Mini Celtic Wattle and Daub Roundhouse (when the ancient Britons came to our back garden)

It started with soaking coppiced branches in warm water.

(Willow branches are particularly good for this project.)

These will make the wattle structure.

For the daub mixture we used half mud half clay mixed with water.

Historically daub probably contained cow manure as well but we left that interesting ingredient out this time :)

For the roof we tied small bundles of hay together and attempted to loosely thatch them on.

Here is our finished house! We could have woven a little blanket to hang over the door space.

I think that might be a nice detail next time.

Our own Celtic wattle and daub round house.

The ancient Britons came to life in our back garden!

Through doing this project the children gained appreciation for lost skills.

And got are hands deliciously muddy in the process!

We staked some stronger pieces of willow in the ground first forming a circular shape.Then we simple wove the thinner pieces of willow around the skeleton starting from the ground up, leaving a small space for a door.
The daub was added later and used to "cement" the structure in place and fill up the gaps in the woven branches.
We made a wigwam structure for the roof and thatched on top of it. Then the little house was ready to make itself at home in our fairy garden.