Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas, and may you find some fantastic buildings in 2026!

Our interactive map showing all buildings recorded by the YVBSG has just been updated! The latest version includes this intriguing little outbuilding at Woodsome Hall. If you're a member, the map also gives you access to the full online reports. Browse at www.yvbsg.org.uk/reports.html.

A quick sketch of High Street, Charing, Kent with 27, 29 High Street (Sherborne House) drawn a bit more fully than the rest. This 16th building incorporated a shop with its own doorway at the left hand end. The main house was to the right. @varchgroup.bsky.social #pencil #drawing #ArtShare

27, 29 High Street (Sherborne House), Charing, Kent. This 16th building incorporated a shop with its own doorway at the left hand end. The main house was to the right. @varchgroup.bsky.social #ArchitecturalIllustration #pen #drawing #ArtShare

The algorithms are making it a lot harder to spread the word about these online talks. Although numbers are still reasonable, it would be a great help if folk were able to give the 30 December event a quick share 🙂 Booking available here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/buildings-...

🕰️ Join us online on Tues, 24 Feb 2026, from 6–7 pm for a talk with Chris Skidmore on Quaker meeting house architecture. Discover how these seemingly simple buildings feature unique elements and evolving styles as Friends adopted mainstream designs. 🔗 Register: hbap.org.uk/online-talk-...

The Squatter’s Cottage at Blists Hill was built around 1830 by miner Michael Corbett on waste land. Such cottages were common in the Coalbrookdale Coalfield. They stood on unregulated commons, with families paying a 30 shilling yearly encroachment fine for up to 60 years to be allowed to stay.

#AdoorableThursday Customer: 'But it was supposed to say 'GATES' not 'GATE'. Stonemason: 'No problem - easily fixed!'. Old Edge, Colden, Heptonstall.

A recording of a recent YVBSG talk by Philip Sands on the history of Woodsome Hall near Huddersfield can now be viewed at youtu.be/2PGeqLuA0jg?.... Philip takes us on a virtual tour of the building which has a complicated and fascinating history and has been dendro-dated to 1462.

Interested in a free place at the VAG Winter Conference? The topic is 'Vernacular buildings in urban contexts: the study of urban building types and integration with urban studies', 10-11 Jan 2026 in Nottingham. Bursaries are available - more info at www.vag.org.uk/conferences.....

Visited the Ancient High House in Stafford today. I was particularly taken with the juxtaposition of apotropaic burn mark, fire extinguisher, and fire safety sign 😁🔥🕯🧯 More on burn marks in historic buildings here: triskeleheritage.triskelepublishing.com/mediaeval-my...

Tewkesbury.

We all like to do a bit of showing off and those working on the Hall in the 14th century were no exception. The carpenters were given the resources (money and beer, so say our archives) to embellish and generally do some woodwork showboating as can be seen here.

Ed Lorch will tell us the story of local man James Quantock, an 18th century polymath who specialised in what we today call surveying. There will be details on how his intricate 100-page notebook was found which gives instructions and data on surveying, carpentry, husbandry, building costs and more.

New *draft* text from @vch-oxon.bsky.social, which completes the draft for their 22nd (and penultimate, for the historic county) volume which covers the area around #Chadlington. The new drafts are for #Chilson, with Shorthampton and Walcot. All comments, corrections, etc., gratefully received. 🗃️

Sketched on my way to a series of talks organised by @varchgroup.bsky.social & Oxford University in 2019 on recording historic urban buildings. The Sheldonian Theatre & townhouses on St Giles. #ArchitecturalIllustration #sketchbook #drawing

Really looking forward to speaking at the 'Counting Chimneys - The Hearth Tax in Lincolnshire' conference on the 25th. Everyone is welcome, book in now! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/counting-c...

#AdoorableThursday Barn door at Sherford, Devon.

You've got to admire an expert knapped-flint wall - St Mary's Priory Church, 😮 Bungay, #Suffolk 📷 Yesterday

Courtyard of the Golden Cross, Oxford. An inn with a long history, claimed as 1193 on the wall of Pizza Hut. On the left is a long 16th-17th century timber frame with wall paintings, to the rear an 18th century range. Sketched when I was in town to give a lecture, 2019. #UrbanSketch #drawing

#WindowsOnWednesday Some workroom windows, including dairies and cheese rooms, were exempt from window tax if clearly labelled as such.

Found this 17th Century farm near in Cumbria last week. Date on the front is 1692. Not listed. Very modified. Changed doors and windows. New roof? No chimneys. I wonder if it’s owned by a water company as it’s close to Thirlmere.

Join us on Saturday 18 October at our follow-up day to hear about buildings we recorded in the south Bradford area in May. We'll also have a walk around the historic buildings of Wibsey. Everybody welcome! Booking details at www.yvbsg.org.uk/events.html.

A while back Historic England asked for my opinion on which was the oldest pub in London. The result is a new online article that outlines the variables, busts some myths, and points to a couple of genuinely ancient pubs in and around the city... heritagecalling.com/2025/09/25/w...

