2011 NEWS 2011 NEWS 2011 NEWS 2011 NEWS 2011

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20,000 hand-made shingles later ……

1st April 2011 - OBee volunteers complete the shingle covering of their 17th century style roof

About the new roof

Volunteers and trainees from local villages and towns (Battisford, Combs, Hitcham, Onehouse, Beyton and Offton. Stowmarket, Sudbury and Ipswich) and further afield (Norfolk, Cambridge and Buckinghamshire, also Spain, France, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Madagascar) have just completed Orchard Barn’s new shingle roof. During the last nine months, over 70 people (not all at the same time) have come and learnt, and practiced, traditional carpentry and green woodworking skills.

Using traditional hand tools such as Froes, Draw Knives and Cleaving Brakes, participants hand-made 1400 yards of Sweet Chestnut battens and 20,000 rustic wooden roof tiles from local Oak.

Of course, before any of this work could start, Listed Building Consent had to be obtained and trees sourced as locally as possible. Our new roof rafters were 50 year-old oaks ‘thinned’ from a wood in Battisford. In keeping with the age of the barn (17th century) many of these trees were hand-sawn into shape using a traditional method of tressles and a 2-person saw.

It was like a medieval timber yard!

The reconstruction of the 17th century pitch roof was taught as a series of courses by master craftsperson Rick Lewis of Traditional Oak Carpentry. As well as improving carpentry skills, fitness levels increased too.

The shingle roof replaced a 1940’s tin roof that was past its ‘use-by’ date. The pitch of the new roof was determined by the 17th century rafter housings that became visible once the tin was removed. Although the barn would have been thatched originally, cleft shingles were also widely used as roof coverings. We chose to use wood rather than straw because the craft of making shingles is much more accessible than thatching!