British Medieval Architecture

British Medieval Architecture

The site has been updated, please REDIRECT HERE

Richard Haddlesey BSc MSc

The site has been updated, please REDIRECT HERE

click here to download CV

MSc Thesis

“Virtual Meccano”:

The Creation of Virtual Joints to Explore Vernacular Timber-framed Construction Methods of the Late Medieval Period

(c1400-1530).

The site has been updated, please REDIRECT HERE

Abstract

The research agenda of this paper is to create a visual database, containing the key joints used by late medieval carpenters, in the construction of vernacular timber-framed, open-hall dwellings (c1400-1530). This will be achieved by employing virtual, three dimensional (3D) technologies, to create solid geometric objects that emulate their real-world counterparts, through the utilisation of 3d studio max. This will result in the creation of a virtual library, containing the pre-formed joints.

Keywords

3ds max, 3D modelling, AutoCAD, Black Death in England, buildings archaeology, Cultural Virtual Reality CVR, fully developed medieval floor plan, geometric modelling, late medieval open hall houses, late medieval timber-framed buildings, portable media players, virtual heritage, visual databases

Supervised by Dr Graeme Earl and Professor Matthew Johnson

click here to download the full pdf

click here to see a clip of a 3D joint

back to top

PhD Thesis

The site has been updated, please REDIRECT HERE

Title of the proposed investigation:

Building on Fear? The role of Digital Archaeology for the study and analysis of vernacular carpentry techniques in central southern England c1250- c 1500, the era of the “Black Death” and successive plagues.

PRIMARY AIM: To create a methodology, based on emerging and existing computational technologies, and to use it to test theories relating to the evolution of carpentry joints in timber-framed buildings, with particular reference to the period c1250 to c1500, in central southern England, the era of the "Black Death" and successive plagues (James 1999a).

MAJOR SUB-AIMS TO MPhil:

- collate work undertaken by previous scholars such as (James 1999b, James and Roberts 2000, Lewis, Roberts, and Roberts 1988, Roberts 2003) especially by using dendrochronology datasets (Miles 2000-05, Roberts 2003) rather than typology (Hewett 1980) to establish a sequence of joints through time for the selected region

- to provide a methodology using archaeological standing-buildings data and analysis to run original computer simulations, not previously used in this field, via three inter-linked Database Management Systems (DBMS) (Daly and Evans 2006)
-a relational database
-a geo-database
-a visual database

- systematically to examine selected medieval timber-framed structures of central southern England

- to undertake original archaeological fieldwork to locate, establish typology of joints at, and map structures relevant to this study

- the emulation of "real world" carpentry techniques and geometry by creating "virtual replicas" using 3 dimensional modelling (Haddlesey 2005a)

MAJOR SUB-AIMS TO PhD:

- with the methodology in place, the databases can be queried to look for patterns and trends visible in the data such as change through time and across the region

- to query the databases in relation to the use of timber-jointing by different ranks of late medieval society

- to query the databases and analyse the information in examining timber-jointing in central southern England and elsewhere in relation to demographic and social change, for example the effects, if any, of the "Black Death" and successive plagues

Supervised by Professor Tom Beaumont-James, Dr Keith Wilkinson and Mr Edward Roberts

back to top

Annie Kemp BSc

The site has been updated, please REDIRECT HERE

Annie has been working hard in Thailand and Laos since leaving Uni. In Thailand she helped with the tsunami relief. In Laos, Annie has been working with the Laotions to clear unexploded mines and bombs from the 'Plain of Jars' to help preserve the heritage there and make the area safe both for the inhabitants of the area and heritage tourists. She began her PhD in Jan 2008 at Cranfield University with this as her main focus

click here to download a pdf of the corbel collection

back to top

Related Texts

The site has been updated, please REDIRECT HERE

Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory: Report 2005/23

FURTHER DENDROCHRONOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON THE CARVED HEADS FORMERLY STORED AT DEVIZES, WILTSHIRE

click here to download the full pdf

The site has been updated, please REDIRECT HERE

Dr M C Bridge & D W H Miles

Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory.

Photographs by R Haddlesey BSc MSc

Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory