St Mary’s Church, Shrawley, Worcestershire : Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from the Nave and Chancel Roofs
Author(s): Dr Martin Bridge
Limited access and lack of suitable timbers meant that no samples were obtained from the chancel roof and only six timbers were sampled from the nave roof. Of these, four were successfully dated, though only one timber retained any sapwood. This had a likely felling date range in the early sixteenth century, whilst the others may have been felled at the same time or within a few decades of this period. With so few dated timbers and a lack of surviving sapwood it is not possible to determine whether these timbers all represent the original roof construction or repair phases, but none looked to be reused. One pair of matching timbers was from the west end of the roof, the other pair from the centre. This suggests that the roof may be later than the fifteenth-century date that had been ascribed to it, but does not establish the exact construction date.
- Report Number:
- 47/2007
- Series:
- Research Department Reports
- Pages:
- 14
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Standing Building
