Heritage Crafts

Thatching

The creation of a roof covering using plant matter such as brushwood, turf, heather, broom, water reeds or straw.

For thatch ornaments please see Straw Working
CURRENTLY VIABLE
Status
Currently viable
Craft category
Other
Historic area of significance
UK
Area practiced currently
UK
Origin in the UK
Bronze Age

History

Thatch, which goes back as far as the Bronze Age, was the most commonly used roofing material in Britain until the seventeenth century, and continued to be so in many areas until much later. Historically, all sorts of buildings were thatched, not just inhabited dwellings: castles (Pevensey Castle), inns, churches (especially in Norfolk and Suffolk), barns, corn-stores, ricks, hay stacks, milk-stands and platforms, village notice-boards, walls (because they were often made of porous material) etc. Later on in the nineteenth century, the picturesque movement led to a surge in thatched follies and summerhouses etc.

Thatch began to decline in popularity from the seventeenth century as other roofing materials, such as slate and clay tiles, became more widely available. Industrialization of threshing began in 1786 with the invention of the threshing machine by Scotsman Andrew Meikle. Production of straw became more efficient and supplies of thatching straw more abundant. Thatch remained the cheapest roof covering in some parts of England until the 1920s. Furthermore, as villages grew into towns, the rationale of thatch was last. The twentieth century saw a rapid decline in thatching for numerous reasons:

  • two world wars which split thatching families apart
  • the disbanding of large estates which removed the day to day workload thatches relied on
  • the younger generation leaving rural communities
  • farmers no longer thatching barns, sheds buildings and ricks, which had been a reliable source of income for thatchers
  • the widespread use of combine harvesters, which chopped straw into lengths too short of thatching
  • the shortage of thatching spars because estates were no longer managed on traditional lines and there was a shortage of woodsmen making spars.

Before 1940 the training of thatchers involved an experienced thatcher teaching a novice on an actual thatching job. The length of time the training took varied, but probably averaged at about six or seven years before they could work independently. Today, it is generally agreed that it requires about four years training plus another two years thatching before a thatcher is competent.

Techniques

Firstly, a layer of thatch is stitched to the roof timbers. Then the thatcher takes a handful of straw, twists the ear end into a knot and thrusts it tightly into the straw layer already on the roof, until the roof is completed. The ridge may be finished with bobbins or a decorated ridge-board.

Local forms

While methods of application are surprisingly uniform all over the country, the finished roofs vary considerably in style, technique and materials. The material used depended on what was locally available, e.g. brushwood, turf, heather, broom, water reeds or straw (and if stone was more readily to hand, then stone tiles were used instead of thatch), with each requiring slightly different skills. Historically there were three easily identifiable regional traditions: combed wheat reed in the south-west, long straw in the Midlands and southern counties, and water reed in eastern areas, especially East Anglia, and other wetland areas. Expectations have changed over time, innovation of thatchers; developments of materials and ease of transport is giving more choice to owners to attain sustainable roofs and help to secure a future for the industry.

Sub-crafts

Support organisations

References

  • Jenkins, J Geraint, (1978) Traditional Country Craftsmen (Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd)
  • Cox, Jo, (2000) Thatch: Thatching in England 1940–1994 (James & James)
  • Fearn, Jacqueline, (1978) Thatch (Shire)
  • Nash, Judy, (1991) Thatchers and Thatching (Batsford)
  • Billett, Robert, (1979) Thatching and thatched buildings (Robert Hale)
  • Mowbray, John H, (1975) Thatching: in a historical context
  • Collins, E J T, (2004) Crafts in the English Countryside: Towards a Future (Countryside Agency)
  • The Thatcher’s Craft – Rural Development Commision (Battley Bros Ltd 1988)
  • Thatch by Robert West ISBN 07153 8849 5 (1998)
  • Thatches and Thatching – Mrjorie Sanders and Roger Angold 2012 Crowood Press ISBN 978 1 84797 321 4
  • Thatch Advice Centre: https://www.thatchadvicecentre.co.uk/thatch-information/care-thatch/thatching-organisations
National Lottery Heritage Fund
Swire Charitable Trust
The Royal Mint
Pilgrim Trust
Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation
William Grant Foundation

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