HOW TO BUILD A CASTLE WITH 13TH CENTURY TOOLS

This project is 25 years in the making, and it's the world's most comprehensive archaeological experiment... building a medieval castle from scratch using only the tools and materials available in the 13th century.

It may seem like an insane task when we have technology at our hands, but the idea of this experiment is to learn more about medieval life. The creation of a castle is complex and requires many hundreds of people, and this project is no different.

Because it took so long, the workers needed a place to sleep. These small abodes would multiply and, soon, there was a village on the outskirts of the property. This, in fact, is the reason for many of Europe's biggest cities.

The site was often chosen, not for the scenery, but because of the surrounding resources. Interestingly, a vast majority of castles in England and France were built on a quarry so that the rocks, hundreds of tons of them, didn't need to be transported too far.

This series of five shows follow our presenters as they join the build for six months, living off the land and learning the multitude of disciplines required to build a castle. There are carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths, farmers and more all involved in recreating this experiment as accurate as possible. Incredibly, many of the people on site have been a part of the project for more than a decade.

If you're keen on history and want to find out more about how a 13th-century castle was built, then join the team at Absolute History and their fascinating documentary below.