Letters

The working sets are starting to get crowded with actors and animals - and the first higher quality renders of the early medieval crucks (a house built around heavy bent oak pieces) are showing some promise. We had intended to keep the cruck roofs tiled with Scarborough fired clay (perhaps with its early medieval signature green hue), but we have succumbed to the temptation of using occasional oak shingles and unfired red tiles.   The type of roofing material used was probably an indication of wealth and the colors of the houses were probably grouped accordingly. Here, the retired potter Tansy (sitting right) living a stones throw from the Shambles, can only afford shingles while her neighbors have weathered tiles. We have groomed her cruck to include second story storage with outdoor access (a stair well and a house crane) and a guard pig.   The plaster walls of the crucks have been constructed in layers approximating their real state, to allow for water and other damage between annua