Weald and Downland (3)
The Weald and Downland Museum is a showcase of old English buildings. The exhibits are all genuine period pieces which were moved from their original locations and rebuilt on the museum's land. Some of the farm buildings were simply ruinous and in dire need of tender loving care, but the houses were all "listed buildings" which, nevertheless, had to be demolished to make room for new roads or other modern development.
This photograph shows a timber-framed building which, like the others at the museum, has been re-erected in its original, mediaeval form. This house represents the transition between open halls and modern homes; it does not have a chimney, but it has the ancestor to that important structure. Whilst the main part of the house is still made of highly flammable wattle and daub, one section of the end wall has been built of stone. The fireplace, which had formerly occupied the centre of the hall, could now be moved to stand against this stone wall. One can imagine that this new arrangement might be strongly resisted - for, after all, people love to sit around a fire - but the change brought with it one undeniable advantage. An open, central fire often fills the whole room with smoke. With the fire at one end of the house, the smoke could now be easily contained in its own little room, or "smoke bay".
Follow these links to see photographs of an older house, with a "great hall", and one with a new-fangled chimney.