An ancient Scandinavian ceremony marked a milestone for a developer building 88 sustainable homes in the Cotswolds.

A tree branch was raised to the roof during the topping out ceremony for the show home at Orchard Field in Siddington, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, as Stonewood Partnerships management and staff as well as contractors and guests celebrated with a glass of fizz and bacon rolls.

The housing development is being built by Stonewood Partnerships as a joint venture with retired architect Nicholas Arbuthnott, whose vision inspired the scheme.

It is hoped that each Cotswold stone or red brick home will cut heating bills by up to 70 per cent compared to standard new-built houses.

Stonewood Partnerships managing director Sam Smart told guests: "It's a moment to pause and reflect and to say thank you to everybody for all the hard work that has brought us to this point.

"We are all very proud and privileged to be part of this project, delivering high quality sustainable homes. It has been a real journey in understanding what a sustainable home is and what it can be - and to be fair we are still on that journey and are always challenging what can be done."

With the branch raised to the roof by site manager James Dunsire and assistant site manager Chelsey Salt, guests raised a glass to the development and wished the workers luck.

The tradition is said to date back to work on the pyramids but became popular in Scandinavia, when builders cleared a space in the forest to build a home and then placed a fir tree on top of the building as an offering to the forest gods to appease them for disturbing their habitat.

The custom also involved providing drinks or 'tile beer' for workers. The practice was brought to Britain after the Vikings invaded.

Mr Smart added: "We have 88 high performing sustainable homes in a beautiful setting, backed up with Nicholas' idea of building a sense of community and sustainability in terms of growing their own produce, it really is a unique situation.

"We are just so thankful that Nicholas and his family recognises our commitment and passion to sustainable development and have joined us on this project. It has been an absolute pleasure working with him. His passion and knowledge of all the disciplines to do with sustainability is amazing, infectious and really enjoyable."

Mr Arbuthnott was among guests taken on a tour of the site to see the progress of the homes, which are being built using laser-cut timber panels which are 23.5cm thick - nearly double that of standard timber frames.

Once they are clad the walls will be a heat-saving 45cm thick to fit the 'fabric first' ethos of building homes whose fundamental design is energy efficient, rather than relying on retro-fitting gadgets to produce that efficiency.

"It is really exciting to see all of this taking shape," said Mr Arbuthnott. "I really like the roof-lines, they are very attractive. It is going to be a beautiful place to live."

The new homes have been designed by architects Stonewood Design, with input from environmental engineers Greengauge Building Energy Consultants. They will meet stringent Association for Environment Conscious Building standards that demand excellent construction and low energy consumption.

Stonewood Partnerships said the first homes on the development will be ready to be reserved at the start of December.