RICHMONDSHIRE Museum is full of doors, but today we are looking for one door in particular.

Head up the stairs and enter the Wenham Gallery and find the medieval section of the display.

The Northern Echo:

In front of you stands a large sixteenth century wooden door at 180cms tall – just under 5ft 11 inches – a little smaller than today’s standards!

The door comes from Hunt House in Whitaside near Grinton, which is a grade II listed building, and the raw materials for its construction would have almost certainly been found locally. The wrought iron hinges and latch are hand-made.

The Northern Echo:

Medieval houses were fitted with exposed beams, and unceiled roofs; the cruck house in Richmondshire Museum is another fine example of this.

Doors were built for purpose and were typically simple and functional. Most surviving timber framed buildings are constructed from oak which would have been locally felled.

The Northern Echo:

Doors were set into the buildings structure and the outer frame of this door would have fit snugly into a triangular headed stone doorway typical of houses in the Yorkshire Dales.

The door is now housed in the Wenham Gallery is made from wide oak beams and constructed with butt joints which are the simplest form of joining in woodwork; the two ends of wood are placed with the ends together without any form of specialist shaping or reinforcement.

The beams are cross boarded from behind with iron studs to provide additional strength.

Imagine opening the door, looking at the size of the beams it would have been heavy to push and would no doubt have creaked.

What may you have seen the other side of this door?

How many people may have walked though it over the years?

Some of the other objects cared for by Richmondshire Museum would have been commonplace in a sixteenth century home alongside this door.

To see this 500-600-year-old door and other treasures visit Richmondshire Museum open, six days a week (closed on Sundays) 10.30am to 4.30pm, children are free of charge.

For more information visit www.richmondshiremuseum.org.uk.

Next week we will be seeking out objects being with E, join us then to discover more secrets of the past from Richmondshire.

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