The scale of this restoration is overwhelming. I’m just amazed that you two took this on and that you’re doing an amazing job on this beautiful chateau restoration.
Місяць тому+19
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that you're enjoying our journey.
Good afternoon, I'm relatively new here but am trying to catch up to speed. I know that much work has been done to restore the stone work due to it's soft nature. Is there something being done, if anything can be done, to try and protect it to slow the deterioration of the new stone?
I have no idea how you don't say "wow" a thousand times a day. Wow to things that you discover, wow to the work your artisans are doing, wow to the enormous changes to bring the chateau back to life. Cheers to you and the team.
Місяць тому+15
Thanks for your message... we must confess to exclaiming 'wow' all the time!
@@margielewis7493 No, unfortunately my grandmother spoke little because my grandfather was killed at the front during WW2. I just know that she had a friend there that she frequented even after leaving the place.
How exciting to see the moat being repaired. It must be such a relief to get that project underway. What a great story it has; it's fun to image the lives of the workers who used that moat daily. The projects you undertake are so huge; you two are incredibly courageous, and you also have vision, and Purnon deserves no less.
Memorys created for an architect, engineers, and workers' lifetime. It is a beautifully difficult endeavor. Preserving history is the most precious Gift to our future generations.
Really? I would think housing the homeless and feeding the hungry and stopping the innocent slaughter or children around the world would be a far greater gift for future generations!
The engineering of the moat is quite fascinating: increase light and air for employees, while still keeping them relatively invisible. Provide storage and work zones close to the building, but unobtrusively. It's also interesting that prior owners thought they could just muck about with those engineered walls without consequences. As always, your videos are so interesting, and so well-made. Thank you.
Howdy from Texas. Love your channel. Your enthusiasm for such a monumental undertaking is to be commended. Might I suggest that you reconfigure your metal detector to yield better results? Your coil needs to extend outwards, with the cable secured to the shaft. If you are wearing steel-toed boots, they can set off the detector when the coil is that close. Would love to see any of the artifacts discovered with the detector. Best of luck.
I appreciate that you're being practical. There's no sense building a wall that is historically correct but weak and will take up water and disintegrate.
The priority given to the moat is sense making..restorations that can retrieve what is remaining .. We can see the progress made is astounding making many grateful for your hard work..⭕️🌟⭕️
Sunday morning here in America and I love that your video is always my first UA-cam video😊 what a blessing to work with Mr. Deiter on this construction!! Have a beautiful week!!
Місяць тому+2
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that our updates are such an anticipated part of your Sunday morning! Best wishes to you also for the week ahead.
Rétablir ces douves sèches dans leur état d'origine est un projet titanesque et bien sûr le résultat sera là aussi spectaculaire. Vous redonnez la vie à une partie un peu mystérieuse de Purnon , vous sécurisez l'accès au château et vous le préservez de l'humidité du sol. Votre projet est tellement complet et tellement respectueux de l'histoire, c'est un bonheur et une expérience passionnante de vous voir et de vous suivre. Vous êtes vraiment extraordinaires.
Місяць тому+1
Merci pour votre message. La protection du patrimoine est au cœur de notre projet. Nous apprécions (comme toujours) vos encouragements.
I can't stop thinking of the servants who worked in the Chateau; the awe of seeing it for the first time, entering "their own entrance," children turning round and round in the dry moat with wonderment and laughter.
Not only this beautifully done restoration ads a chapter to the history of purnod but also the video documentation will be something for many centuries to admire.
Just incredible what a difference you are making in the history of this chateau. The drone footage is helpful and so beautiful to see the full scope of the undertaking.
Місяць тому
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that you're enjoying seeing our progress!
Flick and Tim, it would be a never ending discovery of artefacts and wonders of the past at your Chateau. The outside toilet structure was extraordinary and one wonders on the sewage systems that we in place, we remember when you first took possession of Purnon and the toilets that Tim collected during the first episodes of discovery. Thank you for another most informative and intriguing episode, take care, be safe and God Bless you both.
Can I say WOW? I just discovered you in the last week and have been obsessed with what you’re doing. The beauty of the Chateau, the history, the artisans, the care and planning which you are taking. Wow!
Місяць тому
Welcome to our adventure! Yes, Wow! We find ourselves saying that often. Enjoy.
I would love to see the arch of the latrine restored. It would re-create the original symmetry of three arches on the eastern wall, and would be true to the architect's vision.
This is a huge undertaking and is already looking very good brining everything back to how it was and making things so much stronger for future generations. All very exciting and can't wait to see the finished work. Well done!!
Місяць тому+2
Thanks for your message - we look forward to sharing our further progress with everyone.
