What are these hooks in the brickwork outside?

[ninkyno]

Last thread of the night- promise!

Have fallen in love with a period property but I've noticed these iron hooks between the bricks on the outside of the house- what are they?

They're everywhere. Does this mean the property was previously underpinned (and these hooks used to keep everything together IYSWIM)?

@FlyingIsEasy

Agree they're vine eyes for growing plants.

If you go to Google street view and look back in history you might find there used to be a massive climbing plant all over the house.

@ninkyno Have you tried this^ suggestion?

It might give you a planting scheme...

The only thing which makes me suspicious that they could be wall ties or similar is that they're all emerging from the pointing. Surely if you wanted to anchor a plant or trellis to the wall you'd screw into the centre of the brick for solidity?
Can you try and unscrew / remove one and see if it's just a surface hook or whether it goes deep into the brickwork?

And if they're on all three walls of the house - are they on places where it wouldn't be possible to grow anything? Eg down side passage? If it was for a plant, it must have been a MASSIVE one to grow all round the house.

They are vine eyes and would have had wires strung between them to support a large climber - most likely a wisteria.

The only thing which makes me suspicious that they could be wall ties or similar is that they're all emerging from the pointing. Surely if you wanted to anchor a plant or trellis to the wall you'd screw into the centre of the brick for solidity?

Putting it into the mortar makes more sense, if you ever decide to remove it then it's easier to patch up than holes in the bricks.

they are not wall ties.

What are they @PigletJohn? Previous structural damage? Something to worry about?

I used to have a Wisteria that grew along the back, the side and the front of an above-average sized house.

It was around 100 years old but had only been trained to go that far in the past 50 years.

@ninkyno

What are they *@PigletJohn*? Previous structural damage? Something to worry about?

vine eyes

as above.