Some books earn a place on every thatcher’s shelf. The Thatcher’s Craft is one of them, and you can read the whole thing free in the ThatchFinder Library.
A manual with a long life
The Thatcher’s Craft was first published in 1960. It was revised in 1977 and reprinted again in 1981 and 1988. The copy in our Library is the fourth impression from 1988, published by the Rural Development Commission in England as Publication 69.
The very first picture inside is the Cott Inne at Dartington, near Totnes in Devon, under a roof of cut Abbotsbury water reed. It sets the tone for a book that is all about real roofs and the people who build them.
What’s inside
The book works through the three main thatching materials one by one, then covers the tools, the safety side and the roof underneath. The chapters are:
- Thatching: a brief history
- Long straw
- Combed wheat reed
- Water reed
- Spar-making
- Thatching tools and materials
- Fire precautions
- Measurement and specifications
- Roof construction
- A glossary of thatching terms
If you work with water reed, or own a water reed roof, chapter 4 is the one to start with. The glossary is handy too, whether you are new to the craft or just trying to make sense of a thatcher’s quote.
How to read it
The scan runs to over 200 pages, so we have split it into ten parts that open right in your browser. Head to the ThatchFinder Library, choose Thatching, and you will find all ten parts at the top. Each part has its own forum link, so if a page sparks a question or a memory, come and share it.
Got something for the shelf?
The Library grows with your help. If you have an old thatching book, booklet, photo or newspaper clipping, you can send it in through the Image Archive. Every addition helps keep the craft’s history in one free place.
Featured image: frontispiece of the Cott Inne from The Thatcher’s Craft (1988), as held in the ThatchFinder Library.
