http://www.aplotonthelandscape.com Our adventure into the world of Self Building Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:51:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 http://www.aplotonthelandscape.com/2007/12/11/how-we-built-britain/#comment-48 Chris Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:53:43 +0000 http://www.aplotonthelandscape.com/2007/12/11/how-we-built-britain/#comment-48 Just for the record, what we see of Britian's architectural heritage, particularly in vernacular building has very little to do with what one could call the building of labouring folk. By far the majority of pretty cottages we see now were built as the homes of at least the yeoman classes. If labouring families did live in them it was when they became unfashionable and then were often sub-divided to house multiple families. The housing of the ordinary working people rarely survives, it was little more than hovel quality. I do get so frustrated when people see quaint little cottages and assume that this was the quality of housing for the many. By the time ordinary labouring families got to live in them they were little more than hovels themselves. It is only because of the superior build quality of the timber framing or stone build that kept the places upright that these wonderful buildings have surivived for us to enjoy today. Yes, the majority of today's architecture is not going to survive the test of time, but should we deny people a decent place to live just because we would want to preserve the country's architectural heritage? There will be enough left for our ancestors to enjoy. As long as those we call afford it and who have the vision to leave architecturally sound and aesthetically pleasing structures which reflect current fashion and ability we will do OK. And of course thanks to the stringent planning laws the current crop of ancient buildings on the whole will remain relatively safe. Just for the record, what we see of Britian’s architectural heritage, particularly in vernacular building has very little to do with what one could call the building of labouring folk. By far the majority of pretty cottages we see now were built as the homes of at least the yeoman classes. If labouring families did live in them it was when they became unfashionable and then were often sub-divided to house multiple families. The housing of the ordinary working people rarely survives, it was little more than hovel quality. I do get so frustrated when people see quaint little cottages and assume that this was the quality of housing for the many. By the time ordinary labouring families got to live in them they were little more than hovels themselves. It is only because of the superior build quality of the timber framing or stone build that kept the places upright that these wonderful buildings have surivived for us to enjoy today. Yes, the majority of today’s architecture is not going to survive the test of time, but should we deny people a decent place to live just because we would want to preserve the country’s architectural heritage? There will be enough left for our ancestors to enjoy. As long as those we call afford it and who have the vision to leave architecturally sound and aesthetically pleasing structures which reflect current fashion and ability we will do OK. And of course thanks to the stringent planning laws the current crop of ancient buildings on the whole will remain relatively safe.

]]> http://www.aplotonthelandscape.com/2007/04/04/a-kick-in-the-balls/#comment-3 A Silver Lining? at A Plot on the Landscape Wed, 25 Apr 2007 17:15:57 +0000 http://www.aplotonthelandscape.com/2007/04/25/a-kick-in-the-balls/#comment-3 [...] Register « A Kick in the Balls [...] [...] Register « A Kick in the Balls [...]

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