When looking at copies of Record Site Plans the abbreviation TBC crops up in the Legend and is described on some as 'Temporary Brick Construction' and on others 'Terracotta Brick Construction'
I assume that these are one and the same and that Terracotta refers to a regular fired housebrick?
Never seen that before, i would have read TBC as Temporary Brick Concrete, the later for either the blocks or rendering.
Again an assumption, I thought brick (as in red bricks) buildings were annotated as Permanent Brick.
On a key I have for Landow, TB is Temporary Brick, C is Concrete, and PB is Permanent Brick.
Sewage building is TB&C and Diesel storage is PB&C
By my understanding a terracotta brick is not the same as a house brick.
Terracotta is the same material as a plant pot. The only place I can recall seeing terracotta used in the construction of an airfield building is in the sub-layer of an expansion period officers mess roof construction.
I think someone may be using their Latin rather than English. I would have thought they were the same thing, though bricks tend to include more than just clay. I wonder if the "Terracotta" version is a type used for a spcific purpose then, rather like Engineering brick which is hard and impervious?
No Amount Of Evidence Will Ever Persuade An Idiot (probably not Mark Twain)
I can see building plans specifying the proper type bricks to be used, but the record site plans?
I still think this is something to do with temporary and permanant brick, but perhaps the different bodies involved with the plans interpreted the bricks differently, and thus Terracotta was a loose term used for red bricks, as in permanant brick. Confusing way of doing things though, having two TBs!
What site plan are you refering to? Never heard of terracotta used in wall construction . Clay hollow blocks yes, terracotta is not strong enough surely. TBC has always been temporary brick construction (not concrete).
You can tell a builder from an archaeologist by the size of his trowel. Mine is a small one!
What site plan are you refering to? Never heard of terracotta used in wall construction . Clay hollow blocks yes, terracotta is not strong enough surely. TBC has always been temporary brick construction (not concrete).
The RSP on which I first saw the term is Kidlington 1110/45. In the bottom left hand corner of the drawing is a block titled Abbreviations. The first entry (faded and poor copy) appears to be TBC but studying it with a magnifying glass I concede that it must be TCB. The detail says 'Terra Cotta Block'
On the Schedule of Buildings numerous buildings are shown as TCB (My brain registered it as TBC) and examples include Watch Office (3654/40), Fire Tender Shed and NFE Store (both 28/44) and the Flight Office plus numerous other buildings including Latrines.
So, my question was slightly misleading, for which I apologise, but the term Terra Cotta still requires explanation.
I go along with Mawganmad's surmise that the draftsman has used 'Terra Cotta' to describe what we regard as a common fired housebrick.
Another conundrum is describing TB (Temporary Brick as we know it) as Temporary Block and PB (Permanent Brick as we know it) as Permanent Block. This appears on the Moreton Valence RSP 2539/45.
To a builder there is a difference between a 'brick' and a 'block'. Perhaps in this case it is a draftsman's error?
Don't be silly Stevo. Everyone knows that the Scots don't make bricks! They live in sort of caves (bothies?) which they close at night by rolling a boulder in front of the hole. The big towns north of the border were all built form imported Sassenach made bricks or hewn from local granite.
On a more serious note, the Scottish Terracotta Brick Company is probably the original name given to an established company which initially made terracotta products then later fired bricks embossed with their name.
The perfect image of Hollow clay blocks. Called 'pots' by a bricklayer who has 40 years experience. When I asked him why the name 'pots' he said the material was more like flower pot terracotta than clay fired brick. cheap functional and easy to produce.
This example from a Prisoner of war Camp nearby. The hut type is MoWP (Ministry of War Production?) We were invited to visit this almost intact camp yesterday, it is like a timewarp!
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