A hut made from hazel

Found and natural materials to make a temporary shelter

Working once again with the Fathom Trust, Manifest acted as crafters to teach the age-old techniques of forming a hazel “bender” – that is, a small building whose structure is made entirely with bent green hazel rods (sourced from the nearby woods).  Participants with Fathom helped to design and build this tiny, temporary building in the grounds of a Welsh farmhouse, in the stunning landscape of Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons).

Starting with twisted hazel stapes to hold the large stems down to the ground, we then augered holes and inserted the uprights as stakes, bent over at the top to meet their opposite partners and secured with ivy twisted into string.  Casting around for found materials on the farm, we lighted on the hay bales stored in the nearby barn, which provided a thick thatch for the building.

As the hut took shape, it looked more and more like a shaggy highland cow or even a buffalo, its interior a dark and secret place with one narrow doorway looking out over the hills.  The project allowed a fully hands-on approach to building, adapting itself to each person’s ideas and the materials we found as it was raised.