(no subject)

[endlessrarities]

Like a demented rabid terrier, Winter just won't let go this year.  When I got up this morning, it was snowing outside.  It didn't lie, thank goodness, but as I drove to work, the hills were white.  I got home to find the crocuses at half-mast, and the birds a bit disconsolate.

And now it's story time.  The story of a roof, and a mangled wall, in St Oswald's Church in Grasmere.

I featured the original church structure last night, and mentioned the addition of the Langdale Nave in the late 15th century.  Here's a view of the Langdale Nave:-
 

Here's a detail of the beams that make up the roof.  It's very ornate, and rather unusual  Unfortunately, I'm not sufficiently au fait with my architectural lingo to tell you whether it's king post, queen post, minor earl post or whatever, though I can say for sure that it's definitely not hammer beam:-

Once again, you can see the slots in the beams where the roof used to sit, which again suggests that this was once a self-contained unit associated with a smaller structure. 

The potted history of this church, neatly summarised in a little booklet, states that the roof was subject to further alteration in the 1560s.  This must also be the point in time when the major alterations to that strange dividing wall took place.  The roof timbers on both naves suggest that when the Langdale Nave was added, each nave had seperate roofs - two self-contained conjoined churches, so to speak.  There must have been issues with this alteration - presumably the roof leaked, requiring a major rebuild - so eventually, the central wall was heightened, using material taken from the existing external walls (forming the lower archways, with the high-level archways added to save material and cut down the weight of the wall).  Meanwhile, the existing roof timbers of both structures were retained, which meant that the church could remain in use throughout. 

A new roofline was then cobbled together by adding extra beams that rested on the existing ridge poles.  The gable walls were enlarged too, as this photograph clearly demonstrates.

The end result is a complex roof structure which has performed the task it was built for perfectly adequately (for 450 years!) but as repairs go, it really is a bit Heath Robinson, as it's left the church looking rather lop-sided when viewed from outside!  This is, of course, where the building survey fanatic part of me would like to chip away the render and the whitewash and see what lies beneath.  Masonry never lies, but buildings often go to great lengths to conceal the truth...

I don't know whether they've done dendrochronology on these roof timbers: they may have got their information on repairs and rebuilds from documentary evidence.  Dendro dating would be nice, though - just to see whether the scientific evidence proves the theory that each part of the roof represents the original timbers from the original phase of building.

Buildings...  They're complicated things once you start unpicking them.  And tomorrow we'll be back for yet more..

Oh, and in case you're wondering...  Cast of Thousands arrived today.  First impressions are good - it's recognisably Elbow, with a bit of early Blur and early Coldplay rolling about in there for good measure.  I think it's an album I'll have to listen to a few times - Asleep in the Back took a few plays until I was completely hooked.  As Awkward Second Albums go, this is a good one, and on a second play, there's already a few tracks that are making me go, "Ooh.  I could write to that.'  And that's a very good sign...

Comments

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

I am sending a little spring your way.

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Last week, Spring was just being a little tease...

Ah, what a difference a week makes!!

[fireflylive.livejournal.com]

Dendrochronology. More people need to post about that :D

Absolutely gorgeous roof!

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

cobbled together... It is rather, isn't it? But a fascinating puzzle to unpick!

[clairehawthorn.livejournal.com]

They do seem to rather like their whitewash.........

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

I'm probably not the best person to talk about scientific archaeological things... Dendro I can just about deal with, and RC Dating, too. Until the Marine reservoir effect starts to get involved, and then my eyes glaze over.