The Saxon Longhall

The local Regia group is building a Saxon Longhall and some extras to go along with it. The Longhall is getting done. There are still things that need finishing, but it is "livable" for camp outs and other events. The inside needs a bit of finishing, some paint and we're hoping for a closet to hide modern items and important things like the first aid kit. The kitchen garden is new this year. We covered the ground with a tarp last year. When we lifted the tarp this spring, the ground was ready to till! It's a bit difficult to care for as we're all a fair hike from the hall, so a few things have suffered due to insufficient moisture at critical times. The aim was to have a group meal at the end of the summer, using our own produce. So far it looks like we'll be eating lots of turnips and some carrots, flavoured with a few onions and leeks.

The footings for the next area have been poured; the forge and kitchen area. The forge will be a covered open sided building for our smith to play in. The kitchen area will house the bread oven and a raised hearth, with a small common area, open sided with a roof. While covered areas like this may not be 100% documentable, the hearth and oven are. The roof will provide some protection from the elements and some desperately needed shade. Finally there will be a weaving shed for the looms and a place for people to do crafty stuff.

Our potter is pretty handy with decorative details. This is the lintel on the small end door. There is a lovely one for the soon to be closet area, carved with lovely entwined wheat stalks and painted a pretty green.

All in all, it's a huge amount of work but lots of fun. It's like a full sized playhouse for the group.