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There were many Tudor houses. There were those of the rich and those of the poor. There were
those of the towns and those of the countryside. They are all very similar, yet very unique.
They all have intricate designs, and are like no others. Before these houses came along,
houses were meant as defences but the Tudors did something no-one else had ever done -- they
made their houses to be attractive, not to be strong. You can spot a Tudor house by its
exposed timber work. These timbers were used to support the building, but when you see
them in a Tudor style house, they're just being used for decoration. There are many
features to Tudor houses. The first feature is the roofs. They are often thatched and
made out of straw. They would first make a frame then put bundles of straw or reed onto
the frame, thus creating the roofs. In most houses windows were covered by wooden shutters.
Glass was expensive so it was only included in the houses of the rich. There were also
chimneys. On rich houses, chimneys had very elaborate designs, and were made of brick
and stone. They were tall and thin, and had symmetrical patterns moulded into them. However
poor houses didn't have chimneys, instead the smoke just went through a hole in the
roof. The main basis of every house is the frame. Tudor houses are made from a wooden
framework of beams. The frame includes an overhang. The upper storeys of some Tudor
houses were bigger than the ground floor and would overhang. This is called
a jetty. Rich houses were very different to poor houses. Firstly, there were the materials.
Rich houses used glass, which was very expensive, whereas the poor could only afford wooden
shutters. Glass was a status symbol too; If your house has a lot of glass, then it shows
you are very wealthy. The actual buildings were made out of brick or stone and tiles.
Stone was also very expensive, and was only accessible by the wealthier classes. Castles
and churches were always built of stone. Bricks were a relatively new building material. They
were handmade, thinner and more expensive and only the richest buildings could afford
them. A good example of Tudor brickwork is Hampton Court Palace, in Surrey. Rich houses
were often symmetrical and shaped like Es or Hs. On the other hand, poor Tudor houses
were very basic, and consisted of just one small room with a hole in the wall for a window
(which may have had a wooden shutter). They slept on straw with blankets, and had a very
hard time in cold weather. There was very little furniture, and what there was of it
was extremely simple, maybe a wooden chest or stool. They would cook in iron pots, and
have wooden bowls or mugs. Very poor people lived in 'Cob houses', where the walls were
made of mud and straw. The poor often had to share houses with animals to keep warm
and because it is cheaper than having a separate barn. The houses would be damp and draughty,
and filled with smoke, because they only had a hole in the roof as a chimney.