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the eaves: this may originally have been painted. It is hoped to remove the carved doorway pillars and preserve them for re-erection at a suitable location within the village.
External and Internal Walls
Apart from the entrance facade the internal and external walls were built in two styles. At either end of the building the walls which would have taken the weight of the transverse gables were made of granite rubble blocks, packed with granite chips and with patches of blue brick here and there, the whole heavily plastered on both internal and external faces. This granite rubble construction extended to a point about 8' above the floor, above which the walls were predominantly of roughly coursed blue brick. The granite rubble blocks of these walls were not coursed and were only very roughly shaped. This method of construction is that usual for village houses in Shatin down to about 1950. In order to give a smooth finish to the walls the plaster was laid in some places up to 1½ to 2" in thickness. At one place it could be seen that the plaster had been laid on in 5 layers, the outer layer possibly dating from the time when the squatters took the premises over.
Running back from the main entrance were two walls which divided the area under the entrance gable into three sections. These walls were built of the same granite rubble and blue brick construction as the external walls, and would have helped carry the transverse gables. The entrances to the two outer of these three sections had each a threshold granite paving slab. There were no signs of sockets for doors surviving at these entrances. The eastern of these outer sections contained a window though the entrance front. This appears to have been an original feature as it had been blocked by the squatters, and had been provided with a plaster hood moulding. These outer sections, each measuring about 11′ 6" x 7' were probably used as village stores.
The sections of the side walls facing the Incense Smoke Tower, however, which would have carried only the weight of the light lateral lean-to roofs were made of a weak construction of mud brick with no blue brick or stone stiffening. These walls were also plastered heavily on both internal and external faces.