Interior view of window frame and double relieving plates

Interior view of the stacked pair of "wall plates" in the west eaves wall which are, functionally, relieving lintels carrying wall, floor, and framing loads to the masonry piers and wall ranges abutting the kitchen windows [and door "abutments" in the east eaves wall]. The upper plate also served as the bearing and leveling timber for the first floor joists. The timbers would originally have been in full contact, the upper member bearing directly on the lower, but mortar infill has been introduced into the gap created by deflection of the lower [relieving] lintel. Laurence Ward, 2009