Hi Guys,

This week saw me inside a most peculiar building probably dating from the early 1300's. It was fully equipped with decorative saltire braces, clasped purlins and a 5 sided ridge piece - the first time that I have seen this combination. Methinks that it was a very early experiment in the transition from crown post roof to queen post / purlin roof. The most remarkable thing about this house was that the principal members of the frame were almost intact and where missing or changed it was still possible to decipher the pedigree of the frame - not bad for nearly 700 years.

I stood in an upper story (now bed) room and cannot remember the last time when I felt at such ease and peace with myself. This was not a large McMansion building but a simple 3 bay frame 14.5ft wide, 12 ft to the wall plates with 3 equal 10' 7" bays, with the fair facing all in one direction except the last frame.

Changes do happen over the centuries - a 14th century person's building dream is now another person's dreaming place.

Regards

Ken Hume

Hi,

Here is a digi pic of the Saltire braced building.










































Regards

Ken Hume

That's a very tidy and sound-looking building. It's been blessed over the years to have have caring owners with the means to maintain it. I note the mudsill is a good 18" (in my est.) off the ground, on a stone wall. The gable end wall looks to have a long stone sill. I'm surprised there is no post on the first floor between the two windows. What part of England is it in?

Hi Chris,

You are spot on with your original design suspicions.

The left hand sills have been replaced and raised as original sills and post bottoms have rotted off. Check out the difference in elevation of the post bottoms between the left and right hand posts.

There is a middle post in the ground floor (what you call 1st floor) but this is now concealed on the exterior by plaster.

This building is located in Olde Berkshire (now Oxfordshire).

Regards

Ken Hume

So what are the biggest enemies to longevity. I think, Gravity and water. You can't defy Gravity, it helps them stand and fall. Water, yikes.

Ken, was there any evidence of rising damp in the house pictured?

Hi Mo,

Probably the biggest enemy faced by old buildings is an excess of money ! This promotes the desire to make dramatic and sometimes quite inapproriate changes.

The external sills on the building above had rotted off all the way round and had been replaced by cutting the posts shorter and inserting new sills at a higher position but the internal sills were original and these were set on a dwarf stone wall. The area where the house stands was known to flood. In front of the house is an elevated roadway called a causeway which acted a bit like a dam and also provided people with a route that could be walked during winter. The house today appears to be quite dry inside and there was no smell of damp.

Regards

Ken Humne