Building an Anglo-Saxon Pit House with Hand Tools - Part IV | Medieval Primitive Bushcraft Shelter
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- Anglo-Saxon settlers built Early Medieval pit houses with primitive tools, digging foundations, raising earth and wattle walls and thatched or shingle roofs.
After gaining victory over the Britons at the Battle of Peonnum in 658 A.D. the Gewissæ pushed south west towards the River Parrett.
While the tribal elites fought for power and territorial control Anglo-Saxon freemen settled unclaimed land amongst their Romano-British cousins.
The first structures built were pit houses, used first as military outposts and dwellings and then as workshops and storehouses once settlements grew and timber longhouses were erected.
Anglo-Saxon pit houses are often found with the remains of loom weights, pottery or metal-working crafts, and are therefore interpreted as craft-related buildings or store houses subsidiary to larger post-built dwellings.
Pit houses or sunken featured buildings are the most common structures found in Anglo-Saxon and Early Medieval archaeological remains.
Today, all that remains archaeologically of these structures is the pit itself and the accompanying post-holes. There is usually little evidence for floors, walls or roof structures.
Reconstructions of Anglo-Saxon pit-houses must therefore incorporate building techniques that are "archaeologically invisible" in order to be accurate or at least plausible.
"Archaeological invisible" building technologies often proposed for Anglo-Saxon pit houses include A-frame rafters resting on the ground, wattle walls staked into the upcast earth but not below ground level, or walls resting on sill beams.
The orientation, pit and post-hole features of this pit house are an accurate reconstruction of Sunken Featured Building 8 excavated at the West Saxon settlement near Lechlade-on-Thames, dated to the 7th century. The archaeological report can be found here: Prehistoric and Anglo-Saxon Settlements to the rear of Sherborne House, Lechlade: excavations in 1997. 2003. C Bateman, D Enright, N Oakey.
www.cotswoldar...
Despite constant warfare between tribal elites, the Anglo-Saxons often peacefully settled land left unoccupied after the Roman withdrawal from Britain, amongst neighbouring Romano-British communities.
This led to considerable cultural exchange between the Anglo-Saxons and Romano-British, resulting in what is now known as Insular culture during the late 7th and 8th centuries.
The base coat of dried grass thatch was covered with a weathering coat of wheat straw thatching.
The thatch was secured with hazel rods, tied tightly to the woven roof below at intervals of around a forearm's length with tarred flax cordage.
The original plan was to spar the straw thatch into the existing grass base coat. However, the dried grass did not grip the spars as well as expected, so the straw thatch was both sparred in and tied to the rafters to secure it.
Thatching spars were made by splitting hazel into quarters, which wee then twisted into spars. When splitting, pressure is always placed towards the thicker side of the wood, to keep the split in the centre.
The roof and porch were ridged by placing timber ridge weights at intervals, which held down a row of hazel rods, keeping in place the straw that was folded across the ridge. The eaves were secured with hazel rods tied to the rafters.
The main thatching was completed in three days, working from dawn to dusk, in order to finish the roof in the rapidly diminishing dry spells of weather. The roof is now fully waterproof during all day heavy rain.
The gable end wattle walls were finished to their final height, including space for a window and triangular smoke hole at each end.
The eaves were trimmed with a sharp knife before daubing the walls.
Earth and straw was mixed with water into daub which was used to cover the wattle walls and seal them at the gable ends and under the eaves on the long sides of the house. The excess upcast earth from the pit was used, rather than dig out earth from another area.
The main exterior of the house is now complete, and the rest of the construction will focus on a timber door and windows, daubing the inner wattle walls and a cob floor.
With thanks to:
Hector Cole, Blacksmith, for forging the Saxon T-shaped Axe.
Grzegorz Kulig, Silversmith, for making the pattern-welded knife.
Matuls, Cooper, for making the alder bucket with hazel rings.
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Hi all! You can check the subtitles and description for much more detail. Thanks for watching! If you like what I do and want to support me further, consider becoming a patron: www.patreon.com/gesithasgewissa/
imagine how quick this would be when a whole village is helping build a new families home.
