ABSTRACT
My background is in conventional civil engineering, having become a UK Chartered Engineer between a first degree and returning to academia in the mid-1990s. I first became aware of earthen construction in the early 2000s through Prof. Chris Gerrard, of the Dept of Archaeology at Durham. He had a long-term interest in medieval buildings in Spain (principally Aragon) constructed from rammed earth and adobe, and had some concerns over the structural stability of one building in particular. Over a number of years working with Chris, and sharing a PhD student, I have come to see the variety and number of heritage earthen structures there are, even in Europe and the UK.
