Editing Thatching (section)

== Material ==
[[File:Ogi Shirakawa06n3200.jpg|thumb|Straw-thatched house at the [[Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama|historic village of Shirakawa-go]], a [[World Heritage Site]] in Japan]]
[[File:Korea south traditional house.jpg|thumb|Korean traditional straw thatched house]]

Thatch is popular in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, parts of France, Sicily, Belgium and Ireland. There are more than 60,000 thatched roofs in the [[United Kingdom]] and over 150,000 in the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.riet.com/media/vfr/leden/downloads/rapporten/De%20Nederlandse%20rietdekmarkt%2020-5-2010.pdf | title=De (rieten)dakenmarkt in Nederland | language=nl | trans-title=The (thatched) roof market in the Netherlands | date=2010-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Listed Thatched Buildings |url=https://www.thatchadvicecentre.co.uk/thatch-information/care-thatch/listed-thatched-buildings#:~:text=There%20are%20over%2060%2C000%20thatched,and%20understand%20our%20shared%20history. |website=Thatch Advice Centre}}</ref> Good quality straw thatch can last for more than 50 years when applied by a skilled thatcher. Traditionally, a new layer of straw was simply applied over the weathered surface, and this "spar coating" tradition has created accumulations of thatch over 7’ (2.1&nbsp;m) thick on very old buildings. The straw is bundled into "yelms" before it is taken up to the roof and then is attached using staples, known as "spars", made from twisted hazel sticks. Over 250 roofs in Southern England have base coats of thatch that were applied over 500 years ago, providing direct evidence of the types of materials that were used for thatching in the medieval period.{{Sfn | Letts | 2000}}{{Rp | needed = yes | date =February 2013}}  Almost all of these roofs are thatched with wheat, rye, or a "maslin" mixture of both.  Medieval wheat grew to almost {{convert |6|ft}} tall in very poor soils and produced durable straw for the roof and grain for baking bread.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Technological change in the [[farming]] [[Industry (economics)|industry]] significantly affected the popularity of thatching. The availability of good quality thatching straw declined in England after the introduction of the combine harvester in the late 1930s and 1940s, and the release of short-stemmed wheat varieties. Increasing use of nitrogen fertiliser in the 1960s–70s also weakened straw and reduced its longevity. Since the 1980s, however, there has been a big increase in straw quality as specialist growers have returned to growing older, tall-stemmed, "heritage" varieties of wheat such as Squareheads Master (1880), N59 (1959), Rampton Rivet (1937), Victor (1910) and April Bearded (early 1800s) in low input/organic conditions.<ref>{{Citation | last = Letts | first = John | year = 2007 | title = Growing Straw for Thatching: a guide | publisher = The COHT (Conservation of Historic Thatch Committee}}.</ref>

In the UK it is illegal under the [[Plant Variety and Seeds Act 1964]] (with many amendments) for an individual or organisation to give, trade or sell seed of an older variety of wheat (or any other agricultural crop) to a third party for growing purposes, subject to a significant fine.<ref>{{Citation | title = Legislation | url = http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1964/14 | year = 1964 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120111202021/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1964/14 | archive-date = 2012-01-11 }}.</ref>  Because of this legislation, thatchers in the UK can no longer obtain top quality thatching straw grown from traditional, tall-stemmed varieties of wheat.

All evidence indicates that water reed was rarely used for thatching outside of East Anglia.<ref name="MoirLetts"/> It has traditionally been a "one coat" material applied in a similar way to how it is used in continental Europe. Weathered reed is usually stripped and replaced by a new layer. It takes 4–5 acres of well-managed reed bed to produce enough reed to thatch an average house, and large reed beds have been uncommon in most of England since the Anglo-Saxon period. Over 80% of the water reed used in the UK is now imported from [[Turkey]], [[Eastern Europe]], China and South Africa. Water reed might last for 50 years or more on a steep roof in a dry climate, modern imported water reed on an average roof in England, when thatched by a proficient craftsman, is more likely to last roughly 40 years. The lifespan of a thatched roof also depends on the skill of the thatcher, but other factors must be considered—such as [[climate]], quality of materials, and the roof pitch.

In areas where [[Arecaceae|palms]] are abundant, palm leaves are used to thatch walls and roofs. Many species of palm trees are called "[[thatch palm]]", or have "thatch" as part of their common names. In the [[southeastern United States]], Native and pioneer houses were often constructed of [[Arecaceae|palmetto]]-leaf thatch.<ref>{{Citation | editor1-last = Andrews | editor1-first = Charles Mclean | editor2-last = Andrews | editor2-first = Evangeline Walker | orig-year = 1945 | title = Jonathan Dickinson's Journal or, God's Protecting Providence. Being the Narrative of a Journey from Port Royal in Jamaica to Philadelphia between August 23, 1696 to April 1, 1697 | place = New Haven | publisher = Yale University Press | edition = reprint | year = 1981 | series = Florida Classics Library | page = 11}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Pierce | first = Charles W | year = 1970 | title = Pioneer Life in Southeast Florida | place = Miami | publisher = University of Miami Press | pages = 53–4 | isbn = 0-87024-163-X}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | publisher = Palomar | url = http://waynesword.palomar.edu/traug99c.htm#bayleaf | title = Thatching from the Bayleaf Palm of Belize | access-date = June 4, 2007 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070608111022/http://waynesword.palomar.edu/traug99c.htm#bayleaf | archive-date = June 8, 2007 }}.</ref> The [[chickee]]s of the [[Seminole]] and [[Miccosukee]] are still thatched with palmetto leaves. [[Makuti thatching]] in [[East Africa]] uses [[Cocos nucifera]].
<gallery widths="200px">
File:Sandager Havn 01.JPG|A thatching [[Miscanthus|silvergrass]] (''Miscanthus'') field in [[Sandager]], Denmark
File:Grassland on Imba Abba Salama.jpg|Grassland with thatching grass on Imba Abba Salama Mt. in [[Haddinnet]], Ethiopia 
File:Closeup of thatching Ben W Bell 31 7 2005.jpg|A closeup of English thatching
File:Thatching Knots.jpg|Bundling technique used in straw thatching
File:Thatched Roof Inside View.jpg|Inside view of a straw-thatched house
File:Thatched roof with snow in Oga City Akita Prefecture March 2017.jpg|Thatched roof with snow, [[Japan]]
File:Thatched Roof Moss.jpg|Outside layer of moss and lichen growing on thatch
File:Thatching - Jheel Meel - Kolkata 2011-12-22 7659.JPG|Thatching by hay for making [[Pandal]]s at Kolkata
File:Besakih Bali Indonesia Pura-Besakih-04.jpg|Thatched roof made of ''ijuk'', or black sugar palm fibres, at [[Besakih]], [[Bali]]
File:Heather thatching on Leanach Cottage, Culloden.jpg|[[Calluna|Heather]] thatching at [[Culloden, Scotland|Culloden]], [[Scotland]]
</gallery>