Hi Josh,

This is quite a challenging question and DLB has provided you with a good book reference to act as a starting point.

As I understand from your PM, the smithy (forge) is to be built in Normandy, France as part of a film set and so I can make a couple of comments.

The first is that this part of France as we know it today was under English rule in the 12th century and so its quite possible that common craft practices were employed in both England and Normandy.

The second relates to research work that I did myself earlier this year to come up with a credible design for a Royal aisled hall circa 1180 i.e. as built in under the rule of King John. I discovered, less than a hundred or so buildings or fragments thereof of extant timber framed buildings remain today and most of these tend to be very high status buildings so examples of these might not necessarily provide you with a good example for the design of a more humble utility building like a forge. The key design feature for a forge would probably be to provide good ventilation, e.g. an open sided building, and certainly not thatched for obvious reasons.

If you choose to design / build a timber framed structure then this would most probably be built with lap joinery.

Hewett's book covers buildings that were mainly constructed in East Anglia & Essex and there are some similarities between these buildings and those to be found in Normandy (jettying & close studding). It might make sense to base your design on a medieval detached kitchen / brew house since these might possibly have had some design features in common with a forge i.e. they both have to deal with lots of heat & smoke.

Regards

Ken Hume