ABSTRACT
The majority of traditional buildings surviving in the rural areas of Britain today are the product of a little recognised social and agricultural revolution generated by the Black Death in 1348/9 and again in 1361. Stone has perhaps the longest history of all traditional materials. Stone with a high density due to the nature of its molecular structure is more capable of heating up and acting as a heat store. Sustainability is high on the agenda for timber, as few other materials absorb carbon dioxide to make sugars for growth of an infinitely renewable resource. Devon cob is by far the most well known of British unbaked earth materials, although Dorset cob must run a close second. A particular type of earth subsoil is required for best quality fired clay bricks. The brick facade so produced masqueraded as the more expensive gauged brickwork, at least when viewed from a distance.
