Thatched Roofs Britain

Since the bulk of the vegetation stays dry and is densely packed trapping air thatching also functions as insulation.

Thatched roofs britain. Loosely speaking thatching is the use of straw or grasses as a building material. In southern england thatch was most commonly made with wheat straw while in east anglia reed was more common. Holiday cottages with thatched roofs as you might imagine from a site like historic uk thatched cottages are our proverbial bread and butter. That s because thatched roofing was a staple of british home construction for centuries.

Most thatch used in england is made of long wheat straw grown specially for the purpose. The materials are layered so any moisture is kept away from the inner roof. A ton tonne of straw thatch using the standard method of working would cover between four and five squares of roof. In fact very little research had been done into thatched roofing history in western europe until the early to mid 1990s.

The final thatched roof is 10 larger than the roof timbers. This method is very old and is still employed by some builders. 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. Thatched cottages and farm buildings were the norm in rural britain for a millennium or more.

Thatched roofs can be made from a variety of materials including straw heather flax water reed or sedge. A good thatched roof not only makes a country cottage picturesque it is also remarkably long lasting. Using thatch for roofing goes back as far as the bronze age in britain. Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw water reed sedge rushes heather or palm branches layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof.

At shearplace hall in dorset there are remains of a round hut that shows signs of thatching. Workmen thatching a new roof. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in both tropical and temperate climates. A square is 100sq ft 9 25sq m.

A roof thatched by a skilled craftsman can last 40 to 50 years without needing refurbishment all the while providing excellent watertight insulation. It s hard to get more retro than a house covered with straw but in england thatched roofs a tradition of eras gone by have become a cool desirable home amenity. In countries like england thatched roofs are common on the oldest residential buildings. Thatch is still employed by builders in developing countries usually with low.

In scotland heather was traditionally used. Published on aug 14 2017 it s hard to get more retro than a house covered with straw but in england thatched roofs a tradition of eras gone by have become a cool desirable home amenity.