Rufford Old Hall, Lancashire. Fabric Survey Watching Brief Report

The watching brief was undertaken in conjunction with the roof repair programme, at
Rufford Old Hall, which involved the replacement of the slate covering and the renewal
of the wooden pegs, battens and plaster-and-lath panels underlying it. These works
involved the removal of the complete roof covering simultaneously from the area of the
Great Hall. Works also affected other parts of the building: however, the project brief
from the National Trust only required archaeological recording of the exposed fabric of
the Great Hall and Drawing Room wing. The watching brief followed on from the main
recording phase of the project and was undertaken during November and December
1995.
The structure of the uncovered roof timbers was recorded from outside by a
combination of photographic techniques, including rectified photography and computer
rectification of semi-oblique photographs, based on a previously-established survey
control.