Ozark Medieval Fortress - Closed for 2012 season

It is with a heavy heart that I bear this sad news.

The owners of the Ozark Medieval Fortress have reached the difficult decision to not reopen in the 2012 season. The Ozark Medieval Fortress had closed for the winter season in November, but now its future is uncertain.

For those who were unaware, the Ozark Medieval Fortress is a construction project using thirteenth century building techniques to build a medieval fortress in Arkansas.

Here is the architect's drawing of what it looked like after one year of construction and when it opened to the general public in 2010.

They had received a lot of notice and publicity for the project, but not enough tourists to make it financially viable to continue.

The History Channel with their program of "Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy" filmed an episode which has yet to air about the OMF. I had hoped that such a national broadcast could help generate nationwide interest and tourism, but instead perhaps it will help the owners
who are currently looking for a buyer or an investor.

It is a wonderful project and one that I believe will ultimately be like the Field of Dreams baseball diamond in Kansas where "if you build it they will come."

Unfortunately, the droves of people have not arrived yet in order for the owners to continue.

Please spread the word about this opportunity in your medievalist communities and if you are going to the International Congress on Medieval Studies this coming May, I urge you to mention it there as well.

I hope to speak with the owners of the Ozark Medieval Fortress soon via Skype and will let you know if they ask for anything else in the means of supporting their dream of building a medieval castle in America using traditional methods.

This is the architect's rendering of what the project would look at its completion in twenty years' time. It would be a shame if it were permanently abandoned.


http://lcmccabe.blogspot.com/2012/01/ozark-medieval-fortress-closed-for-2012.html

Video of OMF and an opportunity to hear me read

I should have mentioned this earlier, but I will be reading a chapter from my novel Quest of the Warrior Maid tomorrow at the Sonoma County Book Festival. I will be reading at 10:45 in the morning at the Redwood Writers Stage.

Ana Manwaring is organizing our stage and asked me to select a short passage that was "spicy." So you are forewarned about the content and please don't bring small children with along with you to hear me read.

For those who have already have a copy of my novel, I chose Chapter 28 a scene on Alcina's island.

Redwood Writers is also sponsoring four different tables for our members to sell their books in two hour shifts. So if you are at the festival, stop by say hello and then pass on by later and meet more of our members. My shift is from 2-4 in the afternoon. Look for the red flag with the bright yellow Occitan cross on it. (The symbol of the Counts of Toulouse.) I bought that flag as a souvenir from my latest trip to France which I promise to blog more about in the future and share more pictures.

I also wanted to share with you a video that was posted on Youtube about the Ozark Medieval Fortress. I love that project!

Ozark Medieval Fortress and the History Channel

I enjoy watching the History Channel and its companion, the History International Channel.
Besides documentaries, they also have a few original shows that feature archaeologists, pawn brokers and yes, even a stand up comic whose stage name is "Larry the Cable Guy."

Larry's show "Only in America" recently filmed an episode at the Ozark Medieval Fortress. The easiest thing would have been for him to interview the workers while the cameras recorded the efforts of the blacksmiths, masons, quarriers, etc. Instead, he donned a tunic and joined the crew as a volunteer as the cameras rolled.

The Ozark Medieval Fortress blog has posted pictures of a sweat-soaked Larry showing that he put in an honest day's work. I am looking forward to the 2012 broadcast of that episode and hope that it brings greater awareness of this wonderful Medievalist project in the middle of America.

Vote for Ozark Medieval Fortress as a Top Site in Arkansas

Arkansas is celebrating their 175th anniversary or their Septaquintaquinquecentennial. Try saying that three times fast.

They are also holding an online contest where you can vote on top sites to visit in Arkansas. It has been years since I visited that state, but the one thing that makes me want to travel there is so that I can see the Ozark Medieval Fortress and witness its progress firsthand.