Exactly, it would be less than a month with a communal effort!
Imagine the world ended some weeks ago, you managed to get out of the city safely, you're looking for a safe place in the forest and you come across some bare-chested guy applying daub to his pit-house with some hog meat roasting on a fire inside.
😆 A beautiful thought!
❤️❤️❤️❤️💋
I would immediately volunteer to learn and help. I’m no fool, I see someone who knows how to survive.
only for him to say soemthign like, hi, didnt expect any to come visit while im doign a monthly bush retreat away from phones and technology, hows the world doing out there, its been so peaceful here, i cant wait to go back and have a nice warm shower and catch up on all my missed shows
@@any1alive “Yeah… about that… let’s have a sit down and chat…”
After binge-watching all episodes until now, i find it very amusing, how humanity back then had so much creativity and knowledge to make structures like this, with just natural resources. Amazing.
Our ancestors were pretty cool! ☺
You have to understand that even at this period in history, there was some 10,000 of "modern technology " (i.e. post stone age tools) to build with.
I think that wasn´t creativity. That experience was written by thousands of lives buried under the houses that weren´t sturdy enough and died of cold an hunger. And remember, every would could become fatal of no antibiotics.
No internet no broadband no mobile phones just one man building his home by hand, sheer and utter bliss.
It's a nice life! Although I admit I do use internet to upload these...
Nothing to record with? Lol
@@ryanorionwotanson4568 and a fancy camera of course 😉
This might sound odd but that bucket might be the most beautiful wooden bucket I’ve ever seen! I want one, with a matching butter churn! Seriously. 😅
It is gorgeous! I didn't make it, you can buy one from Matuls Historical Craft.
日本にも縄文時代から似たような構造の住居が有ります。
縄文との違いは唯一便利な鋭い金属のナイフが存在する事。
とても素晴らしい住居です。
続きがとても楽しみです😊👍✨
I really love the thatched Japanese houses, you have a beautiful and inspiring building tradition! I thank you for the kind words.
Always a good day when a pit-house video goes up!
It's a good day for me too 😄
I am from the West Midlands, which was at the front of the industrial revolution. I still love the countryside. I love axes and chopping wood, and I know the Anglo-Saxons were farmers and blacksmiths so it's in my blood
Thanks for watching!
The house is really taking shape, love every minute of the video.
It is very satisfying to watch it grow, thank you so much!
I couldn’t stop thinking of the phrase, “One good knife can serve the purpose of many different tools” and I find it true here despite you using an axe here and there throughout.
It is definitely true, you could build this house with just one axe if you needed to!
The only other man on youtube to build these primitive shelters 100% by hand. Great work, can't wait to see the finished house
Thank you for the kind words!
Well he is not building it entirely by hand, he uses also his feet
This is fantastic. Thanks for showing your work. It is very impressive and I love to follow the build along.
The way you film is very peaceful and atmospheric, and the music is almost mystical.
Bravo!
Thank you, I really appreciate the kind words, and i'm glad you like the atmosphere of the videos!
It's a rare privilege to be transported back in time to experience such a project and your exertion and skills are truly appreciated. Well done.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
The squishy mud noises entertained me far more than I think they should have.
Haha!
SQUELCH!! LOL, me too. I'm always fascinated by early-tech videos like this.
This, this right here is off-grid living.
As off-grid as it gets haha!
Just to discovered your channel a few days ago: much like Imperium Romanum, I appreciate you reconstructing the day to day life of Iron Age Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons; I know that the Old English word _hām_ is our modern ‘home,’ and this is probably what the Angles and Saxons referred to a home, even more interesting an entire community, with a stratified social order of headed by clan chief, warriors and craftsmen, and _hiwsic_ in Old English being the ‘household,’ and this reconstructed hut, gives me an idea of what _geard_ or village would have looked like.
Welcome! And thanks for sharing!
