An extremely important question about wooden ceilings..

[idlenook]

Okay. Maybe 'extremely important' is pushing it, but it bugs me every time I see a picture of it and now I can't rest until I know, because I'm a big nerd who needs to know these things, and also because I think it's pretty.

In very old houses with ceilings that are open to the beams sometimes the space between these beams is filled with lots of little lats of wood, as in the (hopefully) attached picture.

Does this have a name?!

That's a beautiful room, OP, where is it? I especially like the little bits of wood in the ceiling, but sorry I don't know what they're called. Waiting with interest for an expert to come along.

Is it wattle and daub?

The laths are there to anchor the roof tiles, not sure this has a name as such. Modern houses have the same setup, but a breathable felt is now used on the rafters before the laths get fixed on so you can't see them from the inside.

On older houses the gaps between the laths are often filled with lime mortar which is called .

Any help ?

If you'd like to nerd out some more on old roofs there's a nice article here

Lath is exactly the word I was after -- thank you very much! This nerd will sleep soundly tonight

AprilLady4 it's the Bayleaf Farmhouse at the Weald and Downland open air museum, which dates from the 15th century.

Thanks, OP. I'll go and visit that.

Happy days, sweet dreams
I love a pretty lath people think I'm weird