Hammerbeam Roof Construction

Blakeney on the north norfolk coast was a prosperous port in the c15th with the rare privilege of being permitted to trade in gold silver and horses.

Hammerbeam roof construction.

A section of the roof which is an arch brace and hammerbeam construction. The hammerbeam roof was the culmination of the development of the arch braced truss allowing greater spaces to be spanned. This is a type of truss much used for supporting open timbered roofs especially in gothic halls and churches it is believed to have been first used in the great hall of westminster palace fig. The earliest hammer beamed building still standing in england is situated in the cathedral close next to the dean s garden.

It is a single hammerbeam structure with half angels on the finials of the hammers as at banningham above. Bardwell suffolk ss peter and paul. But the result as we see it after nearly 600 years is a vast clear space unobstructed by a single column. They allowed for higher ceilings while using timber frame construction instead of masonry or stone.

The hammerbeam style elements are purely decorative. 48 built in 1397 and different forms of it may be seen in many of the english buildings of the fifteenth century. Hammer beam roof english medieval timber roof system used when a long span was needed. Harris and daniel miles have recently proposed a tie beam roof.

Not a true truss the construction is similar to corbeled masonry see corbel in that each set of beams steps upward and inward by resting on the ones below by means of curved braces and struts. 9 the form and structure of the roof carpentry of the great hall as built 1097 99 by william ii rufus is unknown. Blakeney norfolk st nicholas. The hammer posts and brackets support nothing as all the weight of the roof is braced and supported by the massive side walls via the main timber ribs of the roof and the pillars inside the train shed.

In fact the station roof uses modern cantilever construction. The construction of the roof was an exceedingly complex and dangerous operation given the size and weight of the timber and the great heights they had to be lifted to about 28 metres or 92 feet. Unlike most angel roofs it can be precisely dated as one of the four remaining angels carries a book bearing the date 1421 in roman numerals though the angels may have been repainted. Hammerbeam roof systems developed in english architecture in the medieval period.

Romanesque westminster hall and its roof in westminster ii the art architecture and archaeology of the royal palace eds rodwell and tatton brown pp. A hammerbeam is a form of timber roof truss allowing a hammerbeam roof to span greater than the length of any individual piece of timber in place of a normal tie beam spanning the entire width of the roof short beams the hammer beams are supported by curved braces from the wall and hammer posts or arch braces are built on top to support the rafters and typically a collar beam.