This is a timber framed hall house from Boarhunt in Hampshire which has been dendro-dated to the late fourteenth century (c.1355-1390). The house and its land lay within the manor of West Boarhunt which until the dissolution was owned by Southwick Priory, a house of Augustinian canons. Its earliest occupant is likely to have been an affluent peasant who had benefited from the more favourable economic conditions (more land & higher wages) of the post-Black Death period.

The house is a good example of the late medieval domestic plan, with an open hall and a clearly defined upper & lower end. The room at the lower end (separated from the hall by a wattle screen) would have been the service room, used for food preparation (e.g. dairying) & food storage. The room at the upper end was the chamber, used for sleeping & the storage of valuable goods, such as processed grain, wool & household linen. Most cooking would have taken place in the hall over the open hearth although some houses in medieval Boarhunt also had detached kitchens or bakehouses.

It is a small but well-built example of a medieval open hall. The main feature of the building is the central roof truss of the open hall, which is an example of "cruck'' construction; a cruck is a long curved timber which rises from the ground to support the roof timbers.

Detailed Research

For more details of the social and economic history of Boarhunt and the surrounding area click here