A medieval house in Kettlewell

Alison had arranged a visit to this old house in Kettlewell, by very kind permission of the owners, followed by a walk around the village looking at other old houses and barns. The rain was falling in bucketfuls at the meeting point but about 20 people emerged from their cars at the appointed time. We walked to the house, braced against the wind and rain, and were welcomed inside despite our wetness. An introductory talk about the house was given by the owner. The true nature of the house had only been revealed by an architect surveying the house many years ago — ‘an interesting roof’, he said! Further inspection by experts followed and a sample of the roof timbers for tree-ring dating was made in 2010. The resulting date of about 1450 was earlier than an expected 1480s date, based on the design of the roof structure and known period of building works by the Coverham Abbey Abbot at that time. Although the hall is first mentioned in 1388, the medieval house was built by Coverham Abbey as the rector’s manse and remains a remarkable survival in the Dales.

The house has a medieval plinth of large stones and four medieval king post roof trusses with arch braces remaining over four bays, constituting an original timber hall open to the roof. The timber wall posts are visible on the ground floor. The quality of the carpentry and moulded capital decoration and carved wind braces indicates the monastic status. In the 17th century, conversion to a two-storey dwelling was carried out with an inserted floor and ceiling and an external turret staircase for access. The house was extended at both ends in following centuries.

The rain was still falling hard at the end of the house visit but some brave souls made a detour via some tantalizing stone walling and earthworks, possibly medieval, near the church. Through the church yard with its further earthworks, and back to the cars - a walk round the village was postponed for another occasion!