Echoes From a Cobbled Street by David Hayes

The cultural and economic value of such an accreditation means that maintenance of the city’s historic infrastructure essentially becomes mandatory. Goslar, in northern Germany, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1992 due to its “1,500 exceptionally well-preserved half-timbered houses from different eras.” Also noted by UNESCO as a reason for its World Heritage Site status? The city’s cobbled streets. Keep the Cobbles!įor some cities, the cobbles are sticking around.

Though 68 main roads will lose their cobbles, 118 pedestrianised streets will benefit from their reuse. The vibrations caused by motor vehicles driving over cobbles has been cited as a heritage concern, with buildings and statues surrounding cobbled streets said to to be degrading.Īware of the importantance of the cobbled street for the city’s image and sense of place, the cobbles are being moved, not removed, taking up a new home on the city’s pedestrianised streets. Rome’s iconic cobbles have been part of the city since the 16th century, but local authorities claimed they faced struggles finding the specialised craftspeople to maintain them and budget to replace them, leading to poorly-maintained roads. In June 2019, the Mayor of Rome – Virginia Raggi – announced that the Italian capital planned to remove cobbles from 68 main roads, aiming to improve the experience of those on bikes and in motor vehicles. But as life has evolved – namely our primary mobility mode – cities face a dilemma about what to do with their cobbled streets. Cobbles could therefore be one of the earliest examples of road safety measures, even if that wasn’t the original intention.įast forward to present day and the cobbled street is iconic across Europe. Cobblestones had other advantages, making it easier for pedestrians to cross, and, through the sound of wheels and hooves passing over a hard, moderately-bumpy surface, provided an advance warning vehicles were approaching.

Their small, round shape was said to be similar to a bread roll, leading, in English, to the name ‘cobblestone’.Ĭobbles gave roads a longer lifespan and reduced maintenance requirements, ensuring horse and carts could travel more easily and pot holes occur less frequently. Stones of around 7-25cm (2.8-10 inches) in width have been used as road surfaces across European cities for centuries, replacing the dirt tracks that had been there for hundreds of years before that. Known in different areas as a rowie, bap, batch, barm cake (and a whole host of others), it’s the term ‘cob’ – claimed by some to be the original bread roll localism – that’s had the biggest impact on urban design. Across the nations of the British Isles, there’s many names for the humble bread roll.

Echoes From a Cobbled Street by David Hayes