Open Hall House

The Open Hall House or Wealden Hall house began as a manor house during the Saxon era but gradually as things progressed yeoman started to build them, although somewhat smaller in scale.


Roof
The roof was commonly thatch but in wealthier areas and later times the thatch might be replaced by clay or slate tiles. Since the supporting structure were generally two feet apart it probably wasn't very safe to walk up on a thatch roof. Somewhere near the middle the roof would have a smoke hole or vents to allow the smoke from the hearth to exit. In later days this would be replaced by a chimney.

First Floor

The house had four equal-sized 'bays' created by the framing skeleton.  The First Floor (1) has two areas that did not connect to each other. On one side we have the service area where servants slept, and the other side we have the Solar where the master of the house and family slept. The Solar took up two bays, so it hung over part of the hall below. Between the two was an area open to the Hall below which created a grand room and allowed smoke from the hearth to rise instead of choking everyone while it worked its way out of the smoke hole. The First floor was accessed by a ladder or steep stairs until late in the medieval period.

Ground Floor

The bay beneath where the servant slept was the buttery (for storing food) and the pantry (for storing drink). These are intentionally unheated to help preserve things a bit. On the bay on the far side you had the Parlour (2), which was where the owners of the house worked and stored gear.

In the center the two bays are connected to form a large, "Open Hall" where the hearth was for cooking and general warmth. Half of the hall was open to the first floor above (3) to allow the smoke to rise out of everyone's way. The hall had two doors to allow a breeze to feed the fire as necessary. The master and family would generally sit on the parlour-side of the hall (away from the doors and high roof), where it would be warmest. The household would cook, eat, and drink in the hall and guests probably slept there.  Frequently there was a screen between the hearth and the buttery/pantry areas to reflect heat back into the main hall and to keep those too rooms as chill as possible.

Common design modifications to the basic Open Hall House:

• Wooden slatted windows, with glazed windows in later years
• Jettied first floor end bays and possibly jettied upstairs toilet
• Corridor linking the front and rear doors
• Brick chimney place and stack, usually positioned between the front and rear doors, usually combined with the corridor listed above
• Floor over the Open Hall to increase space on the First Floor, generally combined with the chimney as the hearth smoke needs to go somewhere
• Jettied central bay inline with the end bays, this could be to accommodate a walkway between the two separate ends of the first floor, or it could be associated with the floor over the Open Hall above
• Jettied first floor areas filled in from below to increase space on the ground floor
• Window extensions and bay windows
• Stairs instead of ladders, may serve the solar only
• Second story, often jettied further out than the first floor

These modifications could be made to an existing house or during the design phase of a new house. Certain modifications such as the second story will appear far more often in urban buildings than in open hall houses in a village

(1)  I'm using the British terminology of first floor being the floor above the ground floor, second floor is above the first floor, what Americans call the second story and third story. I decided to use the British term because I'm talking about British buildings and it seems appropriate.

(2) English spelling, why not.

(3) Presumably why it is named an Open Hall house.