Present-day Agecroft Hall. Picture taken November 2011, James Rash
The original Agecroft Hall, built about 500 years ago, was constructed of a very interesting example of timber materials standing on a low stone base with portions in brick, built around a central courtyard.[1] Based on the materials that were available, the use of wooden framing did not necessarily mean the design replicated conservatism; only a likeness of new style houses being built in other parts of the country. This style was obvious in the County of Lancashire, where half-timbered homes were most popular. It was the central identification with that region, a reflection that these half-timbered buildings were for men of local wealth and importance.
Agecroft Hall, c1911
British History Online
Courtyard Home: “Seen as collections of individual ranges (entrance and parallel hall ranges were considered more important and might carry most of the significant helaldry while the side ranges usually lodging, were not always thought worthy of much decoration or even a dominant architectural feature. The use of building materials too might underline the distinctions between different parts of the house (some built of stone, while buildings around it built of brick and timber”[2]
“Agecroft Hall was probably begun at the end of the reign of Henry VII, or the beginning of that of Henry VIII, and much of the carving under the bay windows on the east side was very Gothic in detail, and of excellent design. The windows were ornamented with stained glass, exhibiting the armorial bearings of John of Gaunt, emblems of Henry II and arms and crests of the Langleys. The great hall illustrated toward the courtyard a wealth of ornament in the timber framing and gables, in great contrast to the very plain construction of the east front, which consists entirely of horizontal sill pieces and straight uprights with a cove under the eaves.”[3] The picture below is part of the stained glass window, John of Gaunt, at Agecroft Hall:
Photo by Bruce Parker, 2009, Agecroft Hall
Tudor manor houses, such as Agecroft Hall, were constructed with massive upright vertical timbers usually made of hard English oak and occasionally elm. The vertical timbers were often supported by diagonal timbers. These timbers were blackened and used to create a skeleton which was filled in with brick, plaster or most commonly wattle and daub.
EXTERIOR FEATURES
Wattle and Daub: Wattles were vertical stakes which had thin branches woven between them, forming a mesh foundation. This material was used for infill panels between the timber posts. (Small branches or twigs of hazel, willow or oak were woven together and daubed on both sides with a moist mixture of earth, chopped straw and dung).[4] An indication that a Tudor house was occupied by the poor was the distinction of wattle walls daubed with mortar and then applied with whitewash resulting in the highly distinctive black and white half-timbered house.
The production of bricks was a seasonal activity and was manufactured at or near the site of the construction. Although bricks were first reserved for the building of chimneys, a regulation passed in 1467 to prevent fires from spreading demanded that either bricks or stone would be used to build chimneys: “No Chimneys of tre be suffered buyt that the owners make hem of bryke or stone.”[5]
The use of red brick (where available) along with stone was very prevalent in some areas being built as low-lying and unpretentious in appearance. Some writers have described these buildings as “In form the house is square, low in height, and varied in outline, of some complexity of plan, and thrown up at the far corner into a rich skyline of tower and gable fused in one harmonious group.”[6] The use of brick as a basic building material did take off in new directions when large houses were specifically designed to display brickwork decoration on their external faces, but only when building stone was plentiful or easily obtainable.
"The west side of the house of Agecroft Hall was wholly faced with small 2-inch bricks, with two projecting plain gables and a large central chimney. The general external appearance of the building, however, lacks some measure of that picturesque ness which was common in many other Lancashire timber houses, owing to the monotony of its main roof-lines, one gable only (that at the end of the south wing facing east) breaking the long perspective of the eaves."[7]
“The east or entrance elevation, which is 101 ft. in length, had formerly only one chimney at the junction of the old and later work of the two wings, but a modern brick chimney added in the north end has had the effect of breaking the straight line where most needed, and giving a balance to the original elevation which it formerly lacked.”[8]
Thatched Roofs: Many Tudor houses had thatched roofs made of straw or reeds bundles. These bundles were piled on the frame of the roof and had a circumference of between 24 to 27 inches and from 3 to 7 feet long. Thatch roofs were popular in the countryside where the potential fire risk was not as serious as in the towns. Thatch was sometimes replaced by tiles or slate.
