Anglo Saxon house - a reconstruction

[@lunhil12]

I think the pit houses were made because it was much easier than trying to build walls strong enough to support a roof, less material as well. Great idea to have kids learn on site. Ive seen beautiful villages built with stone walls that were similarly below ground level.

[@Khamomil]

Interresting discussion below. In case nobody mentioned it, the advantage of splitting versus sawing shingles, is that split wood is totally with the grain, leaving no point of infiltration which is a good feature in a roof.

[@hotchowder]

Finally, a house people with fear of heights can do roof repairs on.

[@yugandali]

Early Chinese houses, such as at Banpo 半坡, are also pit houses. By digging a pit, or enlarging an existing one, you can greatly increase the volume of space under the roof without putting up walls.

[@panzermacher]

+Yugan Dali Walls : My thoughts exactly, also you get insulation from the earth, not only will it absorb & slowly release & radiate heat from a fire pit, the low structure sitting closer to the ground, will allow less of the heat to wick away in cold climates

[@yugandali]

+5th Columnist Good point, although I have always wondered what they did during heavy rain.

[@panzermacher]

Yugan Dali you build up a little rammed earth wall around the hut, it only needs to be about 8" high, they still teach this for your 'hootchie' individual shelters in the army.

[@yugandali]

+5th Columnist Thanks, I didn't know that.

[@PsychicAlchemy]

Building into the ground helps to reduce the necessary building materials while also improving heat containment.

[@sandraheath5473]

It seems to me that it might occasionally double-up as an indoor swimming pool. Wouldn't heavy rain pour into it from the ground outside?

[@youreinacoma3009]

not if you dig in an irrigation trench and place it somewhere without water flow problems.

[@lgbtqisahategroup9781]

This isn’t a very accurate reproduction. The pits would’ve been used as cooling/heating for the dwelling built on top of the pit. In the hotter months the houses flooring would have ducts in them to allow the pits cool air to cool the house. In the colder months the pit would be filled with hay, and as the hay decayed it would give off heat.

[@danharte6645]

East Sussex county council be like "You got planning permission for that building sir?"

[@cardonarobledo576]

lol nice

[@emmaaustin123]

less than 6 ft and a temporary structure....

[@snazzyquizzes2336]

That house looks cool.

[@rocksmylife89]

we actually still use a similar technique when we use wood shingles as a roofing material here in canada and it's still considered one of the best way to do it (can last about 50 years) but it's a bit expensive.

[@wellohmeeeeeee]

I imagine the main problem would have been damp. I think they had a pit with a wooden floor of strong branches which subsequently rotted (evidence gone) . The air would pass through keeping the floor dry rubbish and ashes could drop through, and rodents not enter - if the entrances had a door

[@Tinyoak2]

@WOODLANDSTV I was actually watching a video about the history of Britian on the Top Documentaries website and they mentioned that many of the Saxons as well as others in the region made a mixture of straw or grass with mud to reinforce the roof, which made perfect sense if done during a dry season or even a sunny day, it would be the closest you'd probably come to cement i am assuming.

[@WOODLANDSTV]

@chrisdeli7158 The Anglo Saxon period was from 410 AD to 1066. Ian in the film mentions this reconstruction was based on remains found from the 6th or 7th century. Hope that helps and thanks for watching WoodlandsTV

[@faramund9865]

Isn't it much more likely that the roof was thatched given the history of houses we know from in rural areas of the Germanic world as well as the language history. Chestnut was brought to the north by the Romans, which makes it an incredibly unlikely source for traditional roofing in my opinion. You do mention thatching actually, which makes me wonder why the shingles were opted for. Also keep in mind people didn't live IN the woods in Anglo-Saxon times, they were farmers with cleared out land around them. And AROUND that cleared out land there was forest. So the houses would've stood in the open.

[@maximillianof98]

what would happen when it rains? would it be turning into an indoor swimming pool?

[@spectrolitegaming4688]

So beautiful

[@davedawson8044]

It's not like I thought it would look. I always pictured a Scandinavian style longhouse or roundhouse with straw all over the roof. Very interesting none the less.

[@christinebutler7630]

A thatched roof would have been made of reeds, not straw. Way more durable and it wouldn't rot.

[@saxoncodex9736]

Having a pit under the floor means the floor is warmer. A trick for surviving in a snow drift and building a snow hole, is to have two raised sides, so the coldest air goes below your body into the pit area, it is the same principle, so the cold air will be in the pit below your living area. I would like to know if the hearth was built to floor level or just below allowing some warm air flow below the floor :-)

[@NewbieCamper]

I wonder if a possible reason for starting with a pit was to acquire a natural form of insulation. For example, here in Canada we have to build down to at least 4 ft. before getting to ground that won't freeze in winter ... effectively, where the temperature is "neutral". Presumably, in Britain, the depth would be a bit less, but still the same idea. Please feel free to say that I'm dreaming awake if my thinking is completely off base ;-).

