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| A roof detail in Laughton-en-le-Morthen |
When I last visited Laughton-en-le-Morthen in 2016, it was to meet the church warden and to photograph the interior of All Saints church. Once I had finished this task, I had a very quick look at some of the surrounding vernacular architecture, while waiting for one of the three buses that I needed to get back home to Treeton.
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| Vernacular architecture in Laughton-en-le-Morthen |
Permian dolomitic limestone is typically used for the walls and dressings, with red pantiles for the roofs, although the Old Hall Farmhouse is roofed with Carboniferous sandstone tiles and these are occasionally seen forming the eaves of a pantile roof.
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| Vernacular architecture in Laughton-en-le-Morthen |
On this occasion, after arriving on foot from Throapham, my plan was to try and visit the dozen Grade II Listed buildings in Laughton-en-le-Morthen, which did not yet have any photographs on the British Listed Buildings website.
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| Vernacular architecture in Laughton-en-le-Morthen |
Nearly all are private houses and often secluded, so I just took a few general record photographs of the principal elevations of the building that I could see from the public footpath, without stopping to examine the stonework in any detail.
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| Vernacular architecture in Laughton-en-le-Morthen |
Around the church, the houses date from the late C17 to the mid C18, with the Vicarage being built in the early to mid C19 and roofed with Welsh slate. Just a little bit further down High Street, the Old Hall Farmhouse - set in large grounds - was built in 1633 and has mullioned windows that are typical of the period.
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| Vernacular architecture in Laughton-en-le-Morthen |
Continuing along High Street, there are several farmhouses of varying size – sometimes with outbuildings – and other modest houses, which reflect the former predominantly agricultural economy and are functional and quite austere.
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| Vernacular architecture in Laughton-en-le-Morthen |
The only elaborate detailing that I saw in the village was on the old gateway to the Old Hall Farmhouse, which is dated 1742 and forms an arch with elaborately decorated rusticated blocks, a keyed lintel, a cornice with scrolls flanking a vase finial and a motif depicting a gauntleted hand holding a White Rose of York.
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| The gateway to Old Hall Farmhouse |
Although I didn’t closely look at any stonework, there are notable colour variations in the limestone from the Cadeby Formation, which forms the bedrock underlying Laughton. Earlier in my walk, I had seen small outcrops of pale cream coloured limestone in the old quarry to the south of the church, which I assume was the source of much of the stone used in the village.
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| Boundary walls |
In several boundary walls and for the walls of various farm outbuildings, the limestone is quite yellow in colour and there are also pink/red variations, like I had seen in some of the older masonry at St. John’s church in Throapham and in Letwell.
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| Colour variation in the dolomitic limestone |
The 1854 Ordnance Survey map show that in addition to the quarry to the south of All Saints church, there was also a quarry to the north and another one near to St. John’s church – both of which I think are probably now overgrown or infilled.
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| The 1854 Ordnance Survey map of Laughton-en-le-Morthen |
The lowermost beds of the outlier of the Cadeby Formation are largely composed of calcareous mudstone and these overlie the Yellow Sands Formation, which was once worked for moulding sand. Where these occur along the length of the Magnesian Limestone escarpment, the limestone beds above them usually have a red or yellow staining, which probably accounts for the colour variation seen in the village.
Having not been able to find only one listed agricultural building, which is part of a working farm, I retraced my steps along High Street and photographed an old village well, before having another brief look at the exterior of All Saints church.
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| An old well |
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