Whithorn Roundhouse : Iron Age Grand Design

Project Description

The Whithorn Trust conceived the idea of building a full-size Iron Age roundhouse, after working with AOC Archaeology over the last two years in excavating the remarkably preserved Iron Age loch-side settlement at Black Loch of Myrton. The water-logged conditions ensured unprecdented preservation of architectural detailing, including woven hazel flooring and large oak timbers, especially those forming the doorway and an impressive facade to the house. The idea for the project was to build the reconstruction in an accessible location at the Whithorn Trust’s visitor centre. The roundhouse was of particular interest to the Trust in that two roundhouses had been found on its site in the 1980’s, though little understood at the time; it was felt that this was an opportunity to illustrate the native wooden architecture hinted at in Bede’s famous words about Whithorn, that the stone-built Christian church ( traditionally believed to have been built on the cusp of the 5th Century AD) was built “in a manner to which the Britons were unaccustomed”. The roundhouse was built exactly to the scale of the original and only native green timber which was available in the Iron Age and authenticated by archaeologists was used: oak, alder and hazel were all donated for the project from local farms and estates. The idea was to employ locally based craftsmen to create the structure and train them in specialist skills such as thatching. Alongside them, volunteers and students helped with bark stripping, hazel harvesting, weaving wattle, and thatching. The apex of the structure is 10 metres tall, and is, like the original, just over thirteen metres across. It consists of an oak entrance, main timbers of alder, a double wattle wall, filled with clay, is roofed with alder purlins and thatched with water reed. The aim of the project is not only to give new insight into the prehistory of the Machars and to explore the Iron Age architecture based on details from the excavation far better than are preserved anywhere else, but also to provide a brand new venue for the Whithorn Trust for guided tours, demonstrations and workshops linked to ancient crafts, performance, a prehistoric classroom for schools, and unusual space hire. All of these functions will assist the Trust in maintaining its viability as a museum and in attracting new audiences, particularly a younger generation. To provide flexibility, electricity has been brought in and a new smartphone app gives visitors information about the build and the later Christian era. Six short films, linking different Whithorn buildings from six different periods of its history, beginning with the roundhouse, were filmed, acted and directed by local young people. A documentary was made about the roundhouse construction, with timelapse and drone footage, highlighting the crafts involved; this is blended with interviews with craftsmen whose family traditions relate back to the early 20th Century, including vintage photographs and oral history relating to woodwork, blacksmithing, forestry, weaving and farming, which allow a comparison and contrast of ancient and modern craft skills..