Early Houses
When we go from a big modern manufacturing town into an old town
or village, we cannot help noticing the old buildings, the ancient
churches, the old town hall, the alms-houses, and the old houses
with their plastered fronts, tiled roofs, and huge chimney-stacks.
As years go by, the number of these old houses gets less and less.
In the course of time, many of the smaller ones especially, which
have been neglected and allowed to fall into bad repair, become
dangerous to live in. The sanitary inspector and the medical
officer of health condemn them as unfit for human habitation, and
the houses are shut up. Then, perhaps, they stand empty for some
years; mischievous boys throw stones and break the glass left
in the queer little windows; bill-posters paste notices of all
kinds on the doors, walls, and window-shutters; holes are knocked
in the plaster, bits of the woodwork are torn away, chalk-marks
are scrawled on the walls, and the buildings very shortly look
disgracefully untidy. Then some day the "house-breaker" appears
on the scene, and the houses, which have stood for centuries, are
cleared away, and modern buildings take their places.
Thoughtful people who know something of the history of the town or
village are always sorry to see old buildings disappear; because
there is much to be learned from them, and they help us to recall
many things of great value and importance which we very easily lose
sight of.
But, old as the houses in our streets and villages are, there are
very few of them which date back more than three hundred or three
hundred and fifty years. Most of them only date back to the time
of Queen Elizabeth--the latter part of the sixteenth century.
There are, however, a number of fine old houses which have work in
them of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and some people
can point out to you traces of work in some old houses of an
earlier date than that. There is at Lincoln, for instance, a fine
old stone house called "the Jew's House", which was built late in
the twelfth century. Of course, since it was built, it has, from
time to time, been altered to suit the needs and the fancies of the
various folk who have lived in it. But stone houses for ordinary
people, both in towns and villages, were very rare then--wood was
the common material. Of course in parts of the country where stone
was plentiful, and wood scarce, stone would be very largely used.
For instance, amongst the Cotswolds stone has always been the
handiest material for building walls, and for covering roofs. In
the course of centuries much of this stone has been used over and
over again, and has been "weathered" into a very beautiful tone,
such as only time can give. Such old buildings are much loved and
appreciated by folk who have an eye to see the beauty of colouring.
Nowadays, both in town and country, houses are commonly "bunches of
bricks". The Romans knew how to make bricks or tiles, and in places
near old Roman cities Roman tile is still to be seen, which has
been used up over and over again in the walls of old buildings. The
big tower of St. Alban's Cathedral is built of Roman tiles which
had been used centuries before in the walls of Roman houses in
Verulamium.[10] That tower has been standing as it is now for over
eight hundred years.
[10] Commonly called Verulam, but Verulamium was its Roman name.
But in Saxon times the _art_ of brick-making was lost, and Saxons
and Normans, it appears, were quite ignorant of it. There is an
old brick house--Little Wenham Hall, in Suffolk--which is believed
to have been built in the latter part of the thirteenth century.
That is the oldest brick house in England. In the fifteenth century
the art of brick-making had been rediscovered, and it seems to have
been imported from Flanders. We find specimens of such brickwork in
places near the east coast, and this old brickwork is more pleasing
to the eye than our modern brick. Here, again, time has done its
work in beautifying. The old palace at Hatfield is one of the
brick buildings of this period; but brick did not come much into
use until quite a century later. In the county of Middlesex, where
there is found clay which is very suitable for brick-making, the
art was not used to any great extent till the time of King James I.
After the Great Fire of London, in the year 1666, there was a great
demand for bricks, and the use of that material has quite changed
the character of the houses in our towns and villages.
[Illustration: _The Jew's House, Lincoln_]