Social media
- YVBSG Twitter feed - our own tweets
- YVBSG Facebook page - our Facebook posts
- VAG Twitter feed - tweets from the national Vernacular Architecture Group
- House History Hour - a Twitter discussion at 7pm on Thursdays
Online Occupations
If you're stuck indoors and missing your fix of real-life vernacular architecture, here are just a few suggestions for some online activities (for entertainment as well as serious study) featuring buildings from Yorkshire and elsewhere ...
Courses, conferences, seminars and other live events
- Triskele Heritage. Occasional online lectures by James Wright.
- Thornton-le-Street History Group. Free webinars of historical and archaeological interest.
- SAHGB. Online seminars from the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain.
- The Georgian Group. Online lectures.
- Historic England. Free webinars.
Podcasts, blogs, recorded lectures and videos
- Medieval Brick Buildings. A talk by James Wright: the Mike Stillman Memorial Lecture.
- The CBA Yorkshire Video Archive. A selection of recorded talks hosted by the Council for British Archaeology Yorkshire group.
- Medieval Leeds. A talk by Professor Joyce Hill for Leeds Civic Trust in May 2021.
- The Holme Valley in the Middle Ages. A recording of a talk by Peter Burton for Huddersfield Local History Society on 22 February 2021.
- Traditional Farm Buildings of the Yorkshire Dales. A talk by Jim Brightman for the Thorntol-le-Street History Group, held on 21 January 2021.
- Houses and the Hearth Tax in Britain. The VAG annual winter conference, held online on Saturday 9 January 2021. Recordings of the talks are available, including Yorkshire East Riding Houses and the Hearth Tax by David Neave.
- Bricks and Brickmaking in and near Haxby in the Vale of York. A blog provided by Dr Jon Kenny, based on research by Patsy Pendegrass and John Nottingham.
- How might Cawood Castle have looked? A castle, a palace or a bit of both? A blog by Dr Jon Kenny.
- A series of three enjoyable and informative videos by architectural historial Malcolm Airs, focusing on Dorchester-on-Thames but also relevant to other geographical areas:
- Uncovering secrets in Herefordshire buildings. A recording of a talk by Duncan James.
- ".. the said house of William Pawlen new made..." - medieval domestic architecture in Scarborough. A recording of a fascinating talk by Chris Hall, available online for a limited period courtesy of Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society.
- Reading and writing historic buildings. An online training session with Matt Bristow, Rebecca Lane and David Clark.
- Analysing historic settlement. An online training session with Susan Oosthuizen and Angus Winchester.
- A tour of Ayton Castle. An interesting tour of the building and its landscape with Chris Hall, Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society.
- Slingsby Case: 3D reconstruction illuminating the lost. A digital reconstruction of the Jacobean manor house at Slingsby Castle, by Bethany Watrous of Experience Heritage.
- Wensleydale. The classic 1936 book by Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley, published as an audiobook by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and Dales Countryside Museum.
- The History of Seaside Resorts at the Yorkshire Coast. A podcast by George Sheeran.
- The CBA Yorkshire Video Archive. A collection of recorded talks from CBA Yorkshire.
- This inn is made from tall-ship timbers. A recording of an online presentation for The Folklore Podcast by buildings archaeologist James Wright on Saturday 15 August 2020, available for purchase at 5 pounds.
- Researching your house history. A recording of an 'Armchair Event' organised by Manchester University Press on Thursday 11 June 2020, with Deborah Sugg Ryan, Melanie Backe-Hansen and Nick Barratt.
- Ritual Building Protection: The Folklore Podcast with James Wright.
- Medieval Graffiti - podcast with Matthew Champion. A Medievalists.net podcast June 2020.
- Medieval Graffiti - podcast with Matthew Champion. The Sense of Place podcast July 2020.
- Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales YouTube Channel - some wonderful animated reconstructions of Welsh buildings (for example, have a look at Ty Mawr or Bryndraenog or Cae'r-gors).
- North Yorkshire County Record Office blog. Stories from North Yorkshire's archive collections.
- Unlocking Historic Buildings. A short online learning module from Historic England.
- Line and Wash. A three-part drawing and painting course with John Harrison provided by Stories in Stone, using a scene of Yorkshire buildings to demonstrate techniques - approximately 25 minutes for each part.
- Medieval Buildings - short videos from the Hull and East Riding Museum:
- Part 1: Building with wood (5 minutes)
- Part 2: The Queen Street Timbers (5 minutes)
- Part 3: The George Yard Timbers (3 minutes)
- Wattle and Daub Demonstration (21 minutes)
TV programmes
- A House through Time. A BBC Two series tracing the past residents of a particular house. Previous episodes looked at houses in Liverpool, Newcastle and Bristol; the fourth series will be based in Leeds. Available on BBC iPlayer.
- The History of Britain in 100 Homes. A Channel Four series with Phil Spencer, eight episodes of 50 minutes each available from Channel Four.
- If Walls Could Talk: The History of the Home. BBC series with Lucy Worsley, four episodes of one hour each available on YouTube, 2011. Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4.
- Travels with Pevsner: North Riding. Available on YouTube, 50 minutes, 1997. Film quality not wonderful, but interesting content.
- Talking Landscapes: The Yorkshire Dales with Aubrey Manning. Available on YouTube, 30 minutes, 2000.
- Landscape Mysteries: The riddle of the Yorkshire tracks with Aubrey Manning. Available on YouTube, 30 minutes, 2009. Features an appearance by our President, Barry Harrison!
Books
- CBA Practical Handbooks are currently free to download in pdf format. Of particular interest might be Fixtures and Fittings in Dated Houses 1567-1763 and Recording Timber-Framed Buildings: An Illustrated Glossary.
- The Old Halls and Manor Houses of Yorkshire by Louis Ambler (1913). Browse through a digitised copy online, or download a pdf version, courtesy of the Internet Archive.
- Recommended reading - work your way through the Vernacular Architecture Group's recommendations.
Databases, maps and other resources
- Online information resources for building recording - have a look at the Vernacular Architecture Group's suggestions to brush up virtually on your recording skills until we can get out in the field again.
- Vernacular Architecture Group map - interactive map showing cruck buildings, dendro-dated buildings and Wealden houses.
- Datestones on old buildings in Craven, Bowland and Upper Wharfedale. Explore the datestones of this part of Yorkshire, courtesy of the North Craven Heritage Trust. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for locations and images for almost 500 datestones.
- Spy. Explore the online maps provided by the National Library of Scotland - try out the Spy function (zoom in and out, and change the underlying map - it's totally addictive!).
- Who lived in my house? See who occupied your house in 1939 via the Find my Past website.
- Yorkshire Historic Dictionary. Find the places where regional terms have been used through history.
- East Riding Museums Past Exhibitions. A collection of past exhibitions, in pdf format, of life in the East Riding, including one on vernacular architecture.
Games
- Crossword puzzle - a puzzle of vernacular building terms to print out and complete
- Wordsearch puzzle - a puzzle of vernacular building vocabulary to print out and complete
- Online jigsaws: Vernacular Architecture of Yorkshire.
YVBSG Members' Area (requires members' login)
- Copies of articles from back issues of our journal, Yorkshire Buildings. If you don't have the printed copies, most articles are available here.
- Online copies of YVBSG reports. Have a browse through the YVBSG reports which are now available online.