I am so deeply invested in this build by now, like I am right there, that I feel my hay/straw allergy is flaring up 😅. I have a pseudo tingling in my nose/throat and everything haha. That said your videos are so intriguing and calming, and I wish I had the land to build something like this. Just amazing❤
Haha, I'm glad the videos are so immersive!
Well done mate!! You made it waterproof! That's great
Thank you man! I got there in the end 😄
What a great shelter! Awesome to have seen the whole process. Thank you for bringing it to us.
Thank you! It could do with a door and some windows still, which you will see in future videos ☺
Those big wood pins are cool.
Thanks!
Unbelievably brilliant and my greatest respect for this achievement 👌👏👍
Thank you kindly! ☺
I can't wait to see the inside! this has been mesmerizing so far. I feel like it's almost like making a giant basket for people
It does feel like living in a basket, very cosy. I hope to show the inside in the next video! Thanks for watching ☺
With all that wheat still on the straw I imagine that place will be very popular with mice and squirrels lol
The grain has been threshed from the straw, so there is no grain left, only the heads. That hasn't deterred the mice though, they are all pretty chuffed with a cosy, dry home! 😆😆
@@gesithasgewissa Sounds like a good reason to get a cat.
Protein, protein😁
Thanx for this series!
Thanks for watching!
Finally another episode
I'm glad you're looking forward to them! Thanks for watching
I am very interested in this. I hope you make more of this and soon.
RUclips gave me something interesting to watch for a change. It's brilliant to see this growing. Hopefully, you continue to expand the dwelling. I'm an East Anglian, although during Saxon time, my town of birth was technically part of Mercia.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching. Greetings from soon-to-be-Wessex! ☺
Agreed. The RUclips algorithm didn't let me down this time. Binged I-IV!
This is geuinly seriously impressive, I've binge watched them all and been waiting for this. How long has it taken you so far?
Man I've got a million questions haha.
Thank you so much! The whole project has been about two to three months of solid work spread over several. Ask away, I'm very happy to answer them!
@@gesithasgewissaHello, I have one question. I’m not from the UK myself, but it must be quite cold there in the winter, of course not like in my native Siberia, but I’m still sure the winters are cold. So how to heat such a house? And how warm will it be to live in a hut with a large hole for light on top? I understand that it will be closed for the winter?
I would be extremely grateful if you could take the time to answer my question.
@@user-he5hu9oq8y these homes had a fire lit inside almost 24/7. also, they would use hay, straw and other grasses on the floor which would compost and create heat.
@@user-he5hu9oq8y Hello, thanks for the question. I don't think it gets anywhere near as cold here. We rarely see temperatures below -5 degrees C. But Early Medieval houses, like this one, were heated with open hearth fires inside, with the smoke permeating through the thatch. I will make shutters for the windows but it is unlikely to ever be very warm inside. Early Medieval people would have kept warm by spending their days working, sitting by the fire, or sleeping under many wool blankets!
@@gesithasgewissa Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.
Fantastic job keeping the old ways alive and close to your heart! ❤️
Thank you very much! Pursuing ancestral crafts and working with the cycles of nature is very precious to me.
Your work is amazing to watch. Thanks for the incredible effort and attention to historical detail in bring us these valuable videos. Well done Sir and Thank you.
Thank you for the inspiring words, I hope you enjoy the projects to come!
theres a few small things i would of done different BUT a outstanding job, must of took months,i bet its really satisfying, oh to be young again,power to you my brother
one life
one love
one more chance to shine
never STOP Loving,,bobble&MrTao,xx
Thank you so much!!
i can think of nothing more beautiful than the fruits of ones labors finally coming into full bloom, great job!
Thank you so much!
This is a fascinating series of videos.
Thank you very much!
This is going to do a great job at stoping the rain from getting in.
It does indeed ☺
So cool to watch, and see some of my ancient heritage come to life! Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Would take that over a wimpy home anyday.💚🌱🌍🙏🏼🌎
Thanks for watching!
Perfect! I just went backpacking and somehow had enough of a signal to see the latest video!
Now, I'm aiming at my campfire and watching this fantastic video.
