A lovely set of photos on Flickr by 'feersumendjinn' capturing a different kind of shepherd's hut - known as a looker's hut - on Romney Marsh. There are very few lookers' huts left today but in the 18th century they were everywhere as 'lookers' looked-after absent landowners' sheep and cattle. These shepherds, and their families, needed a base and so many Lookers' Huts sprung up to cater for them - sadly a mixture of vandalism and neglect has reduced their numbers drastically. For more information on Lookers, try the community-run Lookers Heritage Project site here.
Lovely. We stayed in a hut in Ireland once called 'Watchers' -because it was where the people who looked after the oyster beds stayed. Must have been the same idea - hadn't put two and two together before.
ReplyDeleteNow that's a job I'd like, making sure oysters don't stray away from the herd. And yes, these are lovely photos. I'm surprised John Piper didn't use Lookers Huts as inspiration but I can't find a Piper Looker Hut anywhere.
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