­Chateau de Guedelon (modern castle project)

"France's new medieval castle" (BBC News, 6/30/2010).

There's also one being built somewhere in the U.S.

SteveL wrote:

[...]

There's also one being built somewhere in the U.S.

Ozark medieval fortress, in AR Arizona.

Actually, the castle is in Arkansas.

(AR is the abbreviation for Arkansas, AZ is for Arizona)

Ever been to Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia?

Re-built in the 60s and 70s as a make work project using the unemployed coal mining labour of Cape Breton. They re-trained the miners in the use of period and modern building techniques to re-create a quarter of the fort and town. It's not just a re-build of a fortress, it is built to be historically and archeologically accurate . Much of the stone used is the stuff that made up the original fort.

Operated by Parks Canada, in the summer, they re-enact the operations of the fort and town as part of an awesome historical experience / living museum.

Albeit, a more modern re-construction (Louisbourg dates from ~1740, not the middle ages) it is every bit as crazy an endeavour as the castles. Although I can't tell the scale of the castles, Louisbourg is huge (the resources of the Canadian government behind it)... From the Parks Canada Web-site...

Quote :

It is recommended that you set aside at least one full day to visit the Fortress. With over 50 buildings and covering a 12-acre area, the Fortress is large. Be sure to plan enough time to truly appreciate and enjoy this remarkable place.

It was a crazy idea but it works! I have been to Louisbourg and it is nothing short of incredible! If in doubt, go see it.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ns/louisbourg/natcul.aspx

This is a Parks Canada Video on it...
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=56545743

Jonathan wrote:

Actually, the castle is in Arkansas.

(AR is the abbreviation for Arkansas, AZ is for Arizona)

My plan to get a reply worked. Ah! Ha! Ha! Ha! . . .

If I win the lottery I want to go be an intern for a year. learn some basic stone mason stuff.

kubera wrote:

If I win the lottery I want to go be an intern for a year. learn some basic stone mason stuff.

I have been unable to locate productivity rates for stone cutting masons. Let me know if you come across them, though they may be so variable as to be mostly useless. My guess is 10 cu. ft. per day, which, when strung together with my other guesstimates does seem to fit (however loosely) with reality. Vol. II of The Cambridge Economic History of Europe has a chapter on stone construction in Western medieval Europe, which includes info on wages (about £7 per annum, on average, for a master), organization, and contracts, but not productivity rates.

I'll look around but a lot of it depends on tools, location, materials available. eg a Roman running a gang saw is faster than a brit with iron tools, Granite slower than basalt or limestone, each site would be somewhat different. There would also be differences between Aztec tigh fit rocks vs a wall made with morter, I've seem images with both uniform cut stones and rough cut rubble cemented together in the same region..

I think for game play its best to keep it somewhat abstract as long as you can rationalize the volume of work with historical examples like the cost and time taken I supplied for Harlech.

kubera wrote:

[...]

I think for game play its best to keep it somewhat abstract as long as you can rationalize the volume of work with historical examples like the cost and time taken I supplied for Harlech.

Agreed. It doesn't have to be entirely realistic; it only has to be plausible. To me, medieval facts only serve as a baseline; they are guidelines to suggest what is possible in a medieval-like world.