Can you help me date my house?

[Thisoldhouse]

I cannot work out how old our new house is.

It's an L shaped farmhouse with the end part originally stabling , coach house and hayloft.

It was thatched. It is of timber frame with beams running the full length of the house. It has casement windows made of wood. It is rendered but the lower part is unrendered and made of stone.
It has Georgian interior doors. There are four chimneys and all fireplaces are huge inglenooks. Several windows have been bricked up. The front door open onto the street.


My vendor said it was built in 1850. I cannot believe this and think I can see our house on an old map of 1775.


What do you wiser, more knowledgeable people think? Thanks in advance!

 

[Jellyfire]

Hi Thisoldhouse and welcome to the forum. I'm no expert but it certainly sounds older than 1850 to me. I'm sure some of the much more knowledgable members will be along shortly, but in the meantime it would help enormously if you could post any pictures you have, ideally of the exterior and some of the interior details which may help in dating it - eg fireplaces, any exposed timber framing etc.

 

[LadyArowana]

Hi and welcome, I presume that there was nothing useful in the legal docs from the purchase? Our vendors gave us some old leases etc, even though they weren't actually needed for the transfer of ownership. Sadly a lot of things have been destroyed with the change over to the land registry system. You have a good starting point with the old map, is there a local historical society or museum that might have more information?

 

[middi]

The best place to start to look for " age " evidence ( apart from written records, be it deeds, records office, parish records or original part of a bigger estate), is the cavity of your roof area.

If the roof timbers are original it will give a good approximate idea when it was built just by looking at the manner which these timbers are put together and in the method used to attach them to the eaves wall plates.

Also if you have large inglenooks, indicating that the house was probably built approx. at the latest in the middle 18th c. these could have been built ( or inserted ) at a much later date than the original house was built ( they usually were). Evidence of this can be seen in the roof void. I would not take much notice of Georgian facades or windows, these things were " upgrades " of original windows, doors etc.

If you are unable to conclude the approx.age of the property because of lack of knowledge from your partt as to how buildings and building methods have progressed through the ages, this is your chance to start reading on the subject :wink:

Failing that, or the suspense is killin you, ask someone that knows about these old buildings ( start from your local preservation society) to have a good look at it.

Also if you can post some photos ( especially of the roof void and timbers ) we can all talk about it on the forum.

Middi

 

[MdB]

1850 I believe is the standard age put down when the person writing it down doesn't know...

 

[middi]

1850 I believe is the standard age put down when the person writing it down doesn't know...

If this date was believed to be true we would not be discussing it on the forum :wink:

Middi

 

[Thisoldhouse]

Thanks everyone!

Okay, the ceilings appear to be made of reed and wattlestuff. All the fireplaces are huge inglenooks and the beams are all rough hewn and as the house is timber framed it can be seen on the outside wall.


I am reading around th subject and I have a very little knowledge but enough to know a timber framed thatched house can't be built in 1850! :roll:

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Did anyone mention posting some Pictures ?

:wink:

 

[robgil]

Pictures? Surely not? Pictures? Surely not?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

I knew there was something missing from this post, preventing me from using my Sherlockian powers of deduction to give a day, a month and a year, and possibly the name of the boy who cleaned the builders' buckets...
Pictures, please

 

[jocelyn plummer]

It's difficult to date a house without PICTURES

 

[Thisoldhouse]

Lol!!!!

Okay, I will take piccies later and post! :lol: