that still survive are at Frocester Court, Gloucestershire, with four gables, and Rectory Farm, Northmoor, Oxfordshire (172). Only one of these small timber-framed gatehouses survives in the north of England, at Bolton Percy, near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, an early fifteenth-century structure with fine detailing restored with the aid of Avoncroft Museum of Buildings in 1974.
Porches with a small room over are a feature to be found on many Elizabeth and Jacobean timber-framed houses. These structures, frequently jettied on the first floor, first appeared at the end of the sixteenth century and were often the first part of the house to exhibit the new Renaissance ornamentation and detail. The reason for their introduction is not clear but certainly the main practical reason was to reduce the draught from the main doorway, consequently increasing the comfort of the inhabitants of the house and in particular those using the hall. Even so, it is not uncommon for porches to have open balustered sides to the ground floor which would undoubtedly reduce
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