1 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,880 Castles have stood indomitably in Britain for centuries. 2 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:14,520 Over almost 1,000 years, 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:18,680 they've played a seminal role in the history of these islands. 4 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:21,440 During the Norman Conquest, 5 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:24,080 they were used as instruments of invasion... 6 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:25,840 BLAST AND SCREAMING 7 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:30,200 ..and throughout the Middle Ages as a means to colonise the land 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:34,360 and determine the destiny of both Wales and Scotland. 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,480 But it was the centuries following the Middle Ages 10 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:42,560 that would see castles undergo their greatest transformation yet. 11 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:50,680 Now, these strongholds were to be tested by the latest weapons of war. 12 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:53,760 Firing the cannon! 13 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,640 CANNON BLASTS 14 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:00,920 And to incorporate this new fire power, 15 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,640 they had to be entirely redesigned. 16 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,480 But their military use was slowly to give way 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,400 as they became the architectural playthings 18 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,440 of the fashionable aristocracy. 19 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:19,440 The castle was to be the setting for seducing a sovereign. 20 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:24,280 And from near-extinction, they were to be revived 21 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,920 and venerated in both literature and art... 22 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,800 ..to take on the symbolic power of myth. 23 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,680 The mighty castle would be transformed 24 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,160 from strongholds built for conflict, 25 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,320 to the romantic ruins of our imagination. 26 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:08,600 In 1464, this bold and brooding fortress, Bamburgh Castle, 27 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,160 here in Northumberland, came under violent attack. 28 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,760 But the offensive didn't come from marauding invaders 29 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:21,080 across a hostile sea, nor from the lawless border region 30 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:25,800 to the north where encroaching Scots had already attempted two sieges. 31 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,000 It came from inland, from the English themselves, 32 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,440 at a time when the country was in the grip of civil war, 33 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,280 a War Of The Roses, 34 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:40,760 fought between the rival families of Lancaster and York. 35 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,280 By 1464, Bamburgh Castle 36 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,320 remained the last outpost of Lancastrian power in the north, 37 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,240 and in June, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, 38 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,960 otherwise known as Warwick The Kingmaker, 39 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,520 arrived here with a large Yorkist army 40 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,800 to lay siege to the castle in the name of King Edward IV. 41 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,800 For nine months, its sturdy walls had held fast, 42 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,760 but alongside his archers and men at arms, 43 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:15,080 Warwick now had the latest siege weapon at his disposal. 44 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,720 Three of the largest cannon in the realm, 45 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,720 each weighing a tonne or more, were brought in by sea to finish the job. 46 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,800 These great guns were now lined up in front of the castle walls, 47 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,080 and Warwick issued his ultimatum, passing it to his herald to deliver. 48 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:54,080 Written by Warwick himself on behalf of King Edward IV, 49 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:59,400 it was to be handed to the commander of Bamburgh as his last chance. 50 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,240 This ultimatum was a dire warning to the Lancastrians, 51 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,520 and it shows just how much Edward valued the castle 52 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:14,680 for its strategic importance. 53 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,640 Not only did he want to capture Bamburgh Castle, 54 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:19,600 he wanted to take it intact. 55 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,960 As it so clearly states, "If ye deliver not this jewel, 56 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:29,560 "which the King specially desireth to have whole, 57 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:31,560 "unbroken, with ordennaunce. 58 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,680 "If ye suffer any great gun laid into the wall, 59 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,600 "it shall cost you the chieften's head." 60 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,640 But the Lancastrians stood their ground, 61 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,320 so Warwick The Kingmaker gave the command 62 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,640 and all the great guns fired simultaneously. 63 00:04:50,720 --> 00:04:54,600 GUNFIRE 64 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:04,800 It was reported that the stones of the walls flew into the sea, 65 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,360 and with its subsequent quick surrender, 66 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,280 Bamburgh became the first English castle 67 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:12,800 ever to be captured by cannon fire. 68 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,800 What happened here showed that the latest siege weapon 69 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:21,400 was a worthy match for these high and mighty castle walls 70 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,480 and that the castle would have to adapt, 71 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,800 it would have to incorporate this fire power 72 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:30,400 if it was to remain the impregnable stronghold it had always been. 73 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,840 And it was the eventual winners of the Wars Of The Roses, 74 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:36,640 the Tudors, who would make that change happen. 75 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:47,320 Within a generation, 76 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:52,000 Henry VIII was to place the country in a very vulnerable position. 77 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:57,240 His marriage to Anne Boleyn and her controversial execution 78 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,800 had led to a break with the Catholic Church 79 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:03,400 and the subsequent dissolution of the monasteries. 80 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,800 A sequence of events that would usher in 81 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,200 the reformation of the Church of England. 82 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,960 This reformation made England and the 'infidel' Henry, 83 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:19,200 as the Pope had labelled him, the prime target. 84 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:21,560 With the alliance of Charles V of Spain 85 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,720 and Francis I of France in 1538, 86 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:29,320 such was the threat posed by these combined powers of Catholic Europe 87 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:33,040 that Henry realised the pressing need to defend his realm 88 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:34,360 at all costs. 