When you build a Wattle & Daub Wall

Just make sure your Willow is dead

 

I think you ought to change your daughters name Zigs.

 

Willow wattles are renowned for sprouting back into life!!

Val

 

She got a bit worried when I said that earlier

 

On a wattle an daub wall , what stops the daub washing away in our soggy climate ?
Was daub a mix of mud straw and animal dung ?

 

Quite right Harry, the dung was possibly in the mix as animals would probably have been used to help trample it into a useable mix, but, if lime had been included, it would have formed a mucilaginous gel which would have held the lime in place until it carbonated.

We've very little evidence left from Saxon buildings as the wooden ones just didn't survive, but they certainly had Lime technology left over from the Roman period, so its more than likely the Daub was limewashed or even lime plastered to protect it from the rain.

The eaves of the thatch would also have kept the water off. If they had failures then it was easy enough to patch repair.

I've worked on an internal wall that was patched up with more daub during the second world war (they included a bit of newspaper)

I've found fragments of Saxon lime render that was protected by having a buttress built up against it, the top coat was only 2-3mm thick.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention, Tallow (Sheep fat) or Linseed oil was often mixed in with limewash to give it better water repellent properties.

Smells though.