[MR] History Blog: Dating Timbers from St. Giles, Edinburgh

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots,

Today the History Blog's feature concerns a dendrochronological study of
oak timbers in the spire of Saint Giles Church in Edinburgh. Core samples
taken from the wood framework used in the church spire. Researchers
expected the wood to be from southeast Scotland and date to the early 15th
century. To their surprise, the wood came from the Royal Forest of Darnaway
in northeastern Scotland, and dated to the second half of the 15th century
(the story says 14th century, but then pegs the construction to 1460-1463).

The work on the spire was probably financed by the Regent Mary of Guelders,
who ruled after her husband King James II was killed by an exploding cannon
at the Siege of Roxburg in 1460. Timber from Darnaway was also used in the
circa 1460 reconstruction work at Stirling Castle.

The whole story is found at  http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/58778 .

In 1560, St. Giles ceased to be a Roman Catholic Cathedral (for the second
time), and became a parish church in the Kirk of Scotland (protestant and
Presbetyrian). It has remained so to this day. Much of the building's
fabric as seen today is actually 19th-20th century gothic revival over a
medieval core. The spire remains largely as it was in the 1400s.

More on the history of Saint Giles Church at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Giles%27_Cathedral .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