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The Properties and Uses of Roman Cement

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The Properties and Uses of Roman Cement Construction History Vol. 18. 2002 The Properties and Uses of Roman Cement Lawrance Hurst INTRODUCTION Dunng at least the first half of the nmeteenth century mortar meant a rmxture of llme and sand, cement meant Roman cement, and concrete at least In terms of bulldlngs was a mxture of fine and coarse aggregate with llme Roman cement, which was patented by James Parker ln 1796, was an Important addition to the constructor's armoury It was an hydraullc blnder, which set in the presence of water, a set qulckly, and was waterproof Previously only some of these charactenstlcs could be obtalned by the addltlon of a puzzola~caddltlve to llme It IS not now generally appreclated that most Roman cements set In a matter of mlnutes, so it was not a stralght replacement of hme as used In mortar, render or concrete, nor could lt be replaced ln all respects by Portland cement New techmques needed to be developed for uslng lt and novel applications were found for lt, such as Charles Fowler's tlle creaslng for floors and roofs Its use conhnued after ~t had been largely superseded by Portland cement because of lts qulck settlng, its waterproofing propertles and ~tssupenor adheslon to Iron and steel compared with nlneteenth century Portland cements Ths paper cites contemporary references from the nlneteenth and early twentieth century, supplemented by personal observat~ons,to show how Roman cement was applled and used, and for what purposes The references suggest that lt was used more wldely than IS generally recognlsed today. The paper concentrates on bond, waterproofing, mortar, concrete and s~mlaruses, because Frank Kelsall12and Ian Bnstow3have wntten on stucco and render The paper relates to work ln the Unlted Klngdom but it IS thought that cements w~thslmlar propertles were used in the malnland of Europe and in Amenca. In 1838 the dlstlngulshed royal englneer Charles Pasley' told hsreaders that a vast quantity of Roman cement was now employed In and near Londod and John Weale's Dzctionary of 1849-50 says "a very great consumption of thls cement takes place in London" It can therefore be expected to be encountered ln runeteenth century bulldlngs and deserves to be more wldely recogmsed and understood Pasley's Observarzons on Llmes and Calcareous Cements was basically about Roman cement, lts manufacture and properties, because lt possessed "an lnfmrte supenonty over all other hydraullc mortars, not excepting puzzolana" He had no doubt that had lt been ava~lableSmeaton would have used lt for the construction of the Edystone Lighthouse.' AJ Francls confirms that wlthout the assistance of Roman cement "a considerable number of the great englneenng projects of the early nlneteenth century could not have been camed out whllst the progress of the Industnal Revolution would undoubtedly have been retarded " Pasley also mentioned that "the proper mode of prepanng and of using cement could not have been understood ln France," ' particularly by Vlcat and Treussart, to the extent that the former predicted that "although a vast quantlty of lt is now used In and near London, lt will be gradually dlsused as soon as the hydraullc l~messhall be better known and appreclated In England." He could not have been more wrong Roman cement set part~cularlyqulckly and lt set under water, but lt was only effectlve if used neat or as a very nch mlx, wlth no more than one or at most one and a half parts of sand Any mxes leaner than 1 1'12 slmply dld not set "Cement IS always weakened by the addltlon of sand, whereas The Properties and Uses of Roman Cement Laevrance Hurst every hnd of 11me 1s unproved by ~t"'" Roman cement was not generally suitable for malung the seabed. It was also known as Parker & Wyatt's Cement, because it was promoted by Parker's concrete, because of its speed of setting and ~tsmab~l~ty to perform in any but very nch mxes, partner Charles Wyatt and possibly also the more famous Samuel Wyatt after Parker emigrated to whlch made ~t difficult to use and msproport~onatelyexpensive, but nevertheless ~n spite of these America.16 Large accumulations of cement-stones were found where London clay bordered the shortcomngs ~t was used m nver and t~dework shore, from the alum-shale on the coast of Yorkshire " and also elsewhere. The except~onalwaterproofing properbes of Roman cement and ~tsbond to bnck, tile and uon, Varieties of Roman cement were generally known by the name of the manufacturer or by the but not to ~tshardened self, also made ~t mdlspensable to 19th century engmeers, archtects and location of the cement-stones. The principal brands were: budders The speclficahons in T L Donaldson's Handbook of Specy'icattons of 1859 show the extenslve use of Roman cement by lead~ngarchtects at a date when ~t would have been expected Harwich or Frost's - several mills listed by Thurstonls to be bemg eased out by Portland cement A typlcal exdmple is Thomas Cundy's specificahon for Francis or Grellier's - made at Millwall19 No 19 Grosvenor Square, dated 1855 Ths ment~onsboth Roman and Portland cement, and Atkinson's or