There isn’t much call for thatchers here in Jersey. We have plenty of lovely, traditional granite buildings but of thatched roofs there are no more than a handful.
So when five thatchers from Devon arrived in the island a couple of weeks ago, everybody sat up and took notice. Here at Hamptonne we have three historic farm buildings, two of which have thatched roofs. It is 20 years or so since they were last attended to. It was only as they got to work with their bright, golden straw that it could be seen how overdue the work was.
It was a surprise when they initially just tidied up the existing thatch and prepared to lay the new over it. The second surprise was the thickness of the new thatch.
The guys are a taciturn bunch. They don’t say much, but just get on with it, dawn till dusk, seven days a week though they finish a bit earlier on Sundays. We’ve had TV and radio up here filming and interviewing, reluctantly in the case of the boss thatcher. They just want to get on, finish the job and head home with a cheque in their back pocket.
Today they’re just about finishing off Hamptonne House, the former home of Laurens Hamptonne who was the first to acclaim Charles II as King when his father had his head chopped off. Shortly they’ll start on Langlois House assuming we can deal with swallow nests, bats and other impediments to work.
Back On The Rock 
Isn’t it a fabulous skill. A dying trade I’d say….
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Well in England I read that there are approx. 60,000 thatched roofs and 1,000 thatchers. Apparently a thatched roof is looked upon now as a sign of prosperity. Don’t know about Ireland or elsewhere. So the trade might be dying but not just yet. Really interesting to watch how they operate. We’ve had one woman in most days for the last two weeks spending most of the day watching them.
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Fascinating. Thanks, Roy. Keep it coming.
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Thanks Jane. The site gardien has set up a time-lapse camera so we can watch the whole thing back later.
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Thank you for this, Roy. Thatching is a great skill. Pre 1850, most farms had thatched roofs. We have a set of watercolours in the Manor by a chap called ME Carr, depicting many. I look forward to my next visit to Hamptonne.
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Thanks Ned. I understand that thatched roofs became almost a symbol of poverty once new and stronger materials and methods of roofing were introduced. Good to see that the old ways are still considered quite acceptable as well as reminding us of our heritage.
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I do love a thatched roof. There are lots in the chocolate box villages of Suffolk where I’m originally from. Far fewer here in Wales – quite often we’ll see a rusty, corrugated tin roof where the thatch should be!
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Pretty expensive to maintain I would think. I don’t know what the job is costing here at Hamptonne. Yet originally it would have been pretty standard I think with low labour costs, like dry-stone walls as field enclosures.
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Isn’t that amazing?? I love that they were a taciturn bunch! I would have stalked them because I have never seen thatching in action.
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Hi Kerry. They all seem a bit bemused by the attention and wish everyone would feck off and let them get on 🙂
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Ha, Ha Ha!!!
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I had a friend I used to stay with in Cambridgeshire who had the most idyllic thatched house. Ah… find memories of the 80/90’s.
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Fascinating. I wonder how much and what type of training is required.
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Hi Pat. I think it’s a trade that you learn as you go, passed down from father to son – maybe the odd daughter too. I doubt there’s any College of Thatching. You’d start off doing the simple stuff like labouring and making the tea, gradually learning the skills. They have a number of distinctive tools which, if you look at old pictures, have hardly changed in centuries.
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Roy, the house looks so bright and cheerful with its new thatch! 😀 It looks grand and yes, only afterwards does one realise how dull and dirty the old thatch had become over the years. I’m smiling at the interest the thatchers created – I would have thought they would enjoy sharing about their craft. A fascinating post and I won’t take the many thatched properties for granted anymore. There are lots in the area but I have yet to see one having new thatch applied – I’ll keep a look out! Hope you’re having a good weekend and the sun has reached Jersey – it’s abandoned us here on the mainland! 😕
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Hi Annika, thank you for the RT. I’m back at Hamptonne tomorrow so looking forward to seeing progress on the second building with bats and swallows creating possible issues.
No, May has been a bit miserable here as well. It makes no difference to these guys, they just put on another warm or dry layer and carry on. (I suppose you have to in that trade.)
Maybe you’ll pop up and see Hamptonne for yourself when next in Jersey 🙂
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It must be fascinating to watch Roy, though I guess to the workers it’s just another day at work!
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As you say Andrea, the lads just crack on with it and, though they must be aware of the interest they are creating, they are more focused in getting on with the work to get paid at the end of it.
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How cool! I wonder how many thatchers there will be in the future?
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Things seem to be stabilising Juliann. Thatched roofs are becoming desirable once more and, while that continues to be the case, the trade will survive and even flourish. That is if there are those young people who are willing to learn a trade which is carried out in virtually all weathers.
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Such an “olde time” cozy look. First time I visited England I stayed at a friend’s parents’ house. They still lived in the thatched roof house he grew up in. Looked neat on the outside but dark inside.
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What part of England was that Pam?
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Love this.
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