Primrose Hill House and Barn, Meadowsweet Avenue, Kings Norton, Birmingham: Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers

Author(s): Alison Arnold, Robert Howard

Analysis by dendrochronology of 59 out of 65 samples (six samples having too few rings for reliable analysis) taken from five areas of this site, has produced a single site chronology, KGNBSQ01, comprising 50 samples and having an overall length of 240 rings. These rings are dated as spanning the years AD 1354–1593. Interpretation of the sapwood on the dated samples indicates that the earliest component of this site is, as expected, the former open hall, this constructed of timber all felled in AD 1440. The next element is the barn, built separately from, but adjacent to, the hall, and constructed of timber all felled in AD 1457. The next phase of development is represented by the construction of a building north-west of the original open hall, this being built of timber all felled in AD 1475. There is then a break in building activity until the construction of the cross-wing component in AD 1521, and the flooring of the former open hall in AD 1555. A fireplace lintel is formed from a timber which is unlikely to have been felled before the early seventeenth century.

Report Number:
41/2008
Series:
Research Department Reports
Pages:
52
Keywords:
Dendrochronology Standing Building

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