[@goldenscales]

How would they have been kept warm and dry? Great idea, small, compact, functional.

[@Exiledk]

Fire. In a pit, inside the house.

[@lajos9134]

@@Exiledk The walls at the end covered with cob. Maybe.

[@SimonDeBelleme1]

This would be good as a long-term survival shelter.

[@johngehman3128]

Nice vid, thanks for posting. 28,899 views, and 1 dislike...... Ok who's the troll?

[@mattmoore1311]

I'm thinking these houses would have been thatched. To split shakes, you need a good way to crosscut your blocks, and saws were very expensive then, unless I'm missing a method other than sawing? These people were farmers too, so they'd have lots of straw for thatching, but you need straight wood of good diameter, of a rot resistant specie for shakes. I'd think those trees would be valued too much for other things than roofing.

[@cottonswan]

Matt Moore at 1 min 20 he explains the shingles weren't sawn and were split using a specific tool well suited.. :)

[@mattmoore1311]

I'm sure the bolts were cut with a chainsaw, that's how we did it the little bit of shake splitting I've done. I don't begrudge that either. I just don't think Anglo-Saxons were sawing up logs to spit into roofing when they had straw laying around, for a lot less work.

[@cottonswan]

Matt Moore I'm not sure what you mean. He distinctly said that these specific shingles were made using a froe and not made with a saw. Straw would probably have been easier and quicker to use if it was at hand, but thinking about it, it would be dependent on whether you have the resource of straw - it has to be grown and harvested, also it would be used for animal food through the winter months, wood from the forests would have been a more abundant and ready resource all the time.

[@mattmoore1311]

To make shingles, you have to cross cut a log at the length the shingles will be, then you take that log, stand it on end, and split it into shingles. Saws were very uncommon and expensive. To make a saw you need a long length of high carbon steel, and in this time frame even low carbon iron was expensive. Without a saw, you'd have to cross cut with an axe, and try and true up the end grain of those blocks so the shingles are at least close to the same length. Straw on the other hand, is a waste product from growing grain. It's only other common use is bedding or insulation. Thatching is also warmer. Stuff like bull rushes were also used where available. The only time shingles or shakes were used prior to it being an architectural feature was after saws were cheap, and in areas where straight trees of large diameter were plentiful. I enjoy these shows, and I'm not saying shakes or shingles were never used, I'm just saying that making shingles without a big crosscut saw would be extremely difficult. Where I live in the Pacific northwest USA, the local natives made their houses out of all wood, the roofs were done with planks the length of the house though. They'd notch out the living tree while still standing, then split the planks out of the trunk, leaving the tree in place. I couldn't understand why they'd do it this way, until I thought about how much work it is to stabilize a big log to split it. Leaving the tree standing, the only awkward part is cutting the upper notch, you can pry away on the future plank and the trunk is going to not wiggle around still rooted to the ground.

[@cottonswan]

Matt Moore okay thank you for the further explanation, I see what you are saying that somewhere in the process a saw would be needed...that's what I can glean never having taken saw to log in my life lol. If they had used a saw then the experiment would be flawed in that instance, I had assumed that it would only have been undertaken with the hand tools that were readily available and most likely to have been used...and of course from the point he made about not using a saw :) . I think the common stand is it was thatch most often used, at least from most depictions I have seen.

[@WOODLANDSTV]

@DesmondPK Thanks for pointing that out. I hope you were one of the likes!

[@deezynar]

@WOODLANDSTV It would be best to have drainage trenches at both sides to carry rain water away from the structure. It used to be common to dig trenches around a tent when out camping. Nowadays, you're not supposed to leave any traces, so digging trenches isn't thought well of any more. Do you have any evidence that the Saxons used pegs to hold the shingles in place? It seems rather insecure, but you said yours have been in place for 10 years. That's pretty good.

[@johntierney7244]

Does anyone know which museum this is? The one at The Ancient Technology Centre is quite different from this.

[@LeeMorgan07]

The walls would be great for storing heat in the walls of dirt like an energy bank

[@jameseden9380]

Thanks. Nice video.

[@Chemson1989]

When apocalypse happens, everyone will watch these kind of videos before the internet and power grid go down.

[@spectrolitegaming4688]

I like the house :P

[@themanhimself3117]

Ah good, now i can prove that they didn't live in mudhuts.

[@spaceninjasteve3356]

abuda gupta hell they still live in mud huts

[@notthatgirlava2519]

Lol

[@DesmondPK]

0 dislikes and almost 16,000 views...nice :)

[@kev3d]

Hipsters would be all over this kind of construction, since modern roofs and walls are so "mainstream". However Hipsters also detest any physical labor beyond lifting a box of vinyl record or a six pack of PBR, so I doubt we will see these kinds of buildings in Williamsburg any time soon.

