How the Roundhouse was Built

The Roundhouse was built between September 2006 and July 2007 by staff from Essex County Council’s Country Parks Team, helped by many volunteers. The thatching was carried out by S.A Shelley, Master Thatcher, of Hockley.

The Roundhouse was built in several stages, which are detailed and illustrated below :

 

1. Timber Preparation and Groundworks

The bark was stripped off all the roof timbers and support posts to help prevent rot, a slow job which took many days! All the post ends that were going in the ground were then treated with a preservative, again to prevent rot.

The field was then surveyed for buried services and the position of the outer wall and support posts marked on the ground.

Bark stripping

Scanning for buried services

2. Inner Ring and Porch Posts

All the inner ring and porch posts were buried 1 metre in the ground, resting on a firm base and then cut to the required height with a chainsaw. The inner ring beam posts were then cut to size and lifted into place by machine, after which they were  secured by a two inch diameter oak peg.

Porch post

The peg for the inner ring beam

Main frame

3. Outer Ring

Chestnut stakes were driven into the ground to form a circle and cut to height. Smaller hazel stakes were then driven into the ground between these posts and hazel rods woven between to make a very strong wattle fence. The outer wall plate was then secured to the top of the chestnut stakes with oak pegs.

Chestnut posts

Hazel wattle

Pegging the wall plate

4. Daub

The daub is a mixture of clay, sand and straw. We had hoped to use clay from the marsh in the park to make the daub on site, but this proved to be unsuitable, so we bought it ready mixed in one tonne bags from near Braintree. The daub was applied to the wattle fence by throwing cannon-ball sized lumps from either side of the fence at the same time. If the timing is wrong, one person gets very muddy! After application, the daub was smoothed by hand to give an even thickness.

Applying the daub

Smoothing the wall

5. Main Rafters

The six main rafters are made of chestnut and are each 11 metres long. They were lifted into place by machine to rest on both the inner wall plate and outer wall plate. They were secured by being buried in the ground, pegged to both wall plates and tied with rope at the apex.

Three of the main rafters

6. Hazel Ring

Hazel rods were woven into a 4 metre diameter ring and secured with rope. The ring was winched into place and roped to the rafters. Only the six main rafters meet at the apex , the secondary rafters rest on the hazel ring at the top of the building.

The hazel ring

7. Secondary Rafters

Over 40 secondary rafters were lifted into place by machine and both pegged and tied to the outer wall plate, inner wall plate and hazel ring.

All the rafters tied in place

8. Purlins

Lengths of hazel rod were tied in concentric rings to the rafters, from one metre above ground to the apex of the building, to provide a structure for the thatch to be secured to. Hemp rope was used to tie the 1200 square-lashes needed here.

Lashing the purlins

Purlins all complete

9. Thatch

A team of three professional thatchers took three weeks to thatch the whole building and used over 1000 bundles of reed. The thatching started from the bottom purlins first, then proceeded in concentric layers up the roof with each layer overlapping the previous one. The bundles of reed were attached to the purlins using wire rods and cable ties The reed bundles were then shaped to the desired angle using a leggat. The thatch is finished at the apex of the building with a straw cap. A hole is not left for smoke to escape, it just seeps out through the thatch.

Just getting started

First layer of thatch

Using the leggat

He’s the Boss!

Trimming the straw cap

 

10. Doors

The porch and rear doors were made from oak planks sourced from Belhus Country Park and hung on to the frames with metal hinges and crooks.

Back door

Inside the front door

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