Hi Don & Richard,

Glass has been made in England since Roman times (2000+ years) but as Don points out it was a very expensive commodity generally available only to society elite and certainly not to be found in a simple copyhold farmhouse such as Pembroke Cottage.

When I examined this cottage I did debate whether the LH ground floor bay in the box framed extension could have been used for keeping a small cow since it had a cobbled floor and an opening to the floor above but it is very difficult to confirm this one way or another. There is an adjacent barn with an outshot stable that features lap joinery and this is likely to be even older than the cottage.

Jack Sobon once pointed out to me that burning an open fire inside a room released 100% of its heat into the room whereas almost 95% of heat goes up the chimney in a fireplace and so maybe it wasn't so much cold as draughty and uncomfortable from stinging smoke hanging in the air.

Regards

Ken Hume

Last edited by Ken Hume; 02/09/12 11:33 AM.

Looking back to see the way ahead !