The Tree-Ring Dating of the Early Medieval Doors at Westminster Abbey, London
Author(s): Dr Martin Bridge, Daniel Miles
Six doors were sampled as part of a programme of reassessing the historic medieval timberwork of the Abbey. Some of these doors were initially sampled by Dr John Fletcher in the 1970s. The present analysis resulted in all the doors being dated. The dating has identified the door called 'Pyx', reused in the Chapter House vestibule, as having originated from the Saxon abbey constructed by Edward the Confessor, and constructed between AD 1032-64, making it the oldest scientifically-dated door in Britain. The present Pyx doors from the cloister were likely inserted as a consequence of the AD 1303 robbery of the Royal Treasury from the Chapter House undercroft. A door leading to the stair- vice from the north transept is shown to be original to the mid-thirteenth century reconstruction by Henry III, and that in the South transept at Poets Corner as a mid-fourteenth century replacement. Finally, a door reused in the passage leading to the Chapter House undercroft is shown to be of similar age to the Chapter House and middle section of church. Apart from the 'Pyx' door and the Chapter House undercroft door, all the dated material was found to be either Baltic or German provenance.
- Report Number:
- 38/2005
- Series:
- CfA Reports
- Pages:
- 49
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Standing Building
