Humble Heritage Workshop: An Introduction to Bricklaying Using Traditional Mortars (Out of Season Lime Work & its Challenges)

Event details

Humble Heritage Workshop: An Introduction to Bricklaying Using Traditional Mortars (Out of Season Lime Work & its Challenges)

Tuesday 7 February 2023
09:30 - 17:00
Hatfield Park, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL9 5HX
£165 per person (including refreshments and a light lunch) *FULLY BOOKED*

During this one-day practical course you will learn from and work with Lynn Mathias, a leading brick & lime specialist, about how to lay brickwork using traditional mortars.  You will have the opportunity to hydrate and hot-mix local Tottenhoe Clunch/aggregate mortar, before helping to build the plinth for work on a new field kiln at Hatfield House, including setting out the brickwork and laying a solid masonry brick walls using different brick bonds.  You will also learn how to appropriately finish, tend and protect the new brickwork and mortar, and how to overcome the climate challenges of working outside the traditional lime season.  Under Lynn Mathias’s expert guidance, you will learn how to lay a simple brick wall in different bonds using traditional mortars and gained hands-on experience of helping to build a lime-stabilised soil field kiln.

Topics Covered:

• Small-scale field kiln construction methods with local materials (including preparation, application and aftercare)
• Hydrating and hot-mixing local Tottenhoe Clunch/aggregate mortar
• Practical lime mortars for bedding and pointing: appropriate binders, aggregate and proportions
• Setting out the brickwork plinth
• Laying a brick wall using different brick bonds
• Appropriate finishing, tending and protection of new brickwork and mortar in adverse weather conditions

What to Bring:   
The workshop will be largely outside so we recommend you bring waterproofs in the event of rain, and warm layered clothes for comfort.  It is also recommended that you wear overalls or old working clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty or damaged.  You will need to wear sturdy (flat, enclosed) footwear, ideally steel-toe capped.  If you have trouble standing for long periods, you may wish to bring a light-weight portable chair/stool.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), including goggles, gloves and high-vis jackets, will be provided but please feel free to bring your own (you are unlikely to need hard hats on site, although these will also be available).

Accessibility:
Please contact the SPAB before booking to discuss any special access requirements.

Programme

09.30    Registration

09.45    Welcome & Introduction

10.00    Health & Safety Briefing

10.15    Session 1  

• Introduction to small-scale field kiln construction methods with local materials 
• Description of Boxley field kiln construction and use
• Discussion of practical lime mortars for bedding and pointing: appropriate binders, aggregate and proportions
• Hydrating and hot-mixing local Tottenhoe Clunch/aggregate mortar

11.30    Morning Coffee

11.45    Session 2 

• Setting out brickwork and looking at examples of brickwork and flint on the estate  

13.00    Lunch

14.00    Session 3 

• Laying a brick thick wall using different brick bonds (2 delegates per side of square plinth)

15.45    Afternoon tea

16.15    Session 4

• Bricklaying (cont.)
• Appropriate finishing, tending and protection of new brickwork and mortar

17.00    Final tidy-up & close

Booking Terms & Conditions

Accessibility: please contact the SPAB before booking to discuss any special access requirements.