Here is a link to a website where you can cast your vote. Please click on "attractions" and then select Ozark Medieval Fortress. You can vote once a day until June 8th. Let us in the online medievalist community help out this wonderful project get some recognition for their hard work and commitment to educating the public about how things were done in the past.

Thanks!

Linda

Edited to add: As of this morning, Thursday, May 26, 2011, the Ozark Medieval Fortress is ranked #2 on the list of all the attractions in Arkansas. Keep those votes rolling in, it only takes a second or two to cast it. I have been voting every day and watching the ranking steadily climb for the OMF.

Ozark Medieval Fortress, reopening March 27th

I apologize for the inactivity on this blog in the last few months. However, I was motivated to break this cyber-silence by wanting to share some news about the marvelous Ozark Medieval Fortress project.

For those unfamiliar with the OMF, think of being transported back in time and watching a medieval castle being built. You would see the quarrying of stone, stone masons shaping the stones, a blacksmith repairing the chisels used to cut the stones, a horse transporting the stones around the building site, a rope maker, a basket maker, a tile maker, etc.

That is what you will find in Lead Hill, Arkansas, not too far from the popular tourist city of Branson, Missouri.

Here is an architect's rendering of the site, (permission to use this image was to me granted by Noémi Brunet).

The site does not use power tools. They use thirteenth century technology. And that is what makes it so incredible. The process is just as important as the finished product.

The workers are not only engaged in construction, they are there to answer questions as well.

The OMF closed for the winter in November, but they are reopening for 2011 this Sunday, March 27th.

I wanted to alert my medievalist friends to the entertaining and informative blog by "Medieval James" a guide who works at the OMF. He has blogged about topics such as medieval games, the introduction of clocks, and how things were measured on medieval construction sites.

You can even find a video on his blog showing how stones are split by repeated blows with hammers.

I was recently contacted by Canadian filmmaker Pierre Samuel Rioux who shared with me an excerpt from his forthcoming documentary The Beginning of Ozark Medieval Fortress...in America. The excerpt shows an interview with a Danish volunteer and you will see a few brief scenes of a stone tower being built. Should that link not work, here is another for the same clip.

I hope you will share this with others to help spread the word about the Ozark Medieval Fortress.

Ozark Medieval Fortress: Opening Day is May 1st

I blogged previously about the building a medieval-styled fortress in the United States using 13th century technology.

Mark your calendars: The opening day of the Ozark Medieval Fortress has been set for Saturday, May 1st.

They have been feverishly working to get the site ready for that big day.

Here is a description of the project from their website:

Ozark Medieval Fortress is an educational adventure, inviting onlookers by showing and explaining the past: the extraction of boulders, shaping of stone, the assembly of a wall, woodworking transportation of materials by means of horse and cart. Educational visits and field trips are available will be reserved for children. Ozark Medieval Fortress is a fun, outdoor, living history book!

The scientific objective of Ozark Medieval Fortress is to build it in order to understand it. It acts to recreate in real life the procedures of construction, and the organization of a project from the 13th century. It is just like an archaeological dig in reverse, an open air laboratory. In order to insure the credibility and quality of the project, a scientific committee is in charge of studying and validating every stage of the construction.

I was given gracious permission by their general manager, Julie Cox-Sonveau, to publish recent pictures taken at the worksite.

A blacksmith fashions a tool.

Two workers moving a heavy stone.

A draft horse hauls stone and lumber from one area to another.

The start of a tower.

The artist's drawing of what the site is projected to look like this year.

An aerial view of the site.

The human "hamster wheel" is ready to lift heavy stone once the walls get high.

If you look closely, you can see a man inside the wheel powering it by walking. That technology dates back to the time of the Romans.

For more information about this incredible living history project, please visit their website. You can also find the Ozark Medieval Fortress on Facebook and Twitter.

The project is expected to take twenty years to complete, but I cannot wait that long to see it. I hope to be there at opening day. If so, I will have my own pictures to share.

A new blog on Paris and website update on the Ozark Medieval Fortress

I have been extremely busy this last month and have not had much time for blogging.

