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  1. Peter Bearne

Replica Anglo-Saxon house destroyed in "suspicious" fire

Staff from Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust at the scene of the blaze Credit: ITV Central/PeterBearne

Volunteers who've painstakingly constructed a replica Anglo-Saxon house in Nottinghamshire have been left devastated after it was destroyed in a suspected arson attack.

The wooden hut known as a Grubenhaus was found burnt to the ground at Skylarks Nature Reserve close to the Holme Pierrepont Country Park near Nottingham.

The blaze has left volunteers who built the hut devastated Credit: ITV Central/PeterBearne
The reserve is owned by Notts Wildlife Trust Credit: ITV Central/PeterBearne

The building was designed to match the archaeological remains of a wooden structure previously unearthed at the site. The team of volunteers built it by hand using traditional methods dating back nine hundred years. They had been working on the project for eighteen months.

Volunteers working on the replica hut Credit: ITV Central/PeterBearne

Police are investigating the fire. The Trust say they won't be beaten by the vandals and will continue the project undeterred.