Context 181

CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 35 commonly described as a material for making cement that could be used for waterproofing, such as in the construction of the cistern at Westminster Palace in 1259,⁶ or as an adhesive to join masonry (possibly creating a damp proof course), as seen in the cloisters of Norwich Cathedral in 1336.⁷ No direct association with timber has been found in the accounts but it is notable that most purchases have no specified use. For instance, during the construction of Exeter Cathedral, pitch was bought on 26 occasions between 1299–1353, with 16 unspecified purchases, nine for cement and one for plumbing.⁸ Pitch was also used to darken ironwork, as noted at Windsor Castle in 1352,⁹ and it is possible this was the intention of the earliest known reference to pitch for gate hinges at Dover Castle in 1227.10 The medieval building accounts demonstrate that tar was commonly used during the construction of monumental and elite architecture but it is unknown if it appeared in ordinary buildings in this period. Presently, the earliest known evidence comes from contemporary accounts of the Great Fire of London in 1666, which, according to The London Gazette, spread rapidly because it started in an area ‘so close built with wooden pitched houses.’11 This observation is echoed by an eyewitness, who stated that it was ‘a closely built district, and most of the houses were of wood, some being coated with pitch and others with plaster.’12 These buildings were likely clad with weatherboarding, which was common in London before the fire, as demonstrated by the Hollar panorama of 1647. Pudding Lane was not a wealthy street, being largely occupied by tradespeople in rented houses, yet pitch was clearly an affordable coating for landlords and presumably tenants on repairing leases. References to tar are sporadic throughout the early modern period but it may be that the material was common enough to not be worth writing about. For instance, a builder’s dictionary of 1736 states only that pitch is ‘well known both for Quality and Uses’ – essentially, it needed no explanation.13 The use of tar appears to have been less ubiquitous, with the same source describing it as ‘a Sort of liquid Pitch, useful to preserve Weather-boards’. There are some references to agricultural buildings, with a lease for a farm in Bedfordshire mentioning a ‘pitched stable’ in 168614, a ‘well pitched’ cow house in Devon in 175615 and two ‘weatherboarded, tarred and well thatched’ barns in Suffolk in 178216. Moreover, tar-coated industrial buildings appear to have been common enough in London to warrant prohibition under the Building Act 1774 as a fire hazard. One of the more curious uses of tar was as a waterproofing agent for paper roofs, which appear to have been widespread in parts of England and Scotland during the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly around papermills.17 This practice may have had earlier origins, as another eyewitness account of the Great Fire of London mentions that when the fire reached Thames Street it met ‘with nothing by the way but old paper buildings’.18 The use of paper allowed for a nearly flat roof, which sparked a minor trend among members of the upper class who admired their picturesque appearance. Eminent architects John Carr and John Nash were familiar with the process, with the latter adding paper roofs to numerous country houses and royal residences, most notably the Brighton Pavilion and Buckingham Palace.19 However, such roofs likewise appeared on more modest buildings, such as factories and workers’ housing, and were later also waterproofed with coal tar. The importance of tar for shipbuilding and maintenance grew as England became a maritime power in the late 16th century, leading to some anxiety in supplying the naval and merchant fleets.20 In an attempt to subvert the Swedish monopoly, tar production was encouraged in the North American colonies from 1696 but this ultimately failed to provide an alternative source.21 At the same time, numerous individuals were experimenting with methods to extract tar from coal, with Scottish inventor and impoverished nobleman Archibald Cochrane, 9th Earl of Dundonald, being the first to devise a commercially viable method, for which he was granted a patent in 1781. The enterprise should have been hugely successful, but the viability of coal tar at this time was dependent on securing a Royal Navy contract that did not materialise, as the entire fleet had recently been copper sheathed at great expense in response to the American Revolutionary War. Lord Dundonald developed coal tar for use in shipbuilding and maintenance but he envisioned that it could be adapted ‘to all sorts of woodwork exposed to air or water’, such as fencing or shingle roofs.22 From the beginning, its use mirrored that of wood tar, with one early review suggesting it may likewise ‘be used for doing over houses that are built of porous stone.’23 At first, coal tar appears to have been more greatly appreciated in Scotland, with another review claiming it as ‘the best preservative ever invented for Field Gates, Paling, Pickets, ends of Joists and Rafters in the roofs of New Houses.’24 By 1790, Lord Dundonald had established a shop in London. An English review of the same year claimed that coal tar prevented the expansion and contraction of wood ‘which is too frequently the Case with Post Mills, Sheds, and other Wooden Erections.’25 6 Colvin 1971 7 Fernie and Whittingham 1971 8 Erskine 1981 9 Salzman 1967 10 Colvin 1971 11 The London Gazette, 3–10 Sept 1666 12 Reproduced in Bell 1971 13 Neve 1736 14 Bedfordshire Archives QSH/2/42,43 15 Sherborne Mercury, ‘To be lett’, 1 Mar 1756 16 Ipswich Journal, ‘To be sold’, 2 Feb 1782 17 Airs 1998 18 Reproduced in Garrioch 2016 19 The Builder 1843, ‘Description of the roofs over Buckingham Palace’, Vol. 1 20 Kirby 1974 21 Airaksinen 1996 22 Cochrane 1785 23 The Scots Magazine, ‘Account of the qualities and uses of coal tar and coal varnish’, 1 May 1784 24 Caledonian Mercury, ‘Coal tar’, 15 Oct 1787 25 Stamford Mercury, ‘Coal tar, pitch, and varnish’, 26 Mar 1790

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