Study · October 2024

Treasury cupboard, Bayeux Cathedral — thirteenth century

Study of the cupboard's oak, felled between 1211 and 1230, and of the selection and conversion of its timber.

Measuring growth rings on an oak door of the cupboard — Measuring growth rings on one of the cupboard’s oak doors.

Context: Preliminary study of the Treasury cupboard commissioned by the Conservation des Monuments Historiques de Normandie.
Didier’s contribution: Didier Pousset examined about sixty components using xylology, dendromorphology, tracology and dendrochronology.
Outcome: The dating places oak felling between 1211 and 1230 and documents timber selection and conversion for the cupboard.
Related service: Explore the service

An archaeodendrometric study was carried out on the cupboard in the Treasure Room of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Bayeux as part of a preliminary study commissioned by the Conservation des Monuments Historiques de Normandie.

About sixty components recorded

The October 2024 examinations described the xylological, dendromorphological, tracological and dendrochronological characteristics of the wood. The oaks were felled between 1211 and 1230. The results also document how timber was selected and converted for the cupboard’s approximately eight hundred pieces.

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