The oldest door in England (UK?)

[Ivor Windybottom]

Many of our old buildings are built from these recycled structural timbers. So a building that we know was erected in 1644 might be built from the timbers of a ship built in 1550, which in turn was built from timber felled in 1530.

...which would have contained woodgrain lines that grew long, long before 1530. Possibly hundreds of years before.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

So... if a door was made last week from a 100 year old part of a freshly felled tree then is this door new or 100 years old? I'd suggest it's new, therefore you can't say that a door is whatever age based solely upon the rings within the wood it's made from.

Then they can be certain the door is not older than 100 years of age.

Cleverologists of all varieties seem to get a bit over-confident with their trumpet-blowing certainty at times. I remember the old Time Team programmes, they'd dig up three stones and a bone and their pet archaeologist would conclude with absolute certainty that this was an ancient spiritual worship temple or something. Nobody can prove that they're wrong I suppose.

It's really all anyone can do - formulate a guess, based on their knowledge and training. Often, as knowledge is improved, the opinion will change dramatically. There is a lot we don't know about the past, because no records were kept.

 

[Dork Lard]

It's really all anyone can do - formulate a guess, based on their knowledge and training. Often, as knowledge is improved, the opinion will change dramatically. There is a lot we don't know about the past, because no records were kept.

I champion the work of Graham Hancock simply because he takes a sledgehammer to the thoughts of conventional historians.

 

[Dork Lard]

...which would have contained woodgrain lines that grew long, long before 1530. Possibly hundreds of years before.

One of my prized possessions is a 5" thick cross section disk of the trunk of a 400yr old Oak tree, cut from my very own land.

You cannot interest a child in history unless you can point to some tangible object & say with authority that this was here when it happened.

 

[denso13]

I champion the work of Graham Hancock simply because he takes a sledgehammer to the thoughts of conventional historians.

I tend to look at the evidence rather than the person. Don't believe your MSM.

No, There Wasn't an Advanced Civilization 12,000 Years Ago

Did an advanced civilization disappear more than 12,000 years ago?

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[Odds]

One of my prized possessions is a 5" thick cross section disk of the trunk of a 400yr old Oak tree, cut from my very own land.

You cannot interest a child in history unless you can point to some tangible object & say with authority that this was here when it happened.

Cobblers. I'm a history buff with a wide range of interests and i don't necessarily have to handle an object to find the subject matter interesting. In fact, museums don't take kindly to plebs handling the goods.

Cutting down an oak tree will tell you the time it grew and the likely date for when it was used for a given purpose, say a dugout canoe,
SongoftheCanoe

 

[jeds]

The bit you are missing is that historians don't just use one source to inform a decision. Dendrochronology is just one source, tool marks is another, previous use of wood is another - from ships etc. - written records another. All these things go into the mix.

 

[noseall]

...mean anything that you want it to.

Andy bungs in another throw-away comment and then refuses to justify or explain it. Typical nutter behaviour.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

The bit you are missing is that historians don't just use one source to inform a decision. Dendrochronology is just one source, tool marks is another, previous use of wood is another - from ships etc. - written records another. All these things go into the mix.

But despite all the likely estimates, best guesses and disclaimers, Westminster Abbey then states "Britain's Oldest Door", with apparent absolute authority.

Besides, at least two parts of it look like they were added last week...

But I suppose it's not the first time that someone in an abbey has made apparent statements of fact based on little or no evidence.

 

[noseall]

made apparent statements of fact based on little or no evidence.

No evidence? It's a pretty big door, don't you think? The fact that a diligent monk fitted a B&Q lock on it doesn't mean that the door has suddenly become younger.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

Does "big" equal old? I don't think they're claiming it's the biggest door in the world.

But it appears that they're knowingly making false claims anyway, even if their claims are true, as the one in Saffron Walden is apparently 50 years older, is still in its original doorway and hasn't been moved, sawn down and mucked about with. I don't know if they've had the ringologists in, but they just have good old fashioned documentation of when the place was built.

Here's the real reason they tout all this stuff...

Prices & entry times | Westminster Abbey

We are open to visitors from Monday to Saturday and timed priority entry is offered to all tickets booked via our website.

www.westminster-abbey.org

Entry prices
From 1 October 2022
Adults £27

Blimey. Big money involved.

 

[jeds]

Same as St Paul's. We were going to go in and have a look around a year or two back. Eighty quid for 4 of us. We went for a few pints instead.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

We made the same decision when we went to Canterbury. But I think they may allow you in for free if you tell them you want to pray. I don't know whether or how they check whether you do and/or boot you out if not. I suppose if you sit down and close your eyes for a minute they've no idea what you're thinking. Unless they have a direct hotline to the good lord himself, perhaps he lets them know whether you've prayed to him or not.

 

[denso13]

the one in Saffron Walden is apparently 50 years older

Which one?

 

[noseall]

Does "big" equal old?

No, but it certainly doesn't qualify as 'little or no evidence' either. Its a pretty big object to go unnoticed even for someone as poorly sighted as yourself.