Tree-rings date Alcester's Church House to 1451

[dutchman]

Timber frames at the back of the Grade II listed Church House in Alcester have been tree-ring dated to 1451, earlier than previously thought.


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Church House, in Butter Street, is built from green oak timber, which means it was likely the wood was used to construct the house shortly after it was felled in 1451.

The longest sample of timber had 116 identifiable rings proving the tree it came from was already growing in 1285.

The dating, carried out by the Nottingham Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory, uses dendrochronology referencing techniques on a number of samples to establish the date of felling.

With a house at the other end of the street already dated to 1444-45, this suggests the whole row may have been built at the same time, in the medieval period when King Henry VI was on the English throne before the Wars of the Roses.

Alcester Church House is currently undergoing a refurbishment, restoring the heritage property for the community. Having been unable to secure any national heritage funding, the development committee is now urgently seeking the last £70,000 of £250,000 needed to finish the refurbishment.

This would complete the new downstairs facilities already being used for a variety of community functions, a £26,000 extension to reach the toilets from inside and eliminate external steps, and £19,000 to fit out the upstairs so that the newly dated medieval frames can be viewed by the public.

This latter expense is seen as an important challenge for the Alcester community because Church House, owned by St Nicholas Church, has probably the only readily accessible example in the town of a former 15th century timber frame dwelling.

The development committee has also recovered the survey plan of 1909. This shows a three-bedroom cottage with two bay windows, the frontage in similar style to the current Edwardian hall which replaced it in 1910. The timber gabled house fronting onto the street, of which only the rear frame now survives, must therefore have been removed at an earlier date.

St Nicholas’ Church Mission Hall at Church House was formally opened on 12th December 1912. Its centenary will be celebrated this year.