Research for the Worthys was carried out by the
authors and the Worthys Local History Group. The
study area covered four Hampshire villages in the
Itchen Valley, which all have ‘Worthy’ in their
place names, and have all been in existence since
the Anglo-Saxon period. There are many
timber-framed buildings, some of which originated as
farmhouses, and nearly all are now listed. 25
buildings featured in the survey which took 3 years
to complete, the final survey being interrupted by
Covid.
Bill showed us plans and photographs of a selection
of the buildings to illustrate developments in
building style and technique, from open halls with a
central fire, cross passage, and service area (which
were often later sub-divided and floored) to
buildings with internal fireplaces and wooden
chimneys. The traces of these structures give vital
clues to the dates of the buildings, together with
the style of roof structure: crown post or queen
post. Soot-blackened roof timbers also help to date
a structure. He explained about the use of
dendrochronology – and isotope-supported
dendrochronology which is a very recent refinement
of the technique. The ages of the oldest timbers
ranged from 1406 in Headbourne Worthy Rectory
through the 16th century to 1615 at Abbots Worthy,
which is a very late date for the middle 3 bays of a
larger property.
Bill explained that cruck- and box-frames often
survive under later modifications. By the late 16th
century in Hampshire open hall houses had evolved
into fully floored and chimneyed transitional
buildings. He mentioned that outward appearances
can be misleading. The Cart & Horses pub in Kings
Worthy has a painted date of 1760, but it was a
farmhouse before that, and was remodelled in 1769 as
turnpike road house. It has 1690s timbers
internally.
Many thanks to Bill for his interesting talk.
