Essence of England
“A family business
for 300 years” reads one advertisement; “six
generations of craftsmen” another. A glance through
the Yellow Pages entries for thatchers soon tells one
that this is, even by rural English standards, a long-standing
trade. Yet its charm has made it increasingly popular
with new housebuilders and those looking to achieve a
dramatic ‘makeover’, whilst its energy efficiency,
vernacular heritage and use of local materials make it
a favourite with conservationists and ecologists.
Estimates vary greatly but it seems probable that there
are at least 50,000 thatched buildings in England, more
than in any other European country. Relatively few are
found north of the line betwixt the Severn and the Wash
because, being a product of their locality, thatched roofs
exist where the wheat and reeds used to make them, grow
– or at least used to grow – in abundance (the
heather roofs once used in upland areas are now extremely
rare). The location of those registered with the National
Society of Master Thatchers gives you a good idea of where
thatched houses tend to crop up most often: about half
are in Devon, Hampshire or Dorset, and nearly a quarter
in East Anglia.
The thatched cottage gave us the chocolate box picture
of England because it is such a universally appealing
picture. What puts many buyers off is the assumption that
they are more likely to catch fire. In fact, proportionately
fewer thatched houses than non-thatched suffer from fires
and, because 70% of those that do, arise through poor
chimney maintenance, a little care (or simply lining the
flue) can make the only thatched house in the village,
the one least likely to be placing demands upon the emergency
services.
The price for all that character, insofar as there is
one, is purely monetary. Thatched roofs are highly insulating
(an increasingly
valuable attribute) and can last sixty years. Significant
maintenance every seven to ten years is essential though
and, in practice, many need replacing after twenty to
thirty. Those which last longest are in East Anglia, because
it has less rainfall, a tradition of more steeply pitched
roofs and makes widespread use of the most durable thatching
material, water reed.
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Further west, water reed roofs are rare and almost all
thatching uses straw: either combed wheat reed, or long
straw. In thatching terms, the use of long straw is a
recent innovation, being possible only after the introduction
of the mechanical thresher in 1796. As a result, local
authorities that insist upon its use are sometimes accused
by thatchers of ignoring the ancient and adaptive nature
of their craft. Similarly owners, keen to benefit from
the longevity
of water reed, will sometimes point out that, on a small
and highly localised scale, its use outside East Anglia
was once common. Hampshire, for example, once had commercial
reed beds in its estuaries. That said, basing an argument
in favour of water reed on its credentials as a locally
sourced material is not recommended: most of it is now
imported from Turkey and Eastern Europe.
Sources include the National
Society of Master Thatchers (www.nsmtltd.co.uk) and Hampshire
County Council.
Top left: Hampshire, £750,000 guide
Top right: Gloucestershire, £945,000 guide
Right: Suffolk, £350,000 guide
Right below: Buckinghamshire, £695,000 guide |
