How to Date a house

[Anonymous]

Hi again.... ok so as per my last post... we've lived in our cottage for about 18 months now and the repairs etc are in full swing... One thing that always puzzled me was that the listing say it's probably 18th C but I don't seem to be able to verify it. I've tried contacting the people who look after the estate and I've drawn a blank. The Dorset heritage centre found some vague information but again nothing concrete (whoops, limecrete I mean ). I know the house was the old school masters house and I know that it once was thatched (as the roof timbers are underneath the tile roof currently in place).... so short of cutting it in half and counting the rings is there any way of telling the age. We tend to say that it was built around 1750 as that fits with the listings "probably 18th C" but it would be great if I could pin it down to at least the right century !

thanks in advance, for any tips.

Paul.

 

[Flyfisher]

Might be worth looking at old maps and trying to see when your house appeared.

 

[Kearn]

assuming it was never timber framed? and the brick is original, a decent heritage stone/brick mason will be able to approximate the date of bricks, although nothing to say that they were originally fired for use there - but if the entire house is the same brick, then recycling will be less likely. you can do a decent amount yourself to estimate at least the period, based on size, uniformity, construction method and bond pattern, whether they are glazed, is there decorative diapering which was common for the earlier Georgian period, what thickness is the pointing and what is the type of finish detail. also, detail, shape and size of openings will give a fair few clues, as will chimneys (although possibly later additions so can be misleading).

the best place though for sure, is the roof structure itself which tends to avoid being messed with - look at the style of rafter/truss/gable/purlin construction and also how the individual rafter are secured at the ridge. for a school masters house, early to late Georgian period, I wouldn't immediately expect thatch.

cellars can also be quite telling, if they haven't been messed with too much. also iterations, additions, deletions to the building over its life will help tell its story...

assuming it was once part of manorial estate? then your local historic records office will have a great selection on historic maps and details on ownership / tenancy to trace the history of the house which is a time consuming but fascinating process.

PS. listing details, I have always found, often need to be read with a large pinch of salt...!

 

[Anonymous]

Ok great, thanks for the info.... where to find a decent heritage stone / brick mason though that is the question... bond pattern I'm assured is either English or Flemmish bond, they don't appear to be glazed as such i.e. not shiny quite sandy, I don't know what decorative diapering is so can't comment on that... pointing thickness (on what seems to be original that is) is about 4mm. In terms of the roof as I mentioned it's tricky... Originally it was a thatched roof, the timbers are still holding up the newer roof (I know this because when we had it retiled, it was hanging off !!) but obvs now I cant see the original timbers and inside the attic is lime plastered but there's two long purlin's and a much newer a frame (20th C I'd guess) in the middle of the room. There's no cellar (that I've found so far!!). I'd post a picture but I've no idea how to do it...

 

[Anonymous]

I also know the porch is a 19th C addition as it has a date plaque 1850...

 

[livias]

Oops!

 

[Anonymous]

Oops!

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