i82 THE TIMBERS OF THE WORLD 



before putting them down. Elwes refers thus to a prehistoric boat 

 which was dug up at Brigg in Lincolnshire in 1884.1 



" This wonderfully preserved dug-out was hollowed out of one huge 

 oak log 48I feet long, and approximately 6 feet in diameter, which showed 

 no signs of branches, a log which must have contained nearly 1000 feet 

 of timber, and which could not be matched now in England, or, so far 

 as we know, in Europe or North America. . . . The boat was found 

 embedded in the blue and brown clay which underlies the peat, and is 

 considered on geological evidence ... to be from 2600 to 3000 years old." 



Oak is not unique, however, in its durability when totally submerged 

 or completely buried in soil, for other timbers share this quality with it, 

 but it does excel other woods in remaining sound for long periods when 

 exposed to air and weather. The beams and uprights of the half-timbered 

 Savoy Farm at Denham, Buckinghamshire, 500 to 600 years old, were 

 in 1915, still in a wonderful state of preservation. 



Yet oak timber is by no means immune from decay, especially if used 

 without thought or care. For window sills it would be difficult to find 

 a better timber, and it is therefore generally specified, yet the wood is 

 continually being used in an entirely unseasoned state, and even before 

 fixing is generally painted. The wet and the sap witliin the wood are 

 consequently sealed up, and decay probably begins immediately the sill 

 is fixed. Under such conditions the commonest description of Scots 

 pine would last for a longer time. , 



A short time ago the oak beams in the roof of Bowes Museum, Barnard 

 Castle, were found to be in a very bad state of decay, and had to be 

 taken out and replaced with new. It is not certain whether these were 

 all British or all American oak, but Professor Annan of Armstrong 

 College, Newcastle, in his report attributes the dry rot of the beams to 

 the fact that they were placed in position while unseasoned, then thickly 

 varnished, and the ends built into the walls so that no evaporation was 

 possible, all ventilation having been stopped.'^ 



When used for pit-props and railway sleepers the life of oak is probably 

 never more than, if as long as twenty-four years, for when unventilated 

 or exposed to alternate wet and dry, it readily succumbs to the attacks 

 of dry rot {Merulius lacrymans). 



In contracts, engineers and architects sometimes demand that the oak 

 timber shall be from trees which have been felled for from two to seven 

 years (generally not less than five years) prior to use. This matter is 

 generally discussed elsewhere (see p. 317), but it may here be reiterated 

 that any such condition is actually harmful. 



^ Described in a lecture by the Rev. D. Gary Elwes, and published in 1903 — 

 A Prehistoric Boat. Stanton & Son, Northampton. 



2 Private note. O. S. Scott, Curator, Bowes Museum, 19/2/14. 



