THE TREE-RING DATING AT ABBEY HOUSE, BUILDWAS ABBEY, SHROPSHIRE
Author(s): Daniel Miles
The ruins of Buildwas Abbey sit on the banks of the river Severn in Shropshire (SJ 642044). The abbey church and remains of the claustral buildings were placed in the care of the State in 1925. To the north-east of the guardianship area lies 'Abbey House', occupied since the suppression of the monastery, and currently used as a social club for employees of Ironbridge Power Station, owned by TXU Europe Power. A grade I listed building, Abbey House may well incorporate a thirteenth-century, and later, abbot's residence. The ground plan of Abbey House can be thought of in terms of four main units. The two primary elements form an L-shaped, two-storey integrated residence. Within this, running north to south, and covered with a four-bay roof, is a broad rectangular range here described as the West Block. At its south-east corner, a narrower rectangular range with a six-bay roof runs eastwards. This is currently designated the East Block. The third element in the plan is made up of a group of subsidiary structures springing from the south-west corner. Finally, there is a series of post-suppression additions in the north-east angle between the West and East Blocks. Nineteen timbers were sampled from three areas in Abbey House. The roof over the East Block produced two precise felling dates of spring AD 1377 and the chronology BUILDWS1 spanning the years AD 1311-76. The roof over the West Block produced two precise felling dates of winter AD 1547/48 and six others with incomplete sapwood have felling date ranges consistent with this date, all combining to form the chronology BUILDWS2 spanning the years AD 1374 to 1547. Finally, two samples from a splat-baluster staircase within the West Block produced an averaged felling date range of AD 1688-1717 and the chronology BUILDWS3 spanning the years AD 1563 to 1687. A number of reused moulded timbers were also assessed for dendrochronology, but problems of access and poor ring counts prevented their successful sampling.
- Report Number:
- 27/2002
- Series:
- CfA Reports
- Pages:
- 23
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Standing Building
