422 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[December, 



NENE ESTUARY EMBANKMENT. 



This undertaking was designed for enclosing from the sea a tract 

 of most valuable land, about 4,000 acres, which will, when en- 

 closed, be principally the property of the Commissioners of the Nene 

 Outfall, under whose auspices the works are being carried into effect, 

 and in which they are assisted by the professional services of that 

 eminent engineer, Sir John Rennie. The embankment is nearly three 

 miles and a half in length, and for some distance averages 28 feet in 

 height, and at some parts of the line of works there is a depth at high 

 tide of 14 feet. About one mile and three quarters, or one-half the 

 whole length, is already completed, and from this portion of the work, 

 as a specimen, it is allowed by experienced persons that it will be one 

 of the best examples of a sea-wall to be found in England. The land, 

 it is estimated, will vary in value from 50/. to SO/, per acre, and as a 

 maiden soil, would be a fine site for a model farm of one of the agri- 

 cultural societies of England. The works are rapidly progressing 

 under the superintendence of Mr. H. H. Fulton, resident engineer, and 

 the contract, we understand, was taken in August, 1842, by Mr. H. 

 Sharp, for 60,000/. The Nene Outfall Commission, composed as it is 

 of some of the most public spirited men of the day, headed by Mr. 

 Tycho Wing, as chairman, has already effected great improvement in 

 the condition of part of the fens of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, 

 by procuring a natural drainage for the lands in lieu of the inefficient 

 and expensive system of drainage by windmills and other mechanical 

 means, at the same time improving the navigation of the river Nene 

 from the sea to Wisbech, to such an extent that formerly Humber 

 keels of 70 or 80 tons could with difficulty reach that port, whereas 

 now vessels of 400 or 500 tons can, without the assistance of a pilot, 

 owing to the straightness of the channel, get up to Wisbech without 

 the slightest difficulty. This navigation, as an artificial tidal channel, 

 is said to be the finest of that description in the country. It was 

 designed and executed under the direction of the late Mr. Thomas 

 Telford and the present Sir John Rennie, and so important has been 

 the result of these works that the trade of the port of Wisbech has 

 been trebled during the last ten years. In the course of last year it 

 amounted to 140,000 tons of shipping, though the shipping trade was 

 in a worse state in 1842, than it has been in for many years past. 



CONCRETE FOR WALLS. 



Sir — I have lately observed in your Journal several communications 

 from correspondents on the subject of Concrete for Walls. They ill 

 refer to what has been done in France, as specimens of that kind of 

 building, without, I presume, being aware that our own country can 

 afford many examples of buildings, the walls of which are of a very 

 similar construction. Most of the roads in Dorsetshire are formed 

 of chalk and flints — the scrapings of these roads the people collect, 

 leave in a heap to dry, and when about to use it, they temper it with 

 water. Their walls are formed in a wooden frame, forming about a 

 foot in height at a time, rather thicker in proportion than would be 

 necessary for a brick wall. I entered several farm-houses, the walls 

 of which were entirely composed of this material, and seemed to 

 stand well. Perhaps amongst your numerous correspondents there 

 may be some found able and willing to afford you full particulars rela- 

 tive to the method employed, cost, &c, that is if you should consider 

 the subject of sufficient interest for your Journal. 

 I am, Sir, 



Yours verv truly, 



35, Nen Strut, T. Withy. 



•Vor. 10, 1843. 



ON STOVES. 



Sir — A letter appeared in your last Journal, on warming and ven- 

 tilation, signed W. G., evidently written by one understanding the 

 subject. The pith of his long letter is contained in his four last lines, 

 where he says: — "It is evident that an ordinary fire fulfils all the 

 principal objects of warming and ventilation, better than any of the 

 unnatural modes which science, ingenuity, necessity, or desire of 

 novelty, has yet given birth to." 



As a stove manufacturer, I have watched the various fallacious 

 modes of warming houses without entering into the use of them, the 

 result of my observation goes to confirm the four lines quoted, The 

 first introduced was by Dr. Arnott, to suit every description of room ; 

 for certain places, and with proper care and attention, this is the best 

 of all the new stoves, but for use in a room inhabited by human 

 beings, nothing can be worse. Ill health and disease attend them ; 

 these remarks are not made through prejudice, as I have had one in 

 use 5 years, and find it superior to any other stoves, most economical 



in expense, and no trouble to attend ; but it is put in a warehouse, 

 with an abundant supply of fresh air. The various stoves, Vesta, 

 Chunk, &c, or by whatever name they are palmed on the public, are 

 all founded on the Arnott Stove, and are non ventilators, as are all 

 modes of warming by hot air or hot water. 



It is now only requisite to obtain the support of a Doctor of some- 

 thing, (music would do) or the certificate of a Chemist, so worded as 

 to say nothing, and the more noxious the vapour, the more anxious are 

 the public to inhale it : it was stated, in 1S10, that an open fire stove, 

 with appendages, was to be placed in the British Museum, to show 

 future generations the mode of warming made use of bv the English 

 in the present age. Will all the fallacies of the years JS3S to 1843, 

 be deposited there? They would not do much credit to the common 

 sense of John Bull. Excuse these remarks, they are from vour con- 

 stant reader, and one who combines 



Ventilation with Warming. 



Sir — Many of the fires that took place in and about London last 

 winter, and a few this winter, have been attributed to the defective 

 mode of fixing the warm air stove, or whatever apparatus the house 

 may be warmed with ; this is a stigma on the stovemakers of London, 

 which in justice to them should be removed ; the fact is simply this, 

 the most important part of a stovemaker's business, is entrusted to 

 persons totally unacquainted with it. A gentleman wants his hall 

 wanned, a tradesman his shop, or a churchwarden the church ; he does 

 not ascertain who will do it most effectually or economically, as regards 

 consumption of fuel, or which man best understands his business, but 

 who will do it cheapest. He therefore purchases the thing most 

 puffed by the quacks, and sets a bricklayer to put it in its place. He 

 is ignorant alike of the maker's intentions, and how to fix it ; the next 

 week the place is burnt to the ground, it is laid to the stove, the man 

 who sold it lays it to the bricklayer, so no one bears the blame, it falls 

 where it should fall, on the purchaser. I was once called into a case 

 of the kind, where a hot air stove was fixed in a drying room, heated 

 to a very great degree, and standing on a wood floor; the regret was 

 not that the house was burnt down, but that it fell on the Fire Office 

 to make good the loss ; about eight years since, I was applied to for a 

 design and estimate for warming a church in the city, I gave both, but 

 they were returned to me as much too high; the parties purchased two 

 things, I believe, called Scott's, (or some such name,) after using them 

 five or six years, they paid me my price for fixing a stove in the 

 church — sent their two things to the furnace, and now find they have 

 more warmth at a third or fourth the consumption of fuel, so much for 

 cheapness; let the parties who wish their houses warmed, employ 

 efficient persons only to do it, and we shall hear but of few houses 

 being burnt down by flues being overheated. 



Yours truly, 



A. Smith. 



PRIORY CHURCH OF St. BARTHOLOMEW, SM1THFIELD. 



Sir — From the cirenmstance of an interesting article appearing in 

 your last number, on the parish church of Saint Bartholomew the 

 Great, West Smithfield,! take the opportunity of directing further at- 

 tention to that interesting structure. 



The writer of the article referred to, suggests various Restorations 

 which every architect must rejoice to see carried into effect ; but it is 

 chimerical to suppose that the expense which would have to be in- 

 curred thereby, could be defrayed by the parishioners. The funds 

 absolutely required from time to time, for maintaining the fabric in a 

 state of ordinary repair, are raised with considerable difficul- 

 ty ; and the few restorations which have been made, consisting of 

 partially re-opening the Triforium, and Prior Bolton's window, were 

 accomplished by means of a private subscription. To restore the 

 choir to its former extent and in its original style, would, 1 consider, 

 require an outlay of nearly two thousand pounds, to say nothing of the 

 expense attendant on the alterations which such a restoration would 

 necessarily involve, viz., the removal of the parochial schools, which 

 are placed over the north aisle, and of an erection (used as a manufac- 

 tory) situate over the east aisle. 



Under these peculiar circumstances, it is uselsss to hope that any 

 important steps towards a perfect restoration can be taken, unless i 

 general interest in the subject rje first excited; and although it would 

 undoubtedly be a great boon co ferred on Art, were this valuable relic 

 of Anglo Norman Architecture restored to its primitive grandeur, I 

 fear it is by the public only, that so desirable an object can be carried 

 into effect. 



Yours obediently, 



John Blyth. 



113, Aldersgate Street, City, November, 1343. 



