Keskadale Oaks

German Foresters employed by the State were very helpful in identifying the potential to source oak, beech and ash from German forests in the Saxony area for use at Ribe

In the United Kingdom, the primary forest of the Keskadale oaks in the Newlands Valley is close to the office of Grampus. Groups of visiting students have been able to look at this forest in the sense of it being a starting point within PARABOW. Some 3,000 acorns have been gathered and sown by students and schoolchildren and these will be planted to perpetuate the original forests that were utilised by early builders. As a result of this work, similar 'starting point' work under PARABOW has been initiated in Ireland and a graduate (Claire Marshall) from the UK's National School of Forestry will be funded by PARABOW to gather Atlantic oak forest seed and take cuttings from the ancient yew forests of Killarney (this work will be partly funded by the Office of Public Works and Ireland's National Parks and Wildlife Service) to complete the PARABOW picture in Ireland.

As well as sourcing the original provenance's of tree species and timbers used by early Celtic, Saxon and Viking builders in wood, the trips in the UK have unearthed (through the Scottish Crannog Centre's archaeologists) evidence of the earliest known deliberate manipulation of the forest (silvicultural practice) in Northern Europe.

With regard to the sourcing of timber for use at Ribe, timber in Scotland's Tayside region has been assessed with the help of the 'Tayside Native Woodland Initiative' and in Cumbria through 'Cumbria Broadleaves' who have been instrumental in supplying the Saxon settlement at Jarrow.

The Keskadale oaks in the Lake District National Park are one of only three primary forests in England, students have gathered seed to perpetuate this ancient strain of Sessile oak which would have been the main building material source for the Viking settlers who built the nearby town of Keswick.

Assistance has also been given by an SME in East Anglia called Treetop Contracts who have advised on timber they have sourced for reconstructions (Saxon and Roman) in that part of England. The Yorkshire initiative 'Yorwoods' gave Grampus staff the opportunity to describe the PARABOW initiative to forest managers from all over the North of England and also gain the support of the Forestry Commission's national marketing manager.

In Slovakia, the State imposes strict price controls to preserve its forest resource. The quality of hardwood timber in the country is exceptional and the tall, minimally tapered oak trees seen in the central and southern zones of the country were of very great interest to the managers from Denmark, Finland, Germany Ireland and the UK. Through the Technical University and 'Lesoprojeckt' (a forest surveying and mensuration initiative) in Zvolen investigations have begun into options for bringing Slovak timber to Ribe.

Also of interest were the very straight and regular hazel rods and alder poles in the valley between Brezno and Revuca and the yew trees near Ul'anka north of Banska Bystrica.  The latter would be ideal for longbows but are very strictly preserved because of the relative scarcity of this species in Slovakia and the fact that it represents a key biotope in the limestone ecosystem of the country.

Natural herbal remedies are an integral part of Slovakian daily life.

The Slovakia trip also enabled a visit to the primary forests of the Kremnicke hills. This world renowned biosphere reserve has forests untouched by man and walking amongst the ancient trees, some of which had a volume in excess of 20 M3, it was not difficult to be transported a thousand years back in time. From a heritage point of view it would be a criminal act to attempt to source timber from a primary forest but a visit by all living archaeologists would be extremely useful in exploring the concept of re-enactment to the utmost degree. Pre-medieval people the world over relied on nature for medicines, tree bark, resins, saps, gums and herbs from grasslands, marshes and the forest were all used extensively and every plant had its use (as witnessed Culpepper's herbal).

Bjarne Clement from Denmark examines Slovakian yew trees - this species is used for reconstruction longbows at Ribe and supplies are extremely scarce.

In Slovakia and most of Eastern Europe it is still usual for people from all walks of life to use natural remedies. The visit to Slovakia acted to convince the managers that this herb lore should feature in the teaching material generated by PARABOW. This was thought to be entirely appropriate because it was an integral part of life for the ancient builders who relied on the forest not only for timber but also food and medicine.