Amazing! A great place to watch it. Enjoy the campfire and your adventure!
@@gesithasgewissa i can hardly imagine a better setting for enjoying these videos. I find myself checking the channel for new uploads every few days.
I've been thoroughly enjoying this series. Love from The Blue Mountains in Australia
Thank you, you are very welcome!
Both beautiful and amazing .
Thank you!
What a project! I've learned so much about this type of houses from your videos! I wish I could see this fascinating build with my own eyes. Will you make a video tour after the build will be complete? And how long you were studying resources before you started the actual build? This is just amazing, found your channel accidentally and absolutely fell in love!
I will show more of the building and the inside in future videos yes! I'm glad you are enjoying the series so much. I've studied Anglo-Saxon history and culture for about five years, so a lot of the building knowledge bled through over time. The house is based on an archaeological report of SFB 8 from Lechlade-On-Thames. You can find a link to the report in the description. Welcome to the project!
Tough work. Mad respect 👍
Thank you, I appreciate that!
Time travel at its best.
High praise indeed, thank you!
The building looks awesome! I am looking forward what and how the interior will be and look like...
Thank you! I will be starting interior furnishings such as doors and windows soon, as well as showing you an open hearth fire inside the house ☺
I really cant help but imagine how quickly this house would catch fire if a spark hit it
A fair concern! Many Early Medieval thatched houses had open hearth fires inside. Rather than using a chimney, the smoke fills the roof space and slowly permeates through the thatch, creating a 'smoke ceiling'. This 'smoke ceiling' helps to extinguish any sparks before they reach the thatch, making the inside more fire proof. You can see examples of this at archaeological open air museums such as Butser Ancient Farm. Thanks for watching!
Another interesting and informative video. Thanks.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Just wonderful to see how our ancestors lived and word, brilliant
Thank you! Following in their footsteps in fills me with awe for our ancestors!
I love watching this guy
Thanks 😄
Probably the coolest video series I've ever seen. ive always wanted to make one of these since I was a little kid.
Thank you for such high praise, I really appreciate it!
After learning about fiber reinforced materials, it’s interesting to gain a historical perspective on the use of reinforcement in hardening substances such as mud.
That's an interesting way to come at it! Thanks for watching
This is awesome! And it reminds me of an old joke:
Peasant, "My Lord, these taxes are too high!"
Lord, "You talk a lot of crap for someone with a flammable house!"
😆😆😆
I love how you are building this rural house, I hope to see in the next years a village grow up
Thank you! I definitely have more building projects planned!
Discovered this channel today and have been watching loads of your videos now!
I was always interested in these early medieval huts and lifestyle elements you post!!!
I am sure that I’ll be loving and watching your videos to come!
Greetings from Germany :)
Welcome, and thank you! There will be much more medieval life to come!
Thank you for the educational video
I'm glad you found it interesting!
Very interesting and atmospheric.👍👍
Thank you!
You should rent this out to glampers! What an amazing project. I appreciate the methodology and tools used. Assuming these weren't being built by a single individual, how fast could such a building go up?
Thanks! As a communal activity, a house of this size could be built in a month or less quite easily!
@@gesithasgewissa
When moving into a new area I guess people would require housing pretty quickly. Perhaps put up like Amish barn raising with everyone joining in. Were reeds used as well as straw as those would have been available earlier in the season. I’m surprised they dug so low because of risk of flooding. 😳
Incredible amount of work for just one person. Well done.
Absolutely beautiful work, thanks for sharing ❤
Thank you!
I used to be a pit house builder like you, then I took an arrow to the knee...
😆😆😆
Found your channel by the wonders of the RUclips algorithm the build looks fantastic, I find it fascinating I remember being at school at visiting a recreated Viking village I must have been 7/8 at the time and a life long love of history was born. I’m a fibre artists but I spin using wheel and drop spindle and weave aswell I’m fascinated watching you build this very interesting s
Welcome, and wow, spinning! I am very interested in spinning and weaving, though I haven't done any just yet. Hopefully that will be a project sometime in the future.
