Making a Saxon shield boss

Metal worker Ulfric has been reconstructing a Saxon shield boss for this programme's cameo. 'It's not been that easy because I'm making it in a farmyard – usually I'd be in my workshop,' he says. 'The main difficulty has been getting the temperature high enough in the open air. I need to heat the metal regularly (it's called 'annealing') so that it can be worked without splitting.'

Using a heavy-gauge, mild steel plate, Ulfric first forms a cone and then gradually forges the shield boss into shape with repeated sessions of hammering and heating.

'The end result is an exact replica of one of the bosses found in the field here,' he says with a smile. 'Not bad, I'm happy with it.'

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