Lapley Court

In the spring of this year we carried out a geophysical and EDM survey of the gardens surrounding a timber framed cruck building – Lapley Court - in the hope that additional bays of the cruck frame were surviving under the lawn. This appeared not to be the case, but the vaulted roof of a Victorian water tank was discovered and trial trenching exposed many pottery finds, including one sherd of Black Burnished Ware!

An additional box framed extension forms part of the site, which has received planning permission to be reinstated using traditional materials and techniques. We have been recording the framing prior to dismantling, as well as recording the original cruck framed structure.

Recording of the timber framing continues and has so far exposed some interesting details – including evidence of trestle sawing, whereby timbers were cut from the end, towards the middle, and then turned around on the trestle and worked from the other end. This created saw marks running at 45 degree angles and a triangular shaped ‘snap off’ point where the lines meet. This may date the cruck frame to the 16th century or possible even earlier.