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SYNOPSIS. This paper considers the use of timber in the roofs of the Choir, the North Transept, 1-2 The College and the Dorter of Durham Cathedral. Information on the historical records of the timber is given.A description is also given on the background to the timber engineering used in the construction of the cathedral. Sections through some of the roof timbers are given and a discussion on the dendrochronology on the roof timbers is included. INTRODUCTION 1. A major problem faced by engineers wishing to research the cathedrals built in the MiddleAges, is that contemporary written descriptions of building methods are scarce. Facts on medieval design methods are lacking. There is also little written about how load transfer problems were solved. However, subtle problems like this have never stopped historians, so as an engineer I will continue.2. In Saxon England, carpentry was the main building technique, so much so that when the Normans invited themselves to England, they had to import stone masons to build their minsters and halls. These stone masons used England as a test bed for many of the structures later built in France. Durham Cathedral is one of the test bed structures and is the least altered of the Norman churches in England, remaining almost as it was in the 12th century [1,2].3. This paper does not deal with the stone structure, but with the now much neglected use of timber for structural engineering purposes. It should be remembered that even as late as the end of the 19th century, more bridges were constructed using timber than from any other constructional material. After all there is little engineering difference between using timber to span the north transept of Durham Cathedral and using the same timber to build a bridge of similar span.