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekKforKaraoke #AdoorableThursday #UrbanGaze Let My Love Open the Door – Pete Townshend #PhotographersOfBluesky #BlueskyPhotography #Broviravo #Art #EastCoastKin

#AdoorableThursday Doorway in the range of farm buildings at Birthwaite Hall, near Barnsley.

#AdoorableThursday The Guildhall, Whittlesford, Cambridgeshire.

#WindowsOnWednesday Window at Overhouse, Tisbury, with the mullions narrower than their heads.

Should be good - we visited some amazing buildings in Wiltshire!

A Lost Gem: The Demise of Parlwr Mawr In the heart of Conwy, a building full of history was demolished in the 1950s. Parlwr Mawr, the "Great Parlour," was a magnificent townhouse dating back to the late 16th century. 1/...

Worth a read! Alfie Robinson interviewing the brilliant Dr. Tim Meek, @limefinishes.bsky.social - THE expert on lime finishes… open.substack.com/pub/alfierob...

Vine Cottage, #Looe #Cornwall 18th Century set of buildings. Part of small house & coach house grouping. #AdoorableThursday #LocalHistory

#AdoorableThursday Let's hope the residents of this house in Silver Street, Ely, know which keyhole to use.

Chancel #StMichaelBrentKnoll #Somerset on #WoodensDay Pristine roof. Trusses with queen posts, braces and openwork trefoils between post and purlin (also a pub for roofers). If finials extend upwards what do you call something that extends downwards? This has four of them

#WindowsOnWednesday Ordsall Hall, Salford.

Two day buildings bonanza in Nantwich with Jeremy Lake. What a fabulous place for late 16th century timber framed buildings. Can't wait to go back

This late 18th-century nonconformist chapel is a charming example of Georgian vernacular architecture with a hipped clay tile roof, large sash windows, and a delightful dentil-brick cornice. 3/8

Off we went to Lancashire for the day. We didn't find any hotpot, but we did come across some rather fine buildings in the Pendle area - take a look at our little video at youtu.be/J6R833p2I6Y?....

#Combeinteignhead #Devon A 17th Century (or earlier) tithe barn. Built of cob (clay & straw), rubble stone & originally thatched. Large wooden doors for access to threshing loft & narrow slit windows. Church path with lychgate in background. #AdoorableThursday #LocalHistory

#AdoorableThursday Lower Crimsworth Farmhouse, near Hebden Bridge. Porch dated 1661.

I wish I had been able to go on a weekend like this when I was an undergraduate. If you've ever wondered about the houses of ordinary folk in history, or (if you know me) wondered what it is that I actually get up to, then book in and have an amazing weekend in Oxfordshire!

New to vernacular architecture and want to find out more? Why not come along to our training and study weekend at Sutton Courteney Abbey in Oxfordshire on 4-5 October 2025, and discover how we go about examining buildings? Further details at www.vag.org.uk/conferences.....

Our August Newsletter, No 120, has just been published! Updates on events, publications, Woodsome Hall and other buildings, tree-ring dating, datestones and other features, as well as a recent expedition over the border into Lancashire. Catch up with our news at www.yvbsg.org.uk/newsheet.html.

Yesterday's post about dendrochronology elicited responses over multiple platforms asking how we can be sure timbers weren't stockpiled before construction or weren't reused. The answers are now in the expanded Mediaeval Mythbusting Blog #15: triskeleheritage.triskelepublishing.com/mediaeval-my...

Looking for details of listed buildings in your UK #OnePlaceStudy? There's the GB-wide website British Listed Buildings, plus official websites from: ✦ Historic England ✦ CADW (Wales) ✦ Historic Environment Scotland ✦ the Department for Communities (Northern Ireland) #OnePlaceWednesday

For Heritage Open Day on Saturday 20 Sep 2025, Herbert Gallery & Museum in #Coventry is offering Architecture & House History at the Archives🔗, an opportunity to explore the architecture and #HouseHistory resources of Coventry Archives with a talk and a guided tour. #OnePlaceWednesday

Call for Papers! There's still time to submit a paper for the VAG Winter Conference at University of Nottingham, 10 and 11 January 2026. Theme: 'Vernacular buildings in urban contexts: The study of urban building types and integration with urban studies'. Full details in the CFP at www.vag.org.uk.

The latest edition of our journal, Yorkshire Buildings No 51, is now available - now in bigger A4 format! Articles on Wakefield, Doncaster, Todmorden, Calverley Old Hall, oval windows, medieval aisled houses, and much more. Only £6 plus p&p - full details at www.yvbsg.org.uk/yorkshire-bu....

A contrast to my recent pen sketches of Seaton Carew, pencil drawing inside many moons ago in Kent. Old Knockwood, a 16th-17th century timber framed house near Tenterden, Kent. @varchgroup.bsky.social #ArchitecturalIllustration #pencil #drawing

Great day on Saturday exploring the Pendle area of Lancashire with our guide Kevin Illingworth. Farmhouses, barns, churches and plenty of round-headed mullion windows - with the added bonus of sunshine and stunning scenery too. Well worth crossing the county border from Yorkshire!