The Ravens Warband

Update on Settlement Project

The settlement project, which began in 2004, aims to reconstruct a 5-6th century Anglo-Saxon longhouse and ancilliary buildings which can then be used as a base for craft activities such as black-smithing, fabric production (spinning, dying, weaving), pottery etc.. The settlement is based on that excavated at Chalton, Hampshire. The first building, a sunken featured building or grubenhaus, was completed last year and work is now underway to enclose an area for a vegetable garden. It is planned to build the next building, a longhouse, in 2008. The settlement is brought to life by a range of primitive livestock.

This year the aim is to focus on constructing a small forge and trying our hand at blacksmiting and bronze casting.

The project is in West Wales, near Carmarthen. We are always keen to have help - if you would like to be involved why not contact us.

	Tools used		Diary for 2006
	Livestock		Diary for 2005
	Plans for the settlement		Diary for 2004

October 2007

The pottery we made in August has been fired.

The unfired pots were placed in the hearth.	The pots were then covered with bracken to protect them.	A fire was lit on top.
When the fire was well alight (after a couple of hours) it was stoked up and then turves were placed on top to exclude oxygen and keep in the heat.	The next day the hearth was opened and the pots were revealed. The pink colour shows they have fired, but in a oxidising atmosphere. Anglo-Saxon pots are mainly black as they were fired in an oxygen free (reducing) atmosphere. Clearly more turf was required!	A selection of the finished pots and a pottery spindle.

August 2007

In a busy, and sunny, August Bank Holiday weekend we took some time to try out some crafts. Our first attempts at pottery were surprisingly successful; we fired a few pieces we made last month and made a number of small pottery bowls (or urns). Forging proved more difficult, although we did manage to make some teeth for a wool comb. Finally there was just a little time left for spinning some of this spring's fleeces.

Making clay pots. The clay was just the subsoil spoil from digging holes for the fence posts. This was steeped in water, or puddled, for a few weeks and the larger stones removed. Most of the pots we made just with clay, but we also tried adding some sand as a temper. Some of the pots can be seen drying in the sun.	The pots were left overnight to dry a little before being decorated with incised lines and stamps.
Our first attempts at firing pottery in a simple bonfire.	Above - A selection of unfired pots. Below - After firing. The black colour shows the piece (a spindle whorl) has been fired anaerobicly. The outer layer however is pinkish showing surface oxidation has occurred, probably as it cooled. This is unusual for Anglo-Saxon pots which are generally black.
Our first attempt at forging, using a simple hearth. The pair of bellows are based on a carving of a smithy on the doors of the Viking church at Hylestad, Norway.	Fleece from our Soay sheep is spun into thread using a drop spindle.

April 2007

With a few people over for the weekend we have managed to finish the door to the Grubenhaus. The planks we made last year were squared off and cut with a simple V shaped toungue-and-groove, evidence for this comes from surviving late-Saxon church doors. The planks were held together with four ledges attached with wooden pegs or 'trenails'. The hinges comprised simple L-shaped iron pins - two of the braces extend beyond the face of the door and fit over these pins.

The holes are drilled with a spoon bit.	Trenails are trimmed to fit.
Getting square pegs in round holes takes a bit of force!	The door in situ.

There is plenty to do with the sheep at this time of year. The ewes start lambing in mid-April and they begin to moult. Collecting the wool is a simple matter of pulling the loose wool out. Later this will be spun into yarn.

Catch your sheep! The wool is starting to fall naturally.	The wool comes away easily leaving the thin undercoat.
The finished job and the fleece for spinning.	Our first lamb of 2007 - 'Ceola'. It is very difficult to predict the colour he will eventually be. We have had several black lambs but they have all become much paler over time. Properly black Soay do occur but are quite rare - the same is true of white sheep.

March 2007

We have finished the first stretch of the enclosure fence and spent some time tidying up the scattered remains of the building works to form a wood store at the lee end of the building. The wattle and daub has stood up reasonably well to the winter weather although there are some cracks appearing as it dries which will need filling.

February 2007

Honest - this is February. I know it doesn't look like it. The building seems to have stood up to the element reasonably well although we will need to fill a few cracks (OK holes) in the wattle and have another go at the crest of the roof. The thatching was finished in a bit of a rush last year so it is not too surprising there are a few thin bits on top.

This is more like it - a crisp February day so we had a fire in the house to keep us warm. We are working on the enclosure for the vegetable patch at the moment. Having fires regularly is an important part of preserving the thatch we are told, since the smoke kills off insects that would otherwise live in it. That in itself isn't a problem, but the insects attract birds which damage the thatch looking for a meal. The smoke from the fire escapes through a smoke hole at the apex at the far end of the building and also permeates through the thatch itself - as well as coming out of the door if the wind is in the wrong direction. Even without a door it make a great difference to be able to get out of the wind and warm yourself by the fire from time to time. At the moment we are burning all the offcuts from the wood we used for the building but later we will go and cut some faggots of wood. Fire wood would have been almost exclusively thin (say 1-2") poles from coppices and brash (small branches) from trees felled for other purposes since this required the minimum effort to process ready for the fire.

Oops - spoke too soon! A couple of days later and we had 11 inches of snow.

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