Crude and Primitive? Rethinking the dating and construction of dug-out church chests in Britain

Abstract

Chests were a ubiquitous part of medieval church furniture across Britain and Europe. Late 19th and early 20th century scholars believed that one type, the dug-out chest, was devoid of technical skill, and as such, confined to the earliest period of chest chronology. Perhaps as a result of the ‘primitive’ label, dug-outs remain relatively under-studied in relation to other types of chests and surprisingly few attempts have been made to validate ideas about their early origin through scientific dating. The current study uses dendrochronology to directly date a selection of dug-out chests, almost doubling the number of dated chests of this type in England and producing the earliest absolute dates for their construction. Five dug-out chests from the case-study counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire returned dates ranging from the 13th-16th century, showing that they are not chronologically confined to the ‘earliest’ period. This research also demonstrates how analysing extant saw-marks, along with the different methods of attaching chest lids, can assist in dating a chest’s construction. By understanding the tools and processes of construction, this research challenges the existing accepted framework that dug-outs are the ‘crudest’ and ‘most primitive’ type of church chest in the medieval period. Together these findings offer a new methodology and framework for studies of church chests in Britain and Europe.