Iron Age Roundhouse Rebuild Project
Our current Iron Age roundhouse is reaching the end of its life and we need to raise £50,000 to build a new one. Our Iron Age roundhouse is an integral part of our schools learning programme so we need to raise the funds and build a new one within the next year. 12,000 school children a year take part in our school workshops with around 1/3 of them taking place in our Iron Age house.
‘Kids are always amazed at how dark it is inside and how warm the fire is. They take part in lots of interactive experiences like milling grain to flour and go home slightly grubby, smelling of woodsmoke having had a fantastic day. The roundhouse gives them an experience that they cannot get in school, and it gives them a real sense of what life was like in the Iron Age’ Jon Gibson, Learning Manager at Chiltern Open Air Museum
We have already raised £11,572 but we still have a long way to go. Make a donation and be a part of this project. Just a few pounds will take us a step closer to building a new roundhouse.
About the Project
Iron Age roundhouses were not built to last forever, and 30 years after the current one was first built in 1995, this one has reached the end of its life and we need to build a new one.
Through work with expert archaeologists and heritage specialists, we are making sure that our third Iron Age Roundhouse represents the most up-to-date archaeological discoveries from the Chilterns . These changes include:
A colourful interior
A chalk and cheese floor
A roof thatched with cereal straw.
The current Roundhouse will remain in situ, but will be left to decay naturally and may even feature in the archaeological research of academics, who are keen to see what this process can tell them about real Iron Age sites in the area.
How will our Iron Age roundhouse be made?
Our new roundhouse will be made using local materials and techniques inspired by those available to people living in the Chilterns thousands of years ago. Iron Age communities did not have the luxury of builders’ merchants or materials delivered from across the country. Their homes were shaped by the landscapes around them, using timber, earth and other resources that could be sourced locally. Yet many modern reconstructed roundhouses across Britain look remarkably similar, despite considerable regional differences in landscapes, materials and building traditions.
Our current Roundhouse is one such example. As it reaches the end of its lifespan, we have an exciting opportunity to rethink how we represent Iron Age life and create a new Roundhouse that is much more closely rooted in the landscape and resources of the Chilterns.
A Building Made to be Used
This will not simply be a reconstruction to look at. The Iron Age Roundhouse will continue to be a central part of the Museum, used for demonstrations, storytelling, education and events throughout the year.
As part of our award-winning education programme, the Roundhouse will continue to provide an immersive setting for KS1 and KS2 pupils to discover what everyday life was like during the Iron Age. Children will compare Iron Age life with their own, while taking part in hands-on activities such as grinding grain into flour, churning butter and making pottery.
The project is also about much more than the finished building. Throughout the construction process, visitors will be able to watch the Roundhouse take shape and learn more about the materials, techniques and skills involved. Volunteers, re-enactors, academic groups and local schools will also have opportunities to contribute to the build and final decoration.
Work Underway
Earlier funding has allowed us to begin to improve the Iron Age area, including creating new interpretation panels and constructing an accessible pathway to make the site easier for more visitors to reach and enjoy.
These improvements are the first steps in this project to transform how we tell the story of Iron Age life in the Chilterns, with the new Roundhouse at its heart.
Help us build a new Iron Age roundhouse
Chiltern Open Air Museum exists to rescue and preserve the buildings, landscapes and stories of our local area. With your support, we can extend that story much further into the past and create a lasting educational resource for generations to come.
Please donate today and help us build our new Iron Age Roundhouse. If you would like to be part of the team of volunteers helping our experts build our roundhouse then please drop us an email on volunteering@coam.org.uk
Every contribution brings us one step closer to welcoming visitors inside.
If you would like to discuss making a donation with us, then please contact us on 01494 871 117 or email Gill Whitehead on gill.whitehead@coam.org.uk
Chiltern Open Air Museum is a registered charity (no.272381)
