Plank

Many old farms and cottages throughout Britain have simple plank doors as the main entranceway.  Planks doors from medieval times until the early 19th Century tended to be of a simple vertical plank construction with three or more horizontal ledges, these were usually nailed through with large headed nails from the outside of the plank, or with studs on some of the better examples.  These doors were frequently constructed of oak, less so with elm.  In the 19th Century onwards, the doors tended to be made of pine, often pitch pine, and the construction was beefed up with the addition of a thick frame around the perimeter of the door and often with diagonal braces.  The turn of the 20th Century saw a return to popularity of the gothic style and an appreciation of the value of craftsmanship, so it is possible to find Arts and Crafts doors that borrowed heavily from the medieval style, with heavy studs, solid oak construction, but with additional design flair, such as small window openings, often with stained glass or bulls eye roundels.