© David Adams
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
Even the most casual Cambridge visitor will notice that a large amount of the city is of brick construction Furthermore, that the brick in question is generally a yellowish ‘Cambridge brick’. For Anne Cooper, the correct term is “Cambridge Gault” due to its local geological origin. And Anne Cooper knows a thing or two about bricks, as this abridged version of her essay for the Historic Buildings Course reveals WORDS ANNE COOPER
The term ‘Cambridge Gault’ brick is frequently misused to describe any buff, orange, yellow, grey, or white brick which loosely matches the genuine Gault bricks of creamy-white colour manufactured in Cambridge from the late 18th century until the Second World War. Analysing the Listing of buildings in Cambridge reveals the use of Gault brick generally started in the 1790s and continued until circa 18901 by which time white bricks were out of fashion and advances in manufacturing and transport meant that much more desirable red bricks were readily available. Unhampered by planning restrictions, Cambridge citizens demonstrated their wealth and status by building themselves substantial red brick mansions in amongst their now unfashionable 19th century Gault brick neighbours. Developers quickly caught on and faced their upmarket houses in red bricks,
whilst continuing to build high-density terraced housing in the cheap Gault bricks. Cambridge more or less quadrupled in size between 1900 and 2000. Apart from 1930s council housing, very little of this development was constructed in Gault bricks. Post the First World War, the new, wider tree-lined roads of semi-detached houses were faced in a mixture of red Rustic brick and pebble dash render. After the Second World War the wider brick selections were used extensively in Cambridge’s 1960s housing. Lime mortar Flemish bond walls gave way to cement mortar half-brick stretcher bond cavity walls, further changing the appearance of 20th century brickwork. Even though Gault bricks were still in production, their colour and association with unfashionable Victorian architecture resulted in alternative bricks being sourced for city centre
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The differing appearance of restored and weathered Cambridge Gault brick © Anne Cooper