Housing in England, 200 BCE: Iron Age Roundhouses

In **200 BCE (Middle Iron Age)**, the typical dwelling in what is now England was the **roundhouse**.

Construction

• Frame: Circular ring of **timber posts** (oak, ash) set in postholes.
• Walls: **Wattle-and-daub** — woven hazel/willow rods (wattle) plastered with **daub** (clay, straw, dung, water mix). Insulating, weatherproof.
• Roof: Conical, **thatched** with water reed, wheat straw, or heather. Steep pitch (45–50°) sheds rain. No chimney — smoke filtered through thatch.
• Entrance: Single doorway, often SE-facing (away from prevailing wind), low, with wooden door or hide flap.
• Floor: Compacted earth, sometimes chalk/clay plaster, strewn with rushes/heather.

Interior Layout

• Central **hearth** (open fire) — heat, light, cooking.
• Sleeping platforms along walls (furs, blankets).
• Storage pits/lofts for grain, tools.
• Occupants: Extended family (10–20 people) + livestock (calves, lambs) at night in winter.

Variations & Context

• Size: 5–15 m diameter (avg ~10 m).
• Enclosures: Often within **hillforts** (e.g., Danebury) or farmstead enclosures (ditch/bank).
• Regional: Stone-walled (Atlantic Scotland, Cornwall — "courtyard houses"); crannogs (lake dwellings).

No windows. Light from door + fire. Sophisticated carpentry (mortise-and-tenon). Rebuilt every 20–30 years. Archaeology: posthole rings, daub fragments, quern stones, spindle whorls.