Then and now

Then and now

Then;

It always amazes me, how time flies. Over the last two years we have done several projects including a very large one, where due to the dilapidation that had ensued, as a result of decades of neglect and inappropriate use of modern materials. The house was in a serious and somewhat dangerous state. Rather sadly, this meant we had to dismantle and reconstruct the central and oldest part, of a clients home. Which had begun life as a simple two bay, jettied, end smoke bay cottage. Circa 1550 -1600. Not only did we carefully rebuild, using every scrap of historic fabric that we could save but we also sourced matching new and salvaged materials, in order to complete the project. The works included the repairing of many of the main, historic supporting timbers and renewing other structural timbers, re- wattling with hazel coppiced from the garden and re using the historic daub. Laying new elm floors, re- roofing, new lead work and creating bespoke, hand made replacement oak, Yorkshire sliding, windows. To solve the issue of spreading, caused by historic removal of the tie beams. We also designed and handmade a bespoke arch braced, central truss, with bosses that represented our clients family. We did so be certain that in the future, the new aspects of the conservation work, could not be mistakenly identified as original and therefore not risk the miss reading of the history of the house . The result was amazing and the house went from being a sad wreck on the point of collapse, to once more being a beautiful historic home, that will stand true, hopefully for generations to come.

Now:

One of the aspects of our work that I love as much as my beloved wattle and daub, is doing survey work. Whether we are surveying a building as part of a listed building application or because the home owners are interested to know the history of their house. I simply love researching the amazing, hidden histories, of our nations, historic homes. When we are charged with doing a survey for a client, we never know what we might un cover. What exciting finds we might make. One such historic significance survey we undertook recently, proved to be fascinating. The cottage appeared to all intense and purposes, be a very humble two bay, end smoke bay cottage, of no particular significance. Research at first, revealed almost nothing that our clients didn’t already know. But our physical survey had thrown up some interesting questions, which suggested more detailed and painstaking research might reveal something interesting. Although we had an historic family name, which kept cropping up in connection to the house. I still kept drawing blanks, yet there was a tantalising hint at of more to come. In a moment of frustration, whilst I was sitting pondering. I saw an interesting but very obscure fact about the near by village, which I decided to read up on. In that moment, purely out of historic interest, like Alice, I went down a rabbit hole in search of not a white rabbit but looking for connections that might be of any interest and importance to the brief given to us by our clients. What I subsequently discovered, turned our clients home from being somewhere they loved in its own right, to an being closely associated to what was a fascinating and important time in our countries history. Their home it turned out, was so much more than just a pretty little cottage. It had been a part of the history of glass making in the area and had been owned by one of the foremost glass blowers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in the country. Of course, not all historic homes, will prove to have quite such an amazing hidden story to tell. But nevertheless, the social histories, the everyday lives of the people, the reasons that they altered or enlarged their houses, the fashions of the time, the changes of monarchs and the fortunes of our country through factors such as war or famine. All combine to weave around the fabric of every old home, both visible and invisible threads which connect those houses to their past and so to the present. And today, despite the inevitable march of time, we can research the history and with patience, uncover the hidden histories. Make modern sense of our old houses and homes, both for today and as apart of the future of our nation. One of the nicest aspects of research and indeed conservation for me, is to be a part of a story if only for a few days or weeks.. All most without exception, our clients seek to understand both the construction and social history of their home, as much from love as they do from need. Most people purchase an old house, because they love the aesthetic appeal of the appearance of an old building. Others do so, because for them the atmosphere within is so very different from that of a sterile, new and modern home. And for some, the idea of sharing their home with past inhabitants is both fascinating and irresistible. It is rare, that whilst working, either on conservation or surveying, I do not become aware of the echos, left within the fabric of old buildings, by the previous owners and occupants. The best experience I have had to date, was that of a small brown and white dog that trotted up to stand at my side, whilst seated at the kitchen table with clients. Naturally I put my hand down to stroke it, only for my hand to pass clean through, even though in the periphery of my vision I could still see the dog. Turned out that about sixty years earlier, the then owner, had a small, brown and white wired haired terrier. The Lady of the house was delighted to be sharing her home, the gentleman less so. But as with uneven floors, low ceilings and what are considered by modern standards to be small rooms. Ghosts are one more fascinating aspect of historic home living.

For the future: Like the houses we conserve and research. We are getting older and therefore we are gradually winding down the physical work in favour of the research work. So,if you have a conservation project that you want or need to undertake...……