Building on Fear?

The role of Digital Archaeology to aid the study and analysis

of structural carpentry techniques in central southern
England, c1180 - c1500,
the era of the Black Death and successive plagues.
To date, there are approximately 108 timber-framed
buildings, in Hampshire, that have been
dendrochronologically dated to between 1244 and
1530[1]. A survey has been carried out on these
buildings to record the different types of joints
used in their construction. These joints have been
grouped, by type, to provide a chronology,
informed by scientific dating methods. Once the
chrono-typologies have been produced and cross-
referenced with Hewett’s Essex data[2], the effects,
if any, of the Black Death (1348-50) on carpentry
techniques and technologies will be analysed.

The project utilises digital technologies to collect, collate,

manage and query data relevant to the study of timber joints.
Such technologies include:
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
• Database Management Systems (DBMS)
• 3D modelling

The 3D modelling provides a means to explore how joints

interact with each other, whilst also forming a visual database.
This database can be disseminated through various mobile
devices, supplying researchers with a real-time, portable,
dating aid, for comparison in the field.

Scarf joint Hewett’s date range Hampshire date range Professor Baillie’s work, on how dendrochronology can shed new light on the Black Death, is an interesting area of study and one which will sit well within this thesis. He suggests the “Black
Death has a clear environmental context”[3]. He sees a clear ‘slump’ in tree-ring patterns from AD 1333 to 1360, with a sharp rise toward the end of the century, from 1380 onwards. This is
well reflected in the Hampshire data, as a possible hiatus on dated buildings occurs, between 1347 and 1359, followed by a sharp rise in dated buildings from 1388 onwards.
Type 1 (splayed scarf) C1180 - 1400 1249 - 1360
In 1992, Matthew Johnson warned of relying on typologies to date buildings[4]. Following the advances in dendrochronology, coupled with the data collected during this research, I believe it is
now possible to rely on chrono-typologies to provide a tighter date range than was possible sixteen years ago. Indeed Sarah Pearson wrote, five years after Johnson, “one important aspect of
Type 2 (edge-halved) C1375 onwards 1400 - 1500 construction which is likely to be considerably advanced through tree-ring dating is the typology of timber jointing techniques”[5].

Type 3 (mortised scarf) Not found in Hewett’s 1301 - 1528

work Type 1 Type 2

Type 4 (socket scarf) Not found in Hewett’s 1420 - 1448

work

The implications of the scarf joint to dating

The splayed scarf (type 1) seems to have been used

from the inception of English carpentry (c1180) up until Type 3 Type 4
the end of the 14th century, according to Hewett[6].
This date range is supported by the Hampshire
evidence, with only two examples occurring in 1359
(Trees Cottage, Froxfield, Hants) and 1360 (Tan-Y-
Bryn, Hannington, Hants), ten years after the Black
Death. So, one may ask; ‘is the demise of the splayed
joint, starting in the later half of the 14th century, a
result of the Black Death?’ This is an interesting question, as the joint is superseded, immediately following the plague, by
the type 2 scarf (edge-halved), both in Hewett’s work and the work undertaken during this thesis[7]. The type 3 scarf also
appears after the Black Death, with date ranges from 1363 to 1528, in Hampshire.

References
[1] D. H. Miles, Michael Worthington, and Martin Bridge, “Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory,”
Dendrochronology.com, http://www.dendrochronology.com/; Edward Roberts, Hampshire Houses: 1250-1700.
Their Dating & Development (Hampshire: Hampshire County Council, 2003), 227-51
[2] Cecil A. Hewett, English Historic Carpentry (Phillimore, 1980)
[3] Mike Baillie, New Light on the Black Death (Tempus, 2006), 38.
[4] Matthew Johnson, “The Englishman's Home and its Study,” in The Social Archaeology of Houses
(Edinburgh Univ Pr, 1992), 248
[5] S. Pearson, “Tree-Ring Dating: A Review,” Vernacular architecture 28 (1997): 38
[6] C. A. Hewett, “Scarf Jointing During the Later Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries and a Reappraisal of the
Origin of Spurred Tenons,” Royal Archaeological Institute 134, no. 287-96; Hewett, English Historic Carpentry,
263-71
[7] Hewett, “Scarf Jointing During the Later Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries and a Reappraisal of the
Origin of Spurred Tenons,” 293

Richard Haddlesey ©2008

Department of Archaeology, University of Winchester, UK. Email: Richard.Haddlesey@winchester.ac.uk Website: www.medievalarchitecture.net
Supervised by Prof. Tom James, Dr Keith Wilkinson, Dr Amanda Richardson and Mr Edward Roberts