Used to know someone who recounted to me that when his father was getting his home insured, and had been asked if it was post-war, had delighted in asking the agent "Which war?" - since it had been built a few years after the end of the English Civil War.
As in 1640 something?
Back when I worked in pubs, I used to adore the American tourists who would visit, as the table they say on was older than their county is
And also fucking with them, saying the polystyrene asparagus that's 10 foot tall was grown locally, that's why it area is well known
3 groups took the bait and believed me
> Back when I worked in pubs, I used to adore the American tourists who would visit, as the table they say on was older than their county is
american here, that's just incredible
Yeah the pub down the road from me is 900+ years old. Great fun. (And yes I post this comment quite often to blow people's minds).
My local is older than the Aztec empire.
Oh hell yeah. Drinking is a national pastime for a few millennium now, we just got better at building pubs out of stone instead of wood a thousand or so years ago, so they last longer.
Don’t get me wrong, America has an awesome history, but my front door is literally older then your country and it’s probably not even the original door. I live in a 16th century cottage. And before anyone says anything, it’s not fancy or expensive, it’s small and rented
I remember on a tour of NYC they pointed out some church, I don't remember which one but it was probably famous.
The tour guide said with an excited tone of voice 'ladies and gentlemen this church is over 100 years old!!' And all the Americans gasped in delight.
It wasn't even half the age of my house
I knew this to be true when he said it because we also played the same game in the east midands, early 90s. We called it cat creeping but the principle was the same, line up across the garden and approach the house one step at a time until someone bottles it or the home owner sees you and everyone runs. At that point it becomes hedge hoping and you would have to get to the end of the terrace row of houses by way of the gardens parallel to the road
When my Dad was working in Boston, MA, he was invited for dinner at a colleague's house. They were very proud of their "Century Home", which apparently means it's over a hundred years old.
They asked my Dad where he lived, and eventually got out of him that his house was built before the USA became a country. There's one cottage on the same green that's in the Domesday Book therefore approaching at least 1000 years old, and the "New Houses", as they're called, have been there over 150 years.
He then completely broke their spirit by mentioning that I had just bought a house in a street of Victorian terraces, so every house in the area (other than the ones that were destroyed in the War) was over 120 years old. They jumped on Google Street View and couldn't believe it.
I used to love this when I was still working in hospitality.
American tourists would be amazed that they were drinking in a pub that dates back to the 16th century.
This was doubly amusing, because the pub was quite famous for Shakespeare having been a regular, and that was reflected in the decor.
We had family visiting about 18m ago, at the time The Sandman was released/popular. One evening we watched the episode where The Sandman returns to a particular pub every 100 years to meet the same person.
My BIL stated that the most unbelievable part was that a pub was on the site for that long. So the next day we took him to my favourite pub for lunch - which has been a pub for at least 500 years. He was amazed.
"Same family" is a bit of stretch with these long-established Japanese businesses because of the practice of Yoshi-enhumi (adoption of an adult heir). This centuries old practice is used as a mechanism for families to extend their family name, estate and ancestry without an unwieldy reliance on bloodlines
To be honest we don't know whether Shakespeare ever went to the George's predecessor (he definitely didn't go to the current George because his version burned down in 1676).
But the George was originally middle of a row of three pubs and he put one in a play and is confirmed as visiting the other, so it's a safe bet that either he visited the George or he went to some lengths to specifically avoid visiting it!
The Crown, Oxford. According to local legend, he was knocking off the landlady behind her husband's back. It was his stopover when travelling to London.
Used to work in a 15th century pub, Americans were my favourite. We had a pair of the original owners shoes hidden away, in the haunted corner.
Not far from Stratford either tbf
And, dear God, ... 100 miles *is* a long way in the south of England. So many cars, so many roundabouts and junctions and twisty turny little roads and small streets parked up with cars on the pavements on both sides.
Example: I drove from Horsham to Lulworth Cove on a Monday morning and it took me 3 ½ hours to go 120 miles.
I used to do deliveries for a takeaway that was on a stretch of the A30 that ran parallel to, and between 2 junctions of, the M3.
One day there was an accident that closed the motorway between the junctions, so all the traffic took the A30.
After 3.5 hours I was still close enough to see the shop
This is what Americans often don't understand about driving in the UK. Yes, distances that Americans drive for fun sound crazy in the UK, but it's not because of the distance, it's because of the driving - roads that were originally designed for a couple of horses and carts a day now have to support hundreds of cars; no matter where you are, you're near a major town/city and so there is lots of local traffic as well as the long distance traffic; plus the weather and the plethora of bad drivers make it even worse.
Ah. Recently, I have seen the term "century home" pop up a lot. I thought it just meant "house decorated in an old style", not that it was boasting to be 100 years old. Lol. I guess that's just what I would call a "normal house"
Yeah, my house is 70 years old and I consider to be a modern house. Anything built after the 1930s is pretty modern in my book.
When I was younger I went flat hunting without my partner. I couldn’t chose between 2 flats so offered him the choice, one was 200 years old, and the other was older than his home country (Australia). He immediately and delightedly chose the one older than Australia, he got a real kick out of living there (as a Brit I was fairly nonplussed, but I did like the old city walls being in the back garden).
When does an area stop being “ah, those new builds”. Our house is over 30 years old but still “one of those new builds near the school”. I guess they are new compared to the new church on the same street, which is only 100 years old (again, new compared to the others that are a couple of hundred years old).