If you like me grew up on a farm you know that foodstorage is very important. They did not go to the store to fill it up they used what was grown on the farmland during winter. That is why they had to have large storage, think all the carrots, potatoes and… that needed good storage. The storage was mainly under ground to keep the temperture constant. I do not know how people have become so detached to nature and surviving nowadays?! Just think about all the firewood that was used in that enormous house. You are doing a beutiful enormous work and it is very interesting to follow
@@pamtueller4362 it might have been used for herbs otherwise no. It takes a huge area to grow all the vegetables they need and that is what the farm on the land
I understand now your message that questions will be answered soon. Thank you! I doubt that any other latrine has ever been so gloriously featured in a video! The bit about the servants being able to discreetly come and go and with storage for firewood and food surplus all makes perfect sense and seems unique for a chateau of this age. Congrats on this discovery. It's been a big one looming. I remain completely gob smacked by this entire restoration! ♥ B
Every corner of this chateau is full of discoveries waiting to be uncovered, is so fascinating... do you think at the moats' original level there would have been flagstone pathways, and other areas of kitchen gardens (as stately homes always had a walled garden near the kitchens) and flagged areas to stop a quagmire in the winter, as the paths? Can't wait to see all that extra soil come out and what you find underneath !! So exciting 🎉
Місяць тому+4
We're not sure about pathways. But there was (and is) a stone guttering system that sits at the base of the chateau. There is also a stone base in the tunnel that serves the eastern moat. Both are actually very useful because when we reach them, we know definitively that we have reached the original base level. Thanks for your message.
These have definitely been some of my big questions in the back of my mind about the moat. Sweet answers, thy quenching are in this video. I did see one from a while back discussing how the servants used it. But that it was always used for this purpose! I haven’t seen anything like it in any other French chateau.
Wow …what amazing discoveries and progress on the wall .. it must be such a huge rewarding ,warm ,fuzzy experience to see history being rediscovered in front of you eyes ❤❤❤❤
Місяць тому
Thanks for your message. We love these projects with the possibility of new discoveries. Thanks for being part of our journey.
If you dig-out the well you should built a movable brace to hold the wall back as you dig. Basically a tube to prevent a slide as you work down and repairing/anchoring the wall as you go down.
I've wondered about the. moat for quite some time, so this was fascinating. I think I've only ever seen this application of a moat and storage spaces in a few of the enormous chateaux in France.
Interesting that the dry moat was used in that way for staff and storage; unique? I feel your pain; I'm moving cement hard ground in my garden landscaping thankfully not on your scale. 😉 Now I understand the need to restore the moat walls.
I immediately thought of a Kitchen Garden when you mentioned the extra kitchen storage space that was built into the walls of the Moat. As the space would appear to be adjacent to the Kitchen in some way, it would make sense to be able to access fruits and vegetables directly from the Moat (aka sunken garden?). I can also imagine espaliered fruit trees against some walls, other fruit trees in containers around garden pathways. It would be quite beautiful, as well as functional. That is what I was able to visualize as I watched this video. ☺
I look forward to watching your channel every Sunday here in the U.S. Always a pleasure watching and learning about the many facets of this beautiful chateau. Even though it’s an ongoing restoration site, the cinematography and music are simply relaxing for me.
Місяць тому
Thanks for your message. We're thrilled that our journey has become part of your Sunday routine. Best wishes to you.
I see what they did. The original moat walls and sellers had to be completely dismantled to get to the outer earth that was collapsing in on it. The new modern day bricks and cement was built to hold back the ground. That's being dedicated to insuring it will last. Excellent.
Well, what an enorous amount of work to repair those walls. I see tat the lavatory operates on what we kow in the US as the, Montana Drop System. I can;t wait to see the entire roof re-shingled. I guess were looking at close to a year. Good progree! Un abbraccio forte a tutti!
I am in awe of the restoration of this property. The original home was so breathtakingly beautiful. So many gorgeous fabrics, carpets, sculptures. But then we see the primitive latrines and moat walls. Such a stark contrast between elegance and practical necessaries.
26 днів тому
We're thrilled you're following our journey. Thanks for your message.
Quite honestly I would feel privileged to work with these companies that do these restorations on the glorious old estates it’s not a job your working you’re part of historical restoration and your name will go down in history as having had a working hand in this and to me that would be a great honor and privilege
Hi. There is smoke coming out of one of the chimneys ! Yipeeeee! Fireplace working? That would be comfy. What an unbelievable intensity of work before the winter arrives. The moat AND the roof. I presume, this is aboslutely unique. Only that I understood, that the well is close to the toilet? Oh oh.....Thanks for showing, like and greetings from Germany
Місяць тому+4
Thanks for your message. Yes, we have one fireplace that we use regularly when the colder months arrive.
Absolutely fascinating and I never tire of watching your stonemasons and their incredible skill. I wonder, do you intend removing the whole extra level of soil in the Moat in one go or in phases alongside each wall phase? It looks so beautiful already.
i had never heard of a dry moat before now i find them quite intriguing. ive always wanted a moat to fish out of and a drawbridge though. still my first choice 😂
Having spent seven years restoring our farm house in The Haute-Loire, your project is quite eye-watering. I understand well the cost (in a small way) of what you are doing and I am just bewildered by the scale of your works. Chapeau vraiment! It's funny to think that the water passing our land now is making it's way to you!
Місяць тому
Thanks for your message. Well done on your project - it sounds wonderful!
Excelente video. Es una experiencia visual extraordinaria ver los túneles, muros y letrinas que utilizaban los habitantes del.castillo. Debo confesar que estoy enamorado de castillo PURNON y de su larga e interesante historia, así como de la restauración que está en pleno proceso. Felicitaciones a Tim y Fel8city por su empeño y determinación por rescatar esta maravillosa, grandiosa e impresionante obra.
Місяць тому+2
Gracias por tu mensaje. Estamos encantados de que hayas disfrutado de este vídeo. Gracias por seguir nuestra aventura y por compartir nuestro amor por Chateau de Purnon.
The added soil to the moat raised humidity levels. It will be interesting to see what if any damp course was used originally or how rising damp would be dealt with. Very interesting watching all your works and discoveries.
I have followed your journey from the beginning, I am in awe of what you have undertaken, Australians taking on this massive restoration, what a responsibility. Why do you not translate your commentary in French, you may get more subscribers which you deserve. Michele. French by birth but following from the U.K.
Місяць тому+3
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that you've been following since the start. All of our videos have French subtitles - you just have to activate them. Obviously, the interviews in French with our architect and the various artisans are already in French.
How exciting restoring the mote hope the archways will not be covered up in one shot looks like the rock wall was covering the arch. It’s beautiful and cannot wait to see it finished shame the arch want be restored back to the original arch in the Lou people forget this was a common practice in the days the chateau was built would be a interesting site to see for visitors most are torn down but it is still the history of the chateau. Love watching the history and process of restoring this beautiful chateau ❤❤
Don’t forget people where shorter back then, so besides the floor getting leaden with dirt the ceiling heights weren’t that high. I think they will forgive you for lowering the floors a bit so the head room is better.
I thought that’s why it’s dry because at one point the floor of the moat was raised. The openings around the moat seem too short for people to pass easily. And one of the walls was taken out when the floor of the moat was raised. I was wrong.
You two are doing fantastic work ! The sheer size and scale of this project and progress made is amazing. I can’t imagine two people saying “ yeah, of course we can fix that” ! LOL...I also love your four legged helper. Always puts a smile on my face to see him/her walk up and just check out what’s going on and then wander off and lay close by. My uestion today about this video is...doesn’t that seem like a very long ( inefficient ) way to have to carry firewood for many many fireplaces? P.S I’ve got my roof tile coasters in the cart! 😃
At 13:37 outside of the latrines' there is a circular column on the ground.
Місяць тому+2
Well spotted - it's part of the old pipe system that served the latrine. Now decommissioned. It will almost certainly be removed as part of the current works and forms part of the network of pipes that explains why so much soil was added to the moat at the end of the 19th century.
Thank you for the video one day I hope to be able to subscribe to patreon. Being a senior in America is hard funds are limited in prices continue to rise. It's good to see you flick and tim and of course the famous mademoiselle Truffe.
Місяць тому
Watching our videos on UA-cam supports our restoration. We are very grateful! Thank you and best wishes to you.
Reminds of the great fairport convention song ‘ Matty Groves’- A grave a grave to bury them in, but bury my lady on the top, because she was of Nobel kin🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉The arsticocray never change🎉🎉😂😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉
Great to see you restoring the servants areas, it’s just as interesting as the upstairs! Once you have rebuilt the walls and cellars what will they be used for or your plans for them. Assuming you don’t want an outdoor latrine lol I saw some hedges and trees in the moat in the video. Will you be planting a garden or will it be a kitchen garden? 🧐
I find the moat and its purposes extremely interesting. I wonder how they emptied that latrine? Surely it filled up over time. And did its contents leach into the well?
Would you say that the structural design of Purnon's roof employs essentially the same principles of a masonry arch? As I was watching your last video, that's what struck me. The wood seemed to act like brick or masonry, but without the need for the centering piece during construction of the arch.
To think that when you told me this wasn’t a €20m in a previous video I started to doubt myself. Even the archeological part will be expensive yet alone sympathetic restoration.
I know you mentioned that you found the original floor level of the tunnels and cellars, I’m curious as to what the original level of the moat is? What’s underneath? Cobblestone Pathways? Or was there a garden for the kitchen?
You are doing a wonderful job. I am glad you found the graves of the original owners. I was sad to see their disrepair in the local cemetery. Would it be possible, once the structural restoration is almost complete, to "bring home" -so to speak - those graves and install them on the grounds in Purnon with appropriate monument/gravestones? It would be an act respectful of their memories and appreciative of their vision and their lives in a historically difficult time.
Water is the bane of every architect. Raising damp will plague you if you have it near your house. Unless you can "water-proof" your moat, then you will be sorry.
I respect and enjoy so much, your commitment to the historic and cultural integrity of your restoration journey; thank you. I have one quick question; did the dry moat also function as a barrier to grazing animals (both domestic and wild), to the immediate confines of the Chateau, and of course, the produce stored within its walls for the day-to-day domestic needs of the residents and staff? Realising the demands on your time, perhaps any local landscape historian might provide a comment?
Місяць тому+1
Firstly, thanks for your message. We're thrilled you're following our journey. Wild animals were kept out of the entire estate by the (originally) continuous wall, locked gates and Ha Has. There were, in more recent times, sheep grazed in the prairies. But when the chateau was originally designed the surrounding parks were intended to be highly geometric gardens 'a la Francaise'. There would have been no grazing animals near the chateau itself at the end of the 18th century. Of course, there was livestock in the farmyards (pigs, chickens etc). But based on the design of those spaces livestock would not have approached the chateau. The tunnels themselves appear to have had doors. But it is not clear if these are an original feature or were added later. The cellars (imbedded in the walls) also had doors. Again it is unclear if these were original. In summary, we don't believe that the primary purpose of the moat was to keep wild or grazing animals away from the food storage. The biggest animal risk to the food would have come from rats or foxes which are unlikely to have been deterred by the moat walls.
Those latrines are curious… how did they “evacuate” that waste?? So intriguing.
Місяць тому+16
When they constructed the chateau there was a clever system of water evacuation created. It enabled them to gather the rainwater off the roofs and store it via.a network of tunnels. The waste from the latrines is less clear because it appears to have been modified. Our working hypothesis is that the waste was evacuated from the back of the latrines and eventually arrived in a septic system to the north of the property. We hope to confirm this possibility during the current works.
Before the advent of sewage systems, buckets were used below the seat and emptied on a regular basis. My great great grandfather was a night soil man in Copenhagen. Each night he went out and collected the waste and, as was the custom, gave the soiled bucket back to the householder. One day he had a bright idea and bought lots of new buckets, took the soiled buckets back to his depot to clean them, and gave his customers a nice clean replacement bucket. None of his competitors were prepared to do this. Business boomed, and he got the contract to empty the buckets from the Royal palace and Parliament. He made enough money to send his children to university . . . ! Later the city council wanted to name the street that led to his dung hills after him, but he declined.
Місяць тому+5
What an extraordinary story! Thank you for sharing...we trust his children appreciated the sacrifices he made on their behalf!
A small correction: Great great grandfather started his business in 1850. He died while his children were still young and the business was sold to the Copenhagen City Council for a small fortune, enough to educate all six of his children and start them comfortably on their careers. There was a Naval Commander, a highly successful mechanical engineer, an institutor for Homes for Fallen Women, two daughters who made good marriages and my great grandfather, who became an an internationally famous Professor of Otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat specialist). It just takes a simple idea that no one else has thought of, or prepared to do, to lift your descendants into a better life . . . as they say: 'Where's there's muck there's brass'.
I wonder if the 'moat' could be used as a kitchen garden. It would depend on the angles of sun and shade of course but it would be a great use of otherwise vacant space. Also if the toilet was an arch similar to the food storage tunnels did that mean that the staff had to sit on the loo with all the world to see? Perhaps they had less prudery in the C18th.
I'm intrigued to know what the original floor level of the dry moat is/was - just dirt? Gravel? Cobblestones...? In the tunnels it looks like stone, is it like that all the way around, even outside?
Місяць тому+1
The stones do not extend everywhere throughout the moat. There are stone gutters directly beneath the walls of the chateau. But beyond the tunnels it appears that it was just packed earth.
Given the vista's around the chateau it is possible the dry moat was also a type of Ha Ha to keep grazing animals away. eg are there any records of a deer park?
The scale of this restoration is overwhelming. I’m just amazed that you two took this on and that you’re doing an amazing job on this beautiful chateau restoration.
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that you're enjoying our journey.
Good afternoon, I'm relatively new here but am trying to catch up to speed. I know that much work has been done to restore the stone work due to it's soft nature. Is there something being done, if anything can be done, to try and protect it to slow the deterioration of the new stone?
I have no idea how you don't say "wow" a thousand times a day. Wow to things that you discover, wow to the work your artisans are doing, wow to the enormous changes to bring the chateau back to life. Cheers to you and the team.
Thanks for your message... we must confess to exclaiming 'wow' all the time!
Ma grand mère à travaillé dans ce château lorsqu'elle était enfant vers 1915 elle était native des caves de puygareau près de Lencloître. bravo à vous
Did you hear of any of her stories about life at the castle?
@@margielewis7493 No, unfortunately my grandmother spoke little because my grandfather was killed at the front during WW2. I just know that she had a friend there that she frequented even after leaving the place.
How exciting to see the moat being repaired. It must be such a relief to get that project underway. What a great story it has; it's fun to image the lives of the workers who used that moat daily. The projects you undertake are so huge; you two are incredibly courageous, and you also have vision, and Purnon deserves no less.
Memorys created for an architect, engineers, and workers' lifetime. It is a beautifully difficult endeavor. Preserving history is the most precious Gift to our future generations.
Really? I would think housing the homeless and feeding the hungry and stopping the innocent slaughter or children around the world would be a far greater gift for future generations!
You are my first stop Sunday mornings, thank you for being so reliable that I can look forward to your update every Sunday without fail.
Wonderful! We're thrilled that we're part of your Sunday routine.
The music is really nice but seeing the actual work with explanations is something that is really meaningful. Thank you.
We're thrilled you enjoyed this episode.
The engineering of the moat is quite fascinating: increase light and air for employees, while still keeping them relatively invisible. Provide storage and work zones close to the building, but unobtrusively. It's also interesting that prior owners thought they could just muck about with those engineered walls without consequences. As always, your videos are so interesting, and so well-made. Thank you.
Howdy from Texas. Love your channel. Your enthusiasm for such a monumental undertaking is to be commended.
Might I suggest that you reconfigure your metal detector to yield better results? Your coil needs to extend outwards, with the cable secured to the shaft. If you are wearing steel-toed boots, they can set off the detector when the coil is that close. Would love to see any of the artifacts discovered with the detector. Best of luck.
I like it how you finish each video sitting and talking to each other, another excellent video, thanks
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that you enjoy the format.
I appreciate that you're being practical. There's no sense building a wall that is historically correct but weak and will take up water and disintegrate.
The priority given to the moat is sense making..restorations that can retrieve what is remaining ..
We can see the progress made is astounding making many grateful for your hard work..⭕️🌟⭕️
Sunday morning here in America and I love that your video is always my first UA-cam video😊 what a blessing to work with Mr. Deiter on this construction!! Have a beautiful week!!
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that our updates are such an anticipated part of your Sunday morning! Best wishes to you also for the week ahead.
Good morning from Melbourne. Another project underway and another part of the Chateau being saved. Well done guys.
Thanks for your message... we look forward to keeping you updated as we progress this project.
Rétablir ces douves sèches dans leur état d'origine est un projet titanesque et bien sûr le résultat sera là aussi spectaculaire. Vous redonnez la vie à une partie un peu mystérieuse de Purnon , vous sécurisez l'accès au château et vous le préservez de l'humidité du sol.
Votre projet est tellement complet et tellement respectueux de l'histoire, c'est un bonheur et une expérience passionnante de vous voir et de vous suivre. Vous êtes vraiment extraordinaires.
Merci pour votre message. La protection du patrimoine est au cœur de notre projet. Nous apprécions (comme toujours) vos encouragements.
I can't stop thinking of the servants who worked in the Chateau; the awe of seeing it for the first time, entering "their own entrance," children turning round and round in the dry moat with wonderment and laughter.
Not only this beautifully done restoration ads a chapter to the history of purnod but also the video documentation will be something for many centuries to admire.
We hope so! Thanks for your message.
Every aspect of this restoration is truly facinating!
We're thrilled that you're enjoying each step in our journey. Thanks for your message.
Just incredible what a difference you are making in the history of this chateau. The drone footage is helpful and so beautiful to see the full scope of the undertaking.
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that you're enjoying seeing our progress!
Flick and Tim, it would be a never ending discovery of artefacts and wonders of the past at your Chateau. The outside toilet structure was extraordinary and one wonders on the sewage systems that we in place, we remember when you first took possession of Purnon and the toilets that Tim collected during the first episodes of discovery. Thank you for another most informative and intriguing episode, take care, be safe and God Bless you both.
Can I say WOW? I just discovered you in the last week and have been obsessed with what you’re doing. The beauty of the Chateau, the history, the artisans, the care and planning which you are taking. Wow!
Welcome to our adventure! Yes, Wow! We find ourselves saying that often. Enjoy.
I would love to see the arch of the latrine restored. It would re-create the original symmetry of three arches on the eastern wall, and would be true to the architect's vision.
I agree!!! 💯
I agree as well
It's a new day here, 🌄 morning has arrived, Holidays around the corner, and Chateau de purnon, A Hallmark story!!
Wonderful! Best wishes to you.
Thank you!
This is a huge undertaking and is already looking very good brining everything back to how it was and making things so much stronger for future generations. All very exciting and can't wait to see the finished work. Well done!!
Thanks for your message - we look forward to sharing our further progress with everyone.
If you like me grew up on a farm you know that foodstorage is very important. They did not go to the store to fill it up they used what was grown on the farmland during winter. That is why they had to have large storage, think all the carrots, potatoes and… that needed good storage. The storage was mainly under ground to keep the temperture constant. I do not know how people have become so detached to nature and surviving nowadays?! Just think about all the firewood that was used in that enormous house.
You are doing a beutiful enormous work and it is very interesting to follow
I'm thinking that the Moat was also used for a garden area for ease of use for the kitchen 🤔
@@pamtueller4362 it might have been used for herbs otherwise no. It takes a huge area to grow all the vegetables they need and that is what the farm on the land
I understand now your message that questions will be answered soon. Thank you! I doubt that any other latrine has ever been so gloriously featured in a video! The bit about the servants being able to discreetly come and go and with storage for firewood and food surplus all makes perfect sense and seems unique for a chateau of this age. Congrats on this discovery. It's been a big one looming. I remain completely gob smacked by this entire restoration! ♥ B
Every corner of this chateau is full of discoveries waiting to be uncovered, is so fascinating... do you think at the moats' original level there would have been flagstone pathways, and other areas of kitchen gardens (as stately homes always had a walled garden near the kitchens) and flagged areas to stop a quagmire in the winter, as the paths? Can't wait to see all that extra soil come out and what you find underneath !!
So exciting 🎉
We're not sure about pathways. But there was (and is) a stone guttering system that sits at the base of the chateau. There is also a stone base in the tunnel that serves the eastern moat. Both are actually very useful because when we reach them, we know definitively that we have reached the original base level. Thanks for your message.
These have definitely been some of my big questions in the back of my mind about the moat. Sweet answers, thy quenching are in this video. I did see one from a while back discussing how the servants used it. But that it was always used for this purpose! I haven’t seen anything like it in any other French chateau.
Château de Brézé in the Loire valley is having even deeper dry moats!
Wow …what amazing discoveries and progress on the wall .. it must be such a huge rewarding ,warm ,fuzzy experience to see history being rediscovered in front of you eyes ❤❤❤❤
Thanks for your message. We love these projects with the possibility of new discoveries. Thanks for being part of our journey.
If you dig-out the well you should built a movable brace to hold the wall back as you dig. Basically a tube to prevent a slide as you work down and repairing/anchoring the wall as you go down.
I've wondered about the. moat for quite some time, so this was fascinating. I think I've only ever seen this application of a moat and storage spaces in a few of the enormous chateaux in France.
Interesting that the dry moat was used in that way for staff and storage; unique? I feel your pain; I'm moving cement hard ground in my garden landscaping thankfully not on your scale. 😉 Now I understand the need to restore the moat walls.
I immediately thought of a Kitchen Garden when you mentioned the extra kitchen storage space that was built into the walls of the Moat. As the space would appear to be adjacent to the Kitchen in some way, it would make sense to be able to access fruits and vegetables directly from the Moat (aka sunken garden?). I can also imagine espaliered fruit trees against some walls, other fruit trees in containers around garden pathways. It would be quite beautiful, as well as functional. That is what I was able to visualize as I watched this video. ☺
I look forward to watching your channel every Sunday here in the U.S. Always a pleasure watching and learning about the many facets of this beautiful chateau. Even though it’s an ongoing restoration site, the cinematography and music are simply relaxing for me.
Thanks for your message. We're thrilled that our journey has become part of your Sunday routine. Best wishes to you.
I see what they did. The original moat walls and sellers had to be completely dismantled to get to the outer earth that was collapsing in on it. The new modern day bricks and cement was built to hold back the ground. That's being dedicated to insuring it will last. Excellent.
Well, what an enorous amount of work to repair those walls.
I see tat the lavatory operates on what we kow in the US as the, Montana Drop System.
I can;t wait to see the entire roof re-shingled.
I guess were looking at close to a year.
Good progree!
Un abbraccio forte a tutti!
Wonderful episode.
I am in awe of the restoration of this property. The original home was so breathtakingly beautiful. So many gorgeous fabrics, carpets, sculptures. But then we see the primitive latrines and moat walls. Such a stark contrast between elegance and practical necessaries.
We're thrilled you're following our journey. Thanks for your message.
So excited to see the dry Moat brought back to life
Thanks for your message - we can't wait to share our next steps in this project.
Quite honestly I would feel privileged to work with these companies that do these restorations on the glorious old estates it’s not a job your working you’re part of historical restoration and your name will go down in history as having had a working hand in this and to me that would be a great honor and privilege
Such amazing discoveries and workmanship. Looking forward to seeing more next week 😍😘
Hi. There is smoke coming out of one of the chimneys ! Yipeeeee! Fireplace working? That would be comfy. What an unbelievable intensity of work before the winter arrives. The moat AND the roof. I presume, this is aboslutely unique. Only that I understood, that the well is close to the toilet? Oh oh.....Thanks for showing, like and greetings from Germany
Thanks for your message. Yes, we have one fireplace that we use regularly when the colder months arrive.
Absolutely fascinating and I never tire of watching your stonemasons and their incredible skill. I wonder, do you intend removing the whole extra level of soil in the Moat in one go or in phases alongside each wall phase? It looks so beautiful already.
Have you considered selling prints of the original plans of the chateau? Thats something I would like to hang up at my house.
I love the originality of the repairs with the new retaining walls and would be horrified bye the cost of new tofu stone blocks and labour
i had never heard of a dry moat before now i find them quite intriguing. ive always wanted a moat to fish out of and a drawbridge though. still my first choice 😂
Always something special and interesting to watch thank you for sharing
Thanks Noeline - we're thrilled that you're enjoying our adventure.
Having spent seven years restoring our farm house in The Haute-Loire, your project is quite eye-watering. I understand well the cost (in a small way) of what you are doing and I am just bewildered by the scale of your works. Chapeau vraiment! It's funny to think that the water passing our land now is making it's way to you!
Thanks for your message. Well done on your project - it sounds wonderful!
Excelente video. Es una experiencia visual extraordinaria ver los túneles, muros y letrinas que utilizaban los habitantes del.castillo. Debo confesar que estoy enamorado de castillo PURNON y de su larga e interesante historia, así como de la restauración que está en pleno proceso. Felicitaciones a Tim y Fel8city por su empeño y determinación por rescatar esta maravillosa, grandiosa e impresionante obra.
Gracias por tu mensaje. Estamos encantados de que hayas disfrutado de este vídeo. Gracias por seguir nuestra aventura y por compartir nuestro amor por Chateau de Purnon.
Thanks!
Thank you - we really appreciate your ongoing support!
The added soil to the moat raised humidity levels. It will be interesting to see what if any damp course was used originally or how rising damp would be dealt with. Very interesting watching all your works and discoveries.
the best chateau channel
Thank you! We're thrilled you enjoy our adventure.
Enquanto nos mostram o fosso, também gostamos de saber os progressos feitos no interior.
Obrigada e boa sorte!
I have followed your journey from the beginning, I am in awe of what you have undertaken, Australians taking on this massive restoration, what a responsibility. Why do you not translate your commentary in French, you may get more subscribers which you deserve. Michele. French by birth but following from the U.K.
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled that you've been following since the start. All of our videos have French subtitles - you just have to activate them. Obviously, the interviews in French with our architect and the various artisans are already in French.
Thank you for sharing another wonderful video today 🫶😊 much love from our home to your home 🫶❤️😊😊
Thank you for your message!
The meticulous care And respect you approach this restoration of this unique architectural wonder is exquisite to watch
From India 🙏🏽
Thank you for your message - we're thrilled you're following!
This is beyond hard work, I’m so impressed you two took this on!
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled you're following our journey.
It's such a beautiful chateau!
How exciting restoring the mote hope the archways will not be covered up in one shot looks like the rock wall was covering the arch. It’s beautiful and cannot wait to see it finished shame the arch want be restored back to the original arch in the Lou people forget this was a common practice in the days the chateau was built would be a interesting site to see for visitors most are torn down but it is still the history of the chateau. Love watching the history and process of restoring this beautiful chateau ❤❤
I love how you go at every job ,with such gusto ❤
We can't help it!
Don’t forget people where shorter back then, so besides the floor getting leaden with dirt the ceiling heights weren’t that high. I think they will forgive you for lowering the floors a bit so the head room is better.
I thought that’s why it’s dry because at one point the floor of the moat was raised. The openings around the moat seem too short for people to pass easily. And one of the walls was taken out when the floor of the moat was raised. I was wrong.
As you dig out the "moat" I hope you find more treasures! Exciting when you guys find more clues to the history of the chateau
We can't wait to share the next discoveries. There is always something to uncover. Thanks for your message.
Truely Amazing: Bravo and thank you from me and generations to come.
Thank you! We're thrilled you're following our journey!
Im always happy when I see you post a new video. So many things to find. What a dream come true.
Thanks for your message - we're thrilled you await each new episode with anticipation!
Brilllllliant - love the editing merging centuries of life - thanks for sharing ⛵️ 👍
Our pleasure - we're thrilled you enjoyed this episode.
So amazing to see the moat walls transform. Will the latrines ever be used again I wonder...
We will try and preserve them... but we won't be using them! Sometimes the old ways aren't always the best!! Thanks for your message.
You two are doing fantastic work ! The sheer size and scale of this project and progress made is amazing. I can’t imagine two people saying “ yeah, of course we can fix that” ! LOL...I also love your four legged helper. Always puts a smile on my face to see him/her walk up and just check out what’s going on and then wander off and lay close by.
My uestion today about this video is...doesn’t that seem like a very long ( inefficient ) way to have to carry firewood for many many fireplaces?
P.S I’ve got my roof tile coasters in the cart! 😃
So beautiful!
Thrilled you enjoyed it!
Thank you
You're welcome.
It always amazes me how much weight an simple stone arch can support.
The power of a perfectly-placed keystone!
Looking great! Wonderful stonemasons ❤
Thanks - we are in awe of their skills and passion.
What a wonderful wonderful project . ❤
Thank you - we're thrilled you're enjoying our journey.
At 13:37 outside of the latrines' there is a circular column on the ground.
Well spotted - it's part of the old pipe system that served the latrine. Now decommissioned. It will almost certainly be removed as part of the current works and forms part of the network of pipes that explains why so much soil was added to the moat at the end of the 19th century.
I can just imagine the domestic staff scurrying, loitering, chatting, going about their business in the moat during the day.
What an evocative image!
Thank you for the video one day I hope to be able to subscribe to patreon.
Being a senior in America is hard funds are limited in prices continue to rise.
It's good to see you flick and tim and of course the famous mademoiselle Truffe.
Watching our videos on UA-cam supports our restoration. We are very grateful! Thank you and best wishes to you.
It would be a great place to keep my chickens though I love that aspect of it.
Looking very special.
We can't wait to share further progress - stay tuned.
Reminds of the great fairport convention song ‘ Matty Groves’- A grave a grave to bury them in, but bury my lady on the top, because she was of Nobel kin🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉The arsticocray never change🎉🎉😂😂😂😂🎉🎉🎉
Exciting discoveries.
Glad you enjoyed this episode.
Great to see you restoring the servants areas, it’s just as interesting as the upstairs!
Once you have rebuilt the walls and cellars what will they be used for or your plans for them. Assuming you don’t want an outdoor latrine lol
I saw some hedges and trees in the moat in the video. Will you be planting a garden or will it be a kitchen garden? 🧐
Love your channel
Thank you - we're thrilled you're following!
Amazing work! Will you be removing all the added soil from the moat?
I find the moat and its purposes extremely interesting. I wonder how they emptied that latrine? Surely it filled up over time. And did its contents leach into the well?
Beautiful story
Thank you!
Would you say that the structural design of Purnon's roof employs essentially the same principles of a masonry arch? As I was watching your last video, that's what struck me. The wood seemed to act like brick or masonry, but without the need for the centering piece during construction of the arch.
I keep looking at what’s left of the lions flanking the steps. That will be a challenging task recreating them.
The lions will be tackled in a future phase of works - yes, a very challenging project. We'll restore the bridge itself first.
To think that when you told me this wasn’t a €20m in a previous video I started to doubt myself. Even the archeological part will be expensive yet alone sympathetic restoration.
I know you mentioned that you found the original floor level of the tunnels and cellars, I’m curious as to what the original level of the moat is? What’s underneath? Cobblestone Pathways? Or was there a garden for the kitchen?
Wow. Just wow.
We're thrilled you enjoyed this episode.
You are doing a wonderful job. I am glad you found the graves of the original owners. I was sad to see their disrepair in the local cemetery. Would it be possible, once the structural restoration is almost complete, to "bring home" -so to speak - those graves and install them on the grounds in Purnon with appropriate monument/gravestones? It would be an act respectful of their memories and appreciative of their vision and their lives in a historically difficult time.
Nice!
Thanks - thrilled you enjoyed it.
Water is the bane of every architect. Raising damp will plague you if you have it near your house. Unless you can "water-proof" your moat, then you will be sorry.
I respect and enjoy so much, your commitment to the historic and cultural integrity of your restoration journey; thank you. I have one quick question; did the dry moat also function as a barrier to grazing animals (both domestic and wild), to the immediate confines of the Chateau, and of course, the produce stored within its walls for the day-to-day domestic needs of the residents and staff? Realising the demands on your time, perhaps any local landscape historian might provide a comment?
Firstly, thanks for your message. We're thrilled you're following our journey. Wild animals were kept out of the entire estate by the (originally) continuous wall, locked gates and Ha Has. There were, in more recent times, sheep grazed in the prairies. But when the chateau was originally designed the surrounding parks were intended to be highly geometric gardens 'a la Francaise'. There would have been no grazing animals near the chateau itself at the end of the 18th century. Of course, there was livestock in the farmyards (pigs, chickens etc). But based on the design of those spaces livestock would not have approached the chateau. The tunnels themselves appear to have had doors. But it is not clear if these are an original feature or were added later. The cellars (imbedded in the walls) also had doors. Again it is unclear if these were original. In summary, we don't believe that the primary purpose of the moat was to keep wild or grazing animals away from the food storage. The biggest animal risk to the food would have come from rats or foxes which are unlikely to have been deterred by the moat walls.
Those latrines are curious… how did they “evacuate” that waste?? So intriguing.
When they constructed the chateau there was a clever system of water evacuation created. It enabled them to gather the rainwater off the roofs and store it via.a network of tunnels. The waste from the latrines is less clear because it appears to have been modified. Our working hypothesis is that the waste was evacuated from the back of the latrines and eventually arrived in a septic system to the north of the property. We hope to confirm this possibility during the current works.
Before the advent of sewage systems, buckets were used below the seat and emptied on a regular basis. My great great grandfather was a night soil man in Copenhagen. Each night he went out and collected the waste and, as was the custom, gave the soiled bucket back to the householder. One day he had a bright idea and bought lots of new buckets, took the soiled buckets back to his depot to clean them, and gave his customers a nice clean replacement bucket. None of his competitors were prepared to do this. Business boomed, and he got the contract to empty the buckets from the Royal palace and Parliament. He made enough money to send his children to university . . . !
Later the city council wanted to name the street that led to his dung hills after him, but he declined.
What an extraordinary story! Thank you for sharing...we trust his children appreciated the sacrifices he made on their behalf!
A small correction: Great great grandfather started his business in 1850. He died while his children were still young and the business was sold to the Copenhagen City Council for a small fortune, enough to educate all six of his children and start them comfortably on their careers. There was a Naval Commander, a highly successful mechanical engineer, an institutor for Homes for Fallen Women, two daughters who made good marriages and my great grandfather, who became an an internationally famous Professor of Otolaryngology (ear, nose and throat specialist). It just takes a simple idea that no one else has thought of, or prepared to do, to lift your descendants into a better life . . . as they say: 'Where's there's muck there's brass'.
You are both amazing! What an immense project you have taken on. I would be overwhelmed.
I wonder if the 'moat' could be used as a kitchen garden. It would depend on the angles of sun and shade of course but it would be a great use of otherwise vacant space. Also if the toilet was an arch similar to the food storage tunnels did that mean that the staff had to sit on the loo with all the world to see? Perhaps they had less prudery in the C18th.
I love the history ❤
Wonderful. We can't wait to share more. Thanks for your message.
Will you be leaving the latrine door as it is or returning it to it's original arch entrance?
I'm intrigued to know what the original floor level of the dry moat is/was - just dirt? Gravel? Cobblestones...? In the tunnels it looks like stone, is it like that all the way around, even outside?
The stones do not extend everywhere throughout the moat. There are stone gutters directly beneath the walls of the chateau. But beyond the tunnels it appears that it was just packed earth.
Given the vista's around the chateau it is possible the dry moat was also a type of Ha Ha to keep grazing animals away. eg are there any records of a deer park?