The roof, therefore, must be well tied, and should sit on the building merely as a lid.

Details of Chalk Construction at Amesbury.
(From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)
[Larger View]

Chalk Construction at Amesbury, Wilts.
(From a sketch by W. R. Jaggard, F.R.I.B.A., the copyright of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.)

Roof.—Though thatch is the traditional roofing material of chalk cottages, any other will serve that is permanent and good of its kind.

The only special demand that chalk walls make is that the eaves shall be generously overhung for their better protection from the weather.

Where, in later years, the boldly projecting thatch has been thoughtlessly replaced by a slate roof with meagre eaves, or with none at all, the walls have suffered accordingly.