TREE-RING ANALYSIS OF TIMBERS FROM SHREWSBURY ABBEY CHURCH
Author(s): Nigel Nayling
The tower of Shrewsbury Abbey, founded in the late-eleventh century, is presently undergoing repair. Recording of surviving timbers in both the bell-chamber floor and tower roof suggests that some medieval timbers may survive, in contrast to the rest of the building. This report covers the dendrochronological analysis of a series of oak timbers within the roof and bell-chamber floor to clarify the dating of the surviving timbers so as to inform repair decisions. Few timbers from the floor proved suitable for tree-ring dating, but a single timber dated with a felling range of AD 1365-95. A single timber dates underpinning of this floor with diagonally oriented beams to the late-seventeenth century, probably AD 1667. The tower roof, previously interpreted as a single-phase construction dated to the seventeenth century, contains surviving elements of the original roof dated to AD 1380-95. The present roof dates to AD 1641. The results suggest that substantial elements of the bell-chamber floor and the tower roof date to the primary construction of the tower.
- Report Number:
- 39/1999
- Series:
- AML Reports (New Series)
- Pages:
- 15
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Standing Building
