Kathy:

It is likely that these unfired brocks were used as "nogging" to infil the
walls of the hosue to provide insulation, keep out rodents, cut down on
noise, whatever.  I have seen several examples in old and delapidated
houses in central and eastern New York.  I have great SLIDES of one in
Cossayuna, Washington County, NY, and when I get the new scanner set up at
work 9ordered it today!) I'll scan some and send your way or put them on
the web.

The noggings were exactly like bricks, but unfired.  You could see bits of
straw and other stuff mixed in the raw clay and on one I saw
fingerprints.  They were set in place and mortared up with mud between and
brushed over before the clapboards and lath were put up.

Many of the ones I saw in Cossayuna had fallen out of place and lay in
piles around the pen wounds of the house which was about 70% decayed.  They
had weathered quite a bit but had held their shape for at least the winter,
which, as you know in NY state is not too conducive to preserving the shape
exposed mud.  I photographed them in April as the winter snows were fading
fast.  That they should be buried in a cellar fill and maintain an
idenfiable shape does not surpries me at all.

Dan W.






At 11/19/02 01:37 PM, you wrote:
>Hist Arch,
>
>While doing some CRM work in Auburn New York we uncovered the partial
>foundation of an 1850s farmhouse. The interior of the structure contained a
>large amount of building materials, obviously from the razing of the
>structure. We excavated around 120 complete red bricks with all dimensions
>preserved. The interesting thing is that a small sample of the bricks
>(around 5 or 6) appeared to never have been fired. The dimensions were
>preserved but they were unfired clay? One sample showed signs of mortar
>that suggest it was part of the structure at one time?
>
>Has anyone ever come across the use of unfired bricks?  or know of any good
>sources for information about this?
>
>Thank you for your time,
>
>Kathy Leacock
>
>University at Buffalo