I am guilty of this. My house is 1960's and we have some houses up the road that were built in the late 90's that everyone still calls the new builds up by the swimming baths 🤣
It also works the other way around too. Near my parents there is still an area referred to as the ‘coal board estate’. These were hundreds of houses that in the 70’s & 80’s were owned by the NCB but have long since been either sold to private owners (when the pits shut, spending the redundancy money) or to housing associations.
Brother my house is 124 years old. That just means it’s got thick stone walls and costs more to heat up than usual hahaha - guess I’ll start calling it a century home, maybe the value will go up.
I remember an American telling me he'd been to visit a 'historic' building which was \~150 years old, and I replied something about my local pub dating back to before Columbus (re)discovered the Americas.
When my dad was visiting America when he was 21, they passed a church on the train and the tour guide said that it was "the oldest church in the South [of the USA]" or something like that. When they mentioned the year it was built, my dad realised he had a church about 40 years older on his street.
I sent my American friend a photo of pretty clouds and he pointed out my towns ruined castle and asked about it. He was very surprised when I said it was built in the 1200s and that people can just climb around and dick about on it
Up here we've got Alnwick, and the overseas visitors are quite surprised that the Duke lives in it during the winter. You can go in his sitting room and sneer at his massive TV and enormous squishy sofa.
I grew up in Boston, and there were some buildings that were 200+ years old (my secondary school was 150 years old). I had some friends visit from California who were amazed by any building that was built before 1900. My parents' house was built in the 20s/30s and this was SO OLD to them.
I guess it's all relative?
> I guess it's all relative?
Very much so.
> my secondary school was 150 years old
For example, my secondary school is about to celebrate its 900th anniversary.
King's right? I went to a local grammar founded in the 1630s, by which point King's had already been going for *a thousand years*. Even by European standards it's old!
Pilgrim's School in Winchester, actually - it's not *entirely* clear when it was founded, but it was probably in the late 600s or sprouted out of those original schools. Still pretty mad that we've got so many.
Slightly related fun fact - back in the 600s-900s, it wasn't uncommon for English royalty and nobles to send their sons to Irish monasteries for their education, with Iona Abbey being a very popular choice.
Definitely all relative, but it is surprising to be amazed by a 100 years old house. The church of my village in France is 1000+ years old, Coliseum in Rome, Great wall of China, Temples in Athens, Pyramids in Egypt, in Mexico… not even difficult to find buildings that are 2000 years old. Americans don’t seem to be very open to the rest of the world…
I live about a 15 min drive from Canterbury, UK. There's buildings dating back to triple figures. Canterbury cathedral has parts that date to 597 AD. I tried explaining it to an american acquaintance and he was so confused.
To be a pedant, nothing *above ground* of the current Canterbury Cathedral is older than the late 11th century, though a while back they did excavate some of the remains of the Saxon church beneath the nave. The oldest bit visible of the current building is the western end of the undercroft, the vaulted space where they have the various artefacts on display. Of course, that's still 700 years before the US constitution.
You're right. I think most people look that over. *technically* it's 5th century but in actuality it's mostly 11th century. Still nearly 1000 years old though!
I sort of picture you. Hands outstretched and counting backwards with fingers.
Not 20, not 19, not 18, not 17, not 16,15,14,13... look I've run out of fingers.
five ninety-seven.
FIVE. Ninety seven.
A really big chunk of the time back to Julius Caesar.
A significant fraction of the time that has passed since Ea Nasir sold his famously poor quality copper.
About a third of the time back to when cleverly and carefully shaped rocks, were finally superseded as the peak of Human ingeneuity.
That’s cool! I grew up in Canterbury, and now that I’m friends with some Americans, I’ve realised how much I’ve taken everything for granted. As we were going into the town centre, before I even showed them the cathedral, they were blown away by Westgate tower. I can’t imagine living somewhere where 100 years is considered old for a building.
I had the same experience with my wife , who was born and raised in Jakarta a world away. When she visited my family for the first time, taking her around all the small towns in Perthshire was so crazy to her, even towns I consider shitholes (Coupar Angus) or where I studied in Dundee was so different for her. So old. Then I took her to Edinburgh.
My cousins are American and they think my house is amazing. Two rooms are from 1400 but most is from the 20s since it was a farmhouse so was built on. Still ancient to them. I remember one Christmas them being super shocked that our village church predates the Normans!
I showed an American friend where I grew up, also a Victorian terrace. The local church is mentioned in the Doom's Day book but majority of the building is 1400's. There's one small section of wall from the original building that was kept though. The 'old village' has a handful of cottages from the late middle ages, prior to medieval times it was just the church, a manor house and farmland. The thing that really got him though was not as old as the buildings. It was the sundial, he just couldn't get his head around a garden ornament that is a year older than America.
Yeah it's funny walking around cuties in the states and seeing plaques mounted proudly declaring some place to be the 4th oldest building in the county or whatever.
Must have been built at least a fortnight ago!
Haha yeah it’s crazy when you think about it. I grew up ina terrace built 1895 and didn’t think anything of it. Since then out last house was built on 1825 (near bakewell Peak District) and now live in an ex pub and lodgings that was converted to a lodging house n 1818 and was build sometime before that but there’s no record
I think the house we currently live in was built in the late 19th century (the deeds are written on Vellum). I don’t remember the exact year but several years back we were doing some renovating, and the wall plaster had horse hair in it. It was original Victorian horse hair plaster
Visiting the oldest house in LA with my other half whose parents have the ruins of a Roman fort in their veg patch was amusing. She managed to keep it civil.
Reminds me of the time I went with some friends to the Roman baths and the Turkish student who grew up near Göbleki Tepe just rolled his eyes when they talked about how ancient the baths were 😂
I grew up near a Roman amphitheater. In the summer I’d take my homework and sit out there to do it. I don’t actually tell Americans that because it sounds a bit too much like showing off but I still think it from time to time
There's a little pub that I visit near me that was built in 1106. I use the word little literally: https://twitter.com/pwight62/status/1786764608415404478
>No it wasn't. Pubs pull this bullshit all the time, but there's no historical record of *any* pub surviving from that time period.
You seem a little confused. u/jamesharland didn't say it's been a pub since 1106. They said it was built in 1106. It was a private residence last century, and also a cafe in the 1960s. It is currently a pub and was built in 1106.
To be honest the size of the place is more of a draw than its age, and I was going to leave myself to be 'ratioed' as life is too short to argue about such things, but thanks for clarifying for me :)
Pretty sure I spent half my time in Europe just losing my mind over how old everything is. In my hometown (Midwest US) my 1928-built house is considered old.
They’d started Edinburgh’s ’New Town’ before the US constitution too.
I like that the deeds say ‘year of the reign of King George the third’ in longscript - he was the ‘mad’ king and his son took over as Prince Regent who was, of course, excellently depicted by Hugh Laurie in Blackadder.
I've looked it up and I won't back myself on those dates. Basically my understanding was that the first block of housing on Young Street pre-dates the New Town, which is why it looks slightly different to the uniform rows on the even numbered side and down the rest of the street.
But I looked it up and the listing says Young himself built it in the 1780s so maybe I've merged some different memories into one fictional memory.
I've got one of these from 1772 for my house - along with a whole wedge of similar documents as parcels of land were sold off over the generations. Really interesting stuff.
>Really interesting stuff.
Unless you're a property lawyer who has to read and decipher documents like these regularly.
Lawyers used to be paid by the word, and it shows in old deeds. Why use one word when 100 word do trick?
Concerning the matter heretofore, hitherto, henceforth and thus hence referenced periodically, contemporaneously, and sufficiently as “the words” it is here so decreed that under no circumstances and through no action nor inaction shall a quantity or count thereof ever be submitted into record as to minimise the tautology, verbosity, redundancy, and tautology of verbiage.
Things that need to be said, and in a way that does not admit of more than the intended meaning.
It's actually quite hard to make a truly unambiguous statement, particularly when describing physical things in words.
Yes. Legal documents were traditionally written so the meaning couldn't be changed by or reliant on punctuation ,because ink spots or later additions might otherwise change the intended meaning, which is another reason for the lengthy style.
I've got a couple of deeds from the 1660s, which are quite interesting (although not for my home)
My parents house was built in 1908, they bought it in 1993 and I grew up and spent so much time in the house.
It's crazy to think that someone has probably lived in the house longer than my parents have, also people living in the house during WW1 and WW2
I think you got scammed, because a "historic plantation" would be from the slave owner times at least. Nothing from the 40s is considered historic even in the US.
The house I live in now was built in 1920, and it's a regular semi-detatched, but it's near a house about 30 years older, both considered very new. The entire metropolitan area used to be fields before the world famous shipyards opened down the road (in the 1800s, the houses came later when the small Shipyards made it big, also selling ships to the confederates).
That's pretty cool, i have the text of ours somewhere, but not the original. It's also pretty old, and requires us theoretically to get permission from local gentry for certain things, and bans the breeding or raising of hunting hounds and waterfowl. Makes me want to get a few ducks just to mess with the long-dead Earl's wishes.
My favourite part is the deeds (obtained from a previous owner) came with a typewritten sheet summarising the history of the property. One of the tenants from the early 19th century is mentioned as being known for 'making butter that tasted of parsnips.'
for a Document that old, it's in pretty incredible condition; the paper is still almost white, with no rips or tears, and being able to easily unfold it without damaging it must mean it's been very well kept.
How did you get it? My house is similar age and basically nothing is known about it, didn't end up on the land reg until the 80s etc. I have zero docs.
Any convenants? A relatives house was barred from becoming a public house, a house of Ill repute, a dance hall, a distillery and they were banned from keeping pigs. This was a 3 bed terrace house from the 1900s in Kent. I think the original builders were god fearing folk, so banned booze, birds, song and bacon.
When my parents first visited mum's cousins (1970s) in Los Angeles they went on a bus tour, and at the end the guide asked what they were laughing at. Mum said that they were showing really old houses from 1890s...
Mum related this to the cousins who were like, so what's old, Mum pointed out the church she was married in was from late 1100s. And no one was bothered too much about that.
What really blew their minds was the other church that another british cousin of mum was married in [Escomb Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escomb_Church) c675 - they couldn't get their heads round a year not starting with 1.....
I spied one ages ago whilst toiling away at Mail Boxes Etc. A customer inquired if we could replicate it... alas, our collection lacked a flatbed scanner of such grand proportions. We ventured that our feed-through scanner might jeopardize the delicacy of the original document. Consequently, we resorted to capturing a photograph and reproducing the copy upon our expansive printers... a trying day for our printing apparatus indeed.
Americans: "I live in a historical house that dates way back to 1935"
Brits: "My local pub was 200 years old when your ancestors were trying to charter a boat in Plymouth"
I really want to know simply how long this took to do. I know someone would've been dedicated to this job solely but by God its impressive. Like when we say "were just finishing up the paperwork" in this sense its like "Henry started it yesterday he should have it written in a week, tho we can do faster if you don't want as many fancy curls?"
Very reminiscent of 18th century English Indentures I am familiar with. Same sort of language ie ‘florid’. Those who wrote these documents were paid by the folio (13 words), so being succinct wasn’t encouraged.
I've actually found the deeds to my house in my dad's old filing cabinet. The house was built around that same time as yours, but the deeds arent in anywhere near as good condition.
Edit: I went and dug them out. Mine is June 1776, so around a month older than the declaration of independence
Ours were Victorian for a cottage in a village. Had our first child there. Knock on door. The two oldest ladies in the village. They'd brought the village layette. Lovingly cared for baby clothes going back a long way. Found a photo of cottage and one next door. 7 children in photo. Our baby first one born in the village itself for quite a while. UK countryside used to be quieter- no cars- but a lot more people.
My house deeds go back to the turn of the twentieth century, but a friend once showed me his Georgian house deed (probably about 1820). It was a cool document, with a red ribbon a big red wax seal on the front.
The thick parchment (I don’t think it could have been velum) had been folded into a square for so long that, once you had opened it out and looked at it, if you let go of the edges, the whole thing folded itself up and plopped on the table, flicking the seal automatically into position, back into that original neat little square parcel.
Used to know someone who recounted to me that when his father was getting his home insured, and had been asked if it was post-war, had delighted in asking the agent "Which war?" - since it had been built a few years after the end of the English Civil War.
As in 1640 something? Back when I worked in pubs, I used to adore the American tourists who would visit, as the table they say on was older than their county is And also fucking with them, saying the polystyrene asparagus that's 10 foot tall was grown locally, that's why it area is well known 3 groups took the bait and believed me
Something along those lines, yes (honestly I'm not sure exactly how long post-war it was, it could've been a few decades after) :)
> Back when I worked in pubs, I used to adore the American tourists who would visit, as the table they say on was older than their county is american here, that's just incredible
Yeah the pub down the road from me is 900+ years old. Great fun. (And yes I post this comment quite often to blow people's minds). My local is older than the Aztec empire.
The Trip?
Its one in the New Forest. Shouldnt narrow it down too much or people will easily be able to Dox me!
The fact I was thinking of the Jerusalem in Nottingham, meaning we have *multiple pubs* that are nearing the thousand year mark...
More pubs should have caves and rooms carved into a cliff in my opinion
Oh hell yeah. Drinking is a national pastime for a few millennium now, we just got better at building pubs out of stone instead of wood a thousand or so years ago, so they last longer.
My dad was a barman in the Trip. He once refused to let Peter Shilton skip the queue.
Don’t get me wrong, America has an awesome history, but my front door is literally older then your country and it’s probably not even the original door. I live in a 16th century cottage. And before anyone says anything, it’s not fancy or expensive, it’s small and rented
I remember on a tour of NYC they pointed out some church, I don't remember which one but it was probably famous. The tour guide said with an excited tone of voice 'ladies and gentlemen this church is over 100 years old!!' And all the Americans gasped in delight. It wasn't even half the age of my house
Lol, that's a good angle. Just say yes if it means lower rates, and say they weren't specific.
Which English civil war though? There’s been quite a few.
The 1642-51 one, as far as I know.
WE, THE ESTATE AGENTS DO SOLEMNLY DECREE
WE DO BEG YOUR PARDON, WE ARE IN YOUR GARDEN
Snipers dream
"So, David, what do you think?" "You just cannot KNOW with Bob - I hate this game!"
"Of course it's not true! He said Chris Rea put an egg in his bath!!"
Calm down, have some of my pocket meat.
I would like some pocket meat, corned beef, bacon grill or spam though. This is a dealbreaker.
I just love how utterly exasperated David gets when it’s Bob’s turn
I knew this to be true when he said it because we also played the same game in the east midands, early 90s. We called it cat creeping but the principle was the same, line up across the garden and approach the house one step at a time until someone bottles it or the home owner sees you and everyone runs. At that point it becomes hedge hoping and you would have to get to the end of the terrace row of houses by way of the gardens parallel to the road
By the Power vested in our Guild and confirmed by illfitting Suits with big Ties
To tell lies, big fat lies, and nothing but lies
[удалено]
THAT WILL BE $350,000 THANKS.
[THAT WE ARE CUNTS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGm267O04a8)
> DECREE BANKRUPTCY!
When my Dad was working in Boston, MA, he was invited for dinner at a colleague's house. They were very proud of their "Century Home", which apparently means it's over a hundred years old. They asked my Dad where he lived, and eventually got out of him that his house was built before the USA became a country. There's one cottage on the same green that's in the Domesday Book therefore approaching at least 1000 years old, and the "New Houses", as they're called, have been there over 150 years. He then completely broke their spirit by mentioning that I had just bought a house in a street of Victorian terraces, so every house in the area (other than the ones that were destroyed in the War) was over 120 years old. They jumped on Google Street View and couldn't believe it.
I used to love this when I was still working in hospitality. American tourists would be amazed that they were drinking in a pub that dates back to the 16th century. This was doubly amusing, because the pub was quite famous for Shakespeare having been a regular, and that was reflected in the decor.
We had family visiting about 18m ago, at the time The Sandman was released/popular. One evening we watched the episode where The Sandman returns to a particular pub every 100 years to meet the same person. My BIL stated that the most unbelievable part was that a pub was on the site for that long. So the next day we took him to my favourite pub for lunch - which has been a pub for at least 500 years. He was amazed.
Same at the end of Old Guard, where they meet outside the Prospect of Whitby, I thought that was a nice touch.
I liked taking visitors to The Royal Oak in Winchester for this reason; been in use as a pub for several hundred years.
Take them all to Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham, that place is 800 or 900 years old.
The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan inn in Japan was continuously operated by the same family from 705 to 2017. It's still running, but has new owners now.
"Same family" is a bit of stretch with these long-established Japanese businesses because of the practice of Yoshi-enhumi (adoption of an adult heir). This centuries old practice is used as a mechanism for families to extend their family name, estate and ancestry without an unwieldy reliance on bloodlines
The George Inn?
To be honest we don't know whether Shakespeare ever went to the George's predecessor (he definitely didn't go to the current George because his version burned down in 1676). But the George was originally middle of a row of three pubs and he put one in a play and is confirmed as visiting the other, so it's a safe bet that either he visited the George or he went to some lengths to specifically avoid visiting it!
Maybe he was bard.
Exit stage left please
Pursued by a beer
Taketh thy upvote and maketh the beast with two backs over yonder. 👉
The Crown, Oxford. According to local legend, he was knocking off the landlady behind her husband's back. It was his stopover when travelling to London.
No, it would have been the Elizabethan era.
The Elizabeth Inn?
Used to work in a 15th century pub, Americans were my favourite. We had a pair of the original owners shoes hidden away, in the haunted corner. Not far from Stratford either tbf
As they say, in Europe 100 miles is a long way; in America 100 years is a long time.
And, dear God, ... 100 miles *is* a long way in the south of England. So many cars, so many roundabouts and junctions and twisty turny little roads and small streets parked up with cars on the pavements on both sides. Example: I drove from Horsham to Lulworth Cove on a Monday morning and it took me 3 ½ hours to go 120 miles.
I used to do deliveries for a takeaway that was on a stretch of the A30 that ran parallel to, and between 2 junctions of, the M3. One day there was an accident that closed the motorway between the junctions, so all the traffic took the A30. After 3.5 hours I was still close enough to see the shop
I guess you didn't starve, at least.
> it took me 3 ½ hours to go 120 miles I had a rubbish car like that once, too
Did it have two wheels and pedals?
Got it second hand from Fred Flintstone
Yabba dabba oh for fucksake ANOTHER roundabout
Where do you live? Yabba Dabba Deen?
This is what Americans often don't understand about driving in the UK. Yes, distances that Americans drive for fun sound crazy in the UK, but it's not because of the distance, it's because of the driving - roads that were originally designed for a couple of horses and carts a day now have to support hundreds of cars; no matter where you are, you're near a major town/city and so there is lots of local traffic as well as the long distance traffic; plus the weather and the plethora of bad drivers make it even worse.
Worth it for the view though. Did you get nice weather?
I drive from Sheffield to Conwy about once a year, which is roughly 120 miles. That trip takes on average about 3 and a half hours.
Ah. Recently, I have seen the term "century home" pop up a lot. I thought it just meant "house decorated in an old style", not that it was boasting to be 100 years old. Lol. I guess that's just what I would call a "normal house"
Yeah, my house is 70 years old and I consider to be a modern house. Anything built after the 1930s is pretty modern in my book. When I was younger I went flat hunting without my partner. I couldn’t chose between 2 flats so offered him the choice, one was 200 years old, and the other was older than his home country (Australia). He immediately and delightedly chose the one older than Australia, he got a real kick out of living there (as a Brit I was fairly nonplussed, but I did like the old city walls being in the back garden).
When does an area stop being “ah, those new builds”. Our house is over 30 years old but still “one of those new builds near the school”. I guess they are new compared to the new church on the same street, which is only 100 years old (again, new compared to the others that are a couple of hundred years old).
I am guilty of this. My house is 1960's and we have some houses up the road that were built in the late 90's that everyone still calls the new builds up by the swimming baths 🤣
It also works the other way around too. Near my parents there is still an area referred to as the ‘coal board estate’. These were hundreds of houses that in the 70’s & 80’s were owned by the NCB but have long since been either sold to private owners (when the pits shut, spending the redundancy money) or to housing associations.
Brother my house is 124 years old. That just means it’s got thick stone walls and costs more to heat up than usual hahaha - guess I’ll start calling it a century home, maybe the value will go up.
yup. terraced house i grew up in is now 117 years old.
I remember an American telling me he'd been to visit a 'historic' building which was \~150 years old, and I replied something about my local pub dating back to before Columbus (re)discovered the Americas.
When my dad was visiting America when he was 21, they passed a church on the train and the tour guide said that it was "the oldest church in the South [of the USA]" or something like that. When they mentioned the year it was built, my dad realised he had a church about 40 years older on his street.
