Tudor Houses

Tudor Houses were typically a Half Timbered construction based on either a Cruck Frame or, more expensively, on a Box Frame. The timber frames were peg-jointed together and provided the main structure. The spaces in between the frames were filled with Wattle and Daub, mortar, brick, stone or similar unless needed for doors and windows. Limitations in glass-making techniques meant that windows were small and made up our of several smaller pieces of glass held together in a lead lattice framework.

The Oak timbers were usually left bare with little evidence they were painted or coated with tar to protect them against rot. The infill panels were plastered over and may have been Whitewashed or Lime Washed for protection - in some areas this was mixed with pig's blood to produce a pink colour.

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Note: The classic Black and White was not very comon during the Tudor period, but is the result of a Victorian Tudor Revival later in the 19th Century, and many modern houses are still offered with a Mock Tudor effect.

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Roofs were steeply pitched and covered with thatch, slates or stone tiles and floors were simply compacted earth covered with reeds or rushes or flagstones. In towns, shop-frontage was at a premium along the small narrow streets and so upper floors were often extended to overhang the ground floor and create more living space upstairs. In places, these overhangs, or Jetties reached across to each other so much as to become a nuisance - especially to people on horseback!

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(For further work, a very detailed description of The Construction of Medieval and Tudor Houses in London, by Dr John Schofield of the Universtity of Cambridge Department of Architecture, is available as a download for educational purposes).

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