SNN112252 - 12 Park Street, Towcester, Northamptonshire: Tree-ring Analysis of Oak Timbers

Seven samples were taken from principal rafters and purlins in the roof of this property. Two sets, each of three samples, appear to have been derived from a common parent tree, and were combined to produce two individual tree mean series. A site master was made from these two tree series, and the remaining single ring-width series, and this was dated to the period AD 1634–1747. Only one sample retained complete sapwood, but one had complete sapwood detached from the main core, with few or no rings lost, allowing a narrow felling date range to be applied. Two other samples, which were later found to have come from the same parent tree, also lost a few rings on coring, and also allowed a narrow felling date range to be applied. The dendrochronological evidence therefore suggests construction in AD 1748 or AD1749, or within a year or two after this date.