| Thatching Little England Cottage
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The new roof | |
Thatched cottages and farm buildings were common in rural Britain for a millenium or more. It was not only cottages that were thatched, in 1300 the great Norman castle at Pevensey (Sussex) bought up 6 acres of rushes to roof the hall and chambers. Being built early in the reign of Elizebeth I when most middle or lower class housing had thatched roofs, Little England Cottage has maintained many features of the original construction including its thatched roof. In those times bundles of straw or reed approximately 8" or 9" in diameter and 3 to 7 feet long were piled on to the timber roof frame amd held in place with wooden pegs or stakes. In many case the roof was the only place where animals could find warmth so many of them including cats, dogs as well as rats and mice lived under or on the thatch roof. During periods of severe rain the thatched roof became slippery and the animals curled up on the outside slope would slide off, giving rise to the old saying "It's raining cats and dogs". Whilst protecting the occupants from extremes of the weather a thatched roof maintains the property interior warm in winter and cool in the hottest summer; Little-England's interior remains suprisingly constant at about 19C with a little aid from central heating during the colder periods of the year. As with all things, thatching does have a finite life and after a survey carried out in the autumn of 2005 it was decided to re-thatch the roof of the cottage. In glorous sunshine work on re-thatching Little England Cottage started in April 2006. Starting at one corner the roof was stripped of old thatch which was in places brittle after being on the roof for approximately 25 years. Layers of bundled reed were then carried up and laid in courses upwards from the eaves to the ridge with the butts of the stalks exposed. Each layer is held in place with stainless steel wires and the fixings of each course covered by the layer above. When it rains water striking the apex of the roof is transferred down the surface from stem to stem of the thatch material until it finally drops from the eaves. Thatched roofs do not have guttering but due to the overhang deliver rain water directly to the ground well clear of the buildings side walls. There are two ridge styles used on thatched roofs in this country; flush or "wrap-over" and block cut. Whilst visiting South Africa some years ago we did come across thatched properties with clay ridges. Traditionally the Dorset ridge was flush with the plane of the roof with cross-stitch like patterning made from lengths of split hazlewood (liggers) clamped into the ridge spars. The weather, having remained hot and sunny throughout the time work was being undertaken, turned to light rain on the day the ridge was started. The ridge of Little England is straw, flush with the roof plane and held in place using traditional hazelwood liggers. As if by order along came the rain which helped by making straw and hazelwood more pliable and thus enabling a good covering to be achieved in this most vunerable part of the roof. Once the roof is fully covered the thatch material is dressed into shape with the use of a legget to give that lovely smooth appearance associated with thatched roofs. Before about 1550, the date Little-England was built, roofs were relatively simple in design. After that date rooms started to become more airy and better lit through the introduction of half dormers: the window cuts into the wall but projects above the line of the eaves. Here the thatch is "eyebrowed" in gentle sweeps that rise above the roof plane and blend in gracious curves leaving no valleys. After more than three months of work the roof of Little England was finally finished and the new golden thatch gave the building a refreshed look. With scaffolding removed and the final remains of old thatch cleaned away Little England Cottage returned once more to the peace and quiet of its surroundings.
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