Collin, First, there are many good books on English framing. R. W. Brunskill has 2, at least, and Richard Harris' little book TIMBER FRAME BUILDINGS provides a great history. You could also access the Weald and Downland Open Air Musuem in the south of England. They have many restored frames, the earliest of which is from the 15th century. The question of identifying the oldest in Europe would be hard to come by as the tradition--if you include log structures-- goes from Scandinavia to southern Europe. In Norway there are extant stave churches from the 12th century, and there are small cities like Bamberg in Germany that are Meccas of timber framing. The Greek temples were originally in wood, and stone temples such as the Parthenon emulated much of the timber framing ( I think, for instance that modillions done in stone along the eaves represented earlier wooden rafters.) There is a lot of ground to cover. I do believe that the Fairbanks house is documented at 1636; Tedd Benson and some framers recreated this frame on Boston Common in 1979 or 1980 or thereabouts although I don't know where that frame is now. Good luck.
