Dendrochronology is the science of using tree-ring growth to establish the precise year a tree was felled for building, giving an exact date for the original construction.
The Group's analysis of nearly 4000 buildings throughout Surrey has made it possible to recognise the sequence in which new patterns of house design, or new styles of decoration, first appeared and later disappeared.
This detailed sequence, which involves some 90 different features, covers 300 years, from c.1400 to c.1700, means we can usually estimate the approximate age of a timber-framed building. But a more accurate knowledge of the dates is now possible as a result of the Surrey Dendrochronology Project.
The Domestic Buildings Research Group joined forces with Surrey Archaeological Society and, with the support of Surrey County Council and Heritage Lottery funding, set up the Project which has confirmed the sequence and development of architectural features. Many of the previous estimates of dates had erred on the side of caution and earlier dates have now been attributed to many of them.
The dendrochronologist appointed was Dr. Andy Moir of Tree-Ring Services.
