A wall house is a dwelling built on or against the remains of a town’s defensive wall. When medieval towns outgrew their first circuit of walls, a new wall was built further out and the old one lost its purpose. The land, the foundations and the bricks of that old wall were then reused for housing.
The best-known example is the street Muurhuizen in Amersfoort, in the Netherlands. When the space inside the 13th-century town wall became too small, the town council decided around 1380 to build a new circuit; by about 1450 it was finished and the old wall could be demolished. The houses built there stand with their front elevation on the foundation of that wall, and many of its bricks were reused as well.
How to recognise one
- The building line. Wall houses follow the curve of the old wall, so the street runs in a bend that differs from the later street pattern
- Width rather than depth. The houses are often broad and shallow instead of the usual narrow, deep town house, because the available strip of land follows the line of the wall
- A heavy, older base. The foundation and sometimes the lowest courses of masonry are older and more massive than the house above
- Variety of styles. Because building went on over centuries, houses of very different periods stand side by side
Application
Altering a wall house brings particular considerations:
- Archaeology. The ground contains remains of the town wall. Excavation, a new basement or foundation repair almost always falls under archaeological conditions in the local planning framework
- Uneven foundations. Part of the house stands on heavy medieval masonry and part on lighter, later foundations. That produces differential settlement and therefore cracking; have it assessed structurally before finishing anything
- Damp. Old masonry has no damp-proof course. Work vapour-open and do not place a vapour-tight lining against historic masonry
- Listed status. Many wall houses are listed; alterations need consent
Related terms
- Listed building
- Foundation
- Masonry
- Brick
- Planning permission
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