(Ooh I do like) A Bit of Rough

By Henry Shaftoe

In a previous edition of P-O Life I waxed lyrical about the smooth curvy lines of Perpignan’s «artdeco» heritage.

But there is another architectural style that is evident in the town and surrounding areas – a sort of rough-hewn look that makes use of local materials: rough hewn rocks, huge pebbles (cailloux) and flattened bricks, (confusingly known as cayroux).

Most of  the latter were probably produced at the brickworks (still functioning) at St Jean Pla de Corts. These ‘cayroux’ are used to bond and stabilise the ‘cailloux’ and are often laid in horizontal double courses every metre or so up a wall. 

Even the walls of the St Jean Cathedral in Perpignan are built like this.

One of the most spectacular examples of this ‘rough hewn architecture’ is ‘la Casa Carrère’ in Bages, on the road to Elne (covered in a previous edition of P-O Life, and sometimes open to the public).

But there are some fine buildings throughout the region that are built in a similar ‘rough style’. Two fine examples in Perpignan are to be found in Rues Ramon Llull/ Elie Delcros… 

… and Quai Bourdan

And there is a fine example near the Post Office in Prades.

But arguably the most impressive bit of rough round these parts is the parish church in the centre of Palau del Vidre  – this monumental construction at its most cobbled:

You could say that this style of building, using locally ‘found’ materials, was ecologically well ahead of its time. And it is extraordinary to think that the huge oval pebbles used (and collected along the coast and from riverbeds), must be the result of thousands, if not millions of years of being worn smooth by water!