Trerice, Kestle Mill, Cornwall: Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers
Author(s): Alison Arnold, Robert Howard, Matt Hurford, Cathy Tyers
Dendrochronological analysis was undertaken on 31 of the 35 samples taken from three different roofs at Trerice, Kestle Mill: the Great Hall, the West Wing, and the Great Chamber. This resulted in the production of two site chronologies, TRCESQ01 and TRCESQ02. These comprise 28 and 3 samples with overall lengths of 169 rings and 115 rings respectively. The first site chronology can be dated as spanning the years AD 1394–1562, whilst the second site chronology is undated. Interpretation of the sapwood and the heartwood/sapwood boundary on the dated samples indicates that the timbers from all three roofs are likely to represent a single programme of felling, probably dated to the early AD 1570s, with the possible exception of one timber that may have been felled over a decade earlier. The dendrochronological results therefore support the suggestion that the Great Hall, the Great Chamber, and the West Wing were constructed as part of the scheme of works commissioned by Sir John Arundel IV, High Sheriff of Cornwall, between AD 1570–3.
- Report Number:
- 38/2009
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 48
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Standing Building
