Church of St Michael, Church Street, Appleby Magna, Leicestershire: Tree-Ring Analysis and Radiocarbon Wiggle-Matching of the Ladder in the Tower
Author(s): Robert Howard, Alison Arnold, A Bayliss, Dr G T Cook, Peter Marshall
Dendrochronological analysis was undertaken on five oak samples from the rungs and stringers of a wooden ladder in the tower of St Michael’s Church, Appleby Magna, Leicestershire. This analysis produced a single dated site chronology, APMBSQ01, comprising two samples, and having an overall length of 120 rings. These rings were dated as spanning the years AD 1461–1580. Interpretation of the sapwood on the two dated samples, both from rungs, indicates that one timber was felled in the period AD 1545–70, while the other timber was felled in AD 1580. The three remaining oak timbers are undated. Samples were also obtained from three further rungs, but these were of elm and had too few rings for analysis and hence were not measured. Three single-year samples of oak from wall stringer APM-B07, which had not been dated by dendrochronology, were subsequently sent for radiocarbon dating and wigglematching. This analysis suggests that this timber was felled in the early fifteenth century cal AD.
- Report Number:
- 13/2013
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 28
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Radiocarbon Dating Standing Building
