is afoot. If I had a panelled room, the last thing I would want to do is advertise it and say "Buyer to remove".

But I have bought reclaimed materials - nothing major or wildly historic. The most I spent was on a load of reclaimed beaded T&G from a factory that was being demolished. It's grubby, but I couldn't source it new. I never actually found anything as good, timber-wise. If the guy hadn't reclaimed it, it would have been bulldozed and burnt.

 

[biffvernon]

I know a bloke who runs a demolition firm and has a salvage/reclaims yard. I'm pretty sure he is honest and he has a genuine interest in the conservation of old buildings. He makes a living from recycling materials that some folk don't want and other folk do. I've bought a fair bit of stuff from him and given it a new life.

 

[worms]

A house along from us was bulldozed recently, early 1800s cottage, and everything seems to have gone off for landfill - doors, sash windows, slates, flooring, even the books in the library. Reclamation would have been a much better option.

 

[Schoolmarm]

All the hundreds of pathfinder stone cottage demolitions in darwen have gone for landfill. The demolition company said there is nowhere to store the stuff and nobody wants it.

It broke my heart when I was picking my landrover up to see them trashing giant stone corner blocks with punch faces and stone window cills.

In one large area of demolition they are rebuilding more houses, so could have reused nearly all the stone. Young offenders could have cleaned and stacked it on pallets :lol:

 

[Penners]

Young offenders could have cleaned and stacked it on pallets :lol:

Well, you offer that suggestion light-heartedly, but if you stand on that platform at the next General Election, I'll vote for you!