Cob building dated 1539 in Devon, England.

Cob is a building material consisting of clay, sand, straw, water, and earth. Cob is fireproof, resistant to seismic activity, and inexpensive. It can be used to create artistic, sculptural forms and has been revived in recent years by the natural building and sustainability movements. cob house dated 1539, Devon, England File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... cob house dated 1539, Devon, England File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... // Building material is any material which is used for a construction purpose. ... The Gay Head cliffs in Marthas Vineyard are made almost entirely of clay. ... Patterns in the sand Sand is a granular material made up of fine rock particles. ... Bales of straw bundles of rice straw Pile of straw bales, sheltered under a tarpaulin Straw is an agricultural byproduct, the dry stalk of a cereal plant, after the nutrient grain or seed has been removed. ... Natural building involves a range of building systems and materials that place major emphasis on sustainability. ... Sustainability is an attempt to provide the best outcomes for the human and natural environments both now and into the indefinite future. ...

History and usage

Inside of a modern cob house.

Cob-building is a traditional technique that has been used for thousands of years and in all kinds of climates. In the UK it is most strongly associated with counties of Devon and Cornwall in the West Country; the Vale of Glamorgan and Gower Peninsula in Wales; Donegal Bay in Ulster and Munster, South-West Ireland; and Finisterre in Brittany where many cob cottages have survived and are still inhabited. Many old cob buildings can be found in Africa, the Middle East, Wales, Devon, Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany and some parts of the eastern United States. The walls of a cob house are necessarily thick, and windows are correspondingly deepset, giving the houses a characteristic internal appearance. The thick walls also provide excellent thermal mass, so that, depending on the climate, cob cottages are relatively easy to keep warm in winter, and tend to be cool in summer. Surprisingly, the material is entirely suitable for rainy climates, and so long as a cob house is reasonably cared for, the structure will not deteriorate; many cob cottages in Devon (one of the wetter counties in England) have been inhabited for hundreds of years. Cob has many similarities to the adobe associated with Mexico and the southwestern United States, but whereas adobe is formed into bricks which are then stacked into a wall system, cob is sculpted from the foundation up. Interior of a cob house, courtesy of Cob Cottage Oregon File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Interior of a cob house, courtesy of Cob Cottage Oregon File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... For other uses, see Devon (disambiguation). ... Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county in South West England, United Kingdom, on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar. ... The West Country is an informal term for the area of south-western England encompasing the counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, and Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. ... For other uses, see Vale of Glamorgan (disambiguation). ... Rhossili Beach on the Gower peninsula of South Wales The Gower peninsula (Welsh: Gŵyr) is one of the UKs major tourist attractions and is the best-known district in Wales after Snowdonia. ... Donegal Bay (Bá Dhún na nGall in Irish) is an inlet (or bay) in the north western region of Ireland. ... Statistics Area: 24,481 km² Population (2006 estimate) 1,993,918 Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh, IPA: ) forms one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland. ... Finisterre is an album by the British pop band Saint Etienne. ... Brittany has an expansive coastline Flag of Brittany (Gwenn-ha-du) Historical province of Brittany région of Bretagne, see Bretagne. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa. ... This article is about the country. ... For other uses, see Devon (disambiguation). ... Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county in South West England, United Kingdom, on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar. ... Brittany has an expansive coastline Flag of Brittany (Gwenn-ha-du) Historical province of Brittany région of Bretagne, see Bretagne. ... Renewal of the surface coating of an adobe wall in Chamisal, New Mexico Adobe is a natural building material composed of sand, sandy clay and straw or other organic materials, which is shaped into bricks using wooden frames and dried in the sun. ...

