Grant to Worthys Local History Group

Traditional Houses of the Worthy Village

The project encourages a wider understanding of traditional buildings, and of the evolution in the internal planning of rural houses

Over a three year period, facilitated by the local history group, the authors, Bill Fergie and Edward Roberts have visited and studied a total of 25 medieval and post-medieval houses. Such has been the changes over the centuries that, with extensions and divisions, those houses now provide 29 individual dwellings. The products of the research take the following form: – 

• written analyses of the buildings;

 • references to dendrochronological investigations where these have been carried out;

 • photographs, both current and from archives; and, in many cases,

 • drawings showing reconstructions of the houses in their original form.

This extensive research will be presented and explained in a new book  – ‘The Traditional Houses of the Worthy Villages. An analysis of 23 timber-framed medieval and post-medieval houses. The project sets out to encourage a wider understanding of traditional buildings, and of the evolution in the internal planning of rural houses in the area. In doing so it creates an archive of material for the study of these buildings.

The illustrations are current photographs and reconstruction drawings showing the probable form of the buildings from Headbourne Worthy and Abbots Worthy.

• The Old Rectory, Headbourne Worthy –  c mid 15th century. The timbers of both wings were subjected to tree ring analysis but unfortunately failed to date
• Nos 1 and 2 Old Farm Cottages, Abbots Worthy – the reconstruction shows the then single substantial farmhouse when it was first built. The timbers have been tree ring dated and the analysis showed that they were felled in 1607-10. The nearest rear gable projection and a bay at the far end of the building are later additions.