Day Conference Report - New vernacular By Keith Parsons

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and the area was known as the Badlands. Also the land suffered from flooding: for example
in 1720 when an extensive area of land was devastated and 175 houses were lost.
Early houses were cruck frames built on cobble plinths, but in later buildings load bearing
perimeter walls were constructed in brick or cobble, with load bearing internal cross walls
and gables. At Hougher Fall Farm, the cruck truss has been dendro-dated to 1570. The houses
that were built in the mosses were called field houses and a typical example from Pilling was
a cruck frame construction dating from 1632.
The walls in the early houses - above the plinth and up to wall plate - were ‘clam-staff and
daub’: in earth walling known as puddle clay. The roof covering was rushed grass sods. Wet
thatching was employed with wheated straw. The process involved layers of threshed straw
being ‘degged’ with water and compressed then stripped. The roof was finished with a puddle
clay ridge. The roof coverings were commonly replaced with corrugated sheeting and later
with tiles and slates.
O’Flaherty then considered the plan form. In early houses people and animals were under
the same roof. The separation, such as it was, involved the humans being at the top of the
slope and the animals at the bottom. The typical Fylde longhouse had a shared entrance and
‘crosswalk’. They were single storey with a single pile ‘house-body’ and a single bay plan. As
the use of space evolved the plan form developed into three bays with various features being
introduced such as: a fire place, baffle entry, a pantry and buttery. Obviously when upper
storeys were introduced stairs were included
As a result of the impact of the ‘Great Rebuilding’ in the early 18th century, the high attrition
rate of vernacular buildings in the Fylde and modernisation/adaptation over the years, the
main surviving features tend to be the three bay plan forms with a baffle entry, as opposed
to surviving traditional building materials. O’Flaherty suggested that the vernacular period
seems to have come to an end in mid-18 th century in the Fylde.
The presentation ended with a quick overview of building styles in the Fylde since the
vernacular period. Lytham Hall, built in 1757, was cited as an example of polite architecture
in the area. The coming of the railways in 19th century saw extensive development on the
Fylde coast: Blackpool grew into a large seaside resort; Fleetwood was a planned resort and
port designed by Decimus Burton; and Lytham was an early coastal health resort.
Interestingly, as Lytham developed into a residential settlement for the middle classes the
style of many of the houses was informed by a vernacular revival and some recent 21st century
houses in the town have been designed to incorporate some vernacular details.
The final part of the morning comprised two presentations on New Vernacular. The first
presentation was by Jasmin Eastwood and Astley Petitt, from APA Architects in the Isle of
Man. Their presentation was entitled: Traditional Dwellings – Contemporary Design.
Petitt began by explaining that under Planning Policy in in the Isle of Man it was possible to
extend a building by 50% extra floor space. The existing floor space measurement excluded
the basement, attic space and any out buildings. Design in rural areas is controlled by
Planning Circular 3/91: Guide to the Design of Residential Development in the Countryside.