Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfred, Ripon, North Yorkshire Nave Roof and Ceiling: Wiggle-Match Radiocarbon Dating of Timbers
Author(s): A Bayliss, Bronk Ramsey, Dr G T Cook, Stewart Freeman, Hamilton, J van der Plicht, Cathy Tyers
Tree-ring analysis was undertaken on a total of 30 core samples from the principal oak timbers of the roof and ceiling ribs of the nave of Ripon Cathedral. This produced two major site chronologies, one of six samples, 226 rings long (RIPCSQ01), and another of nine samples, 117 rings long (RIPCSQ02). Two other site chronologies each containing two samples were also created. None of these site chronologies, nor any individual samples, could be dated by dendrochronology. A series of ten contiguous decadal blocks of wood from the two main site chronologies were submitted for radiocarbon dating by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry. Two different cores from each site chronology were sent for dating to two different laboratories. Analysis of these results by wiggle-matching suggests that the timbers in site sequence RIPCSQ01 were felled in cal AD 1855–1870 (95% probability), and the timbers in site sequence RIPCSQ02 were felled in cal AD 1850–1870 (95% probability). This dating suggests that the truncated trusses of the nave roof, both those with single larger principal rafters and those with two very slightly smaller principal rafters in close-set pairs, as well as the ceiling ribs, date to the alterations undertaken under the direction of Sir Gilbert Scott in AD 1862–72
- Report Number:
- 73/2014
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 42
- Keywords:
- Dendrochronology Radiocarbon Dating Standing Building
