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.
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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.
Hazel rods were woven in between the stakes to form the wattle walls to head-height when standing in the base of the pit.
For the ridge-pole, a pole as straight, long and even as possible was felled. The tree had a slight curve, which was orientated upwards when setting the ride-pole to give the roof a slight upwards curve towards the middle, or "hog-back".
The ridge-pole was carved to sit snugly into the forks of the upright posts, so that it would not slip out of place.
All supporting and exposed timbers were de-barked to discourage insects and rot.
The base of each upright post was charred before setting them into the post-holes. It is said that charring timber extends the life of the post by discouraging rot at the point where the post is buried.
The uprights posts were set into post-holes dug to a depth of 1.3 feet below the base of the pit. This is the depth of the original post-holes found in the archaeological excavation.
Rafters were cut and notched at the point where they would be lashed to the wattle walls. The rafters were lashed on with hazel withies.
Withies are made by carefully twisting young hazel saplings until the fibres separate, forming a strong, durable cordage.
Rope and woven cord was made by hand during the Anglo-Saxon period, and was a time consuming process. Withies on the other hand are faster and more durable, so withies would have likely been used wherever possible.
A porch roof over the entranceway was constructed, resting on forked uprights. After thatching, these will strengthened by extending the wattle and daub walls.
The rafters are ready to be interwoven with hazel rods, in the same way as the wattle walls. These interwoven rods will give stability to the rafters as well as act as purlins for the thatching.
With thanks to:
Herknungr, Musician, playing 'The Wolf Chieftan'.
Hector Cole, Blacksmith, for forging the Saxon T-shaped Axe.
Grzegorz Kulig, Silversmith, for making the pattern-welded knife.
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