Geograph - photograph every grid square

The picture shows the way in which many cob and stone houses were constructed in the West Country; the wall at the bottom is nearly a metre thick, the upper cob sections being no more than a foot or so..... cement render completes the weather proofing. The principle was to keep water from getting into the cob; if this was achieved through regular maintenance, the wall would last for ages, as has been demonstrated in many of England's oldest buildings. The composition of cob goes back into pre-history; Clough Williams-Ellis wrote a fascinating book about it after he had built Portmeirion using similar methods.