Cruck Building: a survey

Crucks, curving roof timbers that in their purest form go from the ground to the apex of the roof, have long been a puzzle. They superficially appear to be a primitive form of roof framing, but we have no real examples before 1250, by which time more sophisticated box-framing methods of construction were widespread. They are hardly found at all elsewhere in Europe, and even in Britain there is not a single example in any of the Eastern Counties. In the West of England, they were widely used until the 16th century and then die out suddenly for no apparent reason. Simple forms of cruck are easy to describe but should all curved-principle structures be called crucks, including those that start