Old Post Office, East Street (RCHM 12, SMR 16363)

Discussion
The Old Post Office includes the longest living trees located in any Pembridge building thus far, sample 18 contains 189 rings and didn't reach the centre of the tree, the complete tree from which it came was certainly more than 200 years of age when it was felled. Unfortunately a date of AD1538 means that this phase should not have been part of this project. It's unexpectedly late date probably confirms that the cross-wing is later than the cruck range. There are some interesting implications for the origin of these timbers. Elsewhere in the country, but most usually in Essex and London, we have located a number of vernacular buildings with trees felled between AD1537-1550 that are of exceptional age and straightness. It many of these circumstances there is other evidence to suggest that these timbers could be from monastic woodlands that were rapidly being stripped of saleable timbers in the post-Dissolution period. The combination of a spring AD1538 date and their superb timber quality suggests that the Old Post Office cross-wing timbers could be another candidate of this sort of activity. Where the nearest monastic woodland holdings were to Pembridge is not known to this author.

The above is from the following report: "The History and Heritage of Pembridge: A report on the tree-ring analysis of ten houses"
Report Number ARCUS 574q
Compiled by Ian Tyers, with contributions by Duncan James
Date December 2002

For more information please contact the secretary of the Pembridge Amenity Trust info@pembridgeamenitytrust.co.uk