Making a Medieval Bed for the Anglo-Saxon House with Hand Tools | Early Medieval Carpentry

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.