This article analyses and dates the construction
of Holy Cross church at Hattula in Finland.
The study is based on building-archaeological
observations that were recorded and processed
when analysing rectified photographs of each
facade in a CAD environment. In addition, totalstation
measurements, laser scanning and multiimage
photogrammetry were also used. Dating
was carried out using Optically Stimulated Luminescence
(OSL), among other methods.
The survey reveals that the church was probably
planned and built as a single project from
the foundations to roof height. Analysis of the
bonding (mostly monk bond) shows the church
was built by seven masons in eleven phases,
each comprising sub-phases of usually four
or eight courses. At least 121 000 bricks were
needed to build the double-thickness shell wall
(two stretchers abreast on each side), and three
types of scaffolding were used for the project.
Sometimes Flemish bond was used, probably for
technical reasons. Given that the same group of
masons built the entire church, the work would
have been completed in a relatively short time.
The building process, including brick manufacture,
would have taken four to five seasons. The
results of the OSL dating (five samples) show
that the church was probably built in the second
half of the 15th century or beginning of the 16th
century.