The characteristics of vernacular buildings in East Yorkshire

Abstract

If one accepts that the development of a regional building type is a function of geology and knowhow then R. M. Brunskill's definition of the ‘vernacular’ as ‘the products of local craftsmen meeting simple functional requirements according to traditional plans and procedures and with the aid of local building materials and construction methods’ may be especially thought to apply to the evolution of the domestic scale buildings in East Yorkshire. The East Riding of Yorkshire (or North Humberside as it ought to be called today) illustrates how a relatively remote region, sparse in naturally occurring constructional material, has made use of geology and knowhow to create a unique style of vernacular building, and has done this by making extensive use of one particular material: brick.