Building Projects |
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Haddenham Croft Cottage |
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30 years ago the Museum rescued a local earth building from Haddenham in the Aylesbury Vale area and brought it back to the Museum. The building was stored as a heap of earth in the Village Green area! Wychert is a special material made of limestone clay earth only found in the Aylesbury Vale area and the use of this material for house building has died out, along with the unique construction skills. In 2007 the Museum built the limestone foundations, known as "grumplings" and in 2008 began the construction of the wychert walls. Museum volunteers carried out the work using special three pronged wychert forks to mix the limestone clay, straw and water and build up the walls. The mixture has to be trampled down by a labourer standing on the wall while the mixture is forked up onto the wall. The team reached first floor level before winter set in and work had to stop. Work began again on the 1st floor over the summer of 2009, but this time with scaffolding around the building to accommodate the working at heights. The team nearly reached eaves height by October, when the building had to be wrapped up to protect it from the frosts over winter. The wall construction was completed and the roof timbers erected during the summer of 2010. The official topping out ceremony took place on 15 September. The hand made traditional tiles are being made over the winter by H G Matthews and work on the roof will recommence in the summer of 2011. You can support this project by sponsoring a tile for £1 each to help our charity raise money for this unique Chilterns building! Contact the Museum if you would like more information about this unique project - ring the Museum office on 01494 871117 or email buildingscoam@btconnect.com |
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Nissen Hut from Sewell |
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The Museum was offered this Nissen hut in 2007 from a farm in Sewell, near Luton, as it was no longer in use. The building was dismantled in 2008 and was erected in 2009 opposite the Prefab on the Village Green to add to the 1940s area. Nissen huts were designed in 1916 by Major Peter Nissen, a Canadian serving with the Royal Engineers. At least 100,000 Nissen huts were produced during World War 1. Our hut appears to be a ‘between the wars’ model. Its construction is of corrugated iron sheets nailed to wooden purlins (horizontal timbers), supported by steel ribs. It sits on a timber cill on a concrete slab. One end comprises a wooden frame covered with vertical tongued and grooved boards, with a central door flanked by two windows. The opposite end has two large doors inserted internally. Horizontal corrugated iron sheets are held between the ribs, vertical ones clad the outside. The front bays have been fitted out as an RAF briefing room during World War II with interactive artefacts for visitors to use. The remainder of the bays in the building are being used to store our larger artefacts. |
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Gerrards Cross Hut |
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In 2006 St James Church in Gerrards Cross offered the Museum their traditional "green hut" and the Museum was delighted to accept this building to provide us with a much needed a new artefact store with display facilities. The building was dismantled in 2006 and re-erected at the Museum in 2007 by Museum staff, volunteers and a little help from corporate volunteers from the DTI! Thanks to the help of the Museum artefacts team and a grant from the Museum Development Fund for display shelving, the new stores provide an exciting glimpse of traditional objects using in people's homes, farms and work places in the past. In 2011 we hope to have a few open days where visitors can look around the stores. |
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