HERE may still be seen in Hallamshire a few survivals, more or less interesting and complete, of the old way of building; survivals which unmistakeably suggest the house built from forest trees, and with roofs and walls made watertight by wattle and daub. One of these was first brought to my notice by Mr. William Furness of Whirlow Hall. He told me of several old barns or other farm buildings near Sheffield, which were originally built of wood, and which still retained their old wooden framework. In these examples the wattle and daub are only occasionally seen, but the great oak timbers remain. They are massive and strong, and fastened together by big wooden pins. It will be seen from the sketch of the interior of a barn or farm building at Hagg Green, between Stephen Hill and Bell Hagg, that not only are the timbers old and big, but that all the interstices between the great beams were originally filled up with stakes and wattles. This wooden framework which fills up the interstices is locally known as "studding" or "stoothing." "Stud and stud-breadth," says Kennett, "is in Yorkshire the way of building the walls of a house in small frames or pannels of timber filld up with brick or stones or plaistering." Such panels may be seen in the wall at the end of the barn at Hagg Green. Laths were fitted, Mr. Winder tells me, into the panels or spaces horizontally by means of a notch; they were not nailed upon the wooden framework. Over the laths a mixture of clay and straw was daubed so as to form a plaster. At Hagg Green the stoothing at the end of the barn divides that building from an old part of the house, as is apparent by the windows, now blocked up, in the continuous wall. It was evident on inspection of this example that the wood-work of the building figured in the drawing is much older than the outer stone-work, and from this we may infer that, as the wattle and daub which completed the building decayed, stone-work was afterwards substituted as being more durable. As will be seen in the drawing, the "studs" on which the laths were laid still remain at the end of the building, and it is most likely that the whole building was originally framed of massive rough-hewn oak timbers, without any stone-work, and completed by wooden stakes and laths and a daubing of clay.
The big timbers which form, as it were, the arches of these buildings are locally known as "crucks." I have mentioned these "crucks" in the supplement to my Sheffield Glossary, and as the description there given was an exact copy of what Mr. Furness was good enough to write out for me, I will repeat what he said, because the evidence is valuable. "Strong oak trees," he said, "with a considerable bend towards the top were selected. They were fastened together at the ridge, and then the side trees were laid upon them for the support of a thatched roof. The outer walls, often low, were generally formed of boards, or plaster and lath, so that with a small stone foundation for each cruk little masonry was necessary." Mr. Furness then drew my attention to fine specimens of this kind of timber-work at High Storrs, Ecclesall, and at the farm of Mr. W. Fox, of Lightwood in Norton. The "crucks" at High Storrs are shown in the plate which faces the beginning of this chapter, and, apart from their antiquarian interest, they form, with their surroundings, a beautiful picture. The outside of the building at High Storrs is also shown in the drawing below.