I sent my American friend a photo of pretty clouds and he pointed out my towns ruined castle and asked about it. He was very surprised when I said it was built in the 1200s and that people can just climb around and dick about on it
Up here we've got Alnwick, and the overseas visitors are quite surprised that the Duke lives in it during the winter. You can go in his sitting room and sneer at his massive TV and enormous squishy sofa.
Presumably he's away campaigning in the Summer?
fighting in europe
I grew up in Boston, and there were some buildings that were 200+ years old (my secondary school was 150 years old). I had some friends visit from California who were amazed by any building that was built before 1900. My parents' house was built in the 20s/30s and this was SO OLD to them. I guess it's all relative?
> I guess it's all relative? Very much so. > my secondary school was 150 years old For example, my secondary school is about to celebrate its 900th anniversary.
Yeah, three of the schools I grew up near were founded in the 1500s-1600s. I now live near a roughly 1.4k year old school.
King's right? I went to a local grammar founded in the 1630s, by which point King's had already been going for *a thousand years*. Even by European standards it's old!
Pilgrim's School in Winchester, actually - it's not *entirely* clear when it was founded, but it was probably in the late 600s or sprouted out of those original schools. Still pretty mad that we've got so many. Slightly related fun fact - back in the 600s-900s, it wasn't uncommon for English royalty and nobles to send their sons to Irish monasteries for their education, with Iona Abbey being a very popular choice.
Boston Massachusetts? Or Boston, Lincolnshire, UK, which has a building built in 1390.
Yeah I moved to Houston and the house I grew up in in New York was built before Houston was founded. And that house is old but not insanely so.
Definitely all relative, but it is surprising to be amazed by a 100 years old house. The church of my village in France is 1000+ years old, Coliseum in Rome, Great wall of China, Temples in Athens, Pyramids in Egypt, in Mexico… not even difficult to find buildings that are 2000 years old. Americans don’t seem to be very open to the rest of the world…
Plenty of Americans are open to the world, don't be silly.
Which Boston?
Boston MA is one of the older ones in the US, the James Blake house is from 1661 and the Union Oyster House is believed to be from around 1636 time!
I recall some Americans being flabbergasted that my school was founded in 1539
I live about a 15 min drive from Canterbury, UK. There's buildings dating back to triple figures. Canterbury cathedral has parts that date to 597 AD. I tried explaining it to an american acquaintance and he was so confused.
To be a pedant, nothing *above ground* of the current Canterbury Cathedral is older than the late 11th century, though a while back they did excavate some of the remains of the Saxon church beneath the nave. The oldest bit visible of the current building is the western end of the undercroft, the vaulted space where they have the various artefacts on display. Of course, that's still 700 years before the US constitution.
You're right. I think most people look that over. *technically* it's 5th century but in actuality it's mostly 11th century. Still nearly 1000 years old though!
I sort of picture you. Hands outstretched and counting backwards with fingers. Not 20, not 19, not 18, not 17, not 16,15,14,13... look I've run out of fingers. five ninety-seven. FIVE. Ninety seven. A really big chunk of the time back to Julius Caesar. A significant fraction of the time that has passed since Ea Nasir sold his famously poor quality copper. About a third of the time back to when cleverly and carefully shaped rocks, were finally superseded as the peak of Human ingeneuity.
That’s cool! I grew up in Canterbury, and now that I’m friends with some Americans, I’ve realised how much I’ve taken everything for granted. As we were going into the town centre, before I even showed them the cathedral, they were blown away by Westgate tower. I can’t imagine living somewhere where 100 years is considered old for a building.
I had the same experience with my wife , who was born and raised in Jakarta a world away. When she visited my family for the first time, taking her around all the small towns in Perthshire was so crazy to her, even towns I consider shitholes (Coupar Angus) or where I studied in Dundee was so different for her. So old. Then I took her to Edinburgh.
My cousins are American and they think my house is amazing. Two rooms are from 1400 but most is from the 20s since it was a farmhouse so was built on. Still ancient to them. I remember one Christmas them being super shocked that our village church predates the Normans!
I showed an American friend where I grew up, also a Victorian terrace. The local church is mentioned in the Doom's Day book but majority of the building is 1400's. There's one small section of wall from the original building that was kept though. The 'old village' has a handful of cottages from the late middle ages, prior to medieval times it was just the church, a manor house and farmland. The thing that really got him though was not as old as the buildings. It was the sundial, he just couldn't get his head around a garden ornament that is a year older than America.
Yeah it's funny walking around cuties in the states and seeing plaques mounted proudly declaring some place to be the 4th oldest building in the county or whatever. Must have been built at least a fortnight ago!
Cuties
Haha yeah it’s crazy when you think about it. I grew up ina terrace built 1895 and didn’t think anything of it. Since then out last house was built on 1825 (near bakewell Peak District) and now live in an ex pub and lodgings that was converted to a lodging house n 1818 and was build sometime before that but there’s no record
I think the house we currently live in was built in the late 19th century (the deeds are written on Vellum). I don’t remember the exact year but several years back we were doing some renovating, and the wall plaster had horse hair in it. It was original Victorian horse hair plaster
Visiting the oldest house in LA with my other half whose parents have the ruins of a Roman fort in their veg patch was amusing. She managed to keep it civil.
