Thatch Roof England

The straw is built up in layers.

Thatch roof england. At a time when there was a shortage of roofing materials in rural england a thatched roof on cottages was common among the poor. Over 250 roofs in southern england have base coats of thatch that were applied over 500 years ago providing direct evidence of the types of materials that were used for thatching in the medieval period. Medieval wheat grew to almost 6 feet 1 8 m tall in very poor soils and produced durable straw for the roof and grain for baking bread. Thatching continues to be used in developing countries using locally sourced materials.

Holiday cottages with thatched roofs as you might imagine from a site like historic uk thatched cottages are our proverbial bread and butter. The longest durability for thatched roofing design may reached 65 years. Thatched roofs are stylish expensive and quintessentially english. It can raise the selling price of a house and proves a good investment.

Caption w hen the bronze age inhabitants of england wanted to put roofs on their houses they gathered up the materials at hand long stemmed plants such as wheat or straw. Believe it or not thatch is an incredibly durable material and depending on the type of thatch you have. They d bundle the plants together and pile them atop one another to create a thick roof that sloughed off rain and kept the house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. At the time of writing we currently offer 50 properties across england and scotland with the majority of these cottages in the southern english counties of kent cornwall gloucestershire including the cotswolds and oxfordshire.

Most thatch used in england is made of long wheat straw grown specially for the purpose. They are also a lot of work to construct. There is a good chunk of thatched properties across the uk that are listed. A roof thatched by a skilled craftsman can last 40 to 50 years without needing refurbishment all the while providing excellent watertight insulation.

Using thatch for roofing goes back as far as the bronze age in britain. Most of the reed used in british thatched roofing today is imported usually from hungary. At shearplace hall in dorset there are remains of a round hut that shows signs of thatching. Loosely speaking thatching is the use of straw or grasses as a building material.

After about 40 to 50 years the top layer is stripped off and replaced. Page needed almost all of these roofs are thatched with wheat rye or a maslin mixture of both. Advantages of a thatched roof having a thatched property adds value to your home. Combed wheat might stand for 20 to 40 years ad long straw will reach 15 to 25 years.

Roof thatching used to be a by product of agriculture but now it s grown specifically. England s thatched roofs the thatched roof in various forms has been used in tropical and temperate areas of the world. Based on the design thatched model is quite unique in a soft shape.