\paperw5085 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \pard\tx3255\tx6525\tx9780\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 \f1 \fs22 Wood continued to be used for the highly decorative timber-trussed roofs that were
the product of the ingenuity of \ATXnt901 medieval carpenters\ATXnt0 . This construction technique allowed a hitherto inconceivably wide span and had the strength to carry heavy loads \ATXnt902 without any internal support\ATXnt0 . Because this meant t
hat wide open spaces could be achieved without recourse to lines of pillars, \ATXnt903 hammer-beam\ATXnt0 roofs were often used for the sort of halls that were fast becoming the ideal venues for nascent institutions such as the guilds and the "inns" of
the students of law. Many were also \ATXnt904 erected by \ATXnt0 wealthy merchants as a suitable premises for conducting business and diplomatic entertaining. In such cases the exposed beams and rafters would have been carved, painted and even gilded to
enhance their effect. The foremost early exponents of \ATXnt905 this technique\ATXnt0 were the mason Henry Yvele, considered LondonÆs first architect, and the carpenter Hugh Herland. The magnificent oak hammer-beam roof they devised for \ATXnt906 Westmi
nster Hall\ATXnt0 between 1394 and 1401 was as revolutionary to carpentry as the earlier pointed arch had been to masonry. Thereafter successive craftsmen devised subtle structural variations such as the king-post and the crown-post roof. Many specimens
of \ATXnt907 timber-trussed roofs have survived\ATXnt0 in parish churches as well as secular buildings.