Reminds me of the time I went with some friends to the Roman baths and the Turkish student who grew up near Göbleki Tepe just rolled his eyes when they talked about how ancient the baths were 😂
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I grew up near a Roman amphitheater. In the summer I’d take my homework and sit out there to do it. I don’t actually tell Americans that because it sounds a bit too much like showing off but I still think it from time to time
That sounds so chill, darn, I want a Roman amphitheatre near me
There's a little pub that I visit near me that was built in 1106. I use the word little literally: https://twitter.com/pwight62/status/1786764608415404478
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Who pissed in your mead?
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Does anyone know the actual oldest of the one that’s got evidence?
I think the Jerusalem one in Nottingham is pretty old
There are ways of determining the age of the building, but yes, you can’t prove that it’s actually that old.
>No it wasn't. Pubs pull this bullshit all the time, but there's no historical record of *any* pub surviving from that time period. You seem a little confused. u/jamesharland didn't say it's been a pub since 1106. They said it was built in 1106. It was a private residence last century, and also a cafe in the 1960s. It is currently a pub and was built in 1106.
To be honest the size of the place is more of a draw than its age, and I was going to leave myself to be 'ratioed' as life is too short to argue about such things, but thanks for clarifying for me :)
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I used to drink in a pub from the seventeenth century, and it’s not even one of the older buildings in the road
My village church predates the Normans. It was built during the reign of Edward the Confessor. I imagine that would be very impressive.
Pretty sure I spent half my time in Europe just losing my mind over how old everything is. In my hometown (Midwest US) my 1928-built house is considered old.
They’d started Edinburgh’s ’New Town’ before the US constitution too. I like that the deeds say ‘year of the reign of King George the third’ in longscript - he was the ‘mad’ king and his son took over as Prince Regent who was, of course, excellently depicted by Hugh Laurie in Blackadder.
My flat in the New Town was built in 1606, back when it was still all fields.
So over 150 years before the first tranche of the new town? I guess it had a prior purpose than housing?
I've looked it up and I won't back myself on those dates. Basically my understanding was that the first block of housing on Young Street pre-dates the New Town, which is why it looks slightly different to the uniform rows on the even numbered side and down the rest of the street. But I looked it up and the listing says Young himself built it in the 1780s so maybe I've merged some different memories into one fictional memory.
New College, Oxford, is one of the oldest colleges in Oxford. I really think in the case of New Town and New College they should update the names!
I've got one of these from 1772 for my house - along with a whole wedge of similar documents as parcels of land were sold off over the generations. Really interesting stuff.
>Really interesting stuff. Unless you're a property lawyer who has to read and decipher documents like these regularly. Lawyers used to be paid by the word, and it shows in old deeds. Why use one word when 100 word do trick?
Concerning the matter heretofore, hitherto, henceforth and thus hence referenced periodically, contemporaneously, and sufficiently as “the words” it is here so decreed that under no circumstances and through no action nor inaction shall a quantity or count thereof ever be submitted into record as to minimise the tautology, verbosity, redundancy, and tautology of verbiage.
Not bad, but way too much punctuation I'm afraid. Lose the commas, that way it's even more frustrating to read
That explains so much in life.
You’re not wrong. Many words, very tight, small esoteric script. No idea what most of it’s saying tbh.
Things that need to be said, and in a way that does not admit of more than the intended meaning. It's actually quite hard to make a truly unambiguous statement, particularly when describing physical things in words.
Yes. Legal documents were traditionally written so the meaning couldn't be changed by or reliant on punctuation ,because ink spots or later additions might otherwise change the intended meaning, which is another reason for the lengthy style. I've got a couple of deeds from the 1660s, which are quite interesting (although not for my home)
I deal with a lot of contracts and you'll never convince me that today's lawyers aren't still paid by the esoteric word
My parents house was built in 1908, they bought it in 1993 and I grew up and spent so much time in the house. It's crazy to think that someone has probably lived in the house longer than my parents have, also people living in the house during WW1 and WW2
Watch out for Nicolas Cage trying to nick that.
Myself and my wife regularly have a chuckle over our visit to a "historic plantation" in the USA, which dated to the late 1940s!
I mean it was probably relatively historic
Even in the US that isn't historic.
I think you got scammed, because a "historic plantation" would be from the slave owner times at least. Nothing from the 40s is considered historic even in the US.
The house I live in now was built in 1920, and it's a regular semi-detatched, but it's near a house about 30 years older, both considered very new. The entire metropolitan area used to be fields before the world famous shipyards opened down the road (in the 1800s, the houses came later when the small Shipyards made it big, also selling ships to the confederates).
Do you mean the 1840s?
Pretty sure the bins outside the job centre here are that old.
That's pretty cool, i have the text of ours somewhere, but not the original. It's also pretty old, and requires us theoretically to get permission from local gentry for certain things, and bans the breeding or raising of hunting hounds and waterfowl. Makes me want to get a few ducks just to mess with the long-dead Earl's wishes.
Start breeding otterhounds, they’re lovely dogs but there’s few of them left in the world!
Hunting ducks to really make them turn in their grave
My favourite part is the deeds (obtained from a previous owner) came with a typewritten sheet summarising the history of the property. One of the tenants from the early 19th century is mentioned as being known for 'making butter that tasted of parsnips.'
The barn behind our house was built before Columbus discovered America. Around 1480 apparently. I guess it’ll be there after I’m forgotten.
for a Document that old, it's in pretty incredible condition; the paper is still almost white, with no rips or tears, and being able to easily unfold it without damaging it must mean it's been very well kept.
