The Charlwood Dendrochronology Project

 Dating the Old Buildings of Charlwood Using Tree-Rings

Sponsored by the John Bristow and Thomas Mason Trust, Organised by the Domestic Buildings Research Group (Surrey), Dendrochronology by Tree-Ring Services

Intoduction

National trends in building activity inevitably conceal regional differences that can only be explained by detailed local studies. The RCHME medieval building dating project in Kent and Hampshire's Buildings Survey Group are examples of the growing number of county based research projects untilising the absolute dates provided by tree-ring dating to refine the typological and stylistic dating of buildings.

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Charlwood, near Gatwick Airport in southern Surrey is a village with an exceptional collection of ancient houses, many of which are particularly well preserved.  There are 40 listed buildings of which no less than 30 were thought to date from the medieval period.  For the most part, they are quite humble in origin, good examples of the vernacular traditions of rural England.  During the 1970’s, all these buildings were examined and recorded by the DBRG (Surrey) in the first example of a parish being so comprehensively studied. 

Earlier this year, the Charlwood Dendrochronology Project was established with the aim of scientifically and accurately dating a comprehensive sample of the timber-framed buildings of the village.  Sixteen houses were selected and have been successfully dated. This is about half the total and gives a very good representation of the village as a whole and again is thought to be a study unique in its depth.

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For more details on the Domestic Buildings Research Group (Surrey), see their web-site at: DBRG (Surrey)

Updated: 28/12/2006 Return to top

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