image for illustration: Rethatching a house at Whippingham, Isle of Wight, ITookSomePhotos, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Historic England reports on the use of traditional thatching materials, skills and techniques to maintain local distinctiveness, where a key factor is the availability of good quality cereal straw and water reed for thatching.
Historic England writes:
Thatch is a traditional roofing material in many parts of England…
Thatch Production in England
Before the mid-20th century, nearly all thatching materials were sourced locally. Since the Second World War, increasing mobility of materials and labour and more standardisation of techniques have diluted regional techniques and changed the traditional local picture. The rapid growth in importation of water reed from Eastern Europe and beyond was mirrored by a decline in the UK production of water reed for thatch. It also reduced the market for thatching straw, as many thatchers saw imported water reed as a more reliable alternative to straw and advocated its use to their clients as a more durable and cost-effective material.
Although the legislation that protects listed buildings has helped to stabilise demand for thatching straw to a large extent, producers face increasing challenges from other directions, such as poor harvests, reliance on out-of-date machinery and uncertain seasonal labour supply, that have left traditional thatching material production in a vulnerable situation.
Our Traditional Thatch Project aims to support and develop the production and use of good quality indigenous thatching materials in England to secure a more predictable and consistent supply that will, in turn, support the long-term sustainability of traditional thatching. We have undertaken research to identify the challenges facing producers. Working with numerous thatching straw growers and water reed producers, we have learned what is already being done to overcome these challenges and identified potential further steps that might be taken to increase the amount, viability and resilience of thatching material supply.
Read the thatching materials issues report
Machinery for producing thatching straw
Thatching straw cannot be harvested using a modern combine harvester. A few straw producers have experimented with modifications and innovations in machinery and harvesting techniques, but many growers still rely on traditional machines that are long out of production, require high levels of maintenance and for which spare parts are difficult to find.
Our research report on Machinery for Harvesting and Processing Cereal Straw for Thatching published in 2024 investigates the challenges posed to many straw producers by reliance on outdated, unreliable or inefficient machinery and outlines opportunities for mechanisation that make conventional harvesting and processing for cereal straw more efficient, safer, less labour intensive and more financially viable.
More efficient production processes have the potential to mitigate two of the most problematic issues the industry faces: climate change and labour shortages. Making harvesting quicker and more efficient would make it less vulnerable to adverse weather conditions, and with fewer working hours required, the pressure of labour shortages would be eased.
Technical guidance for straw harvesting machinery
Historic England is producing a series of practical guides for straw producers seeking to increase the efficiency of their existing machines during straw production. The following guides are now available for download.
- Howard Bigbaler Published 27 May 2026
The purpose of this technical guide is to help thatching straw growers get best performance from the Bigbaler and minimise straw damage during baling.
- Trusser and Binder Published 27 May 2026
This technical guide is to show how the knotter mechanism of a Trusser or Binder can be upgraded (replaced) with that from a Conventional Baler.
- Knotters Published 27 May 2026
This technical guide is intended to provide an informative overview of knotter design, operation & setup/adjustment procedures which may be followed.
- Binders: The publication ‘Binders – Setup, Adjustment and Operation’ will be published later in 2026. A link to the publication will appear on this page in due course.
See more on the IHBC’s Competences
