Great Halls of the Rich & Famous
  • Saxon palace at yeavering (after Peter Dunn)Saxon thanes (lords) and kings were very rich and powerful in the Dark Ages. They often lived in big wooden buildings known as 'Great Halls'.
  • These were the equivalent of mansions or palaces today. They looked a bit like huge barns.
  • They were built of big wooden beams. The walls were filled in with wattle & daub (wickerwork covered in mud and animal poo!). Later, extremely rich kings built them of stone.
  • The roofs were thatched with reeds or straw; or covered in wooden shingles.
  • A lord might have two great halls, one next to the other. Nearby were smaller houses for servants; and kitchens, workshops, mills and perhaps a chapel. There would be a big wooden wall around the lot, called a 'stockade'.
  • Archaeologists have dug up famous palaces at Yeavering (in Northumberland) and Cheddar (in Somerset).
  • King Edwin of Northumbria's palace at Yeavering had two great halls (see picture). Amongst other buildings, there was also a 'corral' for keeping cattle in and a grandstand in which to hold meetings. People lived there throughout the 7th century.
  • King Alfred of Wessex's palace at Cheddar had one great hall. Amongst other buildings were a chapel and a donkey-powered mill. People lived there throughout the 9th and 10th centuries.

But what was it like inside a Great Hall?

   

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