SDO14934 - Tree-ring analysis of timbers from Shutes Farmhouse, Symondsbury, Dorset

‘Core samples were obtained from 15 different oak timbers within Shutes Farmhouse, Symondsbury, Dorset. Analysis by dendrochronology of fourteen of these samples (one having too few rings for reliable analysis) produced two site chronologies. The first site chronology, SYMASQ01, comprises five samples, all from what appear to be primary-phase trusses 3 and 4. This site chronology has an overall length of 87 rings which can be satisfactorily dated as spanning the years 1363–1449. Interpretation of the sapwood on these five samples indicates that the timbers represented were felled in 1449. The second site chronology, SYMASQ02, comprises three samples, all from the main beams of the ground-floor ceiling. This site chronology has an overall length of 102 rings but these cannot be dated. Despite this lack of dating, the cross-matching would suggest that the three timbers represented are contemporary with each other. A further two samples can be dated individually. The first, SYM-A08, from a principal rafter of truss 5, indicates an estimated felling date in the range 1563–88. The second individual, SYM-A11, is from a ground-floor ceiling beam. It is estimated that this timber has a felling date in the range 1618–43. Seven measured samples remain undated.’