Now this hut is so fluffy and cuddly... I know it's for practical reasons, but still, the ancients had style.❤
It is quite cute isn't it?!
Excellent job man, your hard work is showing through your creation! How has the roof been going through the rain man? Have you had any major leaks? Have you slept in the hut? Seriously looks awesome man.
Thank you, I'm glad it's showing! We've had some seriously wet weather here in England, with all day heavy rain over several days, and the house has stayed completely dry inside, so the roof is doing its job with no leaks! The mice are also thankful, and moved in within a few days, but they are quite sweet 😄 I have slept in the hut and had a small cooking fire inside. It's warm with the fire but currently, without a door and window shutters, that heat doesn't last long. But I stay warm enough at night anyway with a straw mattress and three wool blankets. I will be showing more of the inside with fire, cooking and camping in the future. I appreciate the kind words!
Looking forward to many more like this!
Thank you!
Wow, that's a lot of work for sure.
It is indeed!
Yo your slowly turning into one of them survival channels…. Keep it up I love it!
A Survival Guide to the Early Medieval Period 😆 Thanks, will do!
Incredibly hard work to do, but so peaceful to watch. I hope you'll show us the finishing of the inside!
Thank you, I definitely will!
Truly remarkable. Loved watching this series. ❤
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!
This is fantastic Alec, we continue to watch in awe
Thank you!!
wow. just.. wow.
Thanks for watching!
insane. respect
Thank you!
Смотрю все Ваши видео о строительстве этого жилья. Очень хочется увидеть конечный результат. И надеюсь, что будет показано внутреннее убранство дома, утварь, инструменты и приспособления, которыми пользовались люди жившие в средневековье. Спасибо Вам ,за интересное видео.
Thanks for watching! I will be showing the inside and more Early Medieval life in future videos!
Буду ждать, очередное видео с огромным нетерпением. Знаю, что оно меня не разочарует. Спасибо зато что ответили на мой комментарий.
love your videos mate. Glad your showing some love to English Heritage.
Thank you, much appreciated!
What amazes me is that the same techniques are used for thatch today. I was watching some thatching recently here in the Netherlands and they still use staples in the same way. Thousands of years, and there's still no better way to make a grass roof.
Indeed! Here in Britain, thatched roofs are required to use wooden spars in order to maintain the heritage and traditions of the craft!
This is calming.
I'm glad you think so!
I often have trouble finishing an entire video, it’s so relaxing watching and listening to the nature sounds, I sometimes fall asleep! I end up watching/rewatching a few times to get the whole videos done, or I just need to watch in the morning. About how thick is the thatching? It looks like it would be quite heavy.
I'm glad you find the videos so relaxing, that is one of my aims when making them! The thatch is about 40cm thick, no idea how heavy but the roof is supporting it well.
Fascinating, intensive work. I'm really impressed with the skills you are showing here. All the time I'm thinking that I would not have survived because I get an allergic reaction to straw! The house is wonderfully simple but so clever.
Thank you very much!! A straw allergy would definitely be unfortunate for an Anglo-Saxon! The houses are beautifully simple, but work extremely well.
It's an amazing house, I never expected that you were gonna build it to such detail. Congrats dude, it looks like it took a ton of effort but it was totally worth it. Let us see what else you do with it, if you put up a fire and stuff like that.
Thank you so much! The next videos will focus on making a door and windows, furnishing the inside and some cooking on the hearth fire!
today I saw the review of Naturensöhne, I hope you get much more likes!
Thank you, I loved their reaction too!
Wow, that’s so impressive. Good effort!
Thank you very much!
You shouod do a video on the clothing you wear in your videos. I think it would be really interesting. I'm guessing they are based off of patterns made from historical examples? It would be cool to get those patterns too
I will definitely do a video on clothing of the period. They are indeed all based on historical examples!
Hi friend 🧡 u are amazing ❤i enjoy watching your video 🎉🎉🎉
Thank you!
Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn used many of these same construction techniques in Tales From the Green Valley, which was set nearly a thousand years after this Saxon's time.
