family craft. Combed wheat reed, or Devon reed, was introduced into the county perhaps in the 1960s. It is a thatching method by which the longstraw is prepared through a combing machine (a machine used for producing straw for the straw hat industry). The straw is 'cleaned' of flag and ears and is tightly bundled ready to be laid on a roof in a reed-like manner working along the eaves in rows from right to left, though I have seen the roof laid in 'lanes'. The angle of the thatch is achieved by butting the reed bundles with a legget. The result of the change to combed wheat reed has been the loss of the traditional and simple longstraw characteristics to those of the mounded reed-like Devon thatch. The combed wheat reed thatchers have more recently disguised the looks of these thatches by leaving the flag on the combed wheat reed to give it a shaggy appearance and have finished the thatch with a decorated boarder to the eaves and verges over the butt ends of the wheat - with great difficulty! In 1983-84, a survey of thatched roofs in South Cambridgeshire was carried out to enable the Conservation Committee to agree an historic building grant policy for the repair and rethatching of long straw thatched roofs. Of the total number of thatched roofs (837), 542 or 65% were of longstraw. Many villages such as Barrington, south of Cambridge, have only longstraw thatched roofs on the cottages, farmhouses and farm buildings. At that time, it was estimated that, with CONTEXT 29 Top left: Combed wheat reed before dressing, Oakington. Top right: Yealming of long straw. Bottom left: Cambridgeshire longstraw thatch with raised ridge, Barrington. ,__-----~-------' Bottom right: Longstraw thatching in progress, Me/dreth. the loss by fire or conversion to water reed thatch on the then unlisted buildings, the number of longstraw thatches could be reduced to about 520 or 63% by 1988. However, in the sample survey of twenty parishes in 1988 the percentage of longstraw roofs had dropped to 54%, clearly caused by the number of combed wheat reed thatches that had been introduced. More control over the change of thatching method and material was needed to maintain the number of longstraw thatches, control that should be possible through the additional number of listed buildings after the resurvey in 1986. The local authority issued guidance notes in connection with its grant aid policy in August 1984: For historic reasons the roofing material of thatched buildings should not be altered. For example, if the building is thatched in longstraw any work should be carried out in the same material, rather than, say, combed wheat reed. A parallel could be drawn in changing pantiles to pegtiles or slate. It is the Council's policy to encourage the use of longstraw thatch where it is appropriate. It is also clear that there are regional differences in thatching details, ie treatment of the ridge, eaves and dormers, and we are therefore keen to see local East Anglian patterns retained wherever possible. Following the 1988 survey the Conservation Committee agreed that grant aid should not be given for a change of thatch. At a meeting with the Conservation Officers of the region and the East Midlands Master Thatchers Association the policy was discussed in great detail. Some thatchers went away from the meeting with the view that combed wheat reed was longstraw and could be dressed to look like the traditional longstraw. In 1989 we sought advice from English Heritage whose reply was: Traditional local materials and methods of thatching should be used and the thatch dressed in a locally traditional way but there would be some cases where a more flexible approach was appropriate. In seeking comment from other thatchers working in the area, and particularly the East Anglian Master Thatchers Association, we found we had considerable support. In 1990we notified all thatchers working in South Cambridgeshire that the District Council now required listed building consent for any proposed change of thatching method and material. One thatcher, who works nationally and is said to thatch more than seventy roofs a year, gives his estimates for 'longstraw' and hotly disputes our view that his combed wheat reed is not longstraw. However, his method of laying his longstraw is not traditional to Cambridgeshire. Bcrh Davies is Hiswric Buildings Officer wirh South Cambridgeshire Discricc Council. 13
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