Clapboard House Tonbridge Kent

Adding an air of the countryside to this otherwise working town, this house on the northern approach to Tonbridge, always reminds me of New England.

That's a bit odd really, because England probably exported the style. However, there are now less and less of these romantic-looking dwellings. Modern materials and the lack of suitable local timber have both contributed to their demise.

Clapboard siding got its name from the Dutch klappen, meaning "to split". It was originally split by hand from logs in a radial manner. Later, the boards were radially sawn in a mill.