|
|
|
Appropriately, the first speaker for our first winter season was, Michael Knights, Senior Conservation Officer for Norfolk County Council. He spoke on "Doing Different: A Study of the Diversity of Historic Buildings in Norfolk"Michael described the work of the Council in conjunction
with other organisations such as The Norfolk Historic Buildings Trust,
The Norfolk Churches Trust, and the Norfolk Windmills Trust. It is important
that groups such as the NHBG co-ordinate their work with existing organisations
to avoid "re-inventing the wheel". |
HOME MEMBERSHIP WHATS ON PROJECTS LIBRARY CONTACT US LINKS  |
| The County
differs from its neighbours in the range of materials used in buildings
and their consequent variety. Clunch and carstone are found in the 'tithe
barn' at Dersingham while Norwich Guildhall has flint flushwork and imported
freestone. Flint as pebbles is used in cottages and churches through much
of the County whereas the combination of red and white chalk at Hunstanton
is unique to that area. Roof materials include reed and long straw thatch
as at Waxham Great Barn while inland areas depend mostly on long straw.
Buildings of earth construction include shuttered clay or cob and wattle
and daub as seen at the recently restored King's Head cottage, Banham. Clay
lump may be faced with flint or brick making recognition more difficult.
|
|
 Is it solid-wall or timber-framed? How old? (Brandon Parva) |
|
|
There is a wide variety of building types in the County including grand houses such as Blickling and Houghton which are well understood. Lesser types which all require more study are follies, dovecotes, windmills, boat sheds on the Broads, early pre-fabricated buildings by Boulton & Paul, industrial buildings such as the gas works at Fakenham, and wartime buildings. Types which may be forgotten are bridges, milestones and such curiosities as the Stalham firehouse-cum-lock up. The coast presents us with lighthouses, seaside buildings such as the Winter Gardens at Yarmouth, piers and buildings such as the curing works at Yarmouth and fishing sheds at Sheringham. The County has more medieval churches than any other plus important monastic sites such as Castle Acre and important non-conformist chapels such as that at Oulton. Round-tower churches are an intriguing speciality. Problems are raised by the number of ruined churches as are issues to do with conservation: witness the Romanesque wall paintings found at St Mary's Houghton-on-the-Hill. Michael's talk was profusely illustrated with slides from the County collection and we look forward to him showing us the remainder of the 200,000 which they have in store! |
|
| Back to Library contents | |