British Medieval Architecture
Welcome
The aim of this site is to aid research into British medieval architecture in wood, especially the late medieval open hall.
Academic papers are offered alongside detailed information on the 'Devizes Heads'.
We offer the viewer an insight into certain elements of British medieval architecture, mainly focusing on timber-framed construction methods in central southern England. In particular we will explore, through digital technologies, the joints employed by medieval carpenters to frame a house and their chrono-typologies. The study of which is based on solid dates derived from dendrochronological investigations (tree-ring dating) and the influences of the 'Black Death'. We will also report on the medieval corbel heads from Devizes (Wiltshire), employing virtual technologies to explore the techniques of their manufacture.
PhD Research
Richard Haddlesey is presently actively involved in surveying timber-framed properties in Hampshire between AD1130 and 1530.
He has found many interesting joints and he is in the process of writing his thesis and modelling the joints. As a result this website will constantly evolve and be updated. Not all the data can be published here until after the thesis is submitted, but he is more than happy to talk with any interested parties regarding his work. Please feel free to email Richard with questions and suggestions.
The role of the house in society is a theme which transcends the period boundaries. Approximately 108 timber-framed medieval buildings have been dendrochronologically dated to between 1244 and 1530 AD in Hampshire. As part of Richards doctoral research, an extensive survey has been carried out on these buildings to record the different types of carpentry joints used in their construction; these joints have then been grouped, by type, to provide a chronology. Although his project is heavily informed by scientific dating methods theory is also an important component. Once the chrono-typologies have been produced and cross- referenced with regard to Cecil Hewett's Essex data (Hewett 1980), the effects, if any, of the Black Death (1348-50) on carpentry techniques and technologies, used in central southern England, can be analysed.