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New introduction to the 2004 edition of

Building Construction Drawing

A class-book for the elementary student and artisan

With a new introduction by Jonathan David, Norman England and John Keenan

Published early in the twentieth century, Eaton’s book Building Construction Drawing was unusual in being prepared for a course for artisans or apprentices. No other publication took his practical approach in providing working drawings and all were for the technologist rather than the craftsman – even 50 years on McKay and others presented composite drawings, but without specifications and measurements.

Textbooks for students of building construction were first published for architects and engineers, to complement the pattern books for landowners; then in the 1890s came Rivington’s series. This was published by Longmans, and written for students at the West Kensington Polytechnic. Four volumes covered a full course (the first three volumes have been reprinted by Donhead). The author was unacknowledged but recent research has shown him to have been Major Percy Smith from the School of Military Engineering at Chatham. Rivingtons was the original publisher.

This was soon followed by ‘Mitchell’, published by Batsford, for students at the Regent Street Polytechnic. In two volumes it covered the whole of the building technology course. The author was a lecturer at the educational establishment and wrote the books from his course notes to provide their professional trainees with the detail needed for their studies; the level of detail was probably too great for the artisans for whom Eaton was writing. Later came by works by McKay and others which provided more comprehensive drawings.

In his introduction to the recent Donhead reprint of Rivington’s Building Construction, Lawrance Hurst notes that: ‘In pre-Victorian times there were craftsmen main contractors who employed craftsmen sub-contractors for the other trades’. Although this was still the situation when Eaton was writing, within 30 years it had changed radically.

Prior to Eaton, one of the most important folios of working drawings, published in the 1870s, was Busbridge’s Portfolio of Thirty lithographed working drawings of the most important details of building construction. It contained working drawings but there were no specifications. This practice soon established itself in journals and subsequent compilations of working drawings in book form, the Architects’ Journal and Illustrated Carpenter and Builder being two such publications. They often included notes, but rarely any specifications. The Architectural Press was producing Specification by 1903, so the architect was well equipped, but it was not intended for the less educated artisan or apprentice.

Between 1914 and 1921, Eaton’s ‘Class-book for the elementary student and artisan’ was one of the essential in offering an appropriate level of knowledge for the craftsmen sub-contractors. They all knew what was required by way of detail, but there were few publications providing working drawings, and these were mostly drawings relating to larger engineered construction rather than everyday domestic projects.

It is often bemoaned that modern house builders build identical houses everywhere, differentiating them only by ‘stuck on’ decoration or a different colour brick. However, this practice pre-dates the major building contractors. Until the middle of the twentieth century the majority of houses were built from ‘pattern books’, of which there were many. Materials would be local and there would probably be some interpretation by the builder to suit local conditions.

It was volumes such as Eaton’s Building Construction Drawing which provided many of the ‘standard’ details that the craftsman would use to supplement the pattern book design.

However, while at first it appears that this book is timeless, in fact the simplicity of its approach makes it very much a product of its time. Before the 1902 Education Act, most apprentices were not sent to secondary school and learnt their skills at work; there were few technical schools of the type where the author taught until 1910. The Technical Instruction Act of 1889 required local authorities to establish Boards and facilities for training in technical subjects.

By the 1930s the larger contractors were building standard house types which incorporated standardized joinery products (often imported), and the range of skills expected of the reader of this book was no longer in demand.

What is reprinted here as one volume appeared originally in six parts written in parallel to the new course as it expanded from elementary to advanced. It appears that, after the final part appeared, the volume used to produce this reprint was specially bound by or for the author.

Eaton increased the amount of detail involved as the student proceeded through the course year by year, so that by the end the student was able to undertake a whole building project.

The first Part contained what the author described as ‘work which the ordinary student will meet day by day’. Part I contains ten sections consisting of one to four pages of drawings but in most cases only half a page of specification. The drawings are mostly to scale, scales varying between one 48th and one quarter. The only ‘textbook’ material is the section on the bonding of brickwork.

The next part included more advanced work – bay and dormer windows, staircases and porches, including some quite ‘up market’ designs – and the final design, for an elaborate staircase, occupies eight pages.

With Part III Eaton changed his approach to a whole-project composite set of drawings and specifications, referring back to the previous Parts.

Parts IV and V appeared with the subtitle ‘Joinery Drawings, Specifications and Measurements’. The examples were more extensive and detailed and introduced the taking off of materials.

