Phil Harding Opens Saxon Hall 50 Years After Helping Excavate it | Archaeology Brought to Life

❤️ Support Butser Ancient Farm: https://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/b... Your support helps us explore the cutting edge of experimental archaeology, deepen our understanding of the distant past, and share our passion for archaeology with the next generation. Find out more about supporting our work through Butser Plus at the link above. ▬ The Grand Opening ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ This is the grand opening of our reconstructed Anglo-Saxon Hall house – and the final chapter in our journey from archaeological evidence to a building made by hand. Over 50 years after helping excavate the remarkable Anglo-Saxon site, archaeologist Dr Phil Harding returns to help celebrate and dedicate the reconstruction.  In this final part of our three-part series, Rebuilding a Saxon Hall by Hand, Phil gives a moving speech at the opening of the completed hall and reflects on the excavation that helped shape his life in archaeology. The house has been under construction since 2018 by a team of volunteers under the expert leadership of Treewright Darren Hammerton. All timber used in the construction came from within a 10-mile radius of Butser Ancient Farm, with a combination of English oak, sweet chestnut and hazel used in the construction, whilst the roof has been thatched with water reed.   ▬ About Us ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Butser Ancient Farm is an open-air experimental archaeology museum and active research centre, learning about the past by recreating it. Our experiments are world-renowned, and our buildings include a Roman villa, Celtic village, Stone Age farm and Saxon halls — all reconstructed from real UK archaeology, and open to be explored! We do everything we can do share our passion for the past, from visitor opening and school groups to filming our experiments for bitesize documentaries. ▬ Find Us Elsewhere! ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ► Facebook: / butserancientfarm ► Bluesky: / butserancientfarm.co.uk ► Instagram: / butserancientfarm ► Website: https://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/ ► ButserPlus: https://www.butserancientfarm.co.uk/b... #Woodworking #Archaeology #ExperimentalArchaeology #Saxon #AngloSaxon #TraditionalCrafts #TimberFraming