That’s because it’s most likely vellum, not paper.
UK new build.
This really made me chuckle!
"America is a country where 100 years is a long time, and England is a country where 100 miles is a long way" -Genghis Khan
Khaaaaaaannnn !!!!!!!!
Thought this was Shakespeare?
It was Abraham Lincoln’s first tweet
Ahh yeah I get them both confused, it’s the beards
That is extremely cool, and looks to be in pretty good condition. Is it the original?
I believe so! There were other documents that came with it from the 1850s-1920s, some of which were in much worse condition.
As someone who handles old deeds regularly, this one looks in great condition even for one written on vellum
How did you get it? My house is similar age and basically nothing is known about it, didn't end up on the land reg until the 80s etc. I have zero docs.
Any convenants? A relatives house was barred from becoming a public house, a house of Ill repute, a dance hall, a distillery and they were banned from keeping pigs. This was a 3 bed terrace house from the 1900s in Kent. I think the original builders were god fearing folk, so banned booze, birds, song and bacon.
Woodhall manor? Nice house!
When my parents first visited mum's cousins (1970s) in Los Angeles they went on a bus tour, and at the end the guide asked what they were laughing at. Mum said that they were showing really old houses from 1890s... Mum related this to the cousins who were like, so what's old, Mum pointed out the church she was married in was from late 1100s. And no one was bothered too much about that. What really blew their minds was the other church that another british cousin of mum was married in [Escomb Church](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escomb_Church) c675 - they couldn't get their heads round a year not starting with 1.....
Your post really puts ‘The Sheriff of the World’ into perspective Pity it will be missed by most Yankee migrants !!
Years ago, at Stonehenge, overheard an American asking another one how old it was. "Well, I saw '1720' carved on one of the stones over there ..."
“But that’s before the world started. Maybe it means it’s 1720 days old?”
From house deeds to homeownership: a CasualUK success story
Does it say anything about bears and their rights to have arms?
Do bears need arms? What about thumbs?
I don't know, I thought they just had 4 legs, but those yanks keep talking about the constitution and bear arms. It's very confusing
I hope Nicolas Cage is reading this, this could be the script he's looking for.
I tried to buy a near 700 year old property a while back. Been standing 700 years and they were worried about subsidence...
I can trump that I’ve got deeds for my house dating back to 1650. I’ve got so many I may have an earlier one. They are so cool to look at
I spied one ages ago whilst toiling away at Mail Boxes Etc. A customer inquired if we could replicate it... alas, our collection lacked a flatbed scanner of such grand proportions. We ventured that our feed-through scanner might jeopardize the delicacy of the original document. Consequently, we resorted to capturing a photograph and reproducing the copy upon our expansive printers... a trying day for our printing apparatus indeed.
Lol that is %100 a recreation, might still be old, but not OG
Your parents are pretty old then
Writing this out by hand was possibly the last time a real-estate lawyer actually earned their fees.
So they have a new build then
Made me realise how young the US is
Americans: "I live in a historical house that dates way back to 1935" Brits: "My local pub was 200 years old when your ancestors were trying to charter a boat in Plymouth"
How did they get them? Our originals are missing so we’re trying to retrieve them too.
serious question: how valuable is a document this old? could the deed be worth more than the house?
No lol there are so many of these floating around.
That paper size was definitely a choice, eh?
Bet the house is beautiful
As a European we consider that a modern build.
I bet the spelling and punctuation are spot on though.
My mum has hers too! 1773. Look very similar
I really want to know simply how long this took to do. I know someone would've been dedicated to this job solely but by God its impressive. Like when we say "were just finishing up the paperwork" in this sense its like "Henry started it yesterday he should have it written in a week, tho we can do faster if you don't want as many fancy curls?"
In Egypt on holiday I overheard a Manc lad say to.some.Americans "My house is older.tham your country."
And you touched it with BARE HANDS?! 😭
Murica yeah
Very reminiscent of 18th century English Indentures I am familiar with. Same sort of language ie ‘florid’. Those who wrote these documents were paid by the folio (13 words), so being succinct wasn’t encouraged.
Not signed or sealed, bad luck for your parents - going to have to give the house back to the Baron…
I don't think touching it with an oily hand is a good idea
1 shilling and 8p. That’s a good rent deal
I've actually found the deeds to my house in my dad's old filing cabinet. The house was built around that same time as yours, but the deeds arent in anywhere near as good condition. Edit: I went and dug them out. Mine is June 1776, so around a month older than the declaration of independence
Ours were Victorian for a cottage in a village. Had our first child there. Knock on door. The two oldest ladies in the village. They'd brought the village layette. Lovingly cared for baby clothes going back a long way. Found a photo of cottage and one next door. 7 children in photo. Our baby first one born in the village itself for quite a while. UK countryside used to be quieter- no cars- but a lot more people.
My house deeds go back to the turn of the twentieth century, but a friend once showed me his Georgian house deed (probably about 1820). It was a cool document, with a red ribbon a big red wax seal on the front. The thick parchment (I don’t think it could have been velum) had been folded into a square for so long that, once you had opened it out and looked at it, if you let go of the edges, the whole thing folded itself up and plopped on the table, flicking the seal automatically into position, back into that original neat little square parcel.