This man plans to live in a medieval-style house in a Co Galway woods

Two men took to the woods in Galway and built a roundhouse identical to what would have dotted the island in the Middle Ages. Now one of them plans to live in it

roundhouse

When I met Julius Brummelman at his roundhouse in the woods he grasped my hand with an iron grip. I knew then that the 28-year-old was a man who was used to hard work. Over the last two years, with his cousin Dylan van Leeuwen (30), he has built a medieval roundhouse in a beautiful woodland setting in County Galway. Surrounded by oak trees and bluebells and next to a bubbling stream, it looked exactly like the sort of place an ancient Irish family might have chosen to settle. Both young men, who were born in the Netherlands, have settled in Ireland where their aunt has lived for many years.

Roundhouse

This autumn Julius will begin a 60-day medieval living experience, based in this roundhouse, with no modern conveniences such as electricity or internet. He will be living mostly alone, accepting only special guests including his cousin, who can contribute their own particular skills.

The roundhouse is clearly a labour of love. The drystone walls are built without mortar and on top there is a perfectly circular thatched roof through which a spiral of woodsmoke emerges. Beneath the thatched eaves is a stock of well-seasoned logs that will provide renewable fuel for cooking basic foods. Julius explained, “We started in the first lockdown in spring 2020 when there was plenty of time available and we collected rocks to build the walls. We decided to use reeds for the roof. These can only be harvested in the winter so the reeds alone took about ten days to cut and bundle. Harvesting raw materials from nature is rough and takes time with only hand tools. We collected scraw from a bog to put on the roof too.

“Nobody had done that in living memory. A lot of the time was taken with figuring things out. And we hugely underestimated the time that the roof would take to build. The roundhouse was built in stages over the last two years. If it had been continuous work, it would probably have taken only a couple of months.”

The interior of the house is spartan with a rough hearth forming the central feature. Smoke fills the single room making my eyes water profusely but at least it keeps the midges at bay. I asked Julius what inspired him to undertake this project.

“Dylan and I got into wilderness living skills from a young age, spending time in the forest, staying out overnight– it evolved into practicing real bushcraft and survival skills. Years later, we wanted to build a base to practice here in Ireland. The initial idea was a simple structure that fits in the landscape, taking inspiration from how the people would have lived here hundreds of years ago. When I first came to Ireland, the difference in countryside to that of the Netherlands was huge. I love the stone walls here. That influenced us to build the walls of the roundhouse from stone. Today, we’re very glad we did.”

While occupying his roundhouse Julius intends to live on a very simple diet similar to that which medieval people would have had.

“I learned from survival experiences that, when you don’t have much food you can’t afford to be picky anymore and you really appreciate the food you do have. Oats and hazelnuts and greens will be the staple foods. This will be a bit more plain than my usual diet but it won’t be too far off. The carbs and nuts and some venison will keep me going.”

I ask him if he minds living alone in the woods. “It’s not a problem,” he says. “Growing up as a single child I’m used to being alone. I know that in medieval times people lived in communities but this is a far smaller project. I don’t mind being alone but it won’t be a hermit life. There will be some special guests in the fields of history and nature to add to the experience through their knowledge and skills. I will be wearing medieval clothing so I will have to get used to walking through the forest in a cloak and leather shoes.”

Years of survival skills, honed in living environments, have given Julius a great passion for the natural world. It is no coincidence that these two men have constructed the roundhouse in an old woodland. Forests were the dominant features of the landscape during the medieval period and they would have supplied much of the timber needed for such a construction. Julius is no stranger to European woods as he studied Forest & Nature Conservation at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He is keen for this roundhouse living experience to be, not only a great adventure, but also to benefit the land he is immersed in. His 60-day survival challenge will fundraise towards local native woodland conservation.

“There is a lot of focus now on tree planting,” he says, “but I think that the best way to extend the forests is to start with the existing isolated areas of old woodland. Connect them with corridors of trees especially along riversides. If we can restrict or limit the impacts that we have on the landscape, nature will plant trees for us and natural regeneration will take place.”

Long-established native woodlands are now quite rare, covering less than two per cent of Ireland. Many of those that survive today are small and fragmented. In the absence of natural predators such as wolves and eagles they are often overrun by herds of deer that graze out the young seedlings preventing natural regeneration. Julius says he wants to support action by community groups such as the Centre for Environmental Learning and Teaching (CELT), a charity based in the Slieve Aughty area, to protect and restore old woodlands. The ethos of CELT is to encourage individuals and communities to live a more sustainable way of life by providing skills and knowledge aimed at increasing personal capacity and community resilience. Their ‘Weekend in the Hills’ training events have captured the imagination of thousands of people.

Skills such as woodworking were essential for survival during medieval times. Wood was a vital material for these people for buildings, farming tools and making wheeled vehicles to transport materials. The guidance of historians and archaeologists has also been vital for the roundhouse project and some of them will be visiting Julius at the site to share their knowledge and skills.

Julius is a filmmaker and his YouTube channel smooth gefixt has an international audience. He releases weekly video updates on progress with the project and he has gained a dedicated band of followers.

Progress with the project can be followed through their social media channels ‘smooth gefixt’ (youtube.com/smoothgefixt, instagram.com/smoothgefixt, facebook.com/smoothgefixt). Julius will have a challenging but interesting summer ahead.

“I think the roundhouse building turned out very well,” he says, “but it was super-challenging and time consuming. It required a lot of motivation to finish it.”

With his combination of survival and building skills he is an ideal candidate to experience how life would have been in medieval times. He will be a better man at the end of it.

Richard Nairn is an ecologist and author. His latest book Wild Shores is published by Gill Books