Tuesday 16 October 2012

The Restoration of the Market Hall, Richelieu

The floor is up, the rotten bits of wood removed, and the whole thing supported by scaffolding.

La Halle, opposite the church in Richelieu has been undergoing an extensive restoration this year. We took the opportunity to photograph the work so far last week. Henri Proust, who lives in the town, has also posted a progress report, with photographs taken on site probably the day before us.

Wow! Copper guttering going on.

As he pointed out to me one day when I joined him for lunch, this building is a very rare survivor. Usually wooden buildings burn down before they reach 375 years old.

A filet laid on an old rafter that follows the natural line of the tree branch it is made from. The filet is to raise the level to that of the other rafters so the roof is charmingly undulating, but not totally ramshackle.

A pillar with new scarf-jointed bottom attached, but still waiting for the stone plinth to be replaced.

4 comments:

Tim said...

That is a nice bit of jointing [last pic]... and COPPER guttering... in the UK it wouldn't stay on the building long enough to get any verdigris!!
Nice post, ta!

Abbé Henri Proust said...

A bit like the works at Chinon castle, it is wonderful to see so much money being spent, and so much effort taken. Well done Mayor Novelli!

Susan said...

Tim: my thoughts exactly.

HP: indeed well done Mayor Novelli. Richelieu is looking sprucer and sprucer every day. The young men on the roof are clearly very used to being photographed by passersby which I thought was nice.

Colin and Elizabeth said...

What an asset to the town and worth every penny (sorry!) centime!

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