BYGONE INDUSTRIES OF THE PEAK: THATCHING
This is one of a series of articles published in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper, on 25th January 1999 (p9), and
reproduced by kind permission of its author, Julie Bunting.
The series is now available as a fully-illustrated paperback, published in 2006
by
Wildtrack Publishing of Sheffield (ISBN 1-904098-01-0) See also this
Review by Alan Jacques.
BYGONE INDUSTRIES OF THE PEAK: THATCHING
Within a lifetime the role of the thatcher, or 'thacker', has
almost been phased out of existence in he Peak, bringing the loss
of a craft which has been unbroken from prehistoric times.
The diminishing number of people who live, or who have lived in
thatched houses will attest that they are warmer in winter and
cooler in summer than other dwellings. Unfortunately thatch was
also favoured for wasps' and bees' nests and there are records of
homes being burned down through attempts to smoke out the
resident insects. Thatch was always a great fire hazard in days
gone by, especially in towns where the flames easily jumped from
roof to roof. This risk was probably in the minds of the bailiffs
and burgesses of Derby when in 1574 they granted a lease on a
property on condition that the incoming tenant 'new build the
same and cover with tyle'. It was eventually discovered that
thatch could be fireproofed with a mixture of alum and lime, a
cost offset into the present century by a reduction in the fire
insurance premium.
One early type of thatch utilised wheat stubble, the short straw
left after the corn had been cut. Sometimes it was applied in
alternate layers between stubble and wet clay or road sweepings
mixed with lime. The result gave a life of less than twenty years
whereas longer lasting materials included wheat straw, sedges,
rushes, flags and reeds. Rye had a good reputation for the length
and strength of its straws and Norfolk reed is still widely used
for its superior durability. Wheat straw and rush were most
commonly used in the Peak. In the days when straw was stooked in
the field after harvest, long lengths were readily available to
the thatcher and he bought direct from the farmer - today's baled
straw would be useless to him. In turn the farmer was a good
customer, thatch being ideal for insulating buildings which
housed livestock.
A rush thatch lasted longer than straw and was more likely to be
used if it grew in the locality. At Castleton we find Rushup
Edge, from where rushes also used to be gathered every year for
the rush bearing ceremony in Peak Forest church, while just
outside the western boundary of the Peak District National Park
are the place-names Rushton Spencer and Rushton James.
Farmers of the Staffordshire moorlands were able to make their
own rush thatch for hay ricks left out in the fields after
harvest. The thatched roof could be lifted off for a quantity of
hay to be taken away, then anchored down again with stakes and
ropes against the winter weather.
STRAW FINIALS
Large scale thatching, however, has always been left to the
expert. His preparations begin by soaking the straw in water to
make it pliable and then straightening it into thick, heavy
bundles called yealms (Old English for a handful) to be bound
with either twine or a straw bond. The yealms are laid tightly
side by side, overlapping, and fixed in place with wooden pegs or
spars, traditionally of hazel or willow. The completed roof is
always designed to overhang the walls to keep them dry in wet
weather.
It is often said that a well-thatched roof will last 80 to 100
years if the ridge is kept in good repair. A thatcher often
topped off his ridge with a straw trademark finial. Into the
latter half of the 19th century, a Derbyshire ridge might have
been surmounted by cocks and hens, small sheaves of corn, house
chimneys, crosses and, in one instance, a little man with a gun
at one end of the roof aiming towards a crow at the other.
In many parts of the Peak gritstone slabs were the most common
type of roofing, surviving while Welsh slate began to replace
thatch from the 19th century. Generally speaking, thatch
continued to be seen longest on poorer, tenanted property. Low
rents meant that landlords could not recover the expense of
strengthening work necessitated by changing to a heavier
material.
Of the few remaining thatched properties in and around the Peak,
the most photographed must be the house now known as Thatch End
at Nether End, Baslow. Another example is seen between Pilsley
and Baslow and will be familiar to those who drive through
Chatsworth Park. Almost hidden from view is a private house on
Nottingham Road at Tansley whereas a charming long cottage with a
low thatched roof stands beside the road on the outskirts of
Ashover. At Idridgehay is a house named South Sitch, dating from
at least the early 17th century. Another thatched cluster
survives around Osmaston, south-east of Ashbourne, in Coronation
Cottages, the village hall and several estate cottages.
The Peak also has a connection with the thatched Revolution House
at Old Whittington, near Chesterfield, where the Fourth Earl,
later 1st Duke, of Devonshire helped to hatch the plot which led
to the Glorious Revolution. The Revolution House can be visited
by the public and admission is free.
© Julie Bunting
From "The Peak Advertiser", 25th January 1999.
© Copyright Julie Bunting, GENUKI and Contributors 1995-2008, &c.
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[Created 8 May 2003. Last updated 10 Mar 2009 - 10:37 by Rosemary Lockie]
