A blacksmith from Shropshire has joined a team invited to Denmark to create an authentic anchor for a reconstructed Viking ship.

Rowan Taylor, based in Ellesmere, described the journey to Aggersborg for the project as a dream work trip, noting his extensive prior research into ancient anchors and their forging techniques.

Instead of modern steel or Victorian wrought iron, the team will rely on bloomery iron, matching the material employed by Viking smiths centuries earlier.

Internationally recognized bloomery specialist Jens Olesen leads the project, and Rowan eagerly accepted the invitation to design the anchor.

The finished piece will equip the Huld, a reconstructed Viking vessel based at Aggersborg.

The project arose from talks at the close of the historic market season in Denmark between Jens Olesen and the Aggersborg Viking Craft Meeting.

During those discussions Olesen explored a larger forging effort using bloomery iron and recalled Taylor, with whom he had collaborated before in Ireland.

Taylor, who lives near Welshpool, told the BBC that this represents a very exciting experimental archaeology project.

This offers a fine chance to test several observations I have recorded, he said.

What I hope emerges is that the joinery techniques succeed and prove accurate, yielding a finished item that functions as a working object rather than a display piece behind museum glass, he added.

Having this anchor on a boat will let us assess its performance, after which we can compare the resulting data against the archaeological record and ongoing research.

The completed eighth-century authentic anchor is expected to weigh about 10 kilograms and measure 70 cm in height.