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Abstract
In central north Essex and central south Suffolk there are a number of houses dating from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries with a form of anchor beam where, unlike those in Denmark and a number of north European countries, the protruding end is not reduced to a tenon that goes through a post, but passes through the wall undiminished with a long wedge, called here a needle, through its protruding end. These anchor beams are not attached to a post or stud but are supported by a rail. Most appear to be sixteenth or, more likely, seventeenth century, and in most cases are used either to insert a floor into an open hall of a medieval house, or of a transitional house built with an open hall heated by a chimney, or simply to remove the need for tiebeams blocking access on the first floor of low buildings. Some do act as anchor beams holding up the side walls. Apart from a few outliers, the list descriptions in the Historic England National Heritage List for England (NHLE) suggests these beams are mostly confined to north Essex and south Suffolk.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I need to thank the late John McCann who made me interested in these anchor beams, members of the Essex Historic Buildings Group and in particular David Andrews, Tim Howson, Anne Padfield and Brenda and Elphin Watkin who have shared their knowledge with me. My thanks also to Bob Meeson for his advice and the two anonymous referees who made very helpful comments, and last but not least to my wife, Pam Walker, for proofreading the article. All drawings and photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Alcock et al., Recording Timber-Framed Buildings, G2, F28 and F33. Also https://www.vernacularbuildingglossary.org.uk/
2 Brown, “Sunnydene,” 12.
3 Meeson, “What’s in a Name?”, 61–8.
4 Alcock, “Devonshire Linhays.”
5 Bridge, Miles and Cook, “List 317,” 139.
6 Howson, “A Cottage with Anchor Beams,” 3–7.
7 Andrews, “Little Yeldham,” unpublished report.
8 Suffolk Record Office (Ipswich) HD 1538/102.
9 Bridge, “List 124,” 76.
10 Walker, “Old Cottage,” 437–9.
11 Padfield, “Willow Meade,” unpublished report.
12 Watkin, “Great Maplestead,” 229–33.
13 Colman, “Base-Cruck Usages,” 13.
14 Walker, “A Jointed Cruck in East Anglia,” 3–5.
15 I am grateful to Tim Howson for providing an example of the use of these knees.
16 Arnold, Howard and Litton, “List 236,” 100. For details of this building, see Alcock and Roberts, “Crucks in the North East and Yorkshire,” 174–5. Here it is incorrectly described as having a raised aisle roof, but is a queen-post roof.