The Anglo Saxon Hall House in the picture is less than forty years old! But it was based on archeological evidence from one that was discovered in Steyning. That house was dated as existing in 950 A.D. so the one Nan’s family lived in before the Battle of Hastings might have been very like this.
The doorways are very low, the walls are made of wattle and daub and there is no chimney for the fire. The house is at the Weald and Downland Museum, there is more information about it here.
If you go to the Museum you can visit Hangleton cottage. This house was built more than a hundred years after the date of Nan and William’s story, and is built from stone not wood, but the inside is probably like the house Nan lived in. It felt very cold the day I visited.
Nan told Nathalia and Stephen that Kingley Vale was a spooky place – check here for more stories about it.
Knightgarde Books 