The dutch wikipedia page mentions their use to protect fruit trees from the wind and add sun reflection. You run the wall east-west and place the fruit trees in southern bends of the wall.
Crinkle Crankle Wall
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Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall
#12I grew up in Suffolk, where I knew of several examples, and I never realised that they were a particularly Suffolk-specific thing: according to the article, twice as many in the county as the rest of the UK. I would be interested to know why.
Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall
#13I wonder if in modern times, now that labor is so much more expensive than bricks, it would still be economical. Building a brick wall costs (here in Western Europe) around e40/m2 in labor, and e25 in material for a cheap brick. So building this crinkle crankle style would only have to add about 50% in building time. I think building this is much slower than that though - I don't even know how I'd go about it, other than with a laser level, which would be really inconvenient (compared to using a string like is normally done). Then again, it would be inconvenient and frustrating, but would it be slow ?
Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall
#14While this type of wall mainly exists in England and the Netherlands, it is amusing how the English Wikipedia's main arguments are about saving bricks and possible military advantages, while the Dutch Wikipedia tell these walls are meant to protect fruit from weather conditions. The fruit would typically be planted at the south side. One of the ideas is that the bricks both protect against wind and keep giving some warmth after the sun has disappeared.
Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall
#15I grew up in Suffolk, where I knew of several examples, and I never realised that they were a particularly Suffolk-specific thing: according to the article, twice as many in the county as the rest of the UK. I would be interested to know why.
TFA mentions that Dutch engineers brought over to reclaim bits of Suffolk from the sea introduced the walls.
Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall
#16I wonder if in modern times, now that labor is so much more expensive than bricks, it would still be economical. Building a brick wall costs (here in Western Europe) around e40/m2 in labor, and e25 in material for a cheap brick. So building this crinkle crankle style would only have to add about 50% in building time. I think building this is much slower than that though - I don't even know how I'd go about it, other…
You're likely right, it's probably not very economical nowadays. Especially given the wider range of materials than be used to build a wall or fence.
Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall
#17I wonder if in modern times, now that labor is so much more expensive than bricks, it would still be economical. Building a brick wall costs (here in Western Europe) around e40/m2 in labor, and e25 in material for a cheap brick. So building this crinkle crankle style would only have to add about 50% in building time. I think building this is much slower than that though - I don't even know how I'd go about it, other…
You're likely right, it's probably not very economical nowadays. Especially given the wider range of materials than be used to build a wall or fence.
Aestethics still apply though and it looks nice.
Pet peeve: Why isn't anyone building brick houses anymore?
Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall
#18For those who wish to see it on Google Maps... https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.3095596,1.5174271,3a,75y,2...
Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall
#19I wonder if in modern times, now that labor is so much more expensive than bricks, it would still be economical. Building a brick wall costs (here in Western Europe) around e40/m2 in labor, and e25 in material for a cheap brick. So building this crinkle crankle style would only have to add about 50% in building time. I think building this is much slower than that though - I don't even know how I'd go about it, other…
In those times, most would be happy a wall looked straight, and vertical enough to not fall. Also, a circular wooden object (a spool, wagon wheels, ...) could help to maintain the forms. The Dutch Wikipedia mentions many variants formed from straight segments. Probably the labor cost would have been about the same, and workers happier because of the variation involved.
Re: Crinkle Crankle Wall
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're likely right, it's probably not very economical nowadays. Especially given the wider range of materials than be used to build a wall or fence.
Aestethics still apply though and it looks nice. Pet peeve: Why isn't anyone building brick houses anymore?
I actually know the answer to this, as I used to live with an architect. This information may apply more specifically to Canada than other places.
1. It's not very good at insulating relative to other materials.
2. It's more labor intensive than other materials.