History Of Thatched Roof Cottages

The thatched roof is the feature we associate most with the irish cottage.

History of thatched roof cottages.

Thatched roof cottage in wendlebury england. In both thatchers and thatched buildings over the last couple of centuries. Much later in the late 18th century thatched cottages became an extremely popular theme with the picturesque painters who tried to portray an idealized romantic sanitized version of nature. This impossibly quaint semi detached thatch roof cottage is located in the small village of wendlebury in oxfordshire.

A skilled thatcher uses domestic cane to create these beautiful roof lines. A thatched pub the williams arms at wrafton north devon england. Thatched cottages are one of the most beautiful symbols of ireland. Even into the late 1800s thatching was really the only roofing material available to rural residents in england s countryside.

Most thatch used in england is made of long wheat straw grown specially for the purpose. Wouldn t it just be the perfect place for a summer in england or a writing holiday. At the time of writing we currently offer 50 properties across england and scotland with the majority of these cottages in the southern english counties of kent cornwall gloucestershire including the. For every six or seven thatchers appearing in the 1851 census.

Holiday cottages with thatched roofs as you might imagine from a site like historic uk thatched cottages are our proverbial bread and butter. Churches also used thatch frequently. These traditional irish dwellings dot the irish country side built by a process kept safe by generations. So why do so many cottages in england have thatched roofs.

There is now less than one. Thatch became a symbol of poverty after other materials became available but has seen a resurgence in popularity especially among the wealthy. A good thatched roof not only makes a country cottage picturesque it is also remarkably long lasting. P erhaps the most important single event in the history of the craft of thatching is the massive decline.

A bit of tea some scones a good book. In 1300 the great norman castle at pevensey sussex bought up 6 acres of rushes to roof the hall and chambers. This cane plant grows well in moist soils in temperate and fresh climates making it easily available in ireland. Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw water reed sedge cladium mariscus rushes heather or palm branches layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof since the bulk of the vegetation stays dry and is densely packed trapping air thatching also functions.

But thatched cottages.