Yep. There's not a lot of those giant ones left here, but the ones which survive re some sort of hardwood, possibly oak. The Victorian parts were built in 1893 - so nearly 130 years, and still going strong.Too right! Not only are they beefier, they're not made out of twisted quick grown pine that you can only get these day. The UK is full of victorian houses still standing strong, I'd love to see the state of some of the current new builds in 150 years!!!
The Georgian parts of my house are even more fascinating. The floor joists are not massive, but they're only planed on the top (bark still on some of the other surfaces!), and the undersides of the (oak) floorboards (again, with undersides not planed0 have been 'chipped'/chiselled everywhere they cross joists so as to make them (as least originally ) 'perfect fits!
Kind Regards, John