Guédelon

Guédelon : A Castle in the Making

Have you ever wondered how medieval castles were built ? Where the building materials came from ? How they were transportes ? What tools were used ? How were heavy loads hoisted onto the castle walls ?

The secrets of the medieval master-craftsmen are revealed on the Guédelon Medieval Construction Site. This experimental site lies deep in secluded woodland, where the project's founders discovered an abandoned quarry hidden in a landscape seemingly untouched for the last thousand years. Out of this wood and stone, quarrymen, stonemasons, woodcutters, carpenters, blacksmiths, tile makers, basket makers, rope makers, carters and their horses are working together to complete a castle using 13th-century building techniques.

In this book, Guédelon's co-founder, Maryline Martin, and master-mason, Florian Renucci, examine the evidence currently available from documentary sources as well as considering the new insights into medieval masoncraft offered by findings made at Guédelon.