The final Part again provided more advanced examples, with the specifications on the left facing the drawings.

Richard Barnes Eaton was born in 1864 and attended the British School in Poole. He trained as a joiner and in 1901 joined Poole Borough Council as a Clerk of Works. He retired in 1924 as an assistant Borough Engineer and died in 1946. He and his family appear to have lived in Poole all his life.

He joined the part time teaching staff at Poole School of Art and Technology, teaching building construction. His philosophy was to pass on his expertise to his pupils in a way that could be understood by all members of the building team – by using specifications and drawings for each project, rather than descriptive text.

Even after the foundation of technical schools such as that at Poole, many apprentices were following in the paths of their fathers and were more likely to be selected for their skills rather than their academic achievements. The training was therefore designed to be familiar to them, using the documents they found in their workplace.

Eaton’s volumes received good reviews as they appeared. The author’s own copy, used for this reprint and held in the CIRCA Trust’s (Construction Industry Resource Centre Archive) archives, includes pasted into the front and end papers various reviews by the technical press of the day (including Architects’ Journal, Illustrated Carpenter and Builder, The Surveyor and The Librarian; a report and photograph from a local paper on the occasion of Eaton’s retirement; letters from London County Council and Derby College on their listing of these books; a design, apparently by Eaton, for a rising pivot for doors to open over carpets; and various other documents linked to the author.

It might be argued that the practices described in these pages are obsolete. True, the modern housebuilder would have little call for a craftsman trained by Eaton. However, even though they are in imperial units, the details and specifications are as useful today as when they were written.

Eaton’s drawings and specifications fall happily between the specific detailing of the early and late Victorian periods found in Rivington and Mitchell respectively, and the more general approach and influence of the Arts and Crafts movement of McKay in the 1930s. The drawings and specifications can still be used to provide authentic joinery even if required to incorporate energy efficient glazing. The details are relevant to the maintenance of most domestic and much commercial property built between 1900 and 1939, though not perhaps for the period after 1945. The end of this practice is confirmed in a memo found in the CIRCA Trust archive in which Godfrey Way Mitchell, chairman of George Wimpey, wrote in 1943 that the end of war would bring a new style of architecture which would involve economic use of scarce labour and materials, a greater level of factory production and more use of the new materials of concrete and steel.

The reprinting of this work in one volume will provide designers and craftsmen with a unique library of details offering a valuable complement to the better known publications of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
 

Jonathan David, Trustee of the CIRCA Trust and technical journalist

Norman England, Trustee of the CIRCA Trust and architectural ironmongery consultant

John Keenan, Curator to the CIRCA Trust, retired chartered builder

The CIRCA Trust (Construction Industry Resource Centre Archive) was founded to create an archive to serve the construction industry. At a time when many organizations are disposing of their technical libraries, but there is increased interest in building conservation and repair of traditional buildings, the information and expertise is being lost to the profession. Books are not the greatest problem, as in most cases copies can be found in the British Library.

However, there is regular demand for information about how buildings were constructed, covering the standards, techniques, materials and products.

The CIRCA Trust’s archive contains a great many publications in all these categories: standards, technical documents from trade and professional associations, journals and magazines (including their advertizements which can be crucial in dating changes to product specifications), reports and technical advice from government departments and organizations such as the Building Research Station/Establishment – the list is almost endless.

The Trust is run by volunteers and has no guaranteed income. Its archive is housed in a listed former flour mill in Stroud which, although appropriate, requires constant dehumidification and considerable maintenance and improvement. Much of the collection has arrived in less than pristine condition, and often needs conservation to a greater or lesser degree. Members and Friends help to provide income, as do search fees. In addition, the mill is used as a base by several local societies with an interest in building conservation and local history.

The archives are used by many people: construction history experts; lawyers and expert witnesses seeking information on building failures; television companies seeking material for programmes; individuals and architectural and engineering practices seeking information needed to carry out appropriate repairs and maintenance to buildings; conservation and building control officers; students of construction and industrial archaeology. They may need design information, but often what is needed is the exact specification used on a particular date. This is where the collections of standards, technical literature and magazines that are unique in the UK really come into their own.

The CIRCA Trust can be contacted at:

Kimmins Mill

Meadow Lane

Dudbridge

Stroud  GL5 5JP  UK

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