SUMMARY

Swan Cottage is a remarkably complete, very small, medieval cottage, with only two bays, one of which was open to the roof. This is a rare type. It has a single crown-post. Six oak timbers were dated dendrochronologically to form a long 304-year site mean chronology (CHARL-SC), spanning AD 1233 - AD 1536. Poor intra-site overlap and cross matching necessitated that each of the component sequences be individually dated against independent reference chronologies. A single precise felling date of Winter AD 1559/60 is produced by a wall plate, and a felling date range of AD 1446 to AD 1478 from a post does not dispute this. A felling date range of AD 1417 - AD1449? from a tiebeam and, more particularly, a sequence spanning AD 1233 to AD 1302 from a rail with a felling date after AD 1311 are unexpectedly early. One of these early felling dates seems likely to represent a re-used timber; however, too few timbers are dated to clearly establish the building's main phase(s) of construction. Two additional felling date ranges are relate to identified later developments of the cottage. A bressummer timber is indicated to have been felled between AD 1499 - AD 1531 but this is too early for a chimney and it is likely to be re-used. A felling date range of AD 1541 to AD 1573 from the spine beam is likely to relate to the flooring of the open bay, and is a more likely date for the chimney.