Mulgrove's - from Whitby in Yorkshire includes a number of clauses requlnng cement, presumably of e~thertype at the discretion of the Calderwood - from Glasgow budder, to be used for jomtlng salt glazed drainage, and for brick vaults and tile arches However ~t Medina - from Hampshire and the Isle of WightZo specifically requlres Roman cement for arches over opemngs ~n walls, as bond courses In all walls, and for waterproof rendering, as follows: " Francis lists a number of other manufacturers in London and elsewhere.'' In his important paper on early Portland cements, Sir Alec Skempton explains the chemistry and the difference between "Turn arches ~nRoman cement over all the external door and wlndow openmgs, and over such Roman and Portland cements and includes contemporary reports of comparative strengths." of the lntemal openlngs and arches as are so duected by the drawmgs, the ends of the lintels be~ng Wilfred Kemp in his Practical Plasterer said that Medina might be considered as a superior splayed off to spnng the arches from the bnckwork " quallty and that it was of a somewhat lighter col~u?~.Millar said "it is stronger than Roman" and "To build the bnckwork in Roman cement, entuely through the thckness of the walls at the level "sets a light brown colour, and very rapidly - almost as soon as it leaves the trowel." MThisindicates of the several floors, 2 feet deep on the ground and one-par floors and 18 ~ncheson the floors further confusion because some writers distinguish between Roman cement and other brands of above " what was a very similar material, as shown by the prices in La~ton:~' "Basement Cement work - Form In Roman cement, to a he~ghtof 4 feet, the walls of the whole of the basement and htchen offices, except those of the Housekeeper's and Butler's rooms," Roman CEMENT, (best) per bushel1 2s 6d "Form ~nRoman cement the splayed jambs to the openlngs of the bndgeways for llght " Ditto, Parker & Wyatt's, best of all Sheppey stone 4s 6d "Form in Roman cement the whole of the door and wlndow jambs not ~ntendedto have h~ngs Harwich or Frosts cement 2s 2d or shutters " " Form ~nRoman cement the angles and jambs of all the archways also the angles ot the chunney which infers that Parker & Wyatt's was significantly superior. Peter Nicholson insisted that breasts " Atkinson's was "a much superior article". It is, he said, "a little higher m price, but will bear a great "Roman cement slurtmg, '/zmch projectton and 7 ~nchesh~gh round the Housekeeper's and deal more sand"; it " is of a more delicate stone colour, and for situations exposed to the actions of Butler's room " water, not to be surpassed by any cement now in existence." " Cement-stones were discovered in Boulogne, also in Burgundy and Rus~ia.~'."Roman cements W~lliamTite spec~fiedRoman cement for bond courses and other sensitive locations ~n the were also manufactured in America, and particulars were given in Rivington's Notes on Building construction of the new Royal Exchange In 1841" and Charles Barry requued ~tsuse ~n"such parts Construction (1910)." Draffin gives details of natural cements used in Amenca, which were still of the bnckwork or arches as may be duected" In hs specificat~on for the new Houses of being manufactured in appreciable quantities in 1940.1° Parliament l3 Roman cement mortars seen in south-east England can be recognised by their pinkish brown These quotations confirm that the specla1 properbes of Roman cement were appreciated and used colour. It is possible that Roman cements from elsewhere may not be similar in colour. by archtects at a date when most modem authonties wrongly report that ~thad been almost entuely superseded by the Portland vanety Many of the follow~ngreferences confirm that its use survived QUICK SETTING for particular purposes to the end of the n~neteenthcentury and beyond The inclusion of strength requuements for Roman cement, alongside Portland cement and hydraul~cllme, (tensile strengths Roman cement's main characteristic, which contributed to its initial success and was the reason of 200,350 & 60 lblsq in respectively) in the Glasgow Bullding Bye-Laws m 1892 ind~cates~t was it continued in use, albeit in small quantities, until the 1930's was its speed of setting. Millar said st111 in common use at the end of the 19th century "Roman cement is an admirable material where great rapidity in setting is required, and is very useful for repairing jobs", and "its quick-setting properties necessitate a great deal of skill and VARIETIES OF ROMAN CEMENT attention on the part of the workman, and it must be applied as soon as gauged." " Nicholson's New Practical B~tilderrecommended that "the composition should be used as quickly as possible, and Roman cement 1s made by bum~ngcement-stones, or septann, m a hln "w~tha heat stronger than not a moment lost in floating the walls, which will require incessant labour, until the cement is set, used for bum~ngllme" as descnbed in the Patent specification The cement-stones used by James which is almost instantaneous." '' This characteristic, mentioned in almost every reference, meant Parker in 1796, and wh~chwere the subject of hls Patent, came from the coast at Sheppey.
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