Cecil Hewett

Cecil Alec Hewett (26 September 1926, in Laindon, Essex – 23 July 1998, in Chelmsford) was an English craftsman and historian.

Hewett was born in 1926 in Laindon, Essex. His father, was a woodworker and Hewett borrowed the skill of craftsmanship from him. After a four-year service with the National Service from 1944 to 1948, he received training in drawing, painting, silversmithing and cabinet-making at the former Chelmsford School of Art and at University College, Swansea. These crafts he taught in Essex schools for 19 years before taking up a post with the Greater London Council Historic Buildings Division in 1972, which was renamed to Essex County Council's Historic Buildings Section in 1974.

In 1960s Cecil Hewett had revolutionized carbon dating of timber of wheat and barley barns at Cressing Temple in Essex, England. Prior to his studies, it was assumed that the buildings were built between 15th and 16th centuries with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England stating for a fact in their 1922 country wide survey that it was no earlier then 16th century. His findings were proven to be different though. A study carried by Hewett revealed that the carpentry joints contained straight timbers, passing braces, notched-lap joints and splayed scarf joints.

His predecessor, the Frenchman Henri Deneux who was also a researcher in the same field, had estimated that the notched-lap joints on church and cathedral carpentry indicated an 11th to 13th century date. Yet, it was wasn't proved at the time until Cecil Hewett came with carbon 14 dating in 1960s and set both barns to c1200 and c1275 respectively. Soon, the news of his method have been swept throughout the world, thanks to Essex historian A. C. Edwards. Cecil Hewett had appeared on various TV programmes such as In Search of the Master Carpenters with René Cutforth.

In 1970s he studied the age and construction methods of the famous round table at Winchester Castle, known for its connection to King Arthur. During this study, he developed a model of a round table with a detachable parts, and used to prove the fakeness of its existence. In 1980 Hewett has written an English Historic Carpentry, a book that is still used today by carpentry historians.

Soon after the book was published, Cecil Hewett had suffered a stroke, but despite the loss of speech and ability to write, he continued to work. He died on 23 July 1998 in Chelmsford. In April 1998, just months prior to his death, Cecil Hewett was awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Technology from Anglia Polytechnic University. Following his death, the Science Museum, London acquired many of his models which could still be seen today at its display.