Build a castle from scratch...

October 1, 2023 7:51 AM

Deep in a forest of France's Burgundy region, a group of enthusiasts is building a medieval castle the old-fashioned way — that is, with tools and methods from the late 13th century
posted by jim in austin (13 comments total)

Oh yeah! This is where they have the treadmill crane Tom Scott did a video on.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 7:55 AM on October 1, 2023 [5 favorites]

Also seen in this 2022 post.
posted by mbrubeck at 8:00 AM on October 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

Pretty sure Nova (American TV PBS show) did an episode on this. It was fascinating. They showed how those tiny corkscrew spiral stairs up a tower were built. Each step is a slab shaped like an exaggerated, flared keyhole shape, and have to be stacked one on top of another in a spiral manner, and supported below. Very easy to mess up and it took the stone mason a long long time to shape just one step.

Side note: I hope they use 21st Century insect repellant.
posted by SoberHighland at 8:15 AM on October 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

Secrets of the Castle is still available to watch on Amazon Prime in the U.S.

If you like this sort of thing, you'll recognize the crew from other series like Edwardian Farm or Tudor Monastery Farm among others, which I think are all available still on Prime in the U.S. as well. Great stuff.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 8:24 AM on October 1, 2023 [14 favorites]

That work is also heavily featured in Age of Empires IV of all places. The fourth game has finally accepted that its campaign has to be an historical TV documentary, not an historical fictional drama.
posted by papineau at 8:25 AM on October 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

There's a similar project in southern Germany: Campus Galli, an early medieval abbey being constructed according to the Plan of St Gall (c.820-830) using methods authentic to the time. German site
posted by Pallas Athena at 8:45 AM on October 1, 2023 [5 favorites]

it's only called a castle if it's in the Castile region of spain otherwise it's a just a private fortified residence
posted by logicpunk at 8:59 AM on October 1, 2023 [13 favorites]

To build a castle from scratch....
posted by Reverend John at 9:38 AM on October 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

And I'm pretty sure this fantastic series of videos about Guédelon showed up in an AskMe about short French videos to watch, or something.

This is so cool. Thank you for posting this, jim in austin!
posted by kristi at 11:02 AM on October 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

I can't stop thinking about the pif the paf and the pof.

I wonder, at some point they are going to get so close to finished that they should be thinking about starting a new one. Just always be building a castle; that seems best.
posted by fleacircus at 4:07 PM on October 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

Just always be building a castle; that seems best.

Always. Be. Crenellating.
posted by notoriety public at 8:02 PM on October 1, 2023 [8 favorites]

$2.299m Michigan, USA. Castle For Sale With Drawbridge and Moat.
posted by clavdivs at 8:05 PM on October 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

Very interesting. Thanks for the post. I loved the idea expressed at the end that it doesn't matter how long it takes them to complete it. The journey of the building is the point. (Coincidentally how I feel about alot of my crafts).
posted by daffodil at 9:16 PM on October 1, 2023 [1 favorite]