Object number
66/308
Collection
Description
Thatching bat used for driving in the spars or 'spicks' which secure the thatch and for dressing the straw into place to an even finish.
Thatching bats are used for driving in the spars (also known as 'spicks') which secure the thatch, and for dressing the reed/straw into place and ensure an even finish. Thatching bats are also known as 'biddles', 'liggetts', 'leggetts' and 'leggatts'. This example was used by a thatcher in Yarcombe, Devon.
Physical description
1 bat: wood; metal
Label Text
10. Leggett. This leggett, pictured face down, would have been used to beat combed wheat reed. It differs from those examples used in water reed thatching in that its face is diagonally grooved rather than being studded with nails. Many leggetts, like the example pictured, have a hook on their back. This allows the thatcher to hook the leggett into the thatch when not in use whilst also keeping the tool close at hand. This leggett was used by a Devon thatcher until the 1960s. 66/308.
Archival history
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 catalogue’ – ‘BAT // 66/308 // CRAFTS Straw thatch // ... // Used by Spiller, Yarcombe, Devon who died in 1962 while still working as a thatcher. // [pencil drawing]’
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Associated subject
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External document
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_8223.tif - High resolution image
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_8222.tif - High resolution image