89 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,320 And for that, he would need a new kind of castle altogether. 90 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:49,040 Henry realised he would need a line of powerful new sea defences, 91 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,480 and it's strongly believed that he himself 92 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:53,560 had a hand in their innovative layout 93 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,240 which borrowed heavily from French and Italian fortifications. 94 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:03,120 This unique drawing by his team at Hampton Court 95 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,840 shows off a working design for the new Henrician Castle 96 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:10,080 with the emphasis on fire power through numerous gunports 97 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:15,320 or, as it was noted then, 'splays as the King's grace hath devised.' 98 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,920 Low, thick, semi-circular structures called bastions 99 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,240 would serve as platforms for heavy guns, 100 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:27,680 while lighter guns could be fired from ports piercing the towers, 101 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,840 to shatter enemy warships threatening from the sea. 102 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:34,360 But which parts of England's coastline 103 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,680 were most susceptible to invasion? 104 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,480 Henry sent agents out across the land 105 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,720 to assess the most vulnerable parts of the coast. 106 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:48,760 They sent their reports back to court 107 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:51,960 and they were fashioned into detailed maps just like this one. 108 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,000 In order to emphasise the areas at risk of enemy landings, 109 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,000 the map-maker has exaggerated the size of the beaches 110 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:03,200 and he's also shown where an enemy can't land 111 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,680 by exaggerating the size of the cliffs. 112 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:08,960 Defensive measures include real and proposed forts, 113 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,000 and he's also shown church towers 114 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,320 and beacons for conveying the news of an invasion to court. 115 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:19,240 Henry's chain of coastal forts were built at terrific speed, 116 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:21,880 20 within a two-year period. 117 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,120 It was the largest defence programme since Saxon times, 118 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:26,760 and it was largely paid for 119 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,320 by the proceeds from the dissolution of the monasteries. 120 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:34,600 So religious faith now paid for royal castles. 121 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:50,160 And two of Henry's finest castles are to be found here in Cornwall, 122 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,040 facing each other at the mouth of the River Fal. 123 00:08:55,880 --> 00:08:58,880 These two headlands with their respective castles, 124 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,440 Pendennis here and St Mawes over there, 125 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,160 safeguard the Fal estuary leading to Falmouth. 126 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:08,120 A vast and deep body of water, 127 00:09:08,120 --> 00:09:11,520 it was considered a very tempting target by our enemies. 128 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:13,480 It was a perfect natural harbour 129 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,880 and the first safe landfall for ships crossing the Atlantic, 130 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:20,920 coming from the Mediterranean or even further afield. 131 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,480 It would be a perfect toehold in England. 132 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,480 The close proximity of these two castles was due to the limited 133 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,800 firing range of their cannon. 134 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:34,760 With only one castle, enemy ships would have been able 135 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,880 to evade their firepower and enter the estuary. 136 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:41,440 Pendennis Castle still offers us 137 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,880 a glimpse into the working life of these fortifications. 138 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,160 This is the original Tudor gun room. 139 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,040 And with its seven gun embrasures, 140 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,360 you get a sense of just how powerful this place was 141 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:59,080 and also of the cramped, smoky and noisy conditions for the gunners. 142 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:01,880 It was also a very dangerous environment, with risks 143 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:06,480 of explosion from loose gun powder or of guns overheating. 144 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,280 But to get an even better idea of the defensive power 145 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,040 of castles like these, 146 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:13,720 I'm going to get my hands on one of these beasts. 147 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,800 So here it is, a replica Tudor cannon. 148 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:29,160 I'm particularly excited 149 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:31,480 because I've never fired one of these before. 150 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:33,760 The first thing we've got to do is load the charge 151 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:36,080 and, for that, I need a powder scoop. 152 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,760 I'm going to fill this scoop with coarse gun powder, 153 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,520 which is the type of gun powder you use for the charge. 154 00:10:46,680 --> 00:10:49,480 The next thing to do is to very carefully 155 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,440 put this scoop into the bore... 156 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:56,520 ..and then push it all the way down... 157 00:10:58,160 --> 00:10:59,920 ..to the end of the chamber. 158 00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:04,040 And when it's down there, we just give it a twist, 159 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:05,640 give it a shake, 160 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,920 and that means all of the gun powder will come out of the chamber 161 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:10,320 at the end of the cannon. 162 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,120 The next thing to do is to get some wadding. 163 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:18,080 They would have used dried grass like this or maybe some old rope. 164 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:19,960 So I'm going to make that into a ball. 165 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:25,600 And then put it down here. 166 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:28,000 I need to push that in with a ramrod. 167 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,000 I'm going to push this all the way in, 168 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,760 and this'll compress all the gun powder 169 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:40,360 up at the end of the chamber. 170 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:43,840 I have to tamp down the charge, 171 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,160 unfortunately no cannonball this time. 172 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,880 The next thing we need to do is to prime the touchhole. 173 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:57,800 Now, for that, we need special, fine priming powder 174 00:11:57,800 --> 00:11:59,800 because the touchholes are quite small. 