As the Anglo-Saxon pit house nears completion on the outside, work can begin on finishing and furnishing the inside of the house.

The first item of furniture for the house is an Early Medieval rope bed. The rope lattice and carpentry techniques used in this bed are based on examples from the period, including the many 7th century Anglo-Saxon bed burials, as well as Viking and Early Medieval beds, which often employ tusk-tenon joinery.

The planks are of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris). Although the evidence for Scots Pine trees is scarce in Medieval Southern Britain, the timber may have been available as an import or reused from old ship timbers. The Ashby Dell boat is one example where a ship built of coniferous timber on the continent made its way to Anglo-Saxon Britain and was buried in Suffolk, possibly in the 5th century.

Although these planks were bought, their straight grain and knot-free quality represents the necessary timber quality required for tangentially split and hewn timber.

The planks were finely hewn and finished with a T-shaped axe. The earliest broad axe marks in Anglo-Saxon Britain have been found on the timbers of the Ebbsfleet water mill, found in Kent, tree-ring dated to around 692 A.D.

The planks were marked up with a knife and chisel and cut to length with an axe. There is no evidence for the use of saws on large timbers in the Early Medieval period until the Norman period. Nevertheless, an axe can be used to make accurate cuts, even across end-grain, although the process is slightly more wasteful.

I sharpen my tools with natural stones, most of which I collect myself. Coarse sandstone from the hills of Aquae Sulis makes a good coarse abrasive. The stone is too soft to use directly, so it is rubbed onto a polished stone of red sandstone from the Mendip hills. This is a finer, hard red sandstone and is a useful intermediate stone. The finest stone is a boat-shaped black schist whetstone, imported from the continent.

The mortises are cut with a chisel. They could also have been roughed out with a spoon auger, although as I do not yet have a breast auger set up, it felt faster to use the chisel for the whole process.

The tenons were cut to shape with an axe and a knife. Each tenon was shaped individually to fit its corresponding mortise, and each pair marked accordingly with simple carpenters marks.

The holes for the pegs were drilled with a spoon auger, and hazel pegs were carved. Holes were drilled into the sides and ends of the bed for the rope lattice.

The bed was assembled and the pegs driven knocked into the tusk tenons with a mallet and the back of the axe.

Hemp rope was threaded through the holes in the sides of the bed and pulled as tight as possible. Excess tension that couldn't be secured with the end knot was taken up with a small hazel wedge.

Further rope was threaded between the holes in the ends of the bed and interwoven with the first ropes to create a taught lattice. The lattice is tight enough to hold my weight, but needs a covering.

Straw was packed on top of the rope lattice to create a thick mattress. In the future, I may replace this with a handmade mattress stuffed with wool. For now, with wool blankets and a sheepskin, the bed is comfy and warm, especially with the hearth fire crackling away.

The evenings and hard winter days are spent next to the fire, sewing, repairing clothing or cooking good winter food. The smoke from the hearth fire rises through the ridge line and out of the gable end smoke holes, and can clearly be seen from outside, giving a mysterious yet inviting impression, especially with an enticing glow from an open doorway.

With thanks to:
Herknungr, Musician, playing 'Нови Циклус'.
Hector Cole, Blacksmith, for forging the Saxon T-shaped Axe.
Grzegorz Kulig, Silversmith, for making the pattern-welded knife.

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