Thatch Roof House: Full Bushcraft Shelter Build with Hand Tools | Saxon House

We build a bushcraft saxon house with thatch roof using just simple hand tools. Inspired by anglo saxons, this iron age bushcraft shelter was built by a father and son using natural materials found in the surrounding forest. We used spades to dig a deep pit which was to be the foundations for the bushcraft shelter. The saxons built their houses over pits so that they did not need so many materials for their roof, and also to maintain a consistent temperature inside all year round. We then added four foundation logs to form the perimeter of the house. Using a chisel, we made some simple mortise and tenon joints and built a basic post and beam timber frame structure. We used the drawknife to peel off the bark which helps prevents bugs from eating away at the wood and rotting it quicker. We burnt the ends of the posts that went in the ground using an ancient Japanese technique called Shou Sugi Ban. This helps to make the wood more rot resistant when it goes into the ground. We then made some rafters and attached