EUEOPEAN TIMBER 
41 
scores of roofs in old English churches, and at the half- 
timbered houses throughout England, where it has 
weathered successfully for centuries. 
The two large door-posts and arched lintel of Llangstone 
Church, Monmouthshire, are of oak,'pYoha,h\j Q. pedanculata, 
which is the prevailing species. The lintel has carved 
upon it the date April, 1022 ; both it and the door-posts 
are in fairly good condition. 
The oak ties between the piers in the oldest portion of 
Westminster Abbey, put in during the reign of Henry III., 
in the thirteenth century, are still intact. Owing to the 
difficulty in obtaining it in suitable sizes, English oak 
is now but little used for constructional purposes, although 
quite recently it was specified for heel and mitre posts 
for dock gates, to be entirely free , from sap. The 
required nett sizes, being 31 ft. long by 22 inches by 18 
inches, were with much difficulty procured, and the price 
was very high ; they must have been large trees to produce 
logs of this size. Oak of that reddish brown tint called 
" foxiness," which it assumes when beginning to decay, is 
prized by some cabinet-makers, doubtless owing to the 
colour. For beauty there are few woods which will com- 
pare with the variety known as English brown oak ; its 
knotty, gnarled grain brings out the best results owing to 
the variety of shade and colour, especially when used as a 
veneer. Irish oak, when sound, is equal in all respects to 
good English oak, but the supply is scarce. The greater 
proportion of the oak used in Great Britain comes from 
America and the Continent, and many varieties are 
imported. 
Dantzic or Stettin and Eiga oak comes from these Baltic 
ports ; it is grown in Prussia and Eussia, and is somewhat 
similar in appearance to English oak ; it is really the 
produce of the same tree, rather more of a yellowish tinge 
