What is the Norstead Project?

The Norstead Project is a recreation of a circa 11th century Danish farmstead. Our goal is to capture the lifestyle and culture of the ordinary people of the time and area using authentic methods and techniques wherever possible. While many Living History groups focus on the warrior/combat aspects of this era we want to know more about how the everyday average Dane would have lived during the 10/11th century.


Where is the Norstead Project?

Geographically speaking, Norstead is located near Knox City, Missouri. The site is located on the 100+ acre farm of one of our members, Sam Shoults.


Who is building Norstead?

Norstead is the dream on Norsa, Inc and its members. Thru years of hard work, fundraising, and private donations the dream has finally became a reality. It is worth mentioning that a major part of the construction effort was provided by the local Amish community.
 

How is the project funded?

Norstead is funded in several ways. A majority of the money comes from Norstead itself. The proceeds of educational demonstrations and shows has so far covered over half of the initial work. In addition to this we were lucky enough to find several investors that made private donations that covered the other half of the initial project. We are also investigating possible grants that may provide future money from various sources.


What time period does it fall within?

Historically speaking, Norstead is an outlying farmstead about 10 miles from Hedeby and belongs to a powerful merchanting family who serve King Svend (Sweyn) II Estridsen. For interpretation purposes it is the year 1050AD and the conflict between King Svend and the Norwegian King Harold Hardrada is in full swing.

Does the name Norstead mean anything?

The name Norstead was derived by combining two sets of facts. The bay outside of Hedeby is often called Hedeby Noor. We fancy our farm as one that is near this bay, thus we are the (farm)stead on the Noor, or as we refer to it, "The Noor Stead", or Norstead.

 

When will it be open to the public?

Initially, Norstead will be a mostly private site that will be used by Norsa, Inc and our friends. We will occasionally open the site up to the public for educational demonstrations as time allows. It is also our intent to offer 'get away' weekends to the various heritage organizations we work with across the US.

Ideally, the long term goal of the project is for these public days to become more numerous and our interaction with the local community and national heritage organizations to flourish.

 

Can film work be done at the site?

Yes. Even though the site is not open to the general public, our members have full access and Norsa, Inc has already been contacted about arranging possible shoots. If your interested in using Norstead for filming please visit our Web Site to make arrangements with Norsa, Inc.

Are you using authentic construction methods?

While we each secretly wish that it were otherwise we are the first to point out that while we would have liked to use 100% authentic building methods we haven't done so. Early on we made the decision to use modern techniques in some aspects of the projects for various reasons. As the project has evolved we have made changes that incorporated construction techniques that would have been available at the time but we still rely on several modern techniques as the farmstead grows.

The reason we have chosen to use these modern techniques is mostly based on the fact that most of us simply do not have the skill or knowledge to used period techniques and still feel 100% that the structures would stand the test of time. Another factor is labor, a very large part of the labor on this project is voluntary, and unskilled or semi-skilled. All of our members have real world jobs and simply do not have the time to dedicate the time and effort that the peoples of 1000 years ago would have.

In the time we chose to portray labor and materials were cheap, today we do not have that sort of luxury. So instead of hand hewn lumber, our lumber was cut using chainsaws and a modern portable sawmill. Our main posts were set in holes dug by a modern auger instead of digging the holes with period tools. Our land was cleared by tractors and small machinery instead of by hand. These modern tools (and many more) allowed us to carry out work in a weekend that would have taken people of the time days days to accomplish.

As we want to enjoy the fruits of this project sooner rather than later, we found these modern methods acceptable (but our goal is to keep them to a minimum when possible.)

 

When will you be finished?

Probably never! The Norstead project is a project that can always have other things added to it. It is our hope to add several more small houses, a chicken house, a smithy, a sunken room house for weaving, a dock and boat house on the lake, and a sauna house. The possiblity of small church has been discussed as well as a 'graveyard' for effect.

As far as we can tell we have a list of projects that will keep us busy for years to come.

How big are the structures?

The longhall is the only permanent structure of its kind in the US (that we are aware of). It is 60’ long by 23’ wide by 25' high.

The lesser hall (what we have termed the cook house since it houses a cooking pit and a bread oven) is 36’ long by 15’ wide by 25' high.

The covered work area is 18’ long by 12’ wide by 25' high.

 

How much land does the project cover?

At the moment the Norstead Project leases about 5 acres of land. That said, the land owner has agreed to offer us more area if we ever need it.

 

What are the main materials you are using for construction?

Oak and loads of it. The timber used for the construction of the main structures was milled from oak cut only a few hundred yards from where the site is. While it is rough cut much of the lumber is furniture grade. One can sit in the hall and stare at the beauty in the grain of the wood for hours. It seemed a shame to use such beautiful pieces for siding but then we realized there is more where that came from.

How many stages of construction are there?

At this time 4 stages are planned.

The first phase of the project entailed clearing the land, improving the site, and laying out the future buildings.

The second phase of the project was the milling stage in which all the lumber need for the first three structures was milled from the seemingly unending supply of white oak on the site.

The third phase of the project consisted of the raising of the central longhall and constructing the first small run of wattle fence.

The fourth phase consisted of the raising of the smaller hall, the covered work shelter, and a pit toilet.

There will probably be more stages in the future.