Heritage houses: Clovelly

On the picturesque north coast of Devon, Clovelly’s steep lanes bristle with historic properties often built of cob and rubble stone. Roger Hunt describes the traditional materials and skills that are required to create this classic vernacular architecture.

Topographically diverse, Devon is a county of drama and ancient landscape where sea, moor, farmland and town can sometimes be seen from the same spot. Early settlement patterns still remain and their influence is clear in the hamlets, fields and woodland. The geology was exploited from the start and yielded flint, china clay, iron, tin, copper and even arsenic. From the Roman period stone was quarried, including Beer stone and Dartmoor granite, while the county’s industrial heritage includes numerous lime kilns.

The vernacular buildings are closely linked with the physical environment. Where the stone was of poor quality or difficult to work for building, cob was frequently used instead. There are estimated to be at least 20,000 houses built of cob plus barns, outbuildings and even boundary walls.Many of the more than 550 farmhouses that date from medieval times have elements of cob in their construction.

One of the places that shows off the county’s mix of building materials and styles is the village of Clovelly on the north Devon coast. Here the often rendered, roughcast or whitewashed rubble stone and cob walls of the cottages stand at the margins of the paths and streets that traverse the slopes below wooded cliffs. Looking down, the grey slate roofs are deeply grained with the patina of age and enlivened by the terracotta hues of clay ridge tiles and brick built chimneys.

ABOVE (left-right): In centuries past Clovelly harbour would teem with small fishing boats, but now it is more often pleasure boats that moor up; a wooden porch over this front door provides shelter from the rain.

Distinctive building style
Cob is the West Country term for a building method that employs the basic constituents of clay, straw and water. Even when colour-washed and disguised by render, the rounded corners of cob built walls tend to give houses a distinctive ‘soft’ look. Standing on a plinth of stone, the cob was traditionally protected by the wide overhanging eaves of a thatched roof. Indeed, the local saying describes these features as ‘a good hat and a good pair of boots’ because they are both essential to the vital job of keeping cob dry.

Archaeological excavations date the earliest cob buildings in the UK to 1200 AD. Building with cob requires knowledge of the material but was usually undertaken with local labour. The work was physically demanding as the materials not only had to be dug from the ground but were mixed by hand. Water was added to moisten the mix and, to ensure it gained a suitable texture, the clay was ‘stomped’ on by the labourers, either in their boots or barefoot, and during this process the straw was added. Animals were often used in the treading process and would have naturally contributed dung as an extra element to the mix. Soils vary, so the process involved judgement; small stones, silt and sand might all be added to achieve the right consistency.

ABOVE: Cobbles as well as cob are plentiful in the village.

Clay provides the cohesion in cob while the straw binds the wet soil together and reduces the risk of it cracking when it dries out. Building with cob involves forking the mix into place and then compressing it. For stability the walls were several feet thick – sometimes more – and it was customary for the labourers to stand on the wall and tread the cob down. The excess was trimmed off with a sharp spade and the cob was compressed from the side with a wooden ‘thwacker’, a flat, paddle-shaped piece of wood. Once finished the loose ends of straw were trimmed off and the walls were generally given a protective coating of lime render which was painted with limewash at regular intervals.

ABOVE (left-right): Clovelly’s stone quay dates from the 14th century and overlooks the shingle beach.

Village veterans
Like many villages on the Devon and Cornwall coast, Clovelly grew up in the 16th century and prospered during the 18th and 19th centuries – a street known as The Hobby Drive, in particular, has many listed properties. The village lies below wooded cliffs and the narrow, cobbled High Street tumbles 400ft down to the curving quay, once busy with over 60 herring fishing boats. Traffic is banned (except for a Land Rover service for less able visitors) and the surrounding paths are tightly packed with mostly late Georgian cottages; sledges are used to carry goods up and down the streets, and the famous donkeys that once did the job now give children rides at the top of the village.

Clovelly was ‘discovered’ by the Victorians and tourists came after it was made popular by Dickens and Charles Kingsley. Social reformer and author of Westward Ho! and The Water-Babies, Kingsley returned to the village in the mid 19th century having been brought up there when his father was rector. The church of All Saints stands at the cliff top and has a monument to him and there is also a Kingsley Museum in the village.

By the harbour is a lime kiln which in the 18th and 19th centuries was supplied by boats from Wales bringing limestone and coal to be burnt. The resulting lime was used as an agricultural fertiliser and to make lime mortar and limewash.

Privately owned, Clovelly has been associated with only three families in the last 800 years and has been owned by the Hamlyn family since 1738 when they bought the estate for £9,438. Sir James Hamlyn planted much of the woodland on the surrounding hillside in the early 19th century. Christine Hamlyn, who owned the village between 1884 and 1936, is credited with maintaining its character by renovating many of the houses and paths and for introducing water and drainage. Her initials are to be found on plenty of the structures and her descendants continue the work today using traditional materials and craftsmanship.

ABOVE (left-right): Grey slate roofs and whitewashed rubble stone and cob walls characterise the houses; Red valerian grows wild here, rooting itself in crevices and cracks in rocks and walls.

Find out more about Clovelly at clovelly.co.uk

Find out more about building with cob...

Visit Roger Hunt's website at huntwriter.com

WORDS ROGER HUNT PHOTOGRAPHS PHOTOGRAPHS HUGH PALMER (COURTESY OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES OF ENGLAND), CLOVELLY ESTATE COMPANY
Featured in the July 2011 issue of Period Living