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It was during this time that people started to live in forts, often built on a hill, and ruled by a tribal chief. Individual homes would be either built within the fort walls or just outside. Houses were still round as no corners meant there was no gap to let in wind or rain. They still had a central fire and the smoke still escaped through the thatched roof. The fire was so important for cooking and heating it was probably kept burning 24 hours a day. However, just one little spark could set the house on fire so people had to be very careful. There was no fire brigade. The hill forts usually had two entrances, were surrounded by a fence and, as they were on a hill, they were difficult to attack. Sometimes they even had a ditch around the outside of the fence. Hill forts were the forerunners of the castles built in later years. A very famous castle at Bamburgh, which you can still see today, was built on the site of an old hill fort. You can see people were getting very protective of their homes and from this we can guess that was because they were being attacked. Most homes were built with the front door facing south or south-east to allow for maximum sunlight. There may even have been religious reasons for this.
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