St. Mary Magdalen, Pulham, Norfolk.
"Collar-braced Roofs" are a simplification of the hammer-beam form, and include arch-braced roofs, so called when the collar is omitted and the arched brace carried up to the ridge. This form is very like that constructed nearly a century earlier, as at Tunstead Church, but with the important difference that at Tunstead the braces are of the same thickness as and appear to form part of the principal rafters, whereas the collar- braced kind are not more thai' \ ii;(1n- iliick, while the principals may be about 10 inches. Pulham Church, Norfolk (No. 113 c), is an example of this collar-braced form. Brinton Church is another example of the arch-braced type. The curved braces answer the double purpose of strengthening the principals and carrying the weight lower down the w^ill, which they also help to steady. [pp. 293-94; illus. p. 292]
Open Timber Roofs of the Middle Ages
References
Fletcher, Banister, and Banister F. Fletcher. A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method for the Student, Craftsman, and Amateur. 5th ed. London: B. T. Batsford, 1905.
Last modified 1 September 2007