Photo “Thatch Roof” – Columbia University
Agecroft Hall’s roof is covered with grey stone slates, offering an appealing contrast to the black and white work of wood and plaster.
Chimneys: Most Tudor houses had wide, very tall chimneys with round or octagonal pots on top of each flue, often called “chimney pots.” Domestic comfort became a greater concern which resulted in the grouping of chimneys.[9] Instead of using wood, home owners turned to coal as fuel which increased the use of chimneys in Tudor manor houses, however, the increased amount of smoke led to new designs for chimneys and flues. “Chimney stacks were often clustered in groups and designed in twists, flutes, and spirals [shown below]. The spiraled design was functional as the hot air moved upwards with the flow of the wind and therefore cooled down chimneys faster than other designs. The number of chimneys in a Tudor Manor house reflected the wealth and status of the owners.”[10] Agecroft Hall contained eleven hearths.
Photo by Noel Reynolds
picturesofengland.com
Picture taken at present-day Agecroft Hall, November 2011, James Rash
Cross Gables: The Tudor style houses in England were built with prominent cross gables and the classic European architectural style of half-timbering which was easily recognized with its black or brown timber trim. The original Agecroft Hall contained gables that were without barge-boards (wooden decoration on a gable) or hip-knobs, being quite plain, with overhanging slates. The only two gables in the building with barge-boards are shown at the ends of the south and east wings facing east and north, which were constructed in late years.[12]
Example of a house with barge boards, steeply pitched roofs, steeped gable ends, vertical and diagonal blackened timbers:
Photo – Columbia University
Windows: The earlier great pointed windows were no longer appropriate and were replaced by bays and oriels. Windows expressed the homeowner’s wealth—windows covered by horn or wooden shutters indicated the poor class whereas glass, being expensive to make, would only be included in the houses, mansions and palaces of the rich. To make a pane of glass would require blowing a blob of glass into a cylinder-shaped bubble which was placed on a cooling table and then cut in half, producing a small pane of glass. These pieces would be joined together with lead, in a criss-cross or lattice pattern, producing the design of a casement window.[13]
Casement windows were attached to a hinge which opened outward which, in turn, made the house appear lighter and airier inside. Example below:
Mandy Barrow, Woodlands Junior School, Kent, UK
“In the east window of the dining-room is preserved some ancient glass, some of which was formerly in other parts of the house. The library, has also some fragments of heraldic glass in the window, one showing part of a shield argent, two hunting horns gules, stringed or. The staircase window preserves some old diamond quarries, five of which bear the initials R.L., while on another is scratched the name of William Dauntesey, and the date 'June ye 12, 1645.' The kitchen and pantry have now been made into a sitting-room and smoke-room. Neither of these rooms retains anything of its original appearance except the great twelve-light kitchen window overlooking the courtyard, which occupies the whole of the east side of the room.”[14]
“The great hall is 14 ft. in height, and has a flat paneled ceiling divided into four bays by three wide oak beams, and with intermediate molded ribs. It measures 29 ft. in length and 23 ft. 6 in. in width, and is lighted on the east side by the continuous ranges of mullioned [a vertical bar on a window that divides and supports the panes] and transom windows.”[15]Below is an illustration in John Henry Parker’s book, Some Account of Domestic Architecture in England, of a window at the original Agecroft Hall which shows “a fine, oriel window of timber, with the bracket richly carved.”[16]
Agecroft’s windows are, for the most part, slightly projecting wooden bays carried on carved brackets, the carving along the west wing being mostly original.[17] Example:
Tudor arch: “A four-center arch was a defining feature and the moldings were more spread out. The Tudor arch was a low, wide type of arch with a pointed apex. It is much wider than its height and gives the visual effect of having been flattened under pressure. Its structure is achieved by drafting two arcs which rise steeply from each springing point on a small radius and then turn into two arches with a wide radius and much lower springing point.
