Editing ALVATIA: Cottage Styles (section)

==Construction==

The peasant cottage is a cruck-framed, thatch roofed, wattle and daub structure.

The basic elements of cruck framing are the pairs of oak timbers, leaning against each other in the shape of the bow of a canoe. The timbers are set in stone-lined foundation holes set 12 to 15 feet apart, and meet about 11 to 14 feet off the ground. The distance between the "feet" of a frame is also the distance between pairs of frames; we are calling the resulting square section of floor a "bay."

Once the peasant family and the village wright have erected the cruck frames, a ridge beam connects the gable ends together. Each cruck pair is connected partway up by a beam, forming giant letter "A"s. Roughly hewn lumber, or even straight branches, are used to make the open frame for the roof, and the vertical open framing on the sides and ends of the house. The height of the side walls is about half the total height of the building.

The peasants now fill the open framing of the sides and ends with wattle -- a woven mat of small branches, willow, reeds and grass. Openings are left for the doors and windows. The wattle is then covered, inside and out, with daub: a mixture of mud, clay, animal hair, and dung. The walls are left unpainted, and need repair every few years; a hole can be knocked in one by a powerful kick. The components of the daub smell most strongly when a cottage is new, or gets wet after being dry for a season.

The thatcher, meanwhile, covers the roof frame with a thick mat of reeds and rye straw, tied and pegged to the frame. The roof is laid with a steep 45 degree pitch, to encourage water to run off quickly and to tension the thatch. An opening is left in the thatch over the middle of the hall, for a smoke hole. On the sides, the thatch comes down to about 5 feet off the ground (cattle will eat it if it comes any lower). The thatch quickly becomes a home for spiders and other insects; bits of straw drop off from time to time, and the interior of the cottage smells of either wet or dry hay (depending on the season). A well-made thatch roof will last for decades with proper maintenance (renewing the ridge straw every few years). When winter begins, firewood will be stacked almost up to the eaves along the back wall of the house.

In larger cottages, another loft is constructed above the pantry, with a ladder leading down into the hall. This loft space, which will usually have a shuttered window at the gable end, is used for further storage, or another sleeping space (called a solar).

The exterior doors are made from heavy, roughly hewn oak boards. Two iron staps across the boards end in hinges attached to the doorframe. There is often a considerable gap between the bottom of the door and the stone threshold.

These cottages are very flammable.