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bond – with alternate headers and stretchers in the same course; as the Renaissance bond – where a row of
stretchers is interchanged with a row of headers (Malm 2000, 205; Drake 1968, 8). In English literature a
brick bond where a stretcher follows each header is called the Flemish bond, but the brickwork with alternate
rows of headers and stretchers is called English bond (Davey 1961, 82). In order to avoid the inconsistence
of brick bond names used in different languages, in modern literature the bonds are sometimes denoted
with numbers, for example, one stretcher and one header – “1 : 1 bond” or two stretchers and one header –
“2 : 1 bond” (Holst 2008, 177). Another type of unambiguous designation of the bond is the use of brick
names, for example, the “stretcher–stretcher–header” bond (Stammwitz 2014, 185).
In
Turaida
Castle architect G. Jansons, during the investigation of the building history, has determined
three brick bonds (Figs. 12–19; Jansons 2007, 137, 138). The Wendish bond (2 : 1 or stretcher–stretcher–
header) has been used most of all – in the most ancient buildings like the Main Tower – Bergfried and
the enclosing wall of the core of the castle, and in the Large Semicircular Tower built in the 15
th
century.
The Gothic bond (1 : 1 or stretcher–header) was used for the round towers provided for firearms near the
exterior and interior gate of the northern outer bailey, the Small Semicircular Tower, and also some short
wall sections. In the western wall of the Southern Block it is seen that in the bottom part the Wendish bond
had been used but in higher places it was replaced by the Gothic bond. Architect G. Jansons explains this
with a possibly restored plane of decoration in some later period, but he considers that the choice of the
Block bond in the slanting brickwork seen in the southern outer bailey has been a constructive solution
instead of attributing it to a later building period (Jansons 2007, 137, 138).
Roof tiles
The lifespan, dryness of premises and also the exterior of buildings are essentially influenced by
the roofing material. In countries with a wet climate, with frequent precipitation – a lengthy rainy
period in autumn and melting ice in spring – in the Middle Ages no horizontal covering was made for
the buildings. Rainwater and melting snow are best drained off by steep roofs with an overhang which
safeguards the upper part of the building from getting wet, and from scaling off of the upper layer of
plaster. In order to avoid fire, the covering of buildings had to be non-flammable. In the European
countries where slate rocks were exposed in nature, roofs of brick masonry or half-timbered buildings
were covered by thin flakes of this rock. It is impossible to split off thin plates from dolomites and boulders
available in Latvia’s territory, therefore these could not be utilized for roofing purposes, whereas the
required properties are possessed by ceramic articles – burnt clay tiles. In Latvia, beginning with the
early 13
th
century, these were applied for the roofs of large churches, public edifices and medieval castles.
Roofing by tiles is a decorative one – the colour is bright red and there is an expressive play of lights-
and-darks created by the curved shape of the roof tiles. Arrangement of a number of identical building
elements creates an ornamental pattern which is made even more impressive by surface corrugation. In
Latvia’s climatic conditions for many centuries roofs were made at an angle of 50–60° to the horizontal
plane, since a flatter covering of ancient roof tiles failed to drain off the precipitation water effectively
enough.