Pevsner says: "Wirksworth is attractive as an ensemble rather than by means of individual houses." I beg to differ - Wirksworth has a host of individual buildings that reflect the mixed variety of materials on offer beneath this little dales town including limestone, brick, lead and timber.

A scroll through the buildings of Wirksworth, Derbyshire.

And then there's that remarkable imprint of a former building within the gable of another - trapped like a fly in amber on St. John's Street.

The more I look at this building, the more I see: the outline of an old cruck-house, the timber interior construction and the big purlins sticking out like lugs into the brickwork. Then I look at it in abstract - as a negative - and take in the jaunty brickwork.

The two enormous curved timbers are cruck blades: paired pieces of naturally shaped wood that rose from near ground level and supported the roof. The cross-beams, slender studs and remnants of infill allow us to read the outline of the vanished building. Later brickwork has enclosed the frame, preserving it like a fossil within its successor.

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