Maria picked ‘Rock’ for this week’s word, and shared a lovely idea she had involving rocks and stones and symbolism of key concepts.
I was thinking about all the meanings of ‘rock’ and also the fundamentals of my life. I have also, as I described in last week’s weekword post, been very conscious of the role of my home recently. And that all finally coalesced for me. Remember the song, ‘The wise man built his house upon the rock’? It’s based on the parable, of course, and is about the importance of faith, but it actually works on a literal level for me.
As I mentioned last week, people have lived and farmed here since at least the twelfth century, and our house in its current form is very old. The ceiling beams have notches in from where they were used in earlier versions of the house, and our fireplaces (which are big enough to stand upright in) have spaces where the old bread ovens and coppers used to be. And I love the feeling of history, of continuity. I love feeling the presence of those who came before, of knowing that other families have gathered at our hearth, other children have grow up here (in fact, someone told me this week that his grandfather was born in our house, which gave me a lovely feeling!), that the daily rituals of meeting and parting, joy and grief, celebration, laughter, arguing and making up, have all been taking place here for years and years. I sometimes feel the presence of my foremothers as I do the domestic stuff: the housework, feeding the hens, preserving, winding yarn for knitting. Often, if I’m honest, I suspect they’re muttering that I don’t know I’m born, with my washing machine and my dishwasher… There are real joys to living in an old house, and my house and home are central to my life – I don’t just live here, I work from home too, so it really does feel like my world – and all because, centuries ago, someone came along, saw the fertile land by the river, realised that it was on a flood plain, walked uphill a bit until he got to the big rock perched out of the danger of all floods, and thought, ‘Here we are, here’s where I’m living!’. And put a house there. Which was very sensible. After all, centuries later, we’re still here.
We’re currently trying to put in a new boiler system (we’re not on the main gas network, so we burn wood and coal) and this is a bit of a headache. Current regulations aren’t really geared up for this twelfth-century-inspired-by-the-parables thinking. They demand cavity wall insulation, damp proofing and all sorts – but when you live in a house built of timber, horsehair and lime, which has no wall cavities, let alone insulation, this can be tricky. Our house has no foundations. It is built directly onto the rock. It has no damp proof course (apart from in the kitchen). The cellar and the old dairy have earth and flag floors which get damp when it rains. We have to wear lots of jumpers in winter. Like it or not, we have chosen to live on the rock. And apart from when we have to deal with the twenty-first century, we like it very much.
Go to Maria’s blog to see who else has played this week.
Such a nice story. I also adore old houses, yet in the States old is relatively new. A 12th C home is certainly something to be treasured. Would LOVE to see some photos of the fireplace, wooden beams, etc.; certainly precious in their antiquity. Our town is lucky to be graced with the Parson Capen House. Built in 1683, it is a National Historic Landmark and considered a fine example of a 17th C Colonial home, with large central cooking fireplace and small diamond pane windows. Ladies in the Historical Society open it up for Thanksgiving, complete with all the ‘dressings’ to celebrate! May your winter be cozy and warm in your lovely, truly antique, home.
When I’ve tidied up a bit, I’ll show you the beams and things!
I love the idea of a Historical Society….
Oh Sally, I’m so glad you went abstract! I am enjoying the visual of your home on the rock–the hymn, “My Hope is Built” is the current soundtrack in my head after reading your post. Good luck meshing 1st century technology with your rock of ages home.
This reminds me how much other countries “value” their treasured homes. Love your description of the changes and how you live in the chilly winter. Are jumpers, the word for sweaters?
I get angry watching our fertile hillsides and open spaces being eaten up with new construction when buildings, shopping centers, and storefronts in our downtown areas sit empty… It’s embarrassing.
Yes, jumpers are sweaters (we use both words). We have our share of inane planning decisions too, sadly. I think as we have so much here, we think an old house here, a bit of Roman foundation there… but it all adds up.
I love your post Sally and the joys of living on the rock. It’s really a treat to think of an old old home such as yours and I do wish, like Christine, that we had a real appreciation in our country for open space and learning to reuse existing structures and enjoy their beauty. My house is a midcentury modern (think Brady bunch) so it has no space between the ceiling and the roof and several skylights. I’m think I’m going to start referring to us living in the sky 🙂
I too live in an old house, a former farmhouse – the oldest part dating from the 1600s, the latest part built about 1880. Like Sally’s house, it is built on rock, without foundations, and I share Sally’s sense of connectedness to the past that living in an old house brings. The attic, which is used for storage now, has the faded remnants of ancient wallpaper, so maybe the servants slept up there in former days.
The previous owner converted a barn in the grounds to make a retirement home. When she died, the new owner inherited lots of documents about our house and he gave them to us the other day. They go back nearly 200 years and it was very exciting to read the names of previous owners and the agreements they had made when the house changed hands. We also discovered that one man had given a shilling to the war fund to fight Napoleon!
I enjoyed reading your post, how you connect your 12th century home with modern times and just see “we’re still here”. It’s the many centuries old buildings that I miss here – I moved from a medieval town in Southwest Germany to a town on the California coast that was founded in the 1850’s! Quite a difference. However, I also remember the not so fun parts of living in an old house – getting the house warm in winter was quite a task. Still, so much character. A beautiful post you have written.
How interesting you showed it all to us without pictures. I got very curious and found it fun to be forced to imagine my own pictures of the old house!