Medieval Living

With one of our goals being to construct a Medieval village, I am always on the lookout for others who have done similar things. This morning I learned about a museum in Gloucester, Massachusettes – Hammond Castle Museum. Built during the 1920s, Hammond Castle was home to John Hays Hammond, Jr., who was apparently a collector of Medieval artifacts. Hammond was also a noted inventor, having over 400 patents – he is responsible for the development of “radio control”.
Anyway, the museum is open to the public on just a few days during the week. It is also available for rent, for such things as weddings and special gatherings. The fee – only $950 per hour.

Yesterday I wrote a short article about a group in Arkansas that is building a 13th century fortress using 13th century technology. The whole process looks like it will take 20 or more years. But what if you don’t want to wait that long? And what if you aren’t that concerned with which technology is used to construct your castle? Is there a solution. Of course . . . it’s called Castle Magic!
Now please understand, I am not a spokesperson for this company, I really don’t know anything about the quality of their work, and I have only seen pictures of their buildings via their website. However, the concept sounds quite reasonable. In about two years, they will construct your very own Medievalish castle. Outwardly, their buildlings look as one might imagine a castle to look . . . perhaps a little smaller . . . but in obvious materials and design, they fall in line with what most of us would envision a modern Medieval castle to look like.
Their site offers numerous designs, and they have a nice gallery of completed and under-construction structures. They are based out of Sandpoint, Idaho, and apprantly have been building castles in the U.S. since 1980. Unlike the purists who are building in Arkansas (and I am not against the purists’ concept), Castle Magic uses a mix of old and new technologies and materials to build their modern-day castles. Worth looking into – even though we are far from any serious activity for buildling our Medieval village, it gives us more information to work with and to present to supporters and prospective supporters.

As many readers know already, one of our goals is to construct a Medieval village to use as a living history museum. It would be nice to have a castle-like structure, although I think we are willing to settle for a “great hall” as the grandest structure. How and when all of this will happen is unknown . . . still waiting for the slow-turning actions of the Government and the approval of our tax exempt status – they are months behind where I would like them to be (not that they would listen to me anyway).
Anyway . . . there is a group in Lead Hill, Arkansas, just south of the Missouri border, which is building a 13th century castle . . .the old fashion way . . . one piece at a time, using strictly 13th century technology. Known as Ozark Medieval Fortress, the site has reportedly opened on May 1st of this year to visitors. This enterprise is being carried out under the direction of the same individual who began a similiar work in Burgundy, France. It sounds like an intersting project – I think I just might need to go there and visit this summer! Wanted a reason to do some travelling anyway, so this sounds like a good enough reason.

There are some very nice, short videos available online related to Medieval living. One of those videos describes the defensive features of castles using video of existing castles throughout Europe. Other topics include: The Knights Templar, The Nobility, Shipyards of Portugal, The Crusades, Castle Walls, and Exploring the Renaissance. Part of the How Stuff Works website, these are some very nicely done (although of minimal duration) videos of interest to Medieval ere enthusiasts. Hope you enjoy!

Before one could really contemplate building a Medieval castle, spending some time learning about Medieval castles in general would be an important first step. If your plan is to copy an existing castle, then of course you would study that castle. But if you were wanting to make a unique structure, then learning about the details of castle design and construction is a must. A good place to start is Medieval-Castles.com. This site has alot of basic information on castles, their history, construction, life within the castle walls, and castle defenses, among many other topics. Many good photos as well! Soooo . . . if you’re planning on building your own fortress to defend against the dark forces of modern times, visit this very nicely done website.

Well . . . sad to say, matching only one number on the lottery doesn’t net enough to build a castle . . . actually, it doesn’t net anything at all! Anyway, last night after showing my latest blog to my daughter, she told me about another site – one that shows modern-day castles built in the US. Titled appropriately “Castles in the United States“, this site features a state-by-state run down of contemporary castles in the US. My understanding is that the couple who own the site, have been building their own castle, block by block, for the past 10 years or so.

One Block At A Time!

Very cool pics – I wish them the best of luck. (This pic is from their site – hope they don’t mind that I borrowed it to show all of you what they are doing there.) Guess if you have the land and don’t have plans on moving in right away, you CAN build your own castle . . . without hitting the lotto first! Very cool!

So you want to build a castle, eh? Who doesn’t? I mean, after all, most people who are reading articles about Medieval times have at least a passing fantasy of living in their own castle. And hey, I’m included! What a wonderful thing, to design, build, and live in your very own castle. If I win the lottery tonight . . . yeah, I think building a castle will be very near the top of things to do with the gazillions of dollars that would fill my coffers. And let’s say I did come into a substantial amount of money . . . where would I suddenly find the skills needed to build such a wonderful project?\
Well thanks to the internet, some of those resources are readily available. Let me introduce you to “An Old Castle Shop“, a website that provides some wonderful lists of internet resources available for just this very project. In fact, they include a link to a group of people who are doing just that – building their very own castle! Sweet!

The Castle Builders' Favorite Castle

From stonecutting and masonry work to timber framing, the folks at An Old Castle Shop provide some truly useful links. If you’re interested in the Medieval Castle Builders Project click here.
If you don’t hear much from me for a few days, it could be that tonight was the night!!! Or it could be that I’m just too depressed from not seeing the winning numbers . . .again. *sighs*