Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Fell Close, Healeyfield, near Consett, County Durham
Author(s): Alison Arnold, Robert Howard, Cliff Litton
Twenty samples were obtained from what were believed to be primary construction phase timbers of the ground and first-floor frame, and what were potentially later timbers of the roof of this building at Fell Close. The analysis of these samples produced two site chronologies. The first comprises 12 samples from ground, first-floor frame, and roof timbers, with a combined overall length of 156 rings, and dated as spanning the years AD 1496 to AD 1651. Interpretation of the sapwood would suggest that at least some of the ground and first-floor frame timbers are contemporary with the roof timbers which were felled at the same time in AD 1651. The second site chronology consists of two samples, both from ground floor timbers, with a combined overall length of 80 rings. This site chronology cannot be dated. This programme of tree-ring analysis has not found any evidence of timbers with diferent felling dates. Fell Close thus appears to be a single-phase, mid-seventeenth century structure.
- Report Number:
- 35/2004
- Series:
- CfA Reports
- Pages:
- 21
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Standing Building
