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Jay C. Whitecloud has brought to my attention a paper by Professor Miles Lewis where he states that the earliest written mention of the term Dragon Beam was in Old Cottages and Farmhouses in Surrey by W. Galsworthy Davie & W. Curtis Green when this was first published by B. T. Batsford in London in 1908.

On page 29 of the book Curtis Green provides a cutaway sketch of the upper floor framing including a Dragon Beam of The Old Butcher's Shop, Lingfield, Surrey.



I visited this building when preparing my Masters dissertation on "old timber-framed buildings in South West Surrey" and took a number of "timber intense" photographs of The Old Butchers shop. Please note the blocked up (white) shop windows on the ground floor.



Ken Hume

http://www.mileslewis.net/lectures/04-history-of-building/puncheons-and-dragons.pdf

the document here claims the dragon beam term to have first been used in 1663, in reference to an angle piece bearing the hip rafter. The 1908 reference does appear to be the first use of the term in reference to jettying

Hi D.L.,

I would turn to Ken H. for clarification on the possible history and etymology of the term "dragon beam," as I believe it was the current author of your referenced link Miles Lewis that described and used the term "dragon beam" when presenting the, "...1663 Richards: a full-length diagonal beam, receiving the base of the hip rafter..." is not necessarily what terminology that was being used in 1663 to describe this member. This term's original orgin would still seem to be a mystery to when it was first coined and from which root language or purpose?

I was just supposing that his summary at the end was an attempt to show the use of the term through history. It's difficult to be sure, since this document is so scarce on text.

In things regarding English framing, I go to people like Ken who have a great deal of knowledge.
My study of English carpentry is limited, coming almost exclusively from Cecil Hewett's wonderful book

AS for the etymology and history, I don't know. Things proposed above were just pulled from someone else.