Earthburn
A standalone short film adapted from the first act of the planned feature film, Drag Me to Winchester, following a medieval charcoal burner through a three-day charcoal burn in the New Forest towards his destined discovery of the dead body of King William Rufus.
The Film
Set in the New Forest in 1100, Earthburn follows Purkiss, a charcoal burner living and working in the forest in the days immediately before the death of King William II.
Production
Filmed on the Beaulieu Estate in the New Forest, Earthburn features a charcoal making method (a pit kiln) which seems not to have been attempted for nearly 600 years. In consultation with local craftspeople and historians we performed the pit burn in conjunction with the film shoot.
Our first block of shooting was completed in September 2026, with the remainder of the filming scheduled for October and November this year. The complex filming of a real, experimentally reconstructed, historical earthburn charcoal kiln was a fascinating logistical challenge, but was achieved by our small team without incident and produced a harvest of charcoal.
The wood for the charcoal burn, as well as the location and permission to perform it were provided by the Beaulieu Estate. A portion of the charcoal produced was then donated to Will Sherman of Medieval Arrows who provided us with a custom forged medieval billhook and a period-correct arrow, which were used as props in the film.
Our small crew was built up through a few connections from previous work, and through seeking out professionals and aspiring professionals in the local area. Our intention as a small production company is to build a regional creative team by giving younger and early-career practitioners meaningful opportunities to work alongside more experienced collaborators, and to carry those relationships into future Hwaet projects wherever possible.
We are keen to hear from you if you're looking to gain experience in screen production in any department, and you're based in the New Forest or wider Hampshire/Wilthsire/Dorset area. If our work is of interest to you, feel free to get in touch via contact@hwaet.co.uk
Cast & Crew
Writer & Director: Brice StratfordProducer: James Carney
Director of Photography: Josie Cronk
Associate Producer / Sound / Editor: James "Moose" Oprey
1st AD: James King
Make-up: Olivia Turner-Clarke
Production Assistant: Ricky Tart
Camera Assistant: Jay Bromby-Phillips
Production Assistance: Manuel Hinge
Charcoal Consultant: Peter "Charcoal Pete" Jameson
Craft, Historical & Location Support
Further Charcoal Consultation: Derek Tippetts, Dave DibdenNew Forest Historical Consultation: Richard Reeves
Kiln Construction Assistants: Joe "Scottish Joe" MacKee, Dwight Hendrickson, Maia Hendrickson
Local Support: Richard "Dickie" Mabbutt, Dave "Big Dave" Ruis
Location Management: Matt Phillips
Costume Support: Jen of DrakosDottir, Rev Stuart Huntley
Blacksmith & Fletcher: Will Sherman
The charcoal burn also became a piece of practical research for our planned feature Drag Me To Winchester. Learning to operate and film the kiln revealed things about timing, smoke, continuity and coverage alongside the safety and practicalities of the heritage craft that could not be understood fully from research alone. That knowledge will feed directly into the larger production.
Drag Me to Winchester
Earthburn is a standalone short adapted from the opening act of Drag Me to Winchester, a feature film currently in development at HWAET.