Higham House, 48 Higham Hall Road, Higham, Lancashire: Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers
Author(s): Alison Arnold, Robert Howard, Cathy Tyers, A Bayliss, Michael Dee, Sanne Palstra
Dendrochronological analysis was undertaken on samples from seven oak timbers in the roof of this building. This analysis produced a single site master chronology, comprising four samples (HIHHSQ01), which is 107 rings long overall. Despite being compared to an extensive corpus of reference chronologies, no satisfactory consistent cross-matching could be identified. However the relative dating of the samples in the site master chronology indicates that the two principal rafters are coeval, as are the two purlins, but that these two pairs of timbers, although broadly coeval, are likely to have been derived from trees felled some years apart. A further single sample from the tiebeam was dated by ring-width dendrochronology individually with its extant final ring, the heartwood/sapwood boundary ring, dating to AD 1604. The dating by ring-width dendrochronology of only a single timber led to the decision to obtain dating evidence for the site master chronology through radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon measurements were obtained on six single-year samples from one of the four component cores, HIH-H04. Wiggle-matching of these results suggests that the final ring of HIHHSQ01 formed in cal AD 1607–1631 (95% probability), probably in cal AD 1613–1626 (68% probability). Interpretation of the range of relative dates of the heartwood/sapwood transitions of all five dated timbers in the roof suggests at least two episodes of felling are represented, with construction probably occurring in the AD 1620s or AD 1630s (if all timbers are assumed to be associated with the primary construction of Higham House).
- Report Number:
- 113/2019
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 41
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Radiocarbon Dating Standing Building Wiggle-Match
