For such a small Island, Britain has a wonderful variety of building styles. English building history is as interesting as the history of England itself. One of my favourite things about travelling the UK is the variety of vernacular architecture.
The huge variety of regional architecture adds a certain charm and appeal to the small towns of our nation. Though these towns share many common features, the environment is king (as are the people who mould it), giving each locale a distinct character of its own.
Vernacular Architecture in England
Vernacular architecture refers to buildings made with materials local to the region. English building history reflects local building traditions and cultural living practices. Due to the diversity in the geological landscape of England, almost every area has a building style unique to its environment. For example, you couldn’t possibly mistake a wattle-and daub cottage in Devon for a granite townhouse in Cubria .
As the rock beneath the surface changes from flint or granite, so do the buildings and people who shape them. Below is an exploration of the English building history in different regions.
English Building History by Region
Flint and brick in Hambledon Clay tiles in Winchelsea
Forming a curve around the foot of London – from Surrey through to Kent – we have the Weald. This part of England is rich in chalk escarpments, leading to oak and clay being used in regional architecture. Clay produced good oak, and so timber-framed buildings dominated in early years. However, bricks and tiles made from local clays gradually became fashionable. As the forests were cleared, oak became scarce, meaning the space between timbers was covered in lath and hung with tiles. East Sussex towns like Rye or Winchelsea contain many examples of this type of structure.
Weatherboarding in Whitstable Brick and thatch in Romsey
Towards the coastal beaches of Hampshire and West Sussex, flint was used in combination with brick. You can see this in pretty villages like Hambledon. Whereas towards the East, weatherboarding was used prolifically as cladding. A good example of this might be Tenterden or Sandwich – both very pretty Kent towns.
Pargetting in Much Hadham Timber in Saffron Walden
East Anglia has some of the most iconic regional architectural styles.
The clays in East Anglia produced an abundance of good oak and many timber-framed buildings grace the area. Traditional wattle and daub buildings were finished with natural plaster or whitewash. However from the 18th century onwards, colour began to be applied to the exterior to create the colourful streetscapes found in towns like Lavenham. Another local speciality is pargeting, where delicate patterns are formed from plasterwork for decoration. Saffron Walden has good examples.
Flint and brick in Norfolk Flint and thatch near Cambridge
The clays that underlie much of the region also give rise to brick. By the 16th century, clay was used to form pink bricks, often laid in elaborate patterns. There is also a lot of flint in the underlying clays and it’s common to see this mixed with brick or rubble. Swaffenham in Norfolk has some good examples.
Red sandstone in Ross-on-Wye Red brick in Stratford
The damp, heavy soils of the West Midlands produce good oak trees and the timber-framed buildings in the area are among the most ornate in England. West Midland villages are often called ‘black and white villages’ on account of their black oak beams and white painted walls. Stratford-upon-Avon is renowned for its fine timber buildings, while Ledbury is a pretty ‘black and white’ village (well, town).
Ornate timber in Ludlow Stone and timber in Ludlow
In other parts of the region, forms of Triassic sandstone are readily used. Along the Welsh border can be found a bewildering variety of different stones that vary in colour, from deep red to light blue. Ross-on-Wye has some prominent buildings of varying sandstone colours. By the 17th Century, brick was in fashion and as such the region also boasts many red brick buildings.
Whitewash and granite in Ambleside Pink Yoredale Group stone in Appleby
Unlike the south of England, stone is found in abundance in the lakeland and peaks. Apart from some red sandstone found in the south, much of it is dark. The Carboniferous stones of the Pennines and the Ordovician stones and Graintes of Cumbria vary little in colour. Grey is never far from mind. Lighter grey stone is found in peak district towns like Buxton, while darker grey dominates the towns of the Lake District like Keswick. Further east towards the Pennines, the stone is slightly more variable with towns like Appleby characterised by pinkish-grey buildings and Kirkby-Stephen by honey-grey structures.
grainy sandstone in Eyam Warm sandstone in Kirkby Lonsdale
Historically this area was not wealthy before the industrial revolution and the use of hard stone and slate led to a no-frills squat square building. In the Lake District, the stone buildings are often whitewashed and roofed with local green slate. However in the south of the region, clay-rich soils led to many of the buildings being built of local red and cream bricks, with quoins of dressed stone.
Limestone cottages in Oundle Limestone houses in Oundle
The oolitic limestone found in the Cotswolds winds its way up to the East Midlands. The result is many honey coloured buildings being built in stone. These were traditionally graced with a thatched roof. However, in later years slate began to be used for roofing. Traditional buildings of this type can be found in villages like Rockingham with its orange-red stone. The finest stone towns of the region are Stamford and Oundle. However both are predominantly Georgian/Victorian.
Stone and thatch in Great Brington Timber and limestone in Stamford
Beyond Northamptonshire and south Lincolnshire, the north-west has variable stone and so clay was used to create brick buildings. Sometimes this was combined as infill with timber-framed construction. Prior to this however, mud and thatch formed primary building materials. Little of this now survives. Many towns like Louth for example were rebuilt entirely in red brick, replacing former mud and thatch dwellings.
Brown Limestone in Frome Pinkish limestone in Wells
The West Country is among the most diverse of regions in English building history. Unlike the south-east, there was plenty of building stone. The hard granite of Dartmoor was being used in modest buildings from the 1300s, while elsewhere cob (a mixture of mud, pebbles and straw) dominated. By the 17th Century, all stones in the region were being exploited – from soft red sandstones to harder yellow sandstones, blue Lias and honey-coloured Oolite.
Cob houses in Lustleigh White rendered cottage in Polperro
Somerset is characterised by its limestone houses in a honey-brown colour. Frome and Wells are excellent examples. Around the Blackdown Hills, many historic villages consist entirely of cottages built from blue Lias. South of Somerset, Cob houses with thatched roofs still dominate many pretty villages like Lustleigh in Devon. However most of these buildings were refurbished with red brick in the 17th Century which is why Dorchester is primarily a brick town.
Heading further west, stone reigns supreme. Totnes is one of the most diverse of Devonian towns, with stone buildings nestled alongside weatherboarding. Meanwhile in Cornwall, slate and granite form the main building stones of houses. These are often covered with layers of white or pale-coloured lime render. Fishing towns like Polperro are synonymous with this type of building.
Grey sandstone in Barnard Castle Limestone in Alnwick
Like the North West, the North East is blessed with plenty of building stone. However, the region had to rely on earthen walls supported by thin saplings before stone and brick became affordable in the 1600s. The hard carboniferous stone of the Pennines contrast with the stone found in Yorkshire. From the softer limestone in the North Yorkshire Moors, to slightly porous limestone along the West side of the Value or York and sandstone further East, Yorkshire is characterised by its stone built towns.
Brick and render in Whitby Limestone in Helmsley
The contrast in stone in the region is vast. The iron-dark Carboniferous limestone houses of Alnwick bear an almost defensive quality. However, in Helmsley you can find warm grey buildings built of Jurassic limestone with red tile roofs – made from the clays of the vale. Despite the predominance of stone, large parts of the region had nothing but clay. This resulted in brick-making being developed quite early, particularly in Beverley – one of Yorkshire’s finest towns.