Advertisement
Published: October 6th 2015
We were inspired back in November 2014 when we watched a programme called "the Secrets of the Castle". A bit obscure it was aired on BBC2 and attracted a million and half viewers each programme. The series starred archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold, and historian Ruth Goodman. In the series, the team took part in the medieval construction project at Guedelon Castle in France. During their stay there, they revealed what kind of skills and crafts were needed to build a castle in the 13th century, by using the techniques, tools and materials of the era.
It took us a year almost to get there. It was pencilled in for our way home on our September 2015 holiday. First problem was to find the castle which is hidden in a forest and in an old quarry. We set Sally to find it and all went well until we reached that thing that stops you in your track. Road fermee and barred to the likes of us trying to get to the castle. We had no idea where the diversion would take us and it threw Sally out and she became Sally Sat Nag as she continually tried to get
us back to where we had been five minutes before. Every left turning she saw she tried to redirect us left left and left again which we knew would be the wrong thing to do. It became quite an art to ignore her constant bong Bonging and requests to turn around where possible. Eventually after driving down some tiny roads and through some beautiful little villages full of flowers and old ladies standing at their gates talking to each other. Probably wondering what a motorhomer was doing lost in their village. Eventually we came to the signs which advertised the site and we headed into the huge car park designed for visitors and campers alike. We entered the reception - miserable reception - cost 10 euros and we were in.
So what is the story of Guedelon? The idea was born way back in 1997 when an archaelogist Michel Guyot had the idea of building a castle using medieval techniques after he had worked on the castle at Saint Fargeau. I guess he like us probably looked up at medieval churches and castles and wondered how on earth the builders had achieved what they did achieve.
For the
idea to come to fruition firstly a site had to be acquired that was in the middle of nowhere but had the potential for visitors to get to. It needed to have stone on site and oak so a quarry in the middle of a wood was the prime location and this quarry in the forest of Guedelon near to Treigny fitted the bill . Planning permission need to be obtained which it was and funding was required . I cannot imagine planning permission for this would have been given back home. The local mairie was really on the ball. Once planning permission was obtained staff needed to be recruited and around 70 people were employed on the site on a waged basis. A large number of other workers were recruited seasonally unwaged and mainly volunteers, students and anyone who cared to join the project for a few days, a week, a month or a season. All work with medieval hand tools using medieval techniques.
Ok to what next? Everything was in place and building began . Why had we never heard of it for the last 18 years. Bit remiss of us. We are usually on the ball.
We entered the site and were given a map showing all the main buildings and full of information. The first thing we saw was the blacksmiths shop. His job was important as he maintained a good stock of metal goods to include nails, strappings for doors and he repaired and recycled all the hand tools. Two blacksmiths were toiling hard as we stood and watched them. Experimental archaelogy in action. The blacksmiths made 7000 forged nails for just the bridge alone.
Next we moved to the quarrymen. They dug out the stones and broke them into large and small pieces ready for use in the castle either as rubble infill or the more intricate facing stones. 30,000 tones of stone would be needed to build the castle so it is easy to see why you need materials on site. It was fascinating to watch them splitting the stones using just brute force and wedges. The stones which were full of iron and blackened in colour. They were moved to the stonemasons both young ladies who dressed the stones. Chipping away slowly I thought how wonderful to have this on your CV. Just imagine you could be working on
this project for 25 years as the castle will not be finished for many years yet. We thought we could come again in two years and see it as it grows. The fixer masons worked on the building itself putting those stones into place and they were really busy working on the scaffolding.
Sheep wondered around the site as this was essentially representing life in a medieval village. The Spinners worked in their hut producing cloth and clothing and the Dyers made colour for the walls and for dying clothes. Horses were used to move material around the site. A touch of modernity was in the middle of all this - a cafe.
The oak required for the bridge to the castle, for the scaffolding which was all made on site and for the roof timbers was all felled in the nearby wood. Chopped down by woodcutters it was then turned into the shapes needed for each specific job. Carpenters made the complicated bridges, the lifting devices, the Squirrel cages and the Treadmills.
The tilers had made 25,000 roof tiles for the great hall. All of which had been fired in the on site kiln. Floor tiles
had been made the same way.
The ropemaker was busy making ropes for the cages and for the horses. What we saw was a building site where we could see the medieval mixed with modern high tec. Some aspects such as steel toe caps were necessary and signs were around to tell us where we could go and where we needed to keep out of. Green castles meant we could visit and we took in the chapel tower which was 9 metres in diametre with a wonderful spiral staircase. We could not see the chapel as this was marked with a red castle which meant no entry. Orange castles meant go with caution. Work on the tower started in 2002 - 13 years and still not completed. The North range was fully completed and we were able to go into two floors which contained a kitchen, ovens, storage rooms and the great hall. The roof was raised in 2008 and is made up of 7 major trusses with tie beams, king posts and curved angle brackets. Glenn being a carpenter by trade has a fascination with how they were being completed with 31 secondary trusses and a further 5
load bearing trusses. Not a massive roof but pretty impressive nevertheless.
The flanking towers are only partially completed and were started in the 2012 -2013 season . Work would commence in the future. The scarp wall was partially completed . 2 and a half metres at the base thinning to 2 half way up.
We could have stayed for days. In fact if we lived closer I think both of us would have volunteered on this project. It was one of the most fascinating things we have ever seen.
How to build a castle ? Well we have a better idea now.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 13; qc: 34; dbt: 0.0288s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
taracloud
Tara Cloud
Scaffolding fan!
What a find--so interesting to see the old building tools and techniques! I love scaffolding and have lots of photos from the most elaborate in Britain (sturdier than cabins I've lived in) to bamboo pikes out in the jungle. This looks pretty sturdy and safe. How fun to return, live in your motor home and volunteer for a couple of weeks. I imagine they'd be thrilled to have a skilled carpenter like Glenn. Really a fun blog!