Flitch of bacon custom in the 13th century there are some who would date it to earlier Norman or Saxon times, one suggested date being 1104, the founding of the Little Dunmow Priory. This is partly because the flitch of Dunmow seems to have already been common knowledge in very early works such as the prologue to Chaucer's "Wife of Bath" and also in the "Visions of Pierce Plowman" by William Langland. Some would also read passages in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" as alluding to the Dunmow flitch. It is possible that the "flitch of bacon" custom was at one time quite widespread. There was
Flitch beam fire would not probably affect the iron until the wooden beams were badly burned.” With the advent of high-strength engineered lumber, the advantages of flitch-beams disappeared. For example, comparing the capacity of 2 beams spanning 18 feet: Additionally, use of this type of beam has greatly declined due to the high cost of labor. Engineered lumber can be cut to length and installed much like sawn lumber; the flitch requires shop fabrication and/or field bolting. This, coupled with a much increased self-weight of the beam (11.4 pounds (5.2 kg) for engineered wood vs. 25.2 pounds (11.4 kg) for a flitch