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Open-plan living is a modern idea – but also a very old one. Small rooms, corridors and private spaces have been standard for several centuries, but before that a more communal way of life was normal.

Central to the medieval home, in houses great and small, was the hall. Today, we think of a hall as an entrance lobby leading elsewhere, but in medieval buildings it was the main living space. It was a single volume, open from ground floor to rafters, and used for cooking, eating, entertaining and even as sleeping space for some. Its central hearth was kept alight constantly, with smoke drifting up to the roof and out through gaps called louvres; the underside of many medieval hall roofs are still caked in soot from ancient fires. Furnishings within most medieval halls were sparse, but wall paintings were not uncommon and grander houses might have had tapestry hangings to add comfort and decoration. Floors were frequently made of beaten earth, with rushes laid on top.

The hall usually had a ‘high’ and ‘low’ end. At the low end, a screen and passage commonly divided the living space from service areas such as the buttery and pantry. In a rural house, people and their animals might have lived under one roof. In larger houses a ‘solar’ might have been found at the ‘high’ end, offering a little seclusion from communal life in the hall. There was no bathroom or WC, but the well-heeled might have a garderobe – a loo with a chute. Window glass was rare, with wooden shutters usually providing security as well as some protection from the elements.

Most medieval houses were built with timber, sometimes with projecting first-floor jetties and possibly with elaborate decorative features such as carved barge boards to gables and oriel windows. Native hardwood – particularly oak and elm – was still plentiful and favoured for its workability and durability. Stone was costly to handle and to transport and was generally reserved for houses of the highest status. Brick, meanwhile, which had fallen out of widespread use at the end of the Roman era, had started to be reintroduced in some areas by the end of medieval period. Medieval bricks are identifiable by their crude form and slender proportions.

Priest’s House, West Hoathly, West Sussex

-century timber-framed building is crammed full of fascinating historic items.

A fortified medieval manor that’s more than 700 years old.

An archetypal small medieval manor house, located to the south of the Cotswolds.

Llwyn Celyn, Cwmyoy, Monmouthshire, Wales

 A major repair project for the Landmark Trust, this early 15

-century house is now available as a place to stay.

 A Grade I-listed medieval farmhouse with wall paintings. It was rescued from dereliction and is now available to hire.

A recreation of a medieval hall, in the centre of the city.

Houses with medieval origins for sale with Inigo

Ewhurst Green, Robertsbridge, East Sussex

Expert Witness: medieval houses and what to look for

Turning his specialist lens to the architecture of the Middle Ages, SPAB director Matthew Slocombe finds much to admire

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