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A roof horse used by a thatcher to stand on when working on the roof. This roof horse belonged to a thatcher from Yarcombe, Devon.
This is a roof horse, used by a thatcher to stand on when working on the roof. They were typically used in the West Country in place of a long ladder. This roof horse belonged to a thatcher from Yarcombe, Devon.

MERL Miscellaneous note, Greta Bertram, 5 March 2014 – The Burne-Jones collection of thatching and other tools was put together by the donor while living in Membury, Devon, some time prior to 1966. She had planned to open a private museum. The tools came from the workshop of Mr Spiller, a thatcher from Yarcombe, Devon, and were in regular use until his death in 1962. He had thatched in the area his whole life, and his widow passed on his tools. By 1966 the donor had moved to Oxfordshire and no longer had room for the Collection so donated it to MERL., MERL ‘Handwritten accession’ form (Institute of Agricultural History) – ‘Standard museum name: Horse // Accession number: 66/312 // … // Recorder: DJE // Date: 18.10.79 // Description: Wooden frame with two iron spikes // Dimensions: frame 14 x 19½” // Associated information: Belonged to Mr Spiller, Devon, who died in 1962 while still working as a thatcher. // Thatcher’s horse used mainly in the West Country in place of a long ladder. // References: Rural Industries Bureau, ‘The Thatcher’s Craft’, 1961, p.208’