Thanks @malcolm - makes sense, I wondered if you were referring to the timber used in the construction of the previous smoke hood, (assuming a timber hood structure with lime render), or as it happens, the frame of the house itself.@Kearn I'm not sure what my house had to begin with. The first record I have of the house is from 1646 when it became a pub. I did some reading and it seems houses were normally built with brick chimneys by around 1600 and wooden chimneys were outlawed in the late 1600s.
My timber frame passed through the chimney and had pamment tiles on edge on the inside and outside of the timber frame. The floor on the inside was made from huge bits of timber with random mortice joints that I guess started life elsewhere. There weren't any clues what might have been there originally but it looks like the brick chimney was an addition to the house. Bricks are wide and short so probably from some point in the 1600s.
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The timber frame had been covered in concrete render for 100 years and the beetles had eaten it. It had to be replaced. I replaced the timber in the chimney with brick but kept the pamment tiles.
I like the way the building can be read from this gable. The original timber frame would have been full height. A lean to with no foundations was added to the rear probably in the 1700s. The bricks remain up to the height of the gas meter. Then the lean to was raised to 2 story height around 1850, then the roof was raised further in 1920 when they put the new front on. You can see the diagonal line at the top of the extension where the brick colours change.
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We’ve hit a real head scratcher with our new place… too much detail for now! but I may post and see if anyone has any wisdom to share!
Cheers for the reply - reading them is great, although sometimes you think you have the timeline, then something completely flips that possibility!