More than 4,000 cruck frame buildings have been recorded in the UK. Purlins are also found even in plain timber frames.Ī 'true' or 'full' cruck half-timbered building in Weobley, Herefordshire, England: The cruck blades are the tall, curved timbers which extend from near the ground to the ridge.Ī cruck is a pair of crooked or curved timbers which form a bent (U.S.) or crossframe (UK) the individual timbers are each called a blade. The distinction presented here is that the roof load is carried by the exterior walls. The term box frame is not well defined and has been used for any kind of framing (with the usual exception of cruck framing). These styles are often categorized by the type of foundation, walls, how and where the beams intersect, the use of curved timbers, and the roof framing details.Ī simple timber frame made of straight vertical and horizontal pieces with a common rafter roof without purlins. Since this building method has been used for thousands of years in many parts of the world, many styles of historic framing have developed. Hewing this with broadaxes, adzes, and draw knives and using hand-powered braces and augers (brace and bit) and other woodworking tools, artisans or framers could gradually assemble a building. The method comes from working directly from logs and trees rather than pre-cut dimensional lumber. The country most known for this kind of architecture is Germany, where timber-framed houses are spread all over the country. If the structural frame of load-bearing timber is left exposed on the exterior of the building it may be referred to as half-timbered, and in many cases the infill between timbers will be used for decorative effect. Timber framing ( Holzfachwerk) and 'post-and-beam' construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs.

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