Saturday 12 Sept[ember]. The back part of the house ready for the Garret floor.
Masons all day [crossing?] out the scaffold
Soane kept a notebook during the building of Number 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, now his Museum. We will be publishing the entries day by day to mark the 200th anniversary of this build - follow this link for more details.
September 12th 1812
Transcription & Scan
Commentary
This entry shows that the rear part of the main house had been built up to a much greater height than the front and on Saturday September 12th the back part of the house ready for the Garret floor [i.e. the third floor or attic] is ready for work to begin on this next floor. The attic garret (which would have provided servants accommodation) was not a complete floor, but set well back behind the front parapet with slated mansard roofs front and back. This is the floor that now houses staff offices in the Museum.
We have interpreted this phrase as "crossing out", although have been unable to find another reference to this practice amongst Georgian builders. Any suggestions are welcome!