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Bowood, Wiltshire, c.1794
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Reference number
SM D3/4/5
Purpose
Bowood, Wiltshire, c.1794
Aspect
[10] Plans and section of a compound beam
Scale
½ in to 1 ft?
Inscribed
Plan of the top of Beam, Plan of the great Principal in its position but disengaged from the Beam, Plan of the upper part of the Beam shewing the parts of Principal, above it BBBB & Tye pieces CCCCCC extending to the Walls D & Notched on the / Plates & bolted to the / Beam, Section of the Beam lengthwise, Section of the Beam at A cut across it and labelled A, B, C, D and E
Signed and dated
- c.1794
Medium and dimensions
Pen, burnt umber and warm sepia washes, pencil on wove paper (285 x 510)
Hand
Dance
Notes
If the scale is ½ inch to 1 foot, then the beam measures just under 22 feet in length and may be related to the structure of the lantern for the Octagon Staircase which is 24 feet wide.
David Yeomans (correspondence, 2 August 2001) wrote '... part of a king post truss with raised tie beams. The term beam was used in the eighteenth century to mean the beams across the wall plates, ie the tie beams of the roof trusses. I note that the other members referred to on the drawing are the "principals" ie principal rafters. We do not have the bottom of the principal rafters shown but my interpretation of this is as follows: with the centre part of the tie and the principals cut in this way, the truss could have been assembled with the king post (for which there is a mortice). Once in position the additional lengths of the tie beam (marked C on the drawing) could be bolted in to complete the beam - whose function was to tie the top of the walls together. But what a complicated way of doing it.'
David Yeomans (correspondence, 2 August 2001) wrote '... part of a king post truss with raised tie beams. The term beam was used in the eighteenth century to mean the beams across the wall plates, ie the tie beams of the roof trusses. I note that the other members referred to on the drawing are the "principals" ie principal rafters. We do not have the bottom of the principal rafters shown but my interpretation of this is as follows: with the centre part of the tie and the principals cut in this way, the truss could have been assembled with the king post (for which there is a mortice). Once in position the additional lengths of the tie beam (marked C on the drawing) could be bolted in to complete the beam - whose function was to tie the top of the walls together. But what a complicated way of doing it.'
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk