Researching Gillette castle in Connecticut. I kept wondering why American castle reproductions bugged me so much on a visceral level, and I realized that its the atrocious masonry. Almost all American castles will be a pile of rocks after 100 years unless they all undergo millions of dollars in restoration. You would think that such expertise as was spent on the like of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial in Pittsburgh or any of the great State buildings in Washington DC could have translated to US mansion builds in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but alas, no. I lived where oratories built in 530 AD still had their corbeled roofs intact, for the simple fact that its gravity that needs to hold stone together and not concrete. I had a pint with a stone mason in Kerry who was so attuned to his craft, he once told me that while building a house, he would hold the stones up to his ear and listen to them telling him where they wanted to be placed. You might think thats nonsense and balderdash until you look at these pictures: 1) Brendans Oratory, Kerry, built 530 AD approx. 2) Glendalough oratory, Wicklow, built 1100 AD approx. 3) Skellig Michael oratory, Kerry, built 600 AD approx. 4) OFlaherty castle, Galway, built 1550 AD approx., used concrete in the construction but the masonry was sound; still standing. Many Norman tower houses are slowly crumbling due to concrete usage. ...AND: (**SIGH**) 5) Gillette castle, Connecticut. **cringe** ... *facepalm* that poor poor man, to have such horrible masons in charge of such a beautiful and ingenious design.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 21:24:37 +0000
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