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Department of Architecture

 

Nat Alcock (Past President, Vernacular Architecture Group)

Fitzpatrick Hall, Queens’ College, Cambridge, Saturday 7 April, at 6.30pm

Followed by a wine reception in the college bar from 7.30pm

Free admission; all welcome

On Saturday 7 April Nat Alcock will deliver the Annual Building History Lecture at Queens’ College, Cambridge, on the subject of cruck buildings.  Crucks are long timbers, usually curved or elbowed, which transmit roof loads directly to the ground rather than relying on supporting walls.  This form of construction was widely used in England and Wales during the Middle Ages but its geographical range is restricted, no crucks occurring in Lincolnshire, East Anglia, Kent or Cornwall.

Nat Alcock has been at the forefront of research into cruck buildings since the appearance of his pioneering Cruck Construction: an introduction and catalogue in 1981, and he continues to curate the Crucks Database hosted by the Archaeology Data Service.  A leading figure in the Vernacular Architecture Group for many years, his publications include People at Home: Living in a Warwickshire Village, 1500-1800 (1993) and The Medieval Peasant House in Midland England (with Dan Miles, 2013).  He was a contributor to the standard glossary of timber-framing terminology and has published several studies of documentary sources for building historians.  

Date: 
Saturday, 7 April, 2018 - 18:30 to 19:30
Event location: 
Fitzpatrick Hall, Queens’ College, Cambridge