Hello all, I need some dating help.

[Moo]

That's a nice, massive king joist, with lovely stopped chamfers. Is that a scarfed joint just to the right of the chamfer stop?

Ooh, I do like it when you talk architectural, Penners.

xxx M

 

[Hatster]

Did I see that you were going to take down that greenhouse?

Is it looking for a good home? From the pics, it's just what I could do with.

 

[Penners]

Ooh, I do like it when you talk architectural, Penners.

xxx M

It's more carpentural than architectural, but I'll try and remember to drop the occasional "secret dovetail" or "blind mortice" into the conversation - just to bring a flush to your cheeks.

 

[outlaw]

I hope the little wooden shed in the second picture is your bathroom! :lol:

No mate it is a little boiler room I made to house the oil fueled boiler, it used to stand slap bang in the middle of the inglenook, so I built the hut and replumbed it so it could bugger off and the fire place could be enjoyed again

The green house thing has been tagged by my wife :roll: she wants it for tommyatos and cucumbers.

The change of mortar color is down to many years of previous owners patching it up, I hope to be able to rake out and repoint it this year. Some of the wall looks like it has had some sort of lime render applied to it at one time, making it look grey in places. Again this will all be sorted when time and money allows

The downstairs window has a curved bay in it but the pic doesnt show it very well. All the windows have been changed to new UPVC units. All the old timber unts were 1980s tat and had to come out.

The flowery plant with the white flowers on is an apple/pear in blosom.

Glad you like it, I will put some other pics up of the main entrance side of the house later.

TTFN

Tony

 

[JoceAndChris]

The flowery plant with the white flowers on is an apple/pear in blosom.

Ah well, not as bad as last week's misidentification, which saw me failing to digest lily-of-the-valley having mistaken it for wild garlic. :roll:

Don't go too far Tony, you might get a date on this house yet!

 

[Penners]

The flowery plant with the white flowers on is an apple/pear in blosom.

I reckon it's probably a pear, outlaw. I hope you get a good crop off it.

I like a nice pear.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Don't start us off again!

 

[Penners]

I have absolutely no idea what you mean. :|

 

[outlaw]

I have managed to down load a few more pics for you all to have a look at.

This one is of whats left of the chimney above the inglenook, I have wedged some timbers in because the stonework is unstable. It was removed by the previous owner to make way for an upstairs bathroom

The next pic is along the corridor into the upstairs extension, the timber framework is the original end of the building, the dismantled chimmney is on the right.

These next two pics are of the main entrance of the house, this is the only part with thatch in place still. The thatch is on the porch that has been built in the past 30 years.

 

[Penners]

I have wedged some timbers in because the stonework is unstable. It was removed by the previous owner to make way for an upstairs bathroom

Good grief. "Never mind if the house falls down, dear. Let's have a nice new bathroom."

:roll:

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Now I have my glasses on I can see that the plant in the picture is indeed a fruit tree.... I have managed to identify the one I have, it is Viburnum burkwoodii--- mmmm -- very heady fragrance.

Love the new pics of your house, keep up the good work.

 

[outlaw]

Hi All, just a quick reminder, this house belongs to my mother-in-law, I am the lucky person who is doing all the work on it gradually, it is a great place to work on as there are so many different stages of building appearing. If you like I will update this thread as a sort of blog thingamajig.

Tony

 

[Penners]

Now, now - don't you start blinding us with science. :wink:

 

[outlaw]

Ok I have posted some pics and have seen some comments on the timbers used, and joints are thought to be 17th centuryish.
Anything else I can provide that might help giving a more acurate date? The cottage is shown on maps going back to 1690's
I was told buildings were built with fire places in certain places until a certain date, and then things changed when the heat was found to be wasted, not sure of dates but could there be any truth in this, or is it an urban myth?

Cheers

Tony

 

[Penners]

The problem with dating buildings from features such as timber joints, fireplaces and so on is that these can only ever be an imprecise guide. So many constructional practices have been copied and so many materials re-used over the centuries that it's difficult to be absolutely certain of what you're looking at. This is particularly the case with a building that has been added to, modified and extended - and I get the impression that this is true of yours.

Perhaps the best way of establishing the date of the original building on that site is from the parish records.

 

[Hatster]

Of course, having a building shown on that site in early maps doesn't mean it's the same building, but it might offer some clues. Especially if your cottage is a recognisable shape rather than a plain square / rectangle - you can see the distinctive T-shaped floorplan of the core of our house appear on maps very early on.

 

[outlaw]

Cheers guys.
I can point the Mother-in-law in the right direction now. Parish records seem very vague, the old barn next to it used to be a slaughter house and the cottage had something to do with the bakery, I have been doing a "Time Team" in the garden because there seem to be a few earthworks dotted about. Its getting more interesting by the day. I will have to get out my dads old metal detector when I can afford the 150 odd batteries it needs :roll:

Tony

 

[Penners]

I will have to get out my dads old metal detector when I can afford the 150 odd batteries it needs

I shouldn't worry about that, because the first things you find will almost certainly be 150 old batteries.

 

[outlaw]

I will have to get out my dads old metal detector when I can afford the 150 odd batteries it needs

I shouldn't worry about that, because the first things you find will almost certainly be 150 old batteries.

I like it :lol:

Tony