Masonry Footings

[Squirl]

So I was perusing the building code again for ideas. (I know. Dork.)

I came across R403.1 General. All exterior walls shall be supported on continuous solid or fully grouted masonry or concrete footings, crushed stone footings, wood foundations, or other approved structural systems which shall be of sufficient design to accommodate all loads according to Section R301 and to transmit the resulting loads to the soil within the limitations as determined from the character of the soil.

http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/irc/2009/icod_irc_2009_4_sec003.htm?bu2=undefined

Has anyone ever seen a masonry footing?  I have only ever seen concrete footings. 
I was thinking this may be another option for sites with difficult access.  The concrete truck tore up my site a bit.  I would like to understand this option a little better.  Does anyone know much about it?

[UK4X4]

I have them on my old house in the UK

basically a set of bricks each course 2-4" wider than the course above spreading the load across a wider area

similar to this in Pic A


walls above are twin sets of bricks with a 2" cavity and wall ties- my house was built with sand and lime- no cement and certainly no cement trucks- horses and carts and probably just a tram !



In the US you could probably build something similar with your larger concrete blocks

[Redoverfarm]

That description incorporates a lot of different designs.  Here are a few examples.

http://www.google.com/search?q=masonry+footing+details&hl=en&rlz=1T4TSNA_enUS401US438&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=SWQ-UNvfDaq86QH08oDAAw&ved=0CCAQsAQ&biw=1093&bih=434