FEATURES- DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURE
" All building projects have challenges."
Wild vegetation such as water reed, bulrush / cat tail, broom, heather and rushes were probably used to cover shelters and primitive dwellings in Europe in the late Palaeolithic period, but so far, no direct archaeological evidence for this has been recovered. People probably began to use straw in the Neolithic period when they first grew cereals— but once again, there is no direct surviving archaeological evidence of straw used for thatching in Europe prior to the early medieval period.
Many indigenous people, such as the Maya, the Inca and the Triple Alliance( Aztec), lived in thatched buildings. After the collapse of most extant American societies due to diseases introduced from Europe, the first Americans encountered by Europeans lived in structures roofed with bark or skin set in panels that could be added or removed for ventilation, heating and cooling. Evidence of the many complex buildings with fibre-based roofing material was not rediscovered until the early 2000s. French and British
settlers built temporary thatched dwellings with local vegetation as soon as they arrived in New France and New England, but covered more permanent homes with wooden shingles.
In most of England, thatch remained the only roofing material available to the bulk of the population in the countryside, in many towns and villages, until the late 1800s. Commercial production of Welsh slate began in 1820, and the mobility provided by canals and then railways made other materials readily available. Still, the number of thatched properties increased in the UK during the mid-1800s as agriculture expanded, but then declined again at the end of the 19 th century because of the agricultural recession and rural depopulation.
Gradually, thatch became a mark of poverty, and the number of thatched properties gradually declined, as did the number of professional thatchers. Thatch has become much more popular in the UK over the past 30 years, and is now a symbol of wealth rather than poverty. There are about 1 000 full-time thatchers at work in the UK, and thatching is popular again because of the renewed interest in preserving historic buildings and using more sustainable building materials.
GET AHEAD OF YOUR COMPETITION, ADVERTISE NOW
CONTACT ANGELINE MARTIN
0861 727 663 angie @ interactmedia. co. za