I really love that series!
Nicely done!
Thank you!
I notice that not only do you have some impressive practical skills but that you also have a great way with words . Ever thought of writing a book about it ?
Thank you, you're very kind! I have thought about that yes, perhaps in the future when I'm a bit more established. For now, there's plenty of practical work to take up my time 😄
A great look back through history. And the film making is absolutely stunning, glad to watch it back while I nod off to bed. Any chance we could get one of those time-lapse nature sounds videos of this when it's done? I feel like you would do it well.
Thank you! That's a nice idea, do you mean an ambient video? Fire crackling, smoke rising, birds singing, and so on?
@@gesithasgewissa Yes
Amazing video. As always
Thank you!
Good job. Thank you.🇺🇦🙋♂️
Thanks for watching!
You have so Nice bushcraft Skills!
Thank you very much!
Incredible work
Thank you!
That is impressive. Thank you for showing us. How long did it take to build this house?
Thank you! About 2 months solid work ☺
@@gesithasgewissa Thank you. That's quite a lot of work. Sorry, but I have another question. Since the floor seems to be below ground level, isn't there the risk of flooding during heavy rain for example?
It really depends how high the maximum water table is in the area you are building it. Many Anglo-Saxon pit houses were built in areas with good drainage, such as gravel terraces or sandy soils. I did actually dig the pit a bit too deep, and with the torrential rain and floods we had in later summer, groundwater did start rising in the pit. So I have raised the floor a bit more. It is still below ground level, but more like 20-30cm rather than 40-50cm. I haven't had a problem with groundwater since, even when the water table is really high.
Thank you for asking those questions. I was particularly interested in the water table factors, as the site needs to be near water for the daub. I am glad I read the comments as they bring lots of great little titbits of extra information. Thank you very much Alec.
@@p4ul1w4uli You're welcome, it's a pleasure answering all the questions!
Looks great! A while ago I made a video about the conversion of the Anglo Saxons to Christianity (on my videos page). The gaps at the top reminded me of the part about the sparrow. When the Witan / council discussed life, they mention how a sparrow flies in from the darkness of night into the mead hall, that is life, then it enters darkness again, when it exits the other side. (or at least that is what St Bede wrote about it).
That's some beautiful imagery! I actually do get robins and wrens which fly in through the gables and sit in my rafters! Thanks for sharing ☺
Well done, you have earned yourself a Subscriber:)
Welcome!!
Agreed - a channel this entertainingly informative is worthy of admiration and respect, and another subscriber. If only more RUclips channels could be this amazing.
@@Mark723 Thank you for the kind words Mark!
Awesome work! U r a craftsman!
Thank you! 😄
Wow!!! ❤
Thanks!!
Wow, very nice!!!!
Thank you!!
I want one, too! XD
I also want to built a medieval house in the future: when exactly? - next question, please. Where? next question!
Till then I will have to stick to the smaller stuff, but it's still fun :)
Your videos are relaxing and just respect for doing that!
Thank you so much! I wish you luck with your future house!
Thanks for the nice Videos ! Again 🍺 great to see the house in it‘s different states 👍🏻 cheers
Thanks Helio, and cheers to you!
😢Дуже довго чекав ваш відеоролик. З нетерпінням чекаю нових частин
Yeah, the building takes time! I'm glad you are so interested, thanks for watching ☺
@@gesithasgewissaДякую за відповідь
Thanks for the detailed background information! It makes everything even more interesting. Absolutely love watching your work! And that’s a beautiful bucket. If you made it, it would be great to see a video on that too.
Thanks for reading the information, I appreciate that! It is a beautiful bucket, though I didn't make it, it was made by Matuls historical crafts.
This is most impressive.
Thank you very much!
Thank you for this!
Thanks for watching!
This was wonderful to watch. I have heard of positive results for spar making: start the split with the knife (seax in this case?) and finish it with a steel flint striker and bludgeon.
Thank you! That could work too, although it might be hard to control the split when splitting quarters and eighths.