In the 1960’s when I started thatching the most common material was long straw. Most local farmers then had the thrashing engines binders, tractors, and steam machinery available together with a larger work force than now and usually access to the help of retired workers who had done the work before and were only too willing to do a day or two thrashing for the "crack" and a pint or two of beer.

Patching was far more prevalent than it is today anything up to a third of the roof being patched and fastened by external rods, some of these repairs lasting for over 10 years.

Most roof’s in the central Northamptonshire area had a original construction not often seen in other areas of the country. Very little use was made of string or grass rope for fastening, even less of iron hooks, the main method was a mud & dung mixture apparently taken from the road side judging by the horse shoe nails and other debris found in it. As is often the case with thatch this would be of the same date as the construction of the roof and often the house. Flax straw was also commonplace. The mud was laid on the wall plate and the eave wadd trampled in, like dinosaur footprints I have seen the hob nail imprints! This base was then sparred into to fix the eave.

On a roof strong enough to take it (frequently 4*4 oak or elm) the yealm was laid and mud applied to the top of the straw and the rafter and batten (usually riven oak) the quantities used were sometimes very large I have seen a ½ bucket full per 3’ yealm * 13 yealms to the stelch on a 15" rafter.

Ridging used even more, the main coat would be taken to the top as usual the ends bent over the roll and a coat of mud up to 4" thick applied over the lot, the wrap over ridge would be applied and often another layer of mud applied as a cap sometimes with a lime mortar mix on the final exposed layer to prevent it washing away, this method was continued for a long time as a cement mortar capping.

Over the years with the extra spar coats being applied to this original layer the weight became frightening, combined layers of 4’ thick and more not unusual, the chimney being built up and the hollows from the bending rafters filled in sometimes with extra mud layers. Gable ends were rarely cut, the main roof rolled over the edge and was sparred like the ridge - called a rolled verge or barrel ends.

I remember old thatchers telling me how they used to use this method when they were young and it would appear that the practice mainly died out with the use of machine made tar cord and steel spikes.

One roof of this type I ridged and repaired was known to be 60 years old, the thatcher who did it still lived in the village, in places the surface had worn back to the mud and the ridge top had worn back to a 12" flat top like a compost heap! Despite this it was still sound. How it appears to work particularly on the ridge is that the fine dust repels the water, when this becomes penetrated by water the mud soaks it up and swells preventing leaks, drying out again in good weather.

Apart from the weight causing damage the main cause of failure was slippage due to the roof wearing back so far that the rafters became wet and rotting the battens so losing the grip.

I have occasionally used this mud method on portions of the eaves when due to lack of decent fixing on poor rafter ends nothing else but major surgery would do, plaster browning does the job very well!

It may be worth noting that the poured on effect on some property is due in the main part by the eave sagging or even falling out and being replaced, material above being left at the existing level and the whole when re thatched adopting a curve.

The cut patterned ridge with ornamental scallops would rarely be used as it is pure window dressing, as apart from two different materials being used for the roof and ridge making it is difficult to make the roof and ridge merge as in reed and sedge or flax and straw (even then a straight cut would mainly apply) the extra cost would not be acceptable - thatch traditionally was a poor mans roof. Subsequent re ridging had the same effect as dissimilar material as the texture of the old roof and the new ridge make the merging difficult.