A recent tour of Dorset to the renowned village of Milton Abbas* with its thatched houses so typical of the area here as well as many other parts of England, each having their own regional styles. This ‘chocolate box’ architecture once the choice of the poor is now only for the wealthy since thatching is a much rarer skill and hence a niche market, making these rooves very expensive to restore and maintain.
*Known as Middleton since Saxon times, but in 18th century the Earl of Dorchester Joseph Damer decided to remove the existing houses in the town because they spoilt his view. He waited till leases ran out and in the 1780s he demolished the existing cottages and replaced them with new ones further away. He also moved the almshouses. The new settlement was renamed Milton Abbas. A History of Milton Abbas
Summer has arrived and the grasses are high but thatch is primarily sourced from wheat straw or water reeds although:-
“in some coastal, heathland, and upland areas of England, the use of local wild plants such as marram grass, sedge, bulrush, bracken, heather, and gorse persisted much longer than in lowland areas, ~ Historic England
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