Cruck Cottage, Wirksworth: 15th Century Mystery

Architecture of a few different centuries have combined to make this fascinating wall in Wirksworth.

The little market town of Wirksworth in Derbyshire has a wealth of unusual and old buildings, but perhaps one of its most striking now consists of only one wall.

It's the end wall of a cottage with medieval beams, that dates from around the 15th century.

The wall was discovered in 1971 during demolition of two cottages that once stood on the site.

It is now the outer wall of the Wirksworth Brewery building - an extraordinary survival.

This cruck beam is a brilliant representation of our ancestors spotting a useful shape and using it to make the frame of a house.

A plaque found near this building, called the Cruck Cottage, says: “This is the site of a former cruck truss cottage or house, probably dating from the late medieval period.”

George Eliot, a famous English novelist and poet, used Wirksworth in some of her novels and it’s said that she visited the Cruck Cottage.

Reacting to the image on social media, someone said: “That is just spectacular! 600 years or so of residential / domestic evolution in one wall! Stuff like this gives me goosebumps.

Another person added “That is a ‘Time Team’ episode in the making (actually, an early TT episode did archaeology on a home that did just this, medieval structure that had been built over!)”

Cruck buildings

A cruck or crook frame is a curved timber, one of a pair, which support the roof of a building, historically used in England and Wales.

This type of timber framing consists of long, generally naturally curved, timber members that lean inwards and form the ridge of the roof.

These posts are then generally secured by a horizontal beam which then forms an "A" shape.

Several of these "crooks" are constructed on the ground and then lifted into position.

They are then joined together by either solid walls or cross beams which aid in preventing 'racking' (the action of each individual frame going out of square with the rest of the frame, and thus risking collapse).

Crucks were chiefly used in the medieval period for structures such as houses and large tithe barns, which were entirely timber-framed.

They were also often used for the roofs of stone-walled buildings such as churches.

However, these bent timbers were comparatively rare, as they were also in high demand for the shipbuilding industry.

Where naturally curved timbers were convenient and available, carpenters continued to use them at much later dates.

For instance, base crucks are found in the roofs of the residential range of Staple Inn Buildings, Nos. 337 – 338, London.

Wirksworth

With its imposing stone buildings and intricate network of narrow lanes, yards and alleys, Wirksworth is one of Derbyshire's prettiest market towns.

Its fortunes were built on lead mining, quarrying and textiles - introduced by industrial pioneer Sir Richard Arkwright at Haarlem Mill, considered by some to be the mill in George Eliot's novel The Mill on the Floss.

Eliot is also thought to have based the fictional town of Snowfield in another novel, Adam Bede, on Wirksworth, and even DH Lawrence lived and wrote here.

Visitors to Wirksworth are spoilt for choice for things to see and do.

The Ecclesbourne Valley Railway operates services from Wirksworth to Duffield running through one of Derbyshire’s most lovely and unspoilt valleys.

The spectacular Wirksworth StarDisc – a 21st century stone circle star chart – sits high above the town and illuminates the constellations at night.

The National Stone Centre and Mount Cook Adventure Centre lie on the edge of Wirksworth, and in the town itself St. Mary’s Church – one of the finest in the county – is well worth a visit.

A new award-winning Heritage Centre tells the fascinating stories of Wirksworth and its people, and regular guided walks around the town also leave from here.

Like many of the Peak District and Derbyshire's market towns, Wirksworth is perhaps best explored on foot.

We’d recommend a visit - it’s a lovely place to explore.

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