Welcome to Willport! ...the Medieval Seaside Market!

The Build

The build consists of a seaside castle with a market and port inside of it. It is arranged in such way so that the focal point is actually the rear side of the castle instead of the gate as it usually is. The whole project takes 2183 pieces (minifigs included). For ease of use and mobility it can be split into four sections.

The main tower. The main keep and gatehouse of the castle can be split to access the interior. There you will find the harbormaster’s office in the upper floor and the loading/unloading area along with a wine cellar at ground level. At the top of the keep there is a catapult to fend enemies off the harbor!

Wagon and Ship. There is a wagon for the peasant to deliver the wine into the market and also fishing ship for the fisherman.

Market area. Includes few stands featuring different characters who come to sell their products: a blacksmith, a baker and a merchant/snake charmer with rare goodies from far away!

Lighthouse tower. The tallest tower of the castle has a big torch to guide ships on the sea towards the port. Sections of the tower can be taken off to place the crossbowmen minifig inside.

Side towers. They serve the purpose of defending the castle walls and also inspecting the ships as they get closer!

The Minifigs

The set includes a total of 9 minifigs. They are not as many as I wanted to include but hey, AFOLs can add their minifigs from their own collection to make this as crowded as they want!

The snake charmer: substitutes the Eastern Merchant.
The baker: feeds the public at the castle, yum.
The fisher: trades her fishing at her stand.
The smithy: sells his goods at his stand.
The guards: three good old crossbow archers.
The wine seller: sells his wine to the harbor master, for it to be shipped all across the kingdom.

The tax collector: keeps all the gold at his office.

The Product Idea

The main strength of this idea resides, in my opinion, on the way it stretches across several sub-themes. Despite of being a Castle at its core, it is also a port which can be appealing to the Pirates fans out there and at the same time it's also a marketplace for those who enjoy the everyday life scenes more than the battling, conquering and raiding scenarios.

Another key aspect is that although LEGO has released several boats for the Castle theme (Sea Serpent, King's Oarsmen, Viking Voyager, etc.), there has never been a port set where they all can dock and interact in a whole different way than the one that was presented in the Castle Theme sets. In a way this integrates with people’s collections and could easily make its way into AFOLs' medieval villages.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope you enjoy this submission!

Original version:
43.2 x 40.2 x 33.6 cm
17.0 x 19.8 x 13.2 in

Alternative shelf friendly version (see photo 3):
28.8 x 64.6 x 33.6 cm
11.3 x 25.4 x 13.2 in