[@stevothefellow]

Wow, bitter much?

[@kev3d]

Steve Hope Bitter's not the word. Repulsed, revolted, disgusted perhaps...those are more fitting I think.

[@stevothefellow]

Jesus. What a waste of hate.

[@kev3d]

Steve Hope I think my hate is rather well utilized and isn't wasted at all.

[@stevothefellow]

Ok, I'll leave you to your incredibly well organised little hatefest. Knock yourself out.

[@vladabocanek3703]

Storing potatoes? In 6th century? Real arecheologist expert.... :D :P

[@luvmuzik4me]

I guess that he doesn't know that potatoes came from the Americas.

[@stauffap]

Or maybe he mispoke and meant something else. We've all been there. We want to see "orange" but we say "lemon".

[@22poopoo]

haha, but he was saying in Scotland in more modern times similar building where used to store potatoes, so maybe these type of building were used for storage of SOMETHING.

[@LeChristEstRoi]

Potatoes? Huge anachronism!

[@faramund9865]

The chestnut shingles are too. I'm sure they've changed their mind on this whole thing by now. Thatch means literally 'to cover', see Dutch 'dekken', so a thatched roof seems MUCH more likely also given the fact that all traditional rural houses in Germanic area are thatched.

[@banq0o]

thanks for upload, respect! 8-)

[@doncorleone4158]

Looks like !Lindybeige!

[@Taxandrya]

@WOODLANDSTV And you suppose they'd already store potatoes? back in middle age Europe?

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

Wouldn't the shingles rot and have to be replaced constantly? Dug outs would provide more heat when you can't have a doorway.

[@mikelamothesr.8998]

+Usammity , depending on the pitch of the roof wood shingle such as cedar which is popular in my country last for 20 to 40 years. When replacement becomes necessary it is not all that difficult. Mike

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

Mike Lamothe Oh yeah, I figured the pitch must have had something to do with it, thanks!

[@mikelamothesr.8998]

Also, hard wood shingles, such as oak can remain as a viable roof for 70 to 80 years. Mike

[@Usammityduzntafraidofanythin]

Mike Lamothe Though I heard thatch could last for centuries or something. Or maybe it was many decades, like oak shingles.

[@mikelamothesr.8998]

Thatch has never been used in Canada that I am aware of. I, at least have never seen or heard of it being used. Of all materials used to make roofs repel water I believe thatch to be the most aesthetically pleasing. Mike

[@CheifPwnsanoob]

what about flooding?

[@ziggy2shus624]

Build a small dam around the house.

[@Thor.Jorgensen]

Sounds like a piss poor idea. People usually built on top of hills or at least in the heights so that the water would run past. In the more colder environments people would dig into the sides of steep hills and make a very low door at the lower end of the home. That would keep the heat from getting out as heat travels upwards.

[@jeremyknop5378]

That's what I want to know lol I did see a couple guys build a dugout a frame shelter with turf roof, they put turf also around outside of the hut and built the ground up a bit around it so any run off would run down and away from the hut but I haven't seen if it's worked for them or not.

[@rodney73991]

insulation in winter

[@painchaud2000]

very cool!

[@WOODLANDSTV]

Good point! Supposedly the roof is watertight if maintained. But if it drains in to the pit, or the water table rises you'd have problems. Presumably the Saxons knew where to build

[@hundwyn7530]

Flooding?

[@hundwyn7530]

3:21 is he okay?

[@tcgthevidiots]

It seems like this house is not very well insulated. Also, does the house have a door I couldn't see in the video? Because snow would fall into it during the winter, and it would let heat out.

[@shawndavid1612]

they called em' sod houses 'ear in the states..

[@scottthomas5819]

cool

[@TsalagiAgvnage]

not potatoes lol< did not exist there...

[@carmelpule6954]

Nice house, but I would say it is not very windy in that area!

[@Troy_KC-2-PH]

interesting

[@darbone]

@5tonyvvvv I am thinking of buying some land and putting up a Tee Pee. Just not sure about toilet? and I would like AC, here in TX. I want to live like a spoiled Indian.

[@nancysmith2389]

Not much like the old American cabins. Those had beams so large they looked like they were made by giants.

[@DesmondPK]

@WOODLANDSTV no problem :) Now 18,500 views and 0 dislikes!

[@jayh9529]

Jon Levi channel

[@fantomboyfantoms1605]

haunted

[@michaelexman5474]

grubin housan a grub hut

[@randythomas3478]

Speculation at best

[@bytmeh]

@WOODLANDSTV lol well he obviously wasn't one of the dislikes!! XD

[@huffy6466]

I thought they lived in caves.

[@timothyfoster4447]

Boring,boring