Strange timber wall

[jertum]

Hi, hope you're all keeping well.

We're hoping to open up the under stairs pantry doorway in our 1895 terrace house to accommodate a fridge, but are unsure if the timber wall is load-bearing.

We actually had it boarded and plastered when we moved in, so I can't upload a picture, but the timber is basically heavy duty vertical lengths butted up against each other in a row.

I've never come across a wall like it, so I was wondering if it was basically how they made stud walls back then or if it's just a poor job from many years ago?

 

[jertum]

This is similar to how it's laid out

 

[tony1851]

Probably match-boarding - very common in the 19th century; not load-bearing, just used to fill the triangular gap under the stairs.

 

[jertum]

Thanks Tony.

The boarding actually seems to run all the way to the upstairs of the house, creating a partition for the box room at the top of the stairs. Has anyone ever known this type of wall to be structural? It'd be great to get rid of the whole thing and expose the staircase if possible.