It is an
unspoken truth in the Dordogne that its country dwelling places are
biodegradable. This applies to farmhouses, the attendant barns, pig
sheds and workers’ cottages. Obviously it is not true of
chateaux, maisons de
maître
and
the little shrines over springs and holy places. But it is true of
the rest, hence, until very recently, any man who was a man had to be
able to pop up on his roof and fix any leaks immediately.
 |
| there is actually a professional roofer up there somewhere |
The
original manner of construction began with a pile of chalk stones
gathered from the fields. These were put into shallow channels
anywhere between 40 cms and 50 cms wide. As they rose to become
walls the outer sides were sealed with a form of mortar and the inner
with mud.(We know this because we found rat carcasses inside our
walls.) The corners, window and door frames were created and
supported by solid chalk keystones.
The
walls of the building were often not set equally deep into the
ground, especially when the site was a slope. This would lead to an
imperceptible pull on the walls – our house is 10 cm wider at roof
level then at the ground leaning outwards on the downward slope.
To
create the Shepherd’s Cottage inside the sheep barn we first had to
dig out the beaten earth floor so that people could stand upright
everywhere. The nearside (to our house) wall immediately started to
collapse inside. An appalling noise ensued. Not to worry said the
then mason cheerfully. He ‘propped up’ the ceiling beams with
scaffolding and rebuilt the bottom of the wall. Then cement jointed
all the stones.
.
But
we have suddenly discovered a second weakness in our wonderful,
hand-built, gobbed-up stone houses. The corner stones can also be
fragile, they are after all only a form of highly compressed chalk.
They don’t take kindly to any form of cement as witness our terrace
stairs.
A
few years ago, Edward Le
Prince Noir de La Chaise,
(labrador, see above) was terrified by a sudden clap of
thunder. He had been comfortably hiding under the lunch table.
Linked to the table by his ed scarf, he launched himself down the
stairs and towards the woods – the table, a stone geranium pot and
part of the balustrade and ramparts went with him. Last summer the
tractor just touched the bottom pillar and pulled the whole of the
other side over. We vaguely tried to get it repaired but stone
experts signally failed to supply cement to stick the pieces together
again. Too porous for cement they said.
 |
| This is what a bump from the tractor did.... |
Then,
at the end of this past winter we discovered that either
the
nearside
end of the sheep barn wall, or roof, had
moved.
This was visible because the joints between the plaster board
ceilings and walls had cracked open. Visions of 12 metre long
wrought iron ties hold the two barn ends together, or external pattes
d’elephant -
solid concrete triangles to prop the moving wall, haunted our dreams.
Either
solution would cause great difficulties for holiday makers as well as
ourselves.
Fortunately
the
A²
(Alex & Audrey) grapevine dug up a stone mason of their own
generation who lived nearby. He was not impressed. Pointing to a
corner stone half-way up the kitchen door frame he said: there is the
problem. Indeed, this stone had a triangular wedge taken our where
some beam had been wedged in, presumably to make a lean-to, long
since gone.
His solution?: to prop up the first floor along the length of the
wall with scaffolding inside, remove the defective stone and slide in
a new one. Simple really.
