Pargeting

Bits and pieces by Lois

Pargeting is a term for the decorating of plaster on the outside of old buildings… maybe on the inside too, I’m afraid my knowledge does not extend that far! I’m not sure how old it is, but I would guess that people have always wanted to decorate their houses, and make them look attractive, so I think it is probably as old as the plastering the outside of houses and buildings. It certainly had reached incredibly intricate, elaborate and dramatic by Henry VIII’s time and Nonesuch Palace which was completed in 1538 has some wonderful examples. It was increasingly popular through the seventeenth century and the n went out of fashion although it was revived in the nineteenth century. My home turf of east Anglia was where it was most popular, but it does occur in other parts of the country too. It is not just solid plaster molded into shape, but there are all sorts of other materials added (for example binders like hair, dung, loam, soot, and tallow… but other ukky things like blood and urine… yeugh, imagine the smell!)

There is a lot still in remarkable condition in East Anglia  and the other day I visited Saffron Walden with my cousin Carolyn and as well as having a very pleasant day and a lovely lunch, we saw a lot of wonderful pargeting. Unfortunately it was a dull day, as my photographs show!

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Here the pargetting is between the two floors of the house
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This house is dated 1675…but it may be older than that
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So sweet
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Elegent and intricate

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I don’t know these figures, maybe the giants Gog and Magog, maybe the people who lived in the house!

10 Comments

      7. bodhisattvaintraining

        Exciting!! I used to think once mother didn’t need me anymore I could plan but at the moment I’m not focused..great to have something like that to look forward to though. Keep me informed 🙂

        Like

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