Traditionally, English cob is made from the clay-based subsoil, mixed with straw and water, either by people shovelling or stamping the mass, or using oxen to trample it. It’s then ladled onto a stone foundation in courses and trodden into place by workers. After drying for up to two weeks, the walls would be trimmed and the next course added, with openings for doors or walls either built in, or lintels added and the material carved away after construction was completed. Óģ Ķ Ä· Ä» ļ Å… ņ Å– Å— Åž ÅŸ Å¢ Å£ Ć ć Ĺ ĺ Ń Å„ Å” Å• Åš Å› Ý ý Ź ź Đ Ä‘ Å® ů ÄŒ č ÄŽ ď Ľ ľ Ň ň Ř Å™ Å  Å¡ Ť Å¥ Ž ž Ǎ ÇŽ Äš Ä› Ǐ ǐ Ç‘ Ç’ Ç“ Ç” Ä€ ā Ä’ Ä“ Ī Ä« ÅŒ ō Ū Å« Ç– ǘ Çš Çœ Ĉ ĉ Äœ ĝ Ĥ Ä¥ Ä´ ĵ Åœ ŝ Å´ ŵ Ŷ Å· Ä‚ ă Äž ÄŸ Ŭ Å­ ÄŠ Ä‹ Ä– Ä— Ä  Ä¡ Ä° ı Å» ż Ä„ Ä… Ę Ä™ Ä® į Ų ų Ł Å‚ Ő Å‘ Å° ű Ä¿ Å€ Ħ ħ Ð ð Þ þ Å’ Å“ Æ æ Ø ø Ã… Ã¥ Ə É™ – — … [] [[]] {{}} ~ | ° § → ≈ ± − × ¹ ² ³ ‘ “ ’ ” £ € Α α Î’ β Γ γ Δ δ Ε ε Ζ ζ Η η Θ θ Ι ι Κ κ Λ λ Îœ μ Ν ν Ξ ξ Ο ο Π Ï€ Ρ ρ Σ σ Ï‚ Τ Ï„ Î¥ Ï… Φ φ Χ χ Ψ ψ Ω ω ... Bales of straw bundles of rice straw Pile of straw bales, sheltered under a tarpaulin Straw is an agricultural byproduct, the dry stalk of a cereal plant, after the nutrient grain or seed has been removed. ... Impact of a drop of water. ... Binomial name Bos taurus Linnaeus, 1758 Cattle are domesticated ungulates, a member of the subfamily Bovinae of the family Bovidae. ... Look up Foundation on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Foundation may refer to: A type of makeup. ... The word course has several meanings: course is the direction of travel in navigation in sailing, a course is the principal sail on a mast course is a regime of study in education in restaurant language, a course is a single dish in a row of subsequently served dishes, constituting... Pre-fabricated, pre-tensioned concrete lintels spanning garage doors. ...

Where sand is not readily available paper pulp may be added to the clay to minimize cracking when the cob dries.

Modern cob buildings

When Kevin McCabe built a two-storey, four bedroom cob house in England in 1994, it was reputedly the first cob residence built in the country in 70 years. His methods remained very traditional; the only innovations he added were using a tractor to mix the cob itself, and adding sand or shillet (a gravel of crushed shale) to reduce the shrinkage. Kevin McCabe is the director of the Behavioral and Neuroeconomics laboratory at George Mason University. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by United Nations. ... Shrinkage has multiple meanings, depending on the context. ...

In 2006, a modern, four-bedroom cob house in Worcestershire, UK,designed by Associated Architects sold for £745 000. Cobtun House was built in 2001 and won the Royal Institute of British Architect's Sustainable Building of the Year award in 2005. The total construction cost was £300 000, but the metre-thick cob outer wall cost only £20 000.^[1] Worcestershire (pronounced ; abbreviated Worcs) is a county located in the West Midlands region of central England. ...

In the Pacific Northwest of North America there has been a resurgence of cob building both as an alternative building practice and one desired for its form, function and cost effectiveness. There are more than ten cob houses in the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia built by Pat Hennebery and the Cobworks workshops.

See also

• Rammed earth
• Adobe
• Mudbrick
• Chirpici (a variant of cob used in Southern Romania)
• Sod
• Straw-bale construction
• Rice-hull bagwall construction
• Appropriate technology
• Woodway House A typical Devon cob building

Rammed Earth is an old building material that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek low-impact building materials and natural building methods. ... Renewal of the surface coating of an adobe wall in Chamisal, New Mexico Adobe is a natural building material composed of sand, sandy clay and straw or other organic materials, which is shaped into bricks using wooden frames and dried in the sun. ... Mudbrick was used for the outer contruction of Sumerian ziggurats — some of the worlds largest and oldest constructions. ... Making chirpici bricks Chirpici (read Kir-peach) is a traditional material of construction made out of clay and straws, used especially in the stepes of Southern Romania, in the Bărăgan Plain, but also in other lowlands of Oltenia, Moldavia and Dobruja. ... Rolled sod Sod is turd and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of this material. ... Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses straw bales as structural elements, insulation, or both. ... Rice-hull Bagwall Construction is a system of building, with results aesthetically similar to the use of earth-bag or cob construction, in which woven polypropylene bags (or tubes) are tightly filled with raw rice-hulls, and these are stacked up, layer upon layer, with strands of four-pronged barbed... Appropriate technology is the term used to describe objects which meet the needs of the local people and the environment in which they live. ... Woodway Cottage in about 1825 when Captain Spratt was living there. ...

References

• 1 Hodgson, Martin. "For sale: one mud hut (yours for only £750,000)", The Independent on Sunday, 2006-05-28, p. 17.
• The Hand-Sculpted House: A Philosophical and Practical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage (The Real Goods Solar Living Book) by Ianto Evans, Michael G. Smith, Linda Smiley, Deanne Bednar (Illustrator), Chelsea Green Publishing Company; (June 2002), ISBN 1-890132-34-9.

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). ...

External links

• The Natural Building Network - find builders, teachers, workshops and resources.
• COB Bench process Step by step, Arcata, CA Humboldt state student project (large file)
• I Love Cob! - Blog about cob and related subjects.

http://www.sgnb.com -workshops and information on Cob Building, and other methods of Natural Building. Arcata is a city located in Humboldt County, California. ... This article is about Humboldt State University in California. ...

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