This type of arch, when employed as a window opening, lends itself to very wide spaces, provided it is adequately supported by many narrow vertical shafts. These are often further braced by horizontal transoms. The overall effect produces a grid-like appearance of regular, delicate, rectangular forms with an emphasis on the perpendicular. It is also employed as a wall decoration in which arcade and window openings form part of the whole decorative surface. The Gothic period's pointed arch was blunted into the flattened Tudor arch.” [18]
Absoluteastronomy.com
Agecroft Hall’s entrance to the court on the east side is under a plain timber arch, 10 ft. 6 in. wide,
BNCA.com 
Poppyland Publishing.com
Agecroft Hall:
“The hall appears to have always had a flat ceiling, and there are no signs now of either dais or gallery. The position of the screens is marked by the vestibule and passage on the north side, and the kitchen and pantry have now been made into a sitting-room and smoke-room. The fireplace opening is 10 ft. wide, the wall above carried by a beam 12 in. square at a height of 5 ft. 8 in. from the floor.”[20]
“The upper corridors on the east and south appear to have been originally open to the court and carried on posts, forming a kind of upper gallery. A portion of what appears to have been external quatrefoil [four-leafed Gothic design found in tracery] paneling is still in position on the inner wall at the east end of the south corridor.”[21]
“The great hall illustrated toward the courtyard a wealth of ornament in the timber framing and gables, in great contrast to the very plain construction of the east front, which consists entirely of horizontal sill pieces and straight uprights with a cove under the eaves. The great hall is 14 ft. in height, and has a flat paneled ceiling divided into four bays by three wide oak beams, and with intermediate molded ribs. It measures 29 ft. in length and 23 ft. 6 in. in width, and is lighted on the east side by the continuous ranges of mullioned and transom windows. The walls are mostly paneled to a height of 6 ft. 6 in.”[22]
Photo by Bruce Parker, 2009, Agecroft Hall, interior room
“The rooms in the north and east wings, which are 9 ft. 6 in. high, are for the most part unimportant, being still used as the servants' part of the house, the present kitchen being immediately to the north of the entrance. North of the kitchen is a small staircase leading to the upper floor with good 17th-century flat pierced balusters. Another small staircase in the west wing north of the hall also preserves some 17th-century detail, but the main staircase in the south wing is modern. Internally the whole of the south wing contains the library, drawing-room, and dining-room, with the principal entrance and staircase. In the east window of the dining-room is preserved some ancient glass, some of which was formerly in other parts of the house.”[23] Fine staircases were evidence of enhanced social status and the importance of first-floor rooms.
"An old painting (below) of the original house preserved at Agecroft shows a long building, either a stable or barn, standing at right angles to the east side of the house at the north end, apparently meant to be some distance away, with a stone wall and gate-piers along the east front. This building is said to have stood until the construction of the railway. The present stables and outbuildings are on the north side of the house, and are all modern."[24]
Other 15th century Tudor architectural features included tall, narrow windows; dormer windows, leaded windows with small window panes; patterned brick walls; detailed stonework throughout; and overhanging first floors (galleries).
Although England was not as technologically advanced as mainland Europe, there was a strong influence of agricultural improvement and technological revolution on Elizabethan England.[25] The early Tudor period was an age without architects. Basically, the Tudor period was a time when England lacked any concept of architecture as a profession, but rather the concept of the design was designated by the patron, the person who paid for the structure. Few builders had the time or inclination to supervise the construction and decoration of their houses. The construction of these houses was influenced by the individual client’s involvement and the availability of the building materials. “Sometimes the key to the pattern of the use of particular materials seems to have been the familiar one of peer-group pressure, and this could obviously encourage a builder to follow local tradition if he was purely concerned with outclassing his local rivals.”[26]
The 15th century style architecture consisted of symmetry, order and proportion that were domestic in character, shifting away from the pointed, ornate Gothic style. Emphasis was placed on horizontal rather than a vertical line. The outward appearance of houses appeared to be as a result of circumstances (costs of materials and workmen, and restrictions imposed by building on pre-existing sites). As the upper-class culture changed, preferences turned from the practical to luxury, a way to showcase their power and authority. The Tudor period was a time when England was departing on a new direction and their buildings reflected these changes.
