The Workshop

The pictures above show the workshop .It has a timber frame created primarily of green oak,and reclaimed timber.The cill of oak was split,hewn and laid heart-side down directly onto some flints and brick rubble.Instead of leveling the area,as it wasn`t too uneven,I mortised the posts into the cill,and marked a level on the posts using a water level,(a length of hose with two clear plastic bottles on either side,water will always find its own level..),then cut all posts to this height.The ridge is of lime,and was a good straight piece,and although lime isn`t the most resilient wood,I figured as it wasn`t in contact with the ground it will last many years.The frame was then infilled with wattle and daub. Hazel wattles, daubed with clay, and finally given several coats of limewash to protect the walls from the weather.
The roof was originaly intended to be thatched, hence the sweeping shape.But we ended up using wooden shingles.
We used riven larch, (split out with a froe,) for the side you see in the photographs. On the continent, some roofs made of larch shingles have been known to last in excess of 100 years !.But for the side not shown in the photo we used chestnut ,also riven .
I love the way they have weathered down to shades of silvery grey,and follow the contours of the roof . I no longer regret the decision to use shingles instead of thatch.
The floor is made of reclaimed bricks laid directly onto a sand sub-base.