H M Tower of London (TOL99 & TOL100), London Borough of Tower Hamlets : The Tree-Ring Dating of the White Tower
Author(s): Daniel Miles
Between 1997 and 2005, 155 timbers throughout the White Tower were sampled, of which 133 dated. Drawbar socket linings, with felling dates of AD 1049–81 and after AD 1068 respectively, and a lintel felled in AD 1055–87, represent the first phase of construction, before c AD 1083–90. The second phase is represented by another lintel, felled in AD 1072– 1104, and a gutter lining felled after AD 1101. Other medieval fittings include a door of Baltic oak boards, dating to c 1350, and a door of elm and Baltic oak dating to c 1475. The main roofs were found to have been replaced in AD 1490, when the second floor was inserted. Repairs from AD 1532–33 were found in two turrets, but dendrochronology failed to find documented repairs of this date in the main roofs. The floor of the naval and record stores was dated to AD 1602–3, following the reconstruction of the east chamber forty years earlier. Other repairs include a timber and iron tying system in the south-west turret, inserted during the documented brickwork reinforcement of 1618–19, ground-floor timberwork dating to AD 1732–33, related to the documented insertion of brick vaults in the basement, and a series of roof replacements and turret repairs in AD 1780–83. Forty-three timbers produced precise felling dates, for seven of the ten phases studied. The dated material produced nine reference chronologies, which gave excellent matches with local and regional reference chronologies, suggesting that all the timber, other than the Baltic oak used in the two doors, grew near London.
- Report Number:
- 35/2007
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 131
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Standing Building