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DEREK WILLS, a roof reconstruction
expert from England, at work tiling the17th century English house at
the museum of American frontier culture.
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Overseas
'English craftsman proud to work on Museum
project'
 For
help in restoration and reconstruction, the Museum of American Frontier
Culture — a living history operation with four authentic 18th and 19th
century farms — goes straight to the source.
Whether the museum is working with stone cottages from Northern
Ireland, timber-framed farm buildings from Germany, or log buildings
from a farm in the Shenandoah Valley, masons, thatchers, carpenters,
and restoration specialists skilled in traditional methods of building
construction are employed to provide the same techniques used centuries
ago by the original builders. Even the museum’s restoration work and
reconstruction methods follow the practices used in the building’s
country of origin as they too, differ from country to country.
The
finished buildings coupled with appropriate furnishings, crops,
animals, foods, and a knowledgeable staff of costumed interpreters.
present a living exhibit of 18th and 19th century European and American
culture. There the visitor can see the lifestyles left behi nd in the
Old World and the new life they established in America.
This
attention to detail and the museum's work to preserve European heritage
in America, have caused visiting cratftsman and tiler Derek Wills to
change his mind about Americans. ‘My opinion of Americans is that they
are very fast people,” said Wills, a professional tiler for more than
23 years. Although he had heard some about the project in America to
preserve English, German, and Ulster heritage — with a touch of English
scepticism — he had his doubts about the scope of such a project and
the ability of “Americans” to get the job done right.
 “I
didn’t think it could be done and certainly didn’t expect something of
this magnitude. It took my breath away to see what the museum has done.
The American farm was everything I’d ever learned about and imagined,”
said Wills. “Your English house, a typical farm, is absolutely correct.”
Wills
lives in Kent, England in a small town (population 10,000) called
Cranbrook. located in the southeast corner of England. As a contractor,
he is known for his work with traditional tiled roofs and estimates
that 90 percent of his work is on old buildings. |
 His long
association with traditional building trades, has Wills at work on a
variety of restoration projects.
One of those cooperative projects was a 500-year-old chapel being
restored by an English preservation society. When the old tiled roof
was stripped off to be replaced, they discovered another set of rafters
which once held an earlier roof of thatch. The tiling style often tells
a sto ry.
“In
the olden days they used to nail the wooden larths (laths) on with
metal nails. However, the climate in England will cause these nails to
rust away and the roof would need to be replaced in about a 100 years,”
said Wills.
At
the museum’s 400-year-old English house, Wills  uses a “proper hammer
and nails” to help preserve a bit of English heritage in the
countryside of Virginia. The tiles are old and handmade from clay,
rectangular in shape, with holes at the top for pegging. The “pegged
tiles” are suspended from the wooden laths by a wooden peg drop and
layered on the roof much like the shingled roofs of pioneer days. But
being made of clay, they would weigh mo re. |
 Wills
estimates the Worchestershire roof’s weight to be about 6 tons.
Wills has now returned to England and enjoyed his first trip to
America. “My goal is to bring my wife and kids to the museum, so they
can see and appreciate what the museum is doing,” he said. “It’s nice
to know that we are preserving English heritage in Am erica for our
grand-kids and their kids. I’m proud of what I’ve done and being asked
to come Really, I am honored to be part of this project. They’ve done a
smashing job.”
What did he like most? “I was most impressed by the friendliness of
every person I met. I didn’t expect the  welcome I’ve received. Although
English house at the Museum of America Frontier Culture.
the weather (blizzard of ‘93) held us back a bit, we finished on
schedule, thanks to the able assistance of museum staff.”
What did he miss the most? “Well of course, I miss my family, but other
than that I’d say, the English pint.”
text taken from 'leader newspaper published
28th March 1993' |
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