175 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:06,480 Time to safety up. 176 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:13,880 OK, I'm ready to fire the cannon. 177 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:16,680 And for that, I need this evil-looking thing here 178 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:18,160 which is called a linstock. 179 00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:22,160 SHOUTS: Firing the cannon! 180 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:25,880 CANNON BLASTS 181 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:28,760 CANNON BLASTS 182 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:31,680 CANNON BLASTS 183 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:36,600 Impressive maybe, 184 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:41,360 but many of Henry's coastal forts never even fired a shot in anger, 185 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,360 though deterrence was always one of their most important functions. 186 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,960 As one of Henry's ambassadors said in 1539, 187 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:51,440 "What a realm will England be 188 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,160 "when his grace has set walls that run around us. 189 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:58,000 "England will then be more like a castle than a realm." 190 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:08,000 All of these fortifications are designed to restrict 191 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,960 the options of your opponent, so in doing so, 192 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:16,120 they succeed, even if they do not face conflict. 193 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:21,040 In a way, by building fortresses, what Henry VIII is showing 194 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:23,440 is that he doesn't intend to be intimidated 195 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,360 and that in order to overcome him, his opponents will have to 196 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:31,040 stage a full-scale invasion, which lessens the chance that they will. 197 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,400 The deterrence these coastal defences provided 198 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:45,520 is most evident here at Deal in Kent, 199 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:49,520 the largest and most elaborate of Henry's new castles. 200 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,960 Deal stands squat to the ground, like a battle tank, 201 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,840 to present as little and as low a target as possible. 202 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,120 And, astonishingly, 203 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:10,520 it has 145 gunports for cannon of various sizes and for handguns. 204 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,080 Few castles anywhere, of any period, 205 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:17,120 have so much fire power built into them. 206 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:24,080 Henry was extremely proud of Deal's design and layout... 207 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:29,880 ..so much so, that when his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, 208 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:34,360 first landed on English soil in December 1539, 209 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:39,640 she was banqueted here in the incomplete shell of the castle. 210 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,040 But to really appreciate this castle, 211 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:45,200 you have to see it as the Tudors never could... 212 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:47,520 from way up there. 213 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:54,040 With its six overlapping bastions, 214 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:56,480 the characteristic geometrical layout 215 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:01,520 of the Henrician castle is here at its most elaborate, 216 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,160 giving, whether by accident or design, 217 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:07,240 the striking impression of a Tudor rose. 218 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,600 With Britain's frontiers now firmly protected, 219 00:15:12,600 --> 00:15:16,480 there seemed little need for our ancient inland castles 220 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:18,680 to be defensive strongholds. 221 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,520 The castle now became a symbol of wealth and nobility. 222 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,160 During his reign, Henry VIII had picked out 223 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,920 Kenilworth in Warwickshire as a prized ancient castle 224 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:33,560 that should be maintained, 225 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:37,240 as he stated, "For our resort and pleasure." 226 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:42,120 It provided the very latest in comfort and residential splendour. 227 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:46,160 The way it was lit, the way the domestic space was divided up, 228 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:49,720 the way it was set in the heart of the landscape, full of gardens, 229 00:15:49,720 --> 00:15:52,680 parks and sporting facilities. 230 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:54,520 This is a palace, not a castle. 231 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,840 By the time of the accession of Henry's daughter Elizabeth I 232 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:06,600 in 1558, Kenilworth was in the hands of her childhood sweetheart, 233 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:08,840 Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 234 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:13,800 who continued to transform the castle in a bid to woo his Queen. 235 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:22,320 However, one person stood in the way of their union - Dudley's wife. 236 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:25,080 And her mysterious death the following year, 237 00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:28,720 apparently after falling down a flight of stairs, 238 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,120 far from freeing Dudley to marry, 239 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,200 plagued him with accusations that he'd arranged her death. 240 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:52,080 But, guilty or not, Dudley was now an eligible nobleman 241 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,240 and a serious contender for the Queen's hand. 242 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:06,080 Though cautious of the scandal surrounding his wife's death, 243 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:09,960 Elizabeth still made several visits to Kenilworth. 244 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:16,400 Her fourth stay, in July 1575, was for an unprecedented 19 days, 245 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,640 the longest halt of any royal tour in her reign 246 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:23,080 and a reflection of the high favour in which she held Dudley 247 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:24,200 at this time. 248 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:29,920 For him, this was a last, desperate bid to win his Queen 249 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,040 and he pulled out all the stops. 250 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,760 To the thunder of guns, the explosion of fireworks 251 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:39,840 and a fanfare by six trumpeters dressed in silk 252 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,440 and standing on 8ft-high stilts, 253 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,040 the Lady Of The Lake, guardian of Excalibur 254 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:47,840 appeared over there on a floating island 255 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,200 in the middle of a vast body of water, 256 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:53,240 or a mere, that once surrounded this castle. 257 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:56,160 And she did so alongside an 18ft mermaid 258 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,400 and musicians riding a 24ft dolphin. 259 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,360 The Lady Of The Lake then declared that she'd been safeguarding 260 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:07,000 this castle since King Arthur's day