Thatched Cottage, Patching, West Sussex

Today we went to one of the big garden centres on the coast and had lunch and looked around before returning home. It got very hot and oppressive and it was good to hear that there are some people like mum and myself who really hate this tedious and oppressive weather.

I stopped off at the small village of Patching that lies close to Worthing on the dip slope of the South Downs. Much of the land and many of the houses were and are still owned by the Duke Of Norfolk, one of the largest of our landowners. Stylistically, this cottage is very different from those found in the Weald, the area that lies between the North and South Downs. The low roof and general appearance are more Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Berkshire in my opinion. This house is probably 16th Century. This can be determined by the regular criss cross of the timber frame, much smaller timbers and the smaller triangular braces as they are called. In a true medieval house, the timbers are much heavier, thicker and have big braces to strengthen the frame. The roof will also be steeper and higher. Medieval living in SE England was centred around one big open hall with perhaps a bedroom at one end upstairs. Heating would have been via a fire on the floor of the hall. By the mid 16th Century onwards, the hall had gone out of fashion and new houses were built with upstairs rooms and a parlour or living room below. Heating was by a fireplace and chimney, although shutters may well have been used in place of glass as it was very expensive to keep out draughts. This is a very picturesque cottage and one of a good number of interesting old houses that can be seen in the village.