On a windswept hill outside of Lexington, Virginia, a dedicated crew went to work in April of 1997.

Virginia Military Institute cadets, their professors, and a group of experts on timber frame construction built a trebuchet.

A cousin of the catapult, the trebuchet may not have a place in a modern arsenal, but in medieval times it was a powerful weapon, capable of launching large rocks at enemy fortifications.

The project required eight thousand dollars worth of materials and many times that amount in volunteer labor.

Cadets muscled the 22-foot arm back into position...

and then watched as the machine sent a 60- pound rock sailing over the Rockbridge County countryside.

Four days after the group began with a pile of timber, members celebrated atop a working trebuchet.

Photographer: Lawrence Young, News7  

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