JERUSALEM WAS BUILDED HERE
The traffic island at the end of the High Street is known
as Jerusalem. Many people, especially those new to the village,may
not realise that it is named after a house which occupied
it a hundred years ago.
I am afraid that time pressures have prevented me from gathering
any details, except that the cellars were still there in the
fifties, and George Lockwood used to play in them as a lad.
The picture is from an old postcard, a copy of which was kindly
lent to me by Neil, the manager of the Navigation Inn. There
are many other fascinating local pictures there, so it is
well worth a visit.
SIGNIFICANT PLACES: TIMBER FRAME
 ...ON
THE SIDE OF 4A BEVERIDGE STREET
There are not many timber-framed buildings in Barrow.This
is one of the easiest to find. Look closely at the timbers
at the side - down the jitty called "Little lane". These are
original, possibly 300 - 400 years old. In this style of construction,
it is the timber frame that holds up the house. The bricks
or whatever between the timbers are just to make it waterproof.
Such frames were pre-fabricated by a carpenter in a workshop
and taken to the site to be erected. In effect, you bought
a set of timbers to make one or more "bays" - hence, a "bay
window" is a window that fills a whole bay. This house shows
3 bays still standing but there are hints in the last set
of timbers and the extended wall plinth that it may have had
5 bays when built.
However, the most interesting detail, I think, is that each
joint was marked to show which fitted where, like a flat pack
of furniture, so that they would be erected correctly on site.
These "carpenter's marks" on each joint were often just chisel
cuts. Here there are three cuts to show it was the third set
of uprights.There is a hint of possible marks on other timbers
but nothing definite.
Go and check for yourself.
Arthur Gardner
NO SPEED RAMPS REQUIRED
This view of the High Street was taken in the 1960s, not
long after the Post Office was built. Note the absence of
traffic, white and yellow lines, and of the supermarket and
chemist. Harris's Garage has petrol pumps at the roadside,
which remained well into the seventies. The registration of
the car in the foreground looks like 261 EUT - anyone remember
it?
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