Timber-framed buildings were usually constructed in what are termed ‘bays’. Each bay would contain a wooden framework around a door or a window. So there would be two upright timbers that formed the sides of the bay and the side frames for the doorframe or window frames to be fixed to. The door frame would then have a wooden ‘lintel’ above it, to support either brickwork or wattle and daub panels, and a window frame would be supported below by a wooden cross member to form a sill and a lintel above. Above and below the window lintel and sill would be, like the doorway, either brickwork or wattle and daub panels. The wooden uprights of the bays would be fixed into wooden beams forming a base and top ‘plate’. Hope this helps.
Personal Diary of Strom Coldsteel