   |
Construction
Timber Framing
In order to make the most of your visit, you may wish to follow some of the themes that connect individual exhibits. On these pages we suggest three such themes, with references to the buildings through which they can be traced.
Timber framing
Probably the most interesting technical aspect of traditional buildings is the development of timber framing. Timber was the main material for most medieval buildings. From the late 16th century brick and stone were more often used for the walls of houses, but timber has remained the best material for roof structure, partitions and floors, up to the present day.
It is in roof structure that the development of carpentry can most easily be seen. The earliest pattern, dominant in south-eastern England until the mid 16th century, is the crown post roof. Examples can be seen at the Museum in Bayleaf, Winkhurst Farm, the upper hall from Crawley, the house from North Cray, the Horsham shop, and the barn from Cowfold. The crown post stands on the centre of the tie beam (the main cross beam of the roof) and supports a ‘collar purlin’ which runs underneath the collars that join each pair of rafters.
Also found in medieval roofs, but less common than the crown post, is the ‘clasped purlin’, so called because the purlin is clasped between the principal rafter and a collar or strut. After the mid 16th century this became the dominant pattern. The Museum has two early examples — the medieval roof structure of the house from Walderton, and the hall from Boarhunt. The latter is interesting as it is a rare example of a combination of cruck construction with clasped purlins. Later examples can be seen in Poplar Cottage, Pendean, the barn from Lee-on Solent, and several of the smaller buildings.
In the 17th and 18th centuries another pattern became common, in which side purlins are tenoned into the principal rafters in each bay. The barn from Hambrook is an example of this type of roof construction. The purlins are staggered in level from bay to bay, to avoid having tenons in line, and each rafter is in two halves, tenoned in above and below the purlin.
Several of the exhibits dating from the 18th and 19th centuries show how carpentry developed in that period. The best example is Whittaker’s Cottages, in one side of which the framed structure has been left exposed for visitors to see. The carpentry methods used in this building were traditional, the frames all being prefabricated and scribed, even though the design of the frames reflect its late date.
The walls of timber-framed buildings also have patterns characteristic of their place and period. The medieval houses at the Museum are good examples of the style of framing with large rectangular panels and curved diagonal braces. Bayleaf and the house from North Cray have a pattern known as ‘Kentish framing’ in the front elevations of the chambers, a central window set between a pair of curved down-braces. It is interesting to compare this with the similar arrangements on the front walls of the upper hall from Crawley and the Horsham shop, a pattern which was widely used in urban buildings throughout England.
The market hall from Titchfield and the wing of Longport Farmhouse have walls of close studding, a form that can be seen in many buildings in southern England, particularly those of high quality or importance. Pendean farmhouse and Poplar Cottage shows the pattern which became dominant after the mid 16th century, with square panels arranged two to each storey of the building.
