|
  |
|
|
I Live In a 550 Year Old House
Living in a Very Old House
I live in England in a rural part of Devon close to Dartmoor. The house was built in 1450 and because of its age it has Listed Building status. This means we cannot add anything to it, or take anything away from it without obtaining permission from the authorities first. Although it is relatively unusual to live in such an old house, many of my friends and neighbours in the area live in similar dwellings. There is a large concentration of ancient houses in this area. Mine is a Devon Longhouse and is built on a slope. The house is long, one room thick, with each room being on a different level to the next. The house is built in a East to West direction, with the front of it facing full south, and the back to the north. The walls are made of cob - which is another way of saying mud. The roof is made of thatch or dried grass. In ancient times, people would live in the top (higher) end of the house, and animals (cattle) would occupy the lower end. The idea being, that all the dirt created by humans would be swept downhill internally, into the animal area. Today, the area occupied by animals is our laundry and larder. The house does not have double glazing so lots of heat escapes through the single glazed windows. We are not allowed to install double glazing due to the restrictions imposed by Listed Building Status. I think this is stupid but there is nothing I can do about it. |
My House
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
|
 |
|
Your house looks pretty. It must get very cold in the winter with only single panes for your windows. Will the authorities allow you to put temporary clear plastic over the windows?
Thank you for sharing this with us.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Hi Laraine
Well we can do that (put plastic on the windows) but it would look bad and I think (not sure) is hard to get off again after several months. It does get very cold in the winter, but we burn coal and wood in stoves which makes it comfortable. We can add secondary glazing - but with the windows all being very different and very awkwardly placed, each window becomes an individual project and is quite expensive. The last quote we had was £20,000 (about $30,000), and that was only to insulate the windows at 50% the efficiency that ordinary double glazing would afford. Sigh.
Yikes, that's a lot of money to spend. The plastic I was mentioning would be put on a frame then over the window. I've seen similar situations here where it gets really cold in the winter. They take it off during the summer. It seems to work quite well.
The copyright for this content entitled "I Live In a 550 Year Old House" has been specified by the contributor as:
All Rights Reserved
This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.
|
|
May, 2012
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February, March, April, May
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
