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Protecting the Scheduled Historic Buildings and Monuments of Pembridge. A Registered Charity No 1060265

Pembridge the Village - Pembridge has clearly seen many changes since its inception. The village pre-dates the Domesday book. A community has existed at this place for over 1000 years. At one point in its history the village exceeded Leominster in size and was an important centre of commerce during the mediaeval period. Following the Industrial Revolution, Pembridge appeared to "fall off the map" and economic activity declined. The village was left alone to continue its rural traditions in relative isolation and, as a consequence, much of its medieval character remained unspoiled.

Extracts from:

"The History and Heritage of Pembridge: Interim report on the tree-ring analysis of ten houses"
Report Number ARCUS 574q
Compiled by Ian Tyers
Date September 2002

Old Post Office and the Old Stores have both yielded post-1500 dates for the specific parts of the structures that were sampled. In all probability there are earlier parts in both but these may not contain datable timbers.

There is significant diversity in the forms, ages and growth rates of the trees used both within and between the different properties analysed. The tree-ring data and its pattern of matching to local and non-local data sets clearly indicates that almost all of the Pembridge material is probably derived fairly locally but there seems little evidence to suggest that any are coming from the same woodlands. It suggests the woodland of the area was still extensive and diverse in the 15th century. Some of the shorter and less well replicated sequences would have been difficult to date without the data from some of the other properties. The samples from Wheelwrights, West End Farm, and the Gatehouse would have been difficult to date without the data acquired from The Garth and the Greyhound. Following on from this the subsequently analysed material from the Pembridge Market Hall would also have been undatable without the Old Post Office sequence, and even more astonishingly it has been discovered that a previously undated group of 9 timbers from the Bell Tower are also clearly matching the chronologies produced for this project, the clear implication of this is that there is a group of 15th century timbers in the Bell Tower structure. These will have to be re-examined from a structural perspective in order to determine what it means for the developmental sequence of that building.

Pg 1 | Pg 2 | Pg 3 | Pg 4 | Pg 5 | Pg 6 | Pg 7

What is Dendrochronology or tree ring analysis?

Brick House | Fig Tree | Gatehouse | Greyhound | Old Post Office | Old Stores | Swan House | The Garth | West End Farm | Wheelwrights

ARCUS Dendrochronology Laboratory
University of Sheffield
West Court
2 Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 4DT


Phone: 0114 222 5107 Fax: 0114 276 3146 Email: dendro@sheffield.ac.uk

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


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