Materials, gardens and features

Materials, gardens and features

Materials

What materials were used in the construction of the house? Were items produced locally or were they expensively transferred from other parts of the country or even from abroad? Were specialist craftsmen needed to work the chosen materials?

Materials act as a good guide to the time period in which a building was constructed.

The use of materials also allows us to consider the amount of investment being made in the original house in terms of expense, time and effort. Revealing the way in which materials contribute to the overall effect hints at the personality and wealth of the owner.

Architectural features

What are the architectural features of the house?

Identifying a specific architectural style can often give a good indication of the time period in which a house was built.

For example: "black and white' timber frames are typical of the late medieval and Tudor period.

Styles do not always fit neatly between precise dates. A variety of reasons can make dating by style alone an unreliable method. A style may vary simply due to constraints of using local materials or personal preference on the part of the owner.

The urge to be 'different'

Breaks with the architectural fashion of the time can be very revealing of other, more personal, agendas in house building. Many factors influencing the way a house looks have nothing to do with the era's fashionable architectural style.

Gardens

The relationship between a house and gardens is important. Often the association gives vital clues to the function of the home and the way the owner presented himself to the world.

Gardens served a whole variety of functions within the country house.

By the seventeenth century the gardens of many country houses produced food. As well as medicines of the more exotic kind not available for purchase locally.

External space also provided entertainment, in the form of pleasure gardens and mazes.

Plants were grown for specific purposes and were ascribed particular meanings. A garden speaks in its own vocabulary, created by choice of plants, juxtaposition and layout.