On 24th June WAG members were treated to a guided tour of the beautiful Shropshire village of Tilley. Our hosts, George Nash and Alastair Reid, have spent years studying the village's amazing collection of timber-framed houses and its history in general.
Their work forms the basis for two books, 'The Tilley Timber Project' and 'Tilley: The Secret History of a Secret Place'. The 'timber project' began with dendrochronological dating of timbers but expanded to include other historical aspects of the buildings concerned, while the 'secret history' book is a detailed look at the entire history of Tilley from the Anglo-Saxon era to the twentieth century.
One of the most fascinating details revealed by George and Alastair's work is the notable spikes in building activity in certain years, especially in the early seventeenth century. They were able to show that local trees were used for construction and explain the varied and intriguing range of carpenter's marks and witches marks. In the latter case experimental archaeology was used to discover exactly how candles could produce flame marks on oak beams without burning down the entire house!
The glorious weather (and tea and cakes in the garden!) topped off one of the most memorable and interesting visits WAG have made in recent years.
