Monument record WSW 060 - Investigation of Farmer's House (reconstruction), West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village

2005: In February 2005, one of the experimental constructs of a Sunken-Featured Building (SFB), referred to as the Farmer’s House, was destroyed by fire. Although it was not the result of a planned experiment or simulation, the unfortunate event represented a unique opportunity to assess the data preserved following a fire within a SFB and, in particular, it was the first reconstruction of its type, with a raised floor, to have been burnt.

The detailed investigation of the burnt remains was undertaken during July and August 2005, in a manner comparable to a conventional archaeological excavation. The total estimated surviving and identifiable remains of the building (including the cellar but excluding the thatch) is calculated very roughly at c.17%. The estimate for that part of the structure above floor level (i.e. excluding the suspended floor and cellar lining) is significantly lower at just c.6%.With the exception of a single piece of door post within the pit, and the in situ posts, all the identifiable remains of the superstructure (again, excluding the floor and cellar) were from the ground surface and had fallen outwards. There was evidence for the remains of the walls on the surface, in the form of (sections of) charred and/or partially charred wall boards, which had collapsed outwards from the building on to the surrounding ground surface. No wall boards were identifiable within the internal area of the building.

The evidence from both SFBs 3 and 15 suggests they were both lower intensity fires compared to the Farmer’s House – perhaps because of the shallower depth of, combined with a lower fuel load within, their sunken features, or perhaps because they were constructed differently. In either case, this might imply that much of the superstructure from both SFBs 3 and 15 would have been only partially destroyed by fire (S1).

2007: A project was devised to investigate the effects of burning on a selection of the metal objects such as nails and other fittings. These include both ferrous and non-ferrous artefacts, on their own and in conjunction with organic materials such as leather and wood. The reconstructed building which burnt down (see above) was furnished with a variety of artefacts although it is worth noting that the items recovered after the fire do not bear any resemblance to the original Saxon metals assemblage recovered by West (S2)

2008: This project took samples from around a reconstructed Anglo-Saxon grubenhaus and subjected them to various geoarchaeological tests, to investigate whether differential trampling had any effect- on the underlying soils and sediments. Many of the tests did show some relationship to trampling patterns, including some very convincing ones, and although this does not conclusively prove that trampling causes noticeable changes, it does strongly suggest it (S3).

Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2005 (S4).