Friday 26 August 2011

Roof Timbers - Ussé Stables

The roof timbers in the stables at the château d'Ussé use a very similar bracing system to the timbers in our attic bathroom - the soi-disant St Andrew's Cross. Unfortunately I can't find anything about the construction of the stables at Ussé. Although it's probable that our house and the chateau are contemporary (15th century) the timbers in the stables look much less rough-hewn than ours. It's very difficult to judge sometimes, but Stéphane thinks that the timber in our roof is of several different ages and has been reused from an earlier construction.

The stable roof at Ussé.
You can see a picture of our roof timbers here.

Susan

4 comments:

Tim said...

Susan, have you seen the roof timbers at Le Chatelier in the Protestants' Barn? They are also St. Andrew's Crosses. The barn is well documented so you might get some indication there.

Susan said...

Tim: Shamefully, we haven't made it to the Grange aux Protestants yet. Do they have crosses like ours, or real St Andrew's Crosses (like at Azay-le-Rideau).

Sweetpea in France said...

I am trying not to boast but I have three St Andrew Crosses which are very beautiful in my large attic. I was told that they are rare and that in winter boat-builders came inland to build.
I would gladly like more information.

Susan said...

Sweetpea: do you have diamonds like the picture above or vertical crosses just under the roof ridge?

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