Work at the Château de St-Ferriol
Various types of work are undertaken at the Château de St-Ferriol.One strand of work centres on the restauration of the fabric of the building, using natural materials such as stone, lime, wood, iron and hemp.
A second strand centres on the creation of period garden, including knot gardens, kitchen gardens, herb gardens and medicinal gardens. We have a large garden around the house as well as approximately 10 hectares made up of smallish parcels of land in the surrounding valleys where we are slowly colonising with planting, cultivation and management. We do not use chemicals. We are becoming self sufficient in vegetables, fruit, nuts, herbs, fodder and wood, while concentrating on the major building work required to restore the château.
In addition there is a range of miscellaneus work, including coppicing, retoring village houses, taking care of litters of dogs, woodwork, repairs and maintenance, excavations and historical research.
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Examples of Work Completed
Doors.
None
of the original doors has survived in working order, although a few of
them are salvageable. Also, there is enough evidence to repair, or in
most cases recreate, doors in the original style. These are heavy wooden
doors, held together by traditional iron nails which provide attractive
decoration. Heavy hand-forged iron straps, also nailed on, are hinged
on iron pins (gonds) set into the stonework. Many medieval builders set
the iron gonds directly into the stonework, often with unfortunate results.
When
the iron got wet and oxidised, it expanded - often cracking the stonework.
At least one of the workers on the original construction new the old Roman
trick of dipping ironwork in molten lead before setting it into stone
- a technique which avoids the problem. We have therefore been using this
technique for setting new gonds into stone, and have hung more than a
dozen new doors in this way. Excavations.
Various items were discovered in a cellar which had been sealed and recently re-opened.
Among them were chain mail; a number of pots, some of them whole; glass; jewellery and an unidentified tool.
In front of the front door inside the courtyard we have discovered a large pit, which does not appear to for drainage.
We believe that it was originally defensive, covered over by wooden boards in times of safety,
and quickly removed in time of trouble.
It is positioned directly under a bratice (for tipping unpleasant things -
boiling oil according to popular imagination - on unwelcomed visitors.
Discoveries elsewhere included coins dating from the reign of Louis XVI - just before his execution.
Fireplaces Rebuilt.
All
of the monumental stone fireplaces had suffered from movement, and the
lintels were damaged. Using a range of techniques, and replacing a few
stones, stonemasons have repaired them. Three of them are now in regular
use in the winter months - burning logs which generally need to people
two move them. Gardens created.
The
land around the house had not been cultivated for many years. Along with
teams of volunteers we have demolished a number of recent stone buildings,
terraced the main area to the East of the chateau, and planted a number
of gardens - mainly for fruit trees, vegitables, and herbs. We are now
almost self suffient in fruit and vegitables, and grow about thirty different
herbs. Window restored to original form.
A
ground-floor Renaissance stone mullioned window had been converted into
a doorway to allow farm vehicles to be housed in the Great Hall. (see
left) In 2003 two stone masons restored the window to its original form (see right).
Demolishing a wall
Tower Room
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Work Underway
A number of projects are currently underway. Among them are:Creating a herb garden.
Creating a kitchen garden.
Tree planting.
Restoring the great hall.
Restoring the courtyard
Restoring the main cellar
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Work Planned
Creating a knot garden
Litter of Dogs
We breed poodles - not the cosseted modern lap dogs that many people associate with the word "poodle".
These are large dogs, the original breed, natural water retrievers.
The last litter consisted of twelve live births of which we kept two bitches.
Most of them have found homes in France, but others now live in Spain and the USA.
Poodles are the most intelligent dogs.
They grow quickly and are naturally inquisitive.
This means that they learn quickly and need lots of exercise, which in turn calls for lots of
long walks in the countryside.
As they are natural swimmers - they even have webbed feet - they particularly enjoy summer walks down to the
nearby river.
Click on the following link to open a website on real Standard Poodles in a new window:
Replacing the roof
Restoring a small cellar
Decorating the Great Hall
The
walls will be lime washed and then painted in late medieval style. Surviving
paintwork in one room reveal that the original owners were still decorating
in a what would have been a very old fashioned style in the fifteen hundreds.
The technique, widespread in the earlier part of the Middle Ages, was
to paint large regular ashlars onto the plain lime washed walls. Sometimes,
as in the surviving sample, they were left plain. Sometimes a simple design
would be repeated in the centre of each painted stone. (This fashion was
never abandoned in local churches, so you can find hundreds of examples
in the area, and our restauration will be based on these). Contemporary
fashion in the sixteenth century was to paint was to paint walls with
abstract repeating designs or murals, often in bright primary colours.
We hope to decorate other rooms in this style. Planting an orchard
Buiiling up a laboratory/workshop in the main cellar
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