Why half timbered?

[Penners]

My brother-in-law was visiting us this weekend, and while admiring some lovely old Suffolk oak frame buildings in Woodbridge, he said: "What lovely half-timbered houses". It has never occurred to me to ask this question before, but what does half-timbered mean?

 

[middi]

I am a bit surprised in your case Penners.

Half timbered houses are an upgrade of the the middle ages " plank & munting" buildings, in turn, these were a "modernisation" of the saxon round houses .
Obviously here we are dealing with buildings in areas abundant with natural timber.

The Saxon scenario consisted of closely abutting round posts trenched in a circular motion with a domed wooden rafted roof and thatched.

More wealth, better joinery construction and knowledge learned, from the ecclesiastic (and rich ) sector of the elite, led to better and very strong plank & munting houses. The Studs ( uprights) being the " muntings", were spaced anything from 6 inches to 14 apart and the gap filled with " planks", these planks on earlier constructions were big logs split in two and grooved between the muntings.
On later adaptations which used less timber the planks were actual " planks" as we know them, between one and two inches or rarely thicker,
in other words " as thick as a plank".

A lot of timber and time was consumed for this type of construction so the "half timber" house hit the scene.

Half timber implying that the space between the studs ( uprights) was more or less equal to the size of the studs used, which was infilled with wattle and daub.

As timber got scarcer and scarser the size of studs decreased and the gaps got bigger and bigger.

around this time Late 18th early 19th cent. there was more or less a complete take over by the brick, especially were there was lack of stone.

Which brings us to the " cement" era.

 

[biffvernon]

I agree Middi, but I notice that Britain Express say:

The term "half-timbering" refers to the fact that the logs were halved, or a least cut down to a square inner section. In other areas of Europe, such as Romania and Hungary, there was no comparable hard wood available, houses were more frequently constructed using whole logs.

Cottage in Echourgnac, Dordogne

 

[middi]

The thing is Biff, I personally wonder if the terminology " half timbered" has been adopted by scholars on the subject to identify the construction of a particular building and totally subject to interpretation to its real definition

A bit like the purpose of the overhanging jetty, a lot of the explanation put forward make sense.

 

[Penners]

I am a bit surprised in your case Penners.

Why? Cos I'm supposed to know stuff? The only thing I really know is how little I know, and if I knew more I'd still know how much more I need to know. You know... :?

Anyway, many thanks for your explanation, which is a convincing treatise on the subject. If I'm honest, however, I tend to subscribe more to your later explanation:

I personally wonder if the terminology " half timbered" has been adopted by scholars on the subject to identify the construction of a particular building and totally subject to interpretation to its real definition

 

[madeline]

Hi there - may I add a comment from France (the picture shows a Dordogne's timber wall - that's a good excuse) Half timbered is opposed to round timber, actually. Also, it means that the timber was processed. Without big machinery, just axes and adzes, the most efficient way to square timber was to split it in the middle using wedges(halving it) and them to adze the other sides roughly square. This method was as well bringing a good stability to the beams, as the heart face, being quarter (sawn) split is very steady.
In summary, your house, Penners, is a timber framed house, with scribed joints, using posts and beams entirely hand cut.
enjoy it
fred

 

[Penners]

Merci de votre explication, Fred. Ou habitez-vous en France?

 

[madeline]

En Normandie (Basse Normandie), exactement à Granville. Not especially a timber frame buildings area, but I work in the timber industry, mainly dealing with oak beams
It helps
cordialement
Fred