brandsolders

Noun

brandsolder (plural brandsolders)

1. (South Africa) A layer of brick or clay added to a ceiling in a traditional South African house in order to protect against falling thatch in the case of a roof fire.
   • The actual construction of the house was, of course, very much in the Cape Dutch tradition — random stone foundations, mud brick walls, a mud brandsolder and thatch roof.1987, Graham Viney, Historic Houses of South Africa, New York, N.Y.; London; Paris: Abbeville Press, published 1997, →ISBN, page 104, column 1
2. (South Africa, rare) A small attic or loft located immediately above such a ceiling layer.
   • Search your attic or brandsolder, for a complete copy of Ritter's Almanac (with its cherubs which may have been cut by Thibault), would be worth as much as any Cape triangular.1950, In the Land of the Afternoon, H. B. Timmins, page 80