Westminster Hall Roof Design

A hammerbeam is a form of timber roof truss allowing a hammerbeam roof to span greater than the length of any individual piece of timber in place of a normal tie beam spanning the entire width of the roof short beams the hammer beams are supported by curved braces from the wall and hammer posts or arch braces are built on top to support the rafters and typically a collar beam.

Westminster hall roof design.

Westminster hall has the largest clearspan medieval roof in england measuring 20 7 by 73 2 metres 68 by 240 ft. It has been estimated that the roof timbers alone weigh over 660 tons. Romanesque westminster hall and its roof in westminster ii the art architecture and archaeology of the royal palace eds rodwell and tatton brown pp. When the roof was built to span the vast un aisled interior of nearly 68 feet it was 50 percent wider than any previously known hall in england.

The design ofthe westminster. The angel roof at westminster hall looking west. Samanthan tan this is a close up of the hammer beam roof constructed by hugh herland in the late fourteenth century. The work was largely undertaken by the king s chief mason.

Many attempts have been made to determine how the westminster hall roof works and nearly as many different conclusions have been reached figs i 3 and 4 1 some architects engineers and architectural historians have concluded that the principal support of the roof is provided by its great wooden arch. Harris and daniel miles have recently proposed a tie beam roof. This is the largest medieval timber roof in northern europe with a span of 68 feet x 240 feet. Measuring 20 7 by 73 2 metres 68 by 240 feet the roof was commissioned in 1393 by richard ii and is a masterpiece of design.

In westminster hall the favourite heraldic badge of richard ii a white hart chained and in an attitude of rest is repeated as many as eighty three times without any of them being an exact counterpart of another. Westminster hall a symbol of royal power stood the test of time throughout a majority of the middle ages and served as the center of law government and even celebration. The magnificent hammer beam roof of westminster hall is the largest medieval timber roof in northern europe. 1395 by hugh herland and stands as one of the great achievements of english monumental carpentry.