Putting mud and stud in its place: rediscovering the culture of Lincolnshire’s indigenous buildings, and exploring their dwellingscapes

This research explores the indigenous building culture of Lincolnshire (UK), which is characterised by a vernacular building tradition known as ‘mud and stud’. This differs from conventional UK timber framing traditions, both in the techniques of building construction and in the mindset with which these buildings were approached in the past and the recent present. An interdisciplinary approach allows a conversation between the historical evidence and the archaeology, offering a new insight into this under-valued, often-ignored but fascinating tradition.

Mud and stud buildings are poorly-understood, due to a lack of previous research and the ways in which mud and stud buildings have been concealed behind more recent facades. By combining techniques of standing building survey, documentary research and landscape study, this thesis addresses the knowledge-gap, asking the fundamental question “what is ‘mud and stud’?” and argues that a closer, archaeological engagement with the evidence challenges existing assumptions, provoking further questions and research which are not just academic, but also crucial to recognising and valuing the buildings that preserve this vernacular tradition.

A single-parish case study forms an in-depth exploration of these issues, complicating existing typologies and revealing that mud and stud does not conform to the ‘grammar of carpentry’ found in most parts of the UK. Instead, a more nuanced and localised approach to ‘ways of building’ using local, natural resources arising from the particular settlement and landscape contexts of Lincolnshire is revealed. The concept of ‘dwellingscapes’ is proposed as means of connecting building traditions with their social, environmental and economic contexts. Finally, in the light of the radically different building philosophy encountered, questions are raised about the criteria by which buildings are considered for statutory protection, and the need for further research is emphasised.