Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory

About ODL

Dan Miles

Partner

Daniel Miles has long been interested in many different aspects of historic timberwork, architecture, and conservation, becoming a life member of the SPAB in 1977. Although studying architecture beginning in 1978-9, he never completed, becoming disillusioned with modern architecture. Instead, he concentrated on the practical aspects of architectural history and in 1979 became a partner in a firm based in Mapledurham, Oxfordshire, specialising in traditional building techniques. Wanting to further study vernacular architecture, he first studied dendrochronology under the pioneer Dr John Fletcher of Oxford University in 1986. After his death the following year, training continued at the Ancient Monuments Laboratory of English Heritage, and still continues to work as a commissioned contractor for the body now known as Historic England.
In 1987 he set up Miles & Company which specialised in historic conservation and timber recording, with projects that included the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Salisbury, Winchester, Wells, and Brecon cathedrals, and various buildings at the University of Oxford. From 1988-1991 he was employed by Nottingham University as fieldwork co-ordinator and recorded over 100 cruck-framed buildings in the Midlands, as well as contributing to the Medieval Peasant House in Midland England (Alcock and Miles 2013).
By 1998 the Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory was revived as a partnership, and at thre same time, a post was taken at the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art (RLAHA), Oxford University. Here, responsibilities from 1999 included the tutoring of MSc students in Archaeological Science, as well completion of his DPhil in 2005 on the further interpretation of tree-ring dates in historic and vernacular buildings. Research at Oxford has included work with Neil Loader of Swansea University in developing isotopic dendrochronology, which still continues. In 2010 Dr Martin Bridge joined the ODL as a full partner, after having work with the Lab for many years previously. At the same time a purpose-built Lab and archive was constructed.
Dendrochronology projects he has personally developed included a variety of projects for the National Trust, Historic Royal Palaces, University of Oxford, Salisbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament, as well as a number of studies in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states of the US.


Publications

Name Date Article Title Publisher
Test Publication 1 2022-01-17 Lorem Ipsum University Publishers
Test Publication 2 2022-01-21 Dolor sit amet University Publishers
This is a test 2022-02-18 Lorem Ipsum University Publishers

Martin Bridge

Partner

Martin first became involved in dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) in 1979 after graduating in Botany from Bristol University and taking up a CASE Research Studentship at Portsmouth Polytechnic funded by the Science and Engineering Research Council, in collaboration with the Ancient Monuments Laboratory of the Department of the Environment. After completing my PhD in Jan 1983, he went on to New Zealand for a 1-year post-doc position working on kauri (Agathis australis). Auckland Tree Ring Laboratory. After lecturing in Ireland, Martin worked at the City of London Polytechnic (later London Guildhall University) in various capacities for 11 years. During this time he researched pine stumps in the Rannoch area of Scotland as well as dating oak timbers in Britain and France, and initiating a dendro project in Newfoundland. In 1998 he became Lecturer in Dendrochronology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, and in February 2003 this became a part-time post, whilst for the remainder of his time he work with the Oxford Dendrochronology Laboratory. Martin spend much of my time carrying out contract dendrochronological dating, mostly for Historic England, but also for County Councils, museums, architects, and individuals.
In October 2007 Martin was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA).
Martin have also worked on a number of timbers from the Tudor warship Mary Rose, independently proving that a number of timbers were inserted after the launch date (1511) - the most significant timber being a frame below a gun-port which was still a living tree in the Spring of 1541 - a short time before the ship sank in 1545.
He also serve on the committee of the Essex Historic Buildings Group (current Chairman) and is a member of the Suffolk Historic Buildings Group


Publications

Name Date Article Title Publisher
Test Publication 2021-12-30 Test Article University Press

Ross Cook

Associate

Ross has spent a life around buildings, and from an early age he has had a keen interest in historic buildings. This was partly as a result of his dads work as a carpenter and joiner, and his mums interest in history and old buildings, especially castles. This interested persisted, and throughout his teenage years Ross volunteered with the Southampton Archaeology Unit, where he developed an appreciation of all thing’s archaeology, but with buildings as an area of particular interest. In 2005, Ross moved to Lampeter to study archaeology and anthropology. After graduating, Ross worked with several conservation businesses, along with a few other jobs in between. In 2012, he started work with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, where he worked as an Investigator specialising in historic buildings. This is where he met Dan and Martin for the first time during one of their many fieldwork trips to Wales for the Royal Commission. Encouraged by his line manager, Ross spent time with them on site, and back at the lab in Mapledurham. In 2014, Ross left the Commission and started ArchaeoDomus, a practice specialising in the recording and interpretation of historic buildings and monuments in England and Wales, but also undertaking the more traditional fieldwork associated with archaeology. This is when Ross’ work with the lab really started to develop, spending increasing time with Dan and Martin to learn the techniques and process to become a dendrochronologist. Ross is currently the Cathedral Archaeologist at St Davids, Pembrokeshire, and Consultant Archaeologist to Christchurch Priory, Dorset. With the lab and ArchaeoDomus, he has worked on buildings from small cottages to cathedrals and castles of national significance. Ross works regularly with large public bodies, such as Cadw, Historic England and the RCAMW, with local authority archaeologists, and private individuals. Over the past 10 years, Ross has authored or joint authored over 100 reports, and has contributed to several publications.