Bibliography and Databases
The VAG maintains a series of databases and other resources with information on Vernacular Architecture.
Vernacular Building Glossary - NEW!
This new online Glossary identifies terms used for vernacular buildings, in particular the components of timber-framed structures. They can be identified by name or from drawings. It is based on the Practical Handbook Recording Timber-Framed Buildings: an Illustrated Glossary by Nat Alcock, Maurice Barley, Philip Dixon and Bob Meeson, published by the Council for British Archaeology.
VAG Databases home page
This link gives access to the interactive map of the VAG databases which are hosted by the Archaeology Data Service and to the databases themselves (or you can use the individual links below).
Dendrochronology Database
The Group's Index of Tree-ring Dates is available online and is updated annually, following the publication of new results in Vernacular Architecture. Hosted by the Archaeology Data Service.
Cruck Database
The Group's list of cruck buildings (printed in 1981: CBA Research Report 42, NW Alcock, Cruck construction - an introduction and catalogue) has been extensively updated and is available online. Hosted by the Archaology Data Service. The Research Report itself is also available (Cruck construction - an introduction and catalogue).
Wealden Houses Database
The list of known Wealden Houses, as discussed and mapped in N W Alcock, 'The Distribution and Dating of Wealden houses', Vernacular Architecture, 41 (2010), 37-44. Hosted by the Archaeology Data Service.
Bibliography
The printed Bibliography of Vernacular Architecture has been published periodically, with five volumes to date. The searchable online version hosted by the Archaeology Data Service includes the published Volumes 1 to 5, and periodical updates including recent publications are provided at intervals. It is unlikely that future volumes will be made available as hardcopy. The final printed volume (Volume 5, January 2011) may be downloaded free of charge by following the link below. This can be searched and printed out in whole or part as desired, but the material is copyright to the Group and may only be disseminated further with prior written permission:
- VAG Bibliography Volume 5 - cover page (jpg format, 1.5Mb) and bibliography (pdf format, 2Mb)
Bibliography Volume 6 has now been completed and incorporated into the consolidated online bibliography. In principle, this virtual volume covers the period 2007-11 although in practice the cut-off date is fluid.
If you would like to help with searching publications to include in Volume 7 (2012-19), please email bibliographer@vag.org.uk.
Index to Friedrich Ostendorf, Die Geschichte des Dachwerks [History of Roof Structure] (1908)
Julian Munby has prepared an index to the illustrations in this famous study, examining roofs throughout western Europe including England. It contains several hundred drawings, numbers of which are of roofs that no longer survive. He has kindly made this index available as a downloadable pdf. Nat Alcock has extracted from this an index for the English buildings, ordered by illustration number, rather than by name, including the printed page, at Ostendorf_England_Illustrations_by_page.pdf.
The original Ostendorf text is available as a searchable and downloadable e-book, at http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/ostendorf1908.
Tables of Tree-Ring Dated Buildings in England and Wales
A useful set of tables of tree-ring dating reports compiled mainly from entries published annually in Vernacular Architecture and available in two forms: national lists arranged mainly by half-century and county lists approximately in chronological order. These tables provide an additional resource to the Dendrochronology Database mentioned above, and build upon the data available there. They were prepared by Bob Meeson and are discussed in his paper, 'Structural trends in English medieval buildings: new insights from dendrochronology', Vernacular Architecture 43 (2013),58–75.
The tables were updated in September 2021.
