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Archaeological Survey
Project Update - 14th September 2005
Clay Bat Making Demonstration
The Buildings Take Shape
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Clay Bat Making Demonstration
Location: Cambridgeshire
WHY HAVE A DEMONSTRATION ?
Whilst most people had heard that the bakehouse was largely constructed of clay bat, most of them did not know what a clay bat was. A practical demonstration is worth a hundred descriptions, and it gave us the chance to fix a time when people could come and see for themselves how the project was progressing.
Clay bat construction was a very popular method of building locally in the 19th century, largely because it was cheap and the necessary materials - clay and straw - were readily available. Provided that it was kept dry it was also very durable, as we can confirm through re-using a high proportion of two hundred year old bats on the bakehouse.
EARTHA is an organisation which promotes the use of earth-based materials in building and Dirk Bouwens from that organisation had already given us practical expert advice on the removal of the buildings. We were therefore delighted when he agreed to support the project - free of charge - by travelling from Wymondham to give a demonstration. A bonus was that in addition to clay bat making it would include a demonstration of wattle-and-daub - much in evidence in some of the older buildings in the village.
ON THE DAY.
Saturday 17th September got off to a good start with the weather, the kind of bright sunny day you need for an out-door demonstration. The committee had organised the necessary ancillaries (such as a newly built wattle frame and two tin baths of fresh cow manure) and a good crowd of interested spectators of all ages soon gathered.
Dirk gave a brief summary of the history and nature of clay bat buildings in the area and then got down to the practicalities. Recycling and clay bats go together, and the clay for this morning came from crumbled unusable bats from the original bakehouse. Water was added and then straw, the whole being trampled under foot in a large metal tray, giving an extremely sloppy, slimy mixture.
More straw made it a slightly thicker consistency before it was shoveled into an open-bottomed wooden mould (see picture). Removal of the mould left a very "green" clay bat which in good conditions would be usable after about ten days drying out. Clays differ in make-up in different areas, and local knowledge would provide the ideal mix of ingredients. More information for interested parties is available from EARTHA.
A couple of volunteers had a go at making bats before Dirk turned his attention to wattle-and-daub. A judicious addition of cow manure altered the consistency of the mixture and taking two hands full of the mixture Dirk then demonstrated the technique,slapping the material on from each side of the panel simultaneously and pressing. Soon a steady stream of children, mums and dads were lining up to join in the fun.
The session finished with a demonstration of applying render to the outside of the clay bats already used on the bakehouse building, with more opportunity for hands-on experience.
The whole morning had been a tremendous success. It had provided a lot of knowledge to the widest of age ranges, raised the profile of the project and demonstrated the wide interest in it, and most of all been a memorable and fun experience for us all. It also raised a very welcome £360 of additional donations towards the cost of the project.
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