VAG Grants Scheme
Grants Awarded 2009
The inaugural year of the VAG Grant Scheme saw four awards offered. Two of the projects are small discrete investigations which the grant will support in full, where as the other two are much larger projects which are seeking funding from a variety of sources over a number of years. A brief summary of the funded projects is given below. It is anticipated that short reports summarising the progress of the projects will be forthcoming via the Newsletter or website in early 2011.
High-resolution radiocarbon dating of Midlands cruck buildings (Nat Alcock)
The aim of this project is to provide dating evidence through the application of wiggle-matched high resolution radiocarbon dating to a small number of buildings. Some 110 houses were surveyed and sampled for tree-ring dating as part of the Leverhulme Trust funded project 'The Medieval Peasant House in the Midlands'. At the time of the original work approximately 25% of the houses could not be dated by dendrochronology. Although some of these undated buildings have close typological similarities to dated buildings and can reasonably be presumed to be similar in date, a small number, including some of the most potentially interesting, remain undateable. The use of high resolution radiocarbon dating and the potential to undertake wiggle-matching of multiple samples from, for example, a single timber can now provide dates with sufficient precision to be of genuine value in understanding building typology. Thus it is hoped to augment the original project by obtaining secure dates for several buildings of particular significance for understanding the development of peasant buildings.
Dendrochronology in Steventon, Oxfordshire (David Clark)
The overall aim of this small project, co-ordinated by the Oxfordshire Buildings Record, is to attempt to establish firm dates for all the buildings to be visited by delegates to the 2011 VAG conference to be held in Oxfordshire. The county has a remarkable diversity of building materials and roof types, but most dating has hitherto been done on stylistic comparisons. As more detailed recording has been carried out, the wider the diversity of structures has become, and so there is a need to establish clear chronologies, some of which are likely to be quite local in nature. The present application focuses on two houses in Steventon, an important medieval village in the Vale of White Horse. A great deal of work was done on the village houses by Dr Chris Currie, and published in Oxoniensia (1992), but nevertheless many outstanding questions remain. The two selected buildings are the subject of much speculation and it is therefore hoped that detailed investigation, including survey and dendrochronological analysis, will provide a clearer understanding their development.
North West Wales Dendrochronology Project (Margaret Dunn)
The aim of this large project is to fill an historical/architectural gap in knowledge and understanding relating to the early built heritage of north-west Wales, covering Anglesey and parts of Gwynedd, Conwy and Denbighshire. This area contains rare and endangered examples of Welsh buildings erected before 1700, for most of which there is only a vague architectural record. 1485-1700 was a key period in the development of the farmsteads and estates of the gentry and yeomen farmers during which the foundations of the local built and environmental landscapes were laid down. The project aims to combine dendrochronological analysis, architectural survey and documentary research to address this gap in knowledge whilst also providing training and encouraging wider community involvement.
Coggeshall Timber Frame Dating Project (Alan Willis)
Coggeshall is one of the best preserved of the 30 or so market towns of medieval origin in Essex. The large number of timber-framed buildings are evidence of the cloth industry which flourished in the town from the 15th century but went into decline in the 18th century. This large project being co-ordinated by the Coggeshall Heritage Society aims to use a combination of dendrochronology, building recording and historical research on a carefully selected area of presumed market infill in the historic town centre of Coggeshall to try to shed light on the town's development and economy, and to enhance our knowledge of Essex timber-frame buildings. The project will be able to build on existing knowledge of the town from records of its historic buildings and limited tree-ring dating. It is hoped to promote an enhanced understanding and appreciation of the historic built environment through the close involvement with the local community and in promoting tourist interest.
Note: No applicants were involved in the selection of successful bids.
