The Development of the Timber Roof Truss 1660-1710

Timber Truss

This research grew out of James W.P. Campbell’s PhD thesis, Sir Christopher Wren, The Royal Society and the Development of Structural Carpentry 1660-1710.The thesis examined the role of Wren and his office in the design of structural details in buildings, focusing on structural carpentry. It involved the physical recording of over fifty roofs of the period, as well as in depth archival research into Guild Records, building contracts and building accounts. This research has formed the foundations of Professor Campbell’s subsequent research into the 17th century building world.

Research Outputs

Books

James W.P. Campbell, Building St Paul’s (London: Thames & Hudson, 2007) ISBN 978-0-500-34244-2 (176 pages).

Articles

James W.P. Campbell, “Sir Christopher Wren and the Development of Structural Carpentry in the Seventeenth Century”, Architectural Research Quarterly, vol 6, no.1 (2002), ISSN 1359-1355, pp. 49-66 (18 pages).

James W.P. Campbell, “Naming the Parts of Post-Medieval Roof Structures”, Vernacular Architecture, 31 (2000) ISSN 0305-5477, pp. 45-52 (7 pages). 

James W.P. Campbell, “Almshouse Chapel, Gamlingay”, Church Archaeology, 2 (1998), ISSN 1366-8129, pp. 55-56 (2 pages).

James W.P. Campbell, “The First Complete List of All the Models Made for the Construction of St Paul's Cathedral, London 1675-1720”, R. Carvais, A. Guillerme, V. Negre, & J. Sakarovitch (Eds.), Nuts and Bolts of Construction History, (Paris: Picard, 2012) 3 vols., Vol. 1 (pp. 173-183), ISBN 978-2-7084-0929-3.

James W.P. Campbell, “Christopher Wren: Scientist, architect and engineer” in Kenneth Powell (ed.), The Great Builders (Thames and Hudson, 2011), pp. 51-59, ISBN 978-0-500-25179-9 (8 pages)

James W.P. Campbell, "The Carpentry Trade in Seventeenth-Century England", Georgian Group Journal, XII, (2002), ISSN 0963-1070, pp. 215-237 (23 pages). 

James W.P. Campbell, “The Finances of the Carpenter in England 1660-1710: a Case Study on the Implications of the Change from Craft to Designer-Based Construction”, in Simonetta Cavaciocchi (ed.), L’Edilizia Prima della Rivoluzione Industriale. Secc.XIII-XVIII (Prato: Instituto Internazionale di Storia Economica “F.Datini”, 2005) ISBN 88-00-72237-7, pp. 313-346 (34 pages).