AXE-wielding carpenters were out in force yesterday as work began to reconstruct a centuries-old building on the site where its archaeological remains were first discovered.

The Sylva Foundation in Long Wittenham, near Didcot, is hosting workshops all this weekend in traditional Anglo-Saxon building techniques as it attempts to create a hall modelled on seventh century buildings found there.

READ MORE: Sylva Foundation to rebuild Anglo-Saxon hall in South Oxfordshire

Remains of a large building were excavated by the Oxford University School of Archaeology on this site in 2016 after they were discovered by an air survey in 1976.

Today, Damian Goodburn, a leading archaeological woodwork specialist, will demonstrate the tools and techniques used to build the original hall at the site.

The new building will become the home for members of Wulfeode, an Anglo-Saxon living history society which runs educational courses for children.