PLANTS

PARGETING

Oak leaf and acorn motifs in pargeting on a house in Halesworth, Suffolk.

Pargeting is a term that today is given to surface decoration on the external wall of a timber-framed building that has been rendered in plaster.  The plaster is typically made of lime, sand and animal hair.  Special tools, such as wooden combs or templates, are used to create patterns in the plaster while it is still wet.  The word ‘pargeting’ comes from an Old French word ‘parjeter’ which means ‘to throw around’.  Initially a rough, semi-skilled job, pargeting gradually evolved through its popularity into a highly skilled craft.

The above picture shows another example of pargeting in Halesworth.  Like other bas-relief work, pargeting is enhanced when light falls on it, bringing out its three-dimensionality.

The practice of pargeting expanded in England about four hundred years ago when good quality green oak was in short supply.  This led to an increase in inferior timber-framed buildings and this, together with an increase in older buildings that were deteriorating with wear, made rendering necessary for both practical and aesthetic reasons.

This broad frieze of pargeting decorates Bishop Bonner’s Cottage in St. Withburga’s Lane in East Dereham, Norfolk.  The cottage dates from 1502, but the pargeting was probably executed in the seventeenth century.  It consists of trailing stems, leaves, roses, flowers and grapes, all coloured.

 

Below is a picture of a recently executed frieze of pargeting at Old Buckenham on Norfolk.  It also has flowers, fruit and leaves.

NEXT PAGE ON

THE ROSE

PREVIOUS PAGE ON THE GRAPEVINE