EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND—According to a statement released by Historic Environment Scotland, Coralie Mills of the South East Scotland Oak Dendrochronology Project has studied the timber frame of the five-story bell tower at St. Giles’ High Kirk. Built in 1124, the church has been renovated multiple times. The study indicates the trees used to build the bell tower grew in the Royal Forest of Darnaway, which is located in northeastern Scotland, and were more than 300 years old when they were felled in the winters of 1453/54, and 1459/60. Mills said that such old growth trees were rare in Scotland in the mid-fifteenth century and were often imported from Scandinavia. The bell tower was likely to have been completed between 1460 and 1467, when St. Giles achieved collegiate status under Pope Paul II. To read about a hut on Scotland's monastery island of Iona that dates to the late sixth century, go to "Fit for a Saint."
