446 ON THE PRICE OF BUILDING MATERIALS, ETC. 



and 1579, in which the last entry occurs, six quotations give 

 2s. n\d., or omitting the last, where the price (6s. 8d.) is 

 enormous, nearly 2s. $d* As may be expected, the price by the 

 single piece is considerably higher than that of the wholesale 

 purchase by the long hundred. It is probable that the purchaser 

 of one or a few chose the most likely and handsomest logs for 

 his purpose. The material was chiefly used for ornamental 

 woodwork in churches and halls. 



Another name for the best timber is estrich board. It occurs 

 only in the fifteenth century, and almost always at Cambridge. 

 The hundred costs a little over 33^. Estrich appears to differ 

 from wainscot, for both are bought at Cambridge in 1420, when 

 the former is dearer than the latter. Estrich board is worth 

 6d. the piece in 1409 and 1420; *]\d. in 1452; and is. id. 

 in 1478, the rise being equally marked with that of wainscot. 

 In 1416 King's Hall buys estring and estrich board, apparently 

 at nearly the same price. I conjecture that estring and 

 estrich were foreign oaks, as nearly all, if not all, wainscot is 

 now. 



Very little information can be derived from the price of raw 

 timber. Oaks are frequently sold as they stand in the wood, 

 but at very various prices in the fifteenth century, from a little 

 over $d. and 6d. to 6s. Sd. and upwards. Thus York Cathedral 

 buys seven great trees at this highest price, and in 1419 pur- 

 chases two great oaks at i$s. 4^. each. The dearest were those 

 used for mills. Thus at Sidmouth in 1424 seven are bought 

 at 2,s. 4\d. each. In 1457 a great oak at Otterton cost 5y. Sd., 

 and in 1469, at the same place, one is bought in the wood for 

 5^., the carriage requiring 3^. 4^. more. Two entries in the 

 later period are purchases at $s. and $s. 8J</. But throughout 

 the latter half of the fifteenth century timber in the rough is 

 never bought so cheaply as in the earlier period. The same 

 variety occurs in the price of ash-trees, which are sold at $d. in 

 1408 ; at 6\d. in 1421 ; and at 3^. in 1439 at Takley, but two 

 great trees are bought at Ormesby in 1458 at us., and three at 

 Yartcombe at $s. nd. the bargain. A great elm is bought for 



