31 AUGUST 1951, Page 13

Vernacular Architecture _

Village and small town building tradition is as plain as the forms and contours of the countryside, the mode being rectangular

houses and cottages of plastir stucco over brick or stone with long streets (as at. Honiton).to match the long ridges. But their thatch, silvery when newish and mole-coloured in age, with silky or velvety texture, is superb. It reminds me of Norfolk reed-thatch, the best in the world, or the red wheat thatching of West Dorset which used to be stripped of its flag in a curious press cr combed with a wooden rake. West Dorset, East Devon and South Somerset all share this regional beauty, with its close pile quite unlike commonplace thatching.