I hope to remedy that soon by continuing my long drawn out travelogue series on my trip to France.

In the meantime, I wanted to share with my readers a blog by my friend Molly Dwyer who is doing research for her second historical novel and is living in Paris for three months.

She has far more energy than I did when I was in Paris for a week, because she has blogged every day. Molly gives her insights about the historical places she has visited as well as what it is like to be An American in Paris.

Check it out, I think you will be delighted.

I also wanted to let my readers know that the website for the Ozark Medieval Fortress has recently been updated. It looks wonderful. I am looking forward to when I can visit the site in person.

Artistic Drawings of the Ozark Medieval Fortress

Here is my first update in regard to the planned Ozark Medieval Fortress that will be opening to the general public in the spring of 2010. My first post on this amazing project with pictures of the construction which started in June of this year can be found here.

Noémi Brunet shared with me the following drawings and gave me permission to post them on my blog.

This is what the Ozark Medieval Fortress should look like in the year 2010.

In the year 2020

And what it should look like when it is finished, projected to be in the year 2030.

May we all live long enough to see it completed!

Ozark Medieval Fortress - Opening May 2010

Workers in the quarry

Ground has been broken to build a medieval castle in the United States of America.

Stone by stone it is being built.

Each stone is cut by workers using hammers and chisels, then the stones are hewn by hand to the exact shape wanted by masons.

The masons carefully lay the stones down with mortar hand mixed on the site.

Workers in front of a partially constructed wall

The castle walls will be six feet thick and will stand forty-five feet high. The fortress will also have a drawbridge and a moat.

Close-up of the wall

This building project will be done year round and it is projected that the fortress will be completed in twenty years.

It is the Ozark Medieval Fortress being built in Arkansas, not far from Branson, Missouri.

Construction started in June 2009 and will be open for visitors in May 2010. Visitors will be able to see an active construction site and ask questions of the craftsmen. It is a wonderful opportunity to see how things were done before the advent of power tools.

I learned of this project via an email the other day. The creative forces behind the Ozark Medieval Fortress are the same ones who created Guédelon in France.

They discovered the blog post I had written about Guédelon and sent me an email telling me about their new project in Arkansas.

I had the wonderful experience of speaking with Michel Guyot's wife Noémi Brunet by phone the other day about Guédelon and the Ozark Medieval Fortress projects.

Noémi gave me permission to use these photographs to help illustrate my post.

An aerial view of the site.
On the left is the quarry, on the right is where the fortress will be built.

According to their website they are hiring right now.

They are in need of master stonemasons but this kind of project will need carpenters, blacksmiths, tile makers, rope makers, basket weavers and more. It is a veritable community of craftspeople whose skills are needed in the construction of castles.

The first of many workshops to be built.

They are also looking for people who would like to volunteer.

At Guédelon they have many volunteers who spend a portion of their holiday time helping in the construction. Some work as blacksmiths, while others cut down trees for scaffolding. They have some volunteers who enjoy the work so much that they come back year after year during their breaks from their regular jobs to spend time at Guédelon.

We used to have good old fashioned barn-raisings where a community would come together and help build a barn. Well if the idea of helping to build a castle intrigues you, even if it is only for a week or so, they would like your help.

You would not have to permanently move to Arkansas or change your career, but you can go and volunteer when you have some spare time.

Architectural drawing of the plans for the fortress.

A maquette of the future fortress.

Noémi was very interested in reaching out to the Medievalist communities in the United States and to tap into a potential volunteer pool. I am going to do my part to contact those who I think will share an interest in this living history project.

For more information about the project or how you can volunteer you can contact them via their website.

Another aerial view, this time showing the broad outlines of the future fortress.

I will be posting more on this subject in the future. I am certain of that.

In the meantime, please spread the word.


Edited to add: here is a link to my first update on this project which includes architectural drawings of what the finished fortress should look like in three different phases.