Research

Calculating the number of bricks The number of bricks depends on the used format. By means of a table Here we give a table with the number of bricks and amount of mortar per m² measured for a half brick wall (1 stone wall = x2) in half stone bond, this is masonry that exclusively consists of stretchers, and with a joint width of 10 mm. Included is a chopping/breaking loss of brick of 3% and a prefab-mortar loss of 3%. With a traditional mortar you can count on 10% of mortar loss. (Data from Royal Assembly of Dutch Brick Factories and from Jozef Dockx)

Documentary - How to build a bread oven? This documentary is a step-by-step practical guide for building a traditional brick bread oven. Watching these episodes, you can start building your own woodfired oven to bake proper bread the way our grandparents used to. English subtitles are being made and will be added shortly. There are 5 episodes and 3 extra films.

Substructure This text can only be consulted in Dutch.

Calculating the amount of mortar This calculation depends on the measurements of the chosen brick. Estimate the necessary number of litres/m² of mortar by means of this table. Calculate the surface (see calculating the number of bricks) and multiply this by the number of litres/m² to get the volume of mortar. For a bastard mortar with approx. 1 m³ of sand and a proportion 1 : 1 : 6 you will need the following: Portland cement (CEM I and class 42,5): approx. 200 kg Chaffed lime: approx. 100 kg Rhine sand 0/2: approx. 1600 kg of 1m³ For lime mortar with approx. 1 m³ of sand and a proportion 2 : 1 : 1 you will need the following: sandy clay: approx. 3200 kg Rhine sand 0/2: approx. 1600 kg of 1 m³ chaffed lime: approx. 600 kg Example (by means of building plan): number of litres mortar/m² ½ brick wall for Module 50 = 32 litres or 50 kg number of litres mortar/ m² 1 brick wall for Module 50= 64 litres or 100 kg total surface ½ brick thick = 2,576 m² total surface 1 brick thick= 5,422 m² total surface...

Other uses of the bread oven In addition to baking bread, the heat of the oven was also put to other uses: tijdens of na het bakken van het brood werd er ook plaats voorzien voor het bakken van vlaaien, peperkoek, appelbroodjes of andere lekkernijen voor de kinderen. men droogde in de nog warme oven peren, appels en pruimen. Om te drogen zijn de harde perensoorten goed zoals trichter- of hereperen, langeloren, korsenijsperen, spineelperen, dikstaartperen. De peren worden in verscheidene keren (4 à 5 maal) gedroogd. Daarna zien ze er zwart en vol rimpels uit. Bakpruimen werden als laatste in de oven gedroogd, soms op bruin papier. Om barsten tegen te gaan mocht de oven niet warmer dan 60° C zijn. op het ovengewelf werd het zaaigoed voor de moestuin gelegd. In de oven werden kleine veldvruchten en zaden gedroogd: erwten, bonen, klaverbollen, koolzaad, raapzaad, enz. in de bijna afgekoelde oven kon men pluimen drogen...

Guldendal For centuries, the Guldendal was part of the farm belonging to the Prinsenkasteel. This castle farm was constructed in the 17th century. The so-called stables, which currently constitute the Guldendal, were remodelled and restored numerous times during the 20th century. They were purchased by the municipality of Grimbergen in 1978 and have served as the main building of the museum since 1980. It is the museum’s administrative seat and the base of operations of its staff. On the Guldendal location, the museum has established a smithy and a shoeing stock for smithing demonstrations. There is a natural play area in front of the building where the children can play in the green. Behind the building is a well which is used during the Water Wells Workshop. In 2022 we will start with the construction of a brand new half-timbered workshop at the back of the Guldendal. Ruins of the Prinsenkasteel At a stone’s throw of the Guldendal, in the middle of the Prinsenbos pond, the vestiges of the Prinsenkasteel loom...

A history of the bread oven The bread oven, as we still know it today, has a very long history. The “basic model” with oven floor and dome has been around for at least 4,000 years. Bread can also be baked in other, simpler ways. Man has always been inventive in his preparation of food. Depending on his lifestyle and the materials available to him, he baked bread in a clay pot on an open fire, under a movable bell-shaped vessel, or in a temporary or a fixed oven construction. The “oven” has been around for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found remains of prehistoric ovens in many places around the world. Archaeological traces are sometimes difficult to recognise, however. Often only the substructure of the oven remains, and you do not know what the walls or dome looked like. Sometimes you still find part of the content, and you can thus determine what was baked in the oven. Because food remains do not preserve at all well, it is almost impossible to prove that an oven...

Preparing the covering loam This text can only be consulted in Dutch.