THE TREE-RING DATING OF THE SKELETON BARN, OAKHOUSE FARM, HAMPSTEAD NORREYS, BERKSHIRE
Author(s): Daniel Miles
Nineteen core samples were taken from fifteen timbers salvaged from the collapsed, thatched corn rick at Oakhouse Farm, Hampstead Norreys, Berkshire (SU 509 764). This was an unique structure, the last surviving example of a building type which appeared to have enjoyed a period of popularity during the Napoleonic wars. It was of five bays, with two double bays either side of an open centre bay, making a total length of almost 100 feet. During the analysis and recording it was found that the northern two double bays were built in AD 1795/6, and then the building was extended in AD 1811/12 by constructing another two double bays to the south with a covered cartway. The structure consists of a 'nave' of posts with tiebeams and queen-strut roof structure with clasped purlins, and with extended eaves supported on gallows brackets from the wall posts. Some of the principal timbers from the AD 1811/12 phase showed evidence of mechanical sawing. Eleven of the fifteen timbers dated, and were combined to form a 90-year long chronology spanning the years AD 1722-1811. This new reference chronology is especially useful given the dearth of chronologies from the eighteenth century.
- Report Number:
- 16/2001
- Series:
- CfA Reports
- Pages:
- 14
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Standing Building
