Thatched properties

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Woodgate barn 2021

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18 and 20 Woodgate

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Re-thatch top of 21 Woodgate in March 2022

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14 Maxey Road

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Cromwell House

Photo by David Dunford

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Postcard centre of village early 1900s- Poor house on the right.

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Centre of village in 2022 - no thatch

Thatch is a natural roofing material dating back through the centuries.

Of the 59 listed buildings registered in Helpston ¹, a substantial number are recorded as having a thatched roof. The number of thatched roofs has decreased over the passing of time, many now having been replaced with a tile or slate covering.  Possible reasons for the change being the risk of fire, availability of thatch and the costs of upkeep. There are no local producers of long straw or reed and therefore when the buildings are re-thatched tradesmen from further afield are employed.

Properties with a thatch roof

On Woodgate there are 6 properties which have thatched roofs:-

• John Clare Cottage.
• Woodgate Barn.
• 18/20 Woodgate.
• 22/24 Woodgate.
• Barnside. 
• 21 Woodgate.

On West Street:-

• 17 West Street.
• Wind in the Willows – half thatched.

Church Lane:-

• 2 Church Lane – part thatched.

On Maxey Road:-

• 14 Maxey Road – part thatched.
• 20 Maxey Road – part thatched.
• Cromwell  House.
• The cottages on Cromwell Mews – part thatched.

Previously thatched properties

Old images of the centre of the village in the early 1900s, show thatch on the the barns next to College Farm,  Virginia Cottage at the junction of Maxey Road and Glinton Road, and properties on the south side of Glinton Road , formerly village poor houses now demolished.
Records held at Northampton Records Office relating to rents on the Fitzwilliam estate in 1806, record a property and land tenanted to Benjamin Bull – ‘ A large farm house, stone and thatched with a small kitchen stone and slated, two good barns and two stables, stoned and thatched.’ ¹ From the Enclosure records in 1820 – we can determine this to be ‘Helpston House’ and associated buildings now situate at Clare Court.

Looking up to the roof line of old properties, you may note a parapet standing above the tiles. This may indicate at one stage the roof had been thatched.

Sources
1 English Heritage
2 Northampton Records Office – Fitzwilliam Misc Vol 570