J is for Jetty: A-Z of Historic Buildings
A jettied house, projecting over filthy streets while churchbells ring is an irresistible mental image of the English middle ages. The form of a jettied house seems to be emblematic both of quaint ‘Englishness’ and quaint ‘medievalness’. Yet the jettied house is neither characteristically English nor exclusively medieval.
Jettied houses refer to ones where upper stories, or even a sequence of upper storeys, of the building project outwards using a wooden frame over the ground beneath. If the building is made of stone, we normally do not say that the building is ‘jettied’ but rather say that such and such a storey is ‘corbelled out’ or ‘on corbels’. Jettied buildings are normally associated with cities, where the jettying process afforded valuable extra space beyond a building’s footprint building. Jettying, however, was also done on rural houses where the functional explanation simply isn’t present. Instead, we have to resort to the idea that it was an aesthetic statement.
From my research into medieval building contracts, it has become clear that size mattered: bigger was often considered better in medieval writing about architecture. It is likely that the jettying process which makes a building with a small footprint more impressive was no exception. Furthermore, medieval sources show an understanding of levels of craftsmanship, even from non-artisan, elite audiences. Contracts would for example stipulate the quality of oak, that it should be well-seasoned and free of sap. Hence, it is also likely that an elegantly jettied building was impressive because of the more complicated carpentry it demanded.
The jettied house as we know it today originated in the medieval period. In England, the earliest securely dated example was dated to the 1270s using dendrochronology (the façade disguises this however!). The simplicity of the jettied concept and the poor rates of survival of earlier architecture mean the form may have been developed somewhat earlier than this. Most surviving jettied buildings date from the later end of the medieval period, from the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (likely in order of increasing survivors).
Craik House, a 15th century example of a jettied townhouse in Tewkesbury (Grade II* listed). The traceries bear comparison with rood screens of the same date.
However, just because the jettied form was developed in the medieval period, does not mean it was confined to that point in time. There are many ‘early modern’, 16th, 17th and even 18th century jettied buildings in England. This attests to the conservatism of craftsmen who tend to stick to received knowledge and innovate within narrow bounds of experience. In the Colonies in eastern America, jettied buildings continued to be built well into the 18th century. As with all features, jetties show that things are usually not as they seem in architecture: what seems like function ends up as an aesthetic statement; what seems backward looking and medieval was an enduring innovation.
Cross House, a Grade II* listed building, also in Tewkesbury. The third storey, a jetty, was added in the 17th century.
