14 The College, Durham: Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers

Author(s): Alison Arnold, Robert Howard

Dendrochronological analysis undertaken on samples taken from timbers of this building resulted in the construction and dating of three site sequences. The first contains two samples from the roof, and spans the period AD 1376–1443, the second contains ten samples, again from the roof, and spans the period AD 1349–1463. Five of these timbers were felled in AD 1463. Interpretation of the sapwood on the rest of the samples (where present) gives these timbers felling date ranges consistent with them also having been felled in AD 1463. A third site sequence contains three samples, taken from the timbers of a partition wall, and spans the period AD 1454–1610, with felling thought likely to have occurred in AD 1625–50. The tree-ring results point to construction of the roof in or soon after the felling of the timbers in AD 1463, with the insertion of a partition wall in the second quarter of the seventeenth century.

Report Number:
85/2009
Series:
Research Department Reports
Pages:
37
Keywords:
Dendrochronology Standing Building

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