D Complete the exam tasks.


structure of the building, leaving open areas between that need to be filled in to keep the weather out. The type of infilling varies according to the function and status of the building, its location within the country and the locally available materials. It is probably fair to assume that if a material was readily available and could be adapted for use it would have been used as an infill to a timber-framed building at sometime, somewhere.


Wattle and daub T


Wattle and daub is one of the most common infills, easily recognizable by the appearance of irregular and often bulging panels that are normally plastered and painted. Wattle is the arrangement of small timbers which form a matrix to support a mud-based daub. The timbers normally fall into two groups, the primary timbers or staves, which are held fast within the frame and the secondary timbers or withies, which are nailed or tied to the staves. Arrangement and sizes of panels vary from area to area, as does the orientation of the staves. The daub was applied simultaneously from both sides, pressed into and around the wattle in order to form a regular mass. Once the daub had hardened, the surface was dampened to receive a lime plaster covering. The surface plaster was usually made of lime and sand or other aggregates reinforced with animal hair or plant fibre. The plaster was finished flush, or in some cases, it would continue across the panels and timbers alike. This would allow less important timbers to be concealed and only principal timbers to be visible.


The strength of wattle and daub is that it is able to accommodate even the most severe structural movement. It is usually well sprung into the timber frame and offers support to weakening timbers that other forms of infill may not. Wattle and daub is not lightweight or flimsy. Its weight is not dissimilar to bricks, but its insulation is better and from a security point of view it can be far more difficult to break through than brick. Although wattle and daub is porous and moisture is absorbed when it rains, moisture levels are kept low because the daub acts like blotting paper to disperse the moisture and because of the high rate of evaporation from its surface. In moderate, sheltered conditions and if maintained, a wattle and daub panel should last indefinitely. Seven hundred-year-old examples are known to exist.


Traditional infill panels in timber-framed buildings can perform extremely well if properly constructed and maintained. Although in some areas of the country it was normal for infill panels to have protective plaster coatings which extended over the timber frame, it has become fashionable to remove plaster to expose timbers. This is likely to compromise the performance of the building and accelerate the decay of the previously protected structure. It is unreasonable to expect to have a timber frame exposed on both sides and not have draughts and some water penetration.


Where timber framing was not plastered over, it was normal practice to limewash it each spring. This was partly for hygienic reasons since fresh limewash acts as a mild disinfectant, but it also had the benefit of filling minor cracks caused by seasonal movement. Medieval buildings would have looked quite different from the more recent black and white interpretation that we see so often today.


In some cases, weatherboarding or tile hanging may have been added over the infill panels, particularly on exposed gables, to protect them from the weather. Removing the protective covering can lead to the recurrence of old problems. It would be wise to learn from our


Pathway to IELTS 6.0 127


he wonderful irregularities of wattle and daub walls and the undulations of a distorted roofline are much of the attraction of a medieval timber-framed building. The walls gain their character from the timber frame which forms the load-bearing


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