MUST VISIT

“Let’s build a castle.” This rallying cry is not of a dad playing with his children on a sunny and sandy beach, neither is it that of a group of youngsters imaginatively building fortifications with farm straw bales! No, it’s a call to action for 40 or so master craftsmen and women.

“Oh, and by the way, let’s build it using the same materials and tools available in the Middle Ages, just to make it interesting!”

Well, in fairness, the conversation probably didn’t go exactly that way, but you get the gist.

The idea of building a castle from scratch was born just a few miles from Guédelon in northern Burgundy at the Saint-Fargeau château. Back in the 1990s, several key experts had come together to review their recent investigations of this impressive château. Their findings were breathtaking: hidden within the red-brick walls of the chateau were the stone walls of a medieval castle. On the report's last page was a drawing of that castle as it once was, and the final paragraph of the document ended with the words ‘reconstructing Saint-Fargeau castle would be an amazing project.’

It was that closing sentence that caught the attention of Michel Guyot. With 20 years’ experience under his belt in rebuilding and renovating some of the great houses and castles of the region… Michel’s interest was piqued.

That was in the winter of 1995. Back then, Michel gathered a small group of enthusiasts to get the project rolling; amongst this merry band of men and women was Maryline Martin, who thirty years later still leads the team. Says Maryline, “What excited me about this project was making a long-term commitment to people. It meant we could offer training, meaningful work and a real future."

Initially, the idea was to rebuild the castle at Saint Fargeau but that would have required a slavish commitment to the restoration of an existing building. (Editor: Wait for it, I know something is coming!) No, the project in fact is to be a ‘new build’ of a 13th-century castle with inspiration drawn from the nearby surrounding ruins.

Some might say this could only happen in France and indeed deep in the heart of Guédelon forest, in an abandoned quarry, a team of master-builders are well underway in their ambition to build their dream castle.

Quarrymen, stonemasons, carpenter/joiners, woodcutters, blacksmiths, tilers, and rope makers…are working together to revive heritage craft skills and to shed light on the world of medieval construction.

What’s more, each year they ensure their hard toil is available for anyone to see. In 2021, up until 7th November, you can visit the site and explore the ministrations of the team that also includes a good number of members of the science community, people like archaeologists, historians, architects, and academics.

This has to be one of the great ‘edutainment’ locations in the whole of Eastern France and visitors (families and individuals) are encouraged to immerse themselves in exploring the project. It guarantees an exciting time to be had for kids of every age (including the big ones!).

This is like no other construction site you have visited. Once you have moved through the visitor centre, you are plunged into an age long since gone. No mechanical sounds, no engine noise – not even a mobile phone annoyingly chirping in the background! Instead, your backdrop is a rhythm of chisels on stone, saws slicing through wood, the drum of horses' hooves, the interplay of hammers striking anvils...

And the important thing is that visitors are encouraged to interact with the craftsmen and women to better understand the work they are doing.

So, if you still have time to add to your visit to France in the Autumn make sure you put this on your itinerary. You don’t have to book in advance for family visits. However, like many locations in France, a vaccine ‘passport style’ document will be required to gain access to the site; face coverings are mandatory in all enclosed spaces and when social distancing is not possible outside.

You can find out more about this fascinating and enduring project on their English website: https://www.guedelon.fr/en

(Editor: Make sure you leave time to visit the miller. Take the woodland trail that leads from the construction site to the working watermill. And whatever you don’t forget the camera!)