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.
Saturday 19 Sept[ember 18]12. Finished laying the lead over the roof of Study, boarded the roof of Dressing Room ready for the Plumber .
The roof over the back part of the house boarded to receive the tin covering
to be slated
To be tinned
The Bricklayers put in the Arches over the Draw[in]g Room windows and raised the wall (front) to the height required to receive the stone land[in]g on level with the Chambers Floor. NB. This land[in]g is to be of Portland Stone
This entry shows that work is largely complete on the low premises to the east and west of the No. 13 courtyard. Surviving bills in the Soane archive show that in early September work began on the modifications to Soane’s existing Museum and office which ran across the rear of No. 13 to connect them to these new low buildings either side of the courtyard. The Study referred to in the entry is the room known today as the Breakfast Room, whilst the ‘plumber’ refers to the lead worker.
Below this entry is a sketch of the rear mansard of the attic floor (the back wall at the top of the house). The roof is to be set back behind a parapet, and to have a sloping face, 'slated', towards the back. It is to be 'tinned' on top (e.g. covered with tinned lead). The present parapet and coping outside the back third floor window is the 1813 top parapet of the house. The slated slope survives today.
The 'Chamber Floor' is the second floor and the 'landing' mentioned is the roof of the first floor loggia. During the restoration of the facade in 1992 it was confirmed that all the loggia 'landings' in front are Portland slabs, with lead laid over them.