Bricked up eaves over wall plate in 1920s chalet Information, help and tips on many areas of roofing including trusses, tiling, venting, insulation etc....

[Lowlander]

Hi There- I've just bought a 1926 Chalet with a large roof space, a dormer cuts into about half of it - but I noticed staright away that there are bricks, just 1 course, very consistently laid with what looks like lime mortar over all the timber wall plates. I noticed lots of historical wasp nests, long since deserted or poisoned- so my first thought was, did someone brick up the eaves to stop this from happening - or would houses of this age often have a brick course over the wall plate? This roof has a very solid layer of timber plank over the rafters, under the very heavy duty welsh slates- I think it was built by a timber merchant- and I notice that down by the eaves they are darker and maybe a little damper than the rest of the roof- and that possibly closing the eaves like this with bricks was done after the house was built, and maybe isn't such a good idea. I'm pondering removing them- as I am planning to insulate 450mm and will need to ventilate the eaves. Any have any thoughts on all of this? Many thanks for your insight / experience.