As a Historic Preservation major, one of my main goals being abroad is to visit as many historic sites as possible. When I arrived in England, my aunt gifted me a National Trust membership, which gets me into National Trust historic sites in the UK for free. The first site we visited was Rufford Hall, which is located in Lancashire, England.

I loved my visit to Rufford Hall because I loved being able to see with my own eyes the very old, but very reliable building techniques. It is a large Tudor style house. The oldest part of the house was built in the early 16th century. We listened to a talk given by a volunteer of Rufford Hall, and she explained the old building techniques. The original part of the house was built using wattle and daub in between timber frames. The timber frames were held together by wooden pegs. They would start to hammer in the wooden pegs, then they would get the pegs wet to expand the wood, then they would hammer in the wooden pegs even farther. The purpose of this was to swell the wood in a way that it would stay extra fitted in the hole. This made the structure extremely strong, and part of the reason why it is still standing today. There is not a single piece of metal in the structure to support it.

Seeing the wattle and daub as one of the primary building materials in a room so large was really interesting to me. I had learned about wattle and daub in one of my classes in Charleston, which made it cool to see it in person. The original wattle and daub was removed a while ago during a botched conservation project, but was recently replaced by the National Trust. Wattle and daub is made using 100% natural materials usually found in the nearby area. This usually consists of some kind of fiber or leaves, and animal waste. Once it is dry, it is extremely strong and if treated properly, it can last a very long time. It is also very breathable, which is essential for a structure like that.

They also have a wooden screen, which was made from bog wood. They believe that it is the last remaining one in existence in England. I found this screen fascinating. It was hand carved in the 16th century from wood that was found in a bog. When wood is pulled from a bog, it is wet and easy to carve, but it has to be carved very quickly because it dries fast. Once it is fully dry, the wood becomes extremely hard and heavy.

I felt very satisfied after my visit to Rufford Hall and it was nice to be able to learn about these building techniques and to see them in person.