1920.] The Modern Cottage: Experiments in Pise\ 



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THE MODERN COTTAGE: EXPERI- 

 MENTS IN PISE AT AMESBURY. 



Clough Williams-Ellis. 



Close to the station of Amesbury, on the edge of Salisbury 

 Plain, there is a new hamlet. A year ago the spot was marked 

 with only a few unsubstantial and unlovely shacks and bungalows 

 strung out along the main road, constructions of wood and corru- 

 gated iron, the unhome-like homes of small freeholders, poultry 

 farmers and the like. 



The Ministry's new ownership of an adjoining 1.000 

 acres as a Land Settlement Estate for ex-service men, 

 which was ill provided with cottages, at once imposed an 

 obligation to build, and also gave an opportunity for a lead to 

 other progressive landowners in the crucial matter of cottage 

 building. That this opportunity was seized with considerable 

 imagination and energy is well shown by the very interesting 

 little colony that has been brought into being. 



Anyone can build cottages — of a sort, and at a price. It was 

 the Ministry's aim to demonstrate two things : (1) that cottages 

 might be substantially erected by the use of local materials and 

 by methods other than those commonlv employed : (2) that the 

 most severely practical buildings may be architecturally seemly. 

 Both of these objects have been attained. The common-sense 

 workability " of the cottages can be seen from the plans, while 

 a glance at the accompanying illustrations will show that the 

 Ministry's architects have observed the sane traditions of English 

 cottage building. So far as can be ascertained, the current cost 

 of pise building is but little less than for brickwork, but it 

 was hoped that in these operations pise would prove con- 

 siderably cheaper. This hope was not realised, however, as 

 much of the wall building was done in the winter, and, 

 as the work at Amesbury has proved, pise work must be 

 done in dry weather. If the earth becomes wet "ramming" 

 cannot be carried out properly. At Amesbury the pise 

 walls had to be covered during wet weather, and as a 

 result labour was wasted and time lost. It is important to lay 

 emphasis on the fact that dry weather is needed for pise" opera- 

 tions to be satisfactorily performed. 



It was decided that for the purpose of experiment, and in 



