The Boarhunt hall house, re-erected at the Museum. 

The medieval hall house from Boarhunt in Hampshire has been tentatively dated to the late 14th century on the basis of comparison with similar Hampshire houses that have been dendro-dated (dated by tree-ring analysis) and the distinctive seesaw marks that occur on all the timbers. When the house was rescued in 1971, in an advanced state of decay, it consisted of a timber-framed structure containing two rooms: a two bay cruck hall, and a room – possibly a service room – under the hipped end. It had brick walls, of several different dates, and a thatched roof.

 Drawing showing the cruck arch of the Boarhunt hall house
as reconstructed at the Museum. 

An upper floor had been inserted over the hall and a large brick chimney serving two ground floor hearths and a bake oven had been built in the lower end of the hall. The service room was still open to the roof, and the rafters and thatch battens were heavily sooted from the original open fire. Although only about 30% of the original timbers survived, the reconstruction of the medieval hall house was considered worthwhile since the building was small and simple and the remains well distributed throughout the frame. Elements of the building as it has been reconstructed remain speculative, however, notably the location of the doors and windows and the dimensions of the room at the hall’s upper end (usually described as the ‘chamber’ or ‘solar’).  

 Hall house prior to dismantling in 1971. The lower part to the right is the medieval section.

The house photographed just after the First World War.
The medieval portion re-erected at the Museum is at the far end.