Some old secrets revealed..........

This weekend saw the second session of render removal from OLF and a few secrets were uncovered, some interesting surprises and a couple of disappointments...........

Work started on this section of the  North wall

Brick arch has been removed and replaced with a concrete lintel

First the disappointments. Sadly the old brick arches above the front door and the kitchen window have been removed recently during the installation of the modern door and window, so a decision will need to be made later on whether to reinstate these arches.

Brick arch removed and (presumably) a concrete lintel lurks behind the 3 courses of modern brick

Along part of the wall underneath the kitchen a (useless) chemical damp proof course has been injected some point in the past. Happily the drill holes seem to be in the lime mortar rather than the bricks so the damage to the brickwork is minimal......

Old chemical DPC drill holes in the lime mortar. the black circle is cement blocking an old drain pipe hole.

 Now for some more interesting surprises which add a bit more mystery (as if that was needed) to the history of OLF. Until now the brickwork and the pattern of the bricklaying has been consitent, along the lean-to and round the corner to the North side. However half way along the upstairs bedroom window, things suddenly and dramatically changed! The bricks were suddenly much more orange and the pattern in which they are laid is completely different. To my untrained eye it looks like the building may have stopped at this point some time ago. The bricks are certainly lower quality and they are slightly smaller. Presumably this is an older part of the house than the part we have revealed so far?

Suddenly the bricks to the right are more orange, smaller and are laid in a different pattern. The centre of the house is to the right so this is presumably an older part of the building.

The next secret to be uncovered is a bricked-up old doorway leading from the present kitchen to the outside of the house. You can see the brick archway above what was once the doorway. We know that there was a lean-to building here in the poast as you can see the pattern of it on the current render so this door would have gone from the house into the lean-to. 

Its also clear that this doorway was probably bricked up in the last 50 years as the mortar used is cement based, although the bricks themselves look old.

So, good progress this weekend and some interesting historical puzzles to tease us. Hope that we reveal more mystery as we go.

Finally a shot of the progress this weekend and the total progress so far..........

This weekend's progress - about 6 hours worth.

Progress until now, faster than expected so far!!