Church of St Mary, High Street, St Mary Cray, London Borough of Bromley, Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from the Spire and Bell Frame
Author(s): Alison Arnold, Robert Howard
A total of 12 core samples was obtained from the spire and bell frame of the Church of St Mary. Analysis of nine of these samples (three having insufficient rings for reliable analysis), produced three site chronologies. The first site chronology (SMCCSQ01), comprising three spire samples, is 54 rings long and spans the years AD 1324–77. Interpretation of the sapwood indicates these timbers are coeval, being felled in the late fourteenth century or very early fifteenth century. The second site chronology (SMCCSQ02), comprising two samples from the north frame of the bell frame, is 70 rings long and spans the years AD 1505–74. Interpretation of the sapwood indicates these timbers are also coeval, being felled in the late-sixteenth century. The third, and final, site chronology (SMCCSQ03) again comprises two samples, both from the south frame of the bell frame. This site chronology is 52 rings long but it cannot be reliably dated, although it is likely that the timbers are coeval. Two of the nine measured samples remain both ungrouped and undated.
- Report Number:
- 68/2015
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 32
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Standing Building