The 'Tudor House,' built about 1620 they say, was home to a Bocking Clothier. Weaving was the strength of Bocking economy. For many years this highway saw pilgrims pass through the hostelries prepared for them on their journey to Bury St Edmunds a trade that passed away after Henry VIII decided to run the English church his way. Flanders weavers moving into Essex developed their cloth trade, a trade that lasted well into the late 20th century. Clearly the builder of this house knew his business well! Renovated in 1974 it is once again a family home. However it also stands at a busy crossroad and suffers constant and heavy traffic outside the door. Made of hand cut oak timber and wattle and daub walls, a few locally made bricks used in creation of a chimney and tiles also made nearby, the building has stood the teats of time. The small ground floor windows would have used expensive glass while shutters would have been on upstairs windows.
A close up of the bressemer, the wooden beam supporting the jettied upper floor.
The end view has changed somewhat from a 1920 picture. Not only does the building lean forward much more it has also lost the brick chimney that rose up on the outside passing the window above. The door has been inserted since then also. I suspect the open hearth, where all cooking would have been done in medieval times, was the reason for the chimney stack here. Gas and electric cookers would enable a removal, and the dangerous lean might have demanded a removal of the chimney itself.
This period saw Henry VIII take the throne, the reformation, Henry dump the Catholic church so he could dump his women, burnings at stake, Elizabeth take over, and bales of cloth from here enable the town to do very well thank you. It was a truism that the Flanders weavers always told the truth. Buyers took to not inspecting the 'bays' when delivered because the weavers always gave what was promised, and of good quality!
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9 comments:
One would imagine an old building like that must be a massive fire hazard.
That building is in competition with the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Great old building, though.
I hope someone will consider the house worth saving and fix that lean before it does irreparable damage.
Ah, the good old teats of time!
Nice bit of oak-work though.
Good old Henry VIII certainly left his mark in History. Great old house, tudor houses are so small, people were smaller in the past!
Lee, Fire hazard maybe but few have been burnt down in 500 years!
Jerry, That lean is safe enough, others are worse.
Soub, Teats to you too!
Soub, All oak beams.
Alan, Henry did make a name for himself. People were smaller, certainly after the war people grew taller!
I was very interested, when I was learning about timber-frame construction, to discover that even when these buildings were fairly new, sloping floors and out of plumb walls were the norm, that the concept of straight timber is relatively new to us, in mediaeval times, one worked with the natural bow and grain of the tree, that wood was cut from a full trunk by splitting with wedges rather than sawing, that adze and axe were the main tools.
And the oak was worked fresh, wet, and 'green', not dried and seasoned. Joints were mortised and tenoned, wedged and pegged, so as the wood dried, they pulled tighter, but also the house would distort and twist over the first few years. It wasn't seen as a defect, it was just how things were pretty much everywhere.
The house pictured though, I'd want to investigate the foundations and footings, maybe pump some concrete grout in to stop that lean going any further.
Maybe a steel frame and a bit of jacking, with the steel removed after levelling.
I was just musing, Adullamite, re the fire hazards. My comment wasn't intended to be derogatory in any way.
One would think with all the timber used and the age of the buildings that fire could be a problem; but perhaps it's the type of timber used in the construction of these buildings of that past era that saves them...again, just a thought...perhaps the timber is hardwood or a timber that is not easily flammable.
Perhaps, I just don't have a clue! That's another option to consider! ;)
Soub, Very interesting that. I have not found any info yet regarding the building practice but that sounds right. many such buildings lean.
Lee, Funnily enough the chip shop (1950's build) round the corner caught fire the other day, electrical fault. And only today I came across a 1644 order that all houses provide ladders against their chimneys to prevent fire. I suppose the hearth was where most fires originated.
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