Vernacular Architecture of the Low Countries

Buildings using short wall-ties

This page presents information on the vernacular architecture of the Low Countries, especially brick building which were constructed using short-wall anchors (muurankers). This technique was used in many of the colonies of the Netherlands, and also spread around the North Sea and Baltic. Please note that it has not been overhauled since 1999, and thus does not reflect the most recent research, or, necessarily, my current thinking. My html skills have moved on some, too!

I am currently researching the meaning of short wall anchors at the Department of Archaeology, University of York, and that does not leave me much time for updating my site. I am using TimeMap software to present the data, and this will be publically available through the Electronic Cultural Atlas when it is complete and checked (eta August 2004).

Short wall-ties outside the Low Countries

Links to further information on the following will be added in due course.

• Austria (possibly!)
• Brazil (possibly all now gone)
• Canada (possbily in Heugenot buildings???)
• China (Formosa) (possibly!)
• Czech Republic (The Old-New Synagoge, Prague, and possibly other buildings)
• Denmark
• Great Yarmouth, England
• Other places in England marked on this map (interim, 12/2002)
• Estonia
• France
• Germany
• Ghana, (possibly!)
• Guinea, (possibly!)
• Indonesia : In the Warehouse, Batavia, "Tall inverted Y shaped metal anchors on the enclosing walls of the building make the positions of the beam above ground and first floors which were designed to carry heavy loads" (Greig, 1987, 194)
• Iran, (possibly!)
• Italy, (possibly!)
• Japan, (or rather, someone wrote in the comments box below, 'Japan' - but gave no details and didn't leave their email address, and I've not personally seen any Japanese building that does use this technique - they may be thinking of the recreations at Huis ten Bosch)
• Latvia
• Malaysia
• Netherlands Antilles : Curaçao, and possibly other islands - the single reference to the use of short wall anchors, : "Many [houses in the network of alleys in Punda, Curaçao] are still built of brick, sometimes stuccoed. One detail that can still be seen in various houses is the way in which the single layers of floor joists are anchored to the walls with wood, since iron would have been corroded by the salts in the air" (Temminck-Groll and Alphen nd., 31).
• Norway - Oslo/Christiana (Engh and Gunnarsjaa 1984), Stavanger Customs House
• Republic of South Africa : There is one refernce to the use of short wall anchors in South Africa: "to strengthen the angles long wrot(sic) iron ties with large X-shaped anchors were built into the external walls, the ends of these anchors being concealed by the plaster" (Pearse, 1933, 22).
• Sri Lanka
• Surinam
• Sweden
• USA, including

  * New York and New Jersey

  * Pella, Iowa: Pella Historical Society has further information

• Zambia - Livingstone (according to someone who suggeted the Zambia Vernacular Architecture Website - unfortunately not leaving their address)

Please be sure to include your email address!

If I don't write back, it will be because something has gone wrong - please email me at:

... but, I can't email you back if you don't write your address - this website doesn't capture any details about you!

What is a short wall-tie?

A wall tie is a metal tie or anchor which is used to link a wall to the solid frame of a building.

.

.

.

.

.

Definition in Dutch

English translation

What a short wall-tie is not:

* The ties most commonly seen in the UK are long wall-ties, used to link a collapsing or bulging wall to the opposite wall. These are commonly anchored with plates, Xs and reverse-Ss.

* In modern buildings, the cavity wall is spaced by a tie.

* In 19th century and 20th century steel framed buildings, the brick walls are sometimes bolted to the frame. This is similar in function to the historic short wall-tie.

A short wall-tie fixes a brick wall to a timber frame (early phases), and to structural timbers (later phases). The tie is usually iron, although wooden examples are known. The outer fixing is often a simple I bar, but numbers (giving the date of construction or refurbishment), letters (giving owner's initials, etc.), merchant's marks, and other forms are known. (I promise there are going to be pictures here soon).

Some other sites to visit (please let me know of other sites which I could list here)

Please be sure to include your email address, too, if you want a reply!

kyries architecture homepage: a great resource site, full of interesting links

Amsterdam architecture: a wonderful site - a database of buildings in Amsterdam, together with background information

Ritual marks on buildings

Vernacular Architecture in Rural and Small Town Missouri

Arkadia: a web directory page for vernacular architecture

Page last updated: 12th March 2006