1 CommentA quirky tender just issued by Newry, Mourne and Down Council will bring a piece of South Armagh right back to the Iron Age!
The tender will see a replica Iron Age Round House bulit at the popular Bluebell Lane Glamping in Mullaghbane.
The round house is expected to be completed by 20 March 2021 and it will be four metres in diameter with a thatch roof. The size of the round house is modelled on the post holes of a ‘guard house’ found in an archaeological excavation at nearby Dorsey.
The building will be the key component of a ‘Traditional Building Skills’ project for the Ring of Gullion Landscape Partnership Scheme Legacy Phase (RoGLPS). The purpose of this project is to train groups in the traditional building skills required to work with natural woodland materials, so that these skills aren’t lost from the Ring of Gullion area. Young people will also be involved in the final stages of the build, adding wattle and daub to the walls.
The round house will be situated in a clearing at Bluebell Lane Glamping, Tullymacrieve Road, Mullaghbane. Bluebell Lane is a very busy site for visitors who stay there with workshops also offered. It began in 2018 with the aim of providing high quality glamping combined with a wooded area where families could explore the natural environment and learn useful outdoor skills such as friction fire starting. The round house will be used to augment the learning environment and provide a wet weather training space.
Requirements
The tender provider/ providers are expected to supply all required tools and materials and deliver 15 training workshops for Adults and Children in building techniques.
It's expected at the end of an adult workshop each volunteer will have a working knowledge and hands on experience of the building technique used. The tender explains "Workshops should cover the following building techniques and volunteers should have hands on experience: wood preservation (charring), upright posts installation, wall installation, vertical staves and weaving wood; and wattle and daub." Volunteers should understand how the central post, rafters and thatch are installed, but hands on experience of installation in not required. At the end of the workshop each volunteer should have a basic understanding of iron-age life in the area
The workshops for primary school aged groups in the final stages of the build should give each group an awareness and hands on experience with the building technique used covering wattle and daub of walls and other suitable building activity which will give them a basic understanding of iron-age life in the area.
Materials
Materials certainly should be easier to find that for a 21st century house. Needed will be Irish native hardwood including Ash to be used in the building; Wild clematis, bramble or stripped willow for tying; Hazel or willow for weaving wood; Thatching reeds for thatch and straw and 'blue' clay with the addition of some cow manure for the finish.
Tender closes 15 September and you can apply through the council's portal hub.
