(index)
WELCOME TO MARTIN BRIDGE'S DENDRO PAGES
-
Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) is now an established science in Britain.
Progress has been rapid over the last 30 years or so, and most parts of the country
now have well-replicated oak chronologies against which to date oak timbers.
Some parts of the country are more difficult than others, for example in East Anglia
the oaks have in the past grown to sizes suitable for large structural timbers in 50-60
years, whereas a similar sized timber in, say Worcestershire, might contain 150 rings.
This is important because the patterns of varying ring-widths need to be firmly matched
against the reference material in order to be sure of establishing the date. With short
sequences several statistically significant matches may be found which are not at the
correct position. In practice, dating occurs when a new series is matched (both by
comparing visual plots and statistically) consistently against a range of independent
data sets. However, as more work is done the success rates even in areas such as
East Anglia are getting higher and higher.
To find out more about how the work is carried out click on
What is involved?
I first became involved in dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) in 1979 after
graduating in Botany from Bristol University and taking up a CASE Research
Studentship at Portsmouth Polytechnic funded by the Science and Engineering
Research Council, in collaboration with the Ancient Monuments Laboratory of the
Department of the Environment. After completing my PhD in Jan 1983, I went to
New Zealand for a 1-year post-doc position working on kauri (
Agathis australis) ). Auckland Tree Ring Laboratory.
After lecturing in Ireland I worked at the City of London Polytechnic (later
London Guildhall University) in various capacities for 11 years. During this
time I researched pine stumps in the Rannoch area of Scotland as well as dating
oak timbers in Britain and France, and initiating a dendro project in
Newfoundland.
In 1998 I became Lecturer in Dendrochronology at the Institute of Archaeology,
University College London, and in February 2003 this became a part-time post, whilst for the remainder of my time I work with two colleagues at the
Oxford Tree Ring Laboratory. I spend much of my time carrying out contract
dendrochronological dating, mostly for English Heritage, but also for County
Councils, Museums and individuals.
In October 2007 I was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA)
I have also worked on a number of timbers from the Tudor warship
Mary Rose,
independently proving that a number of timbers were inserted after the launch date (1511) - the most significant timber being a frame below a gun-port which was still a living tree in the Spring of 1541 - a short time before the ship sank in 1545.
To look at a list of papers and other articles I have written, click on
Publications
I have decided to list many of the structures I have dated on these Web pages
so that the information is available to a wider audience. Many of these details
have appeared in the annual publication Vernacular Architecture - the format of
their lists having changed several times over the years. Hence in this initial
posting, the details appear with varying degrees of information. I hope one day
to bring them all into a common format. Sites are listed by county.
To look for dated buildings, go to
County List
Anybody wishing to know more about any of these projects should look at my
publications, or contact me at
MarBrdg 'AT' aol.com
or
martin.bridge 'AT' ucl.ac.uk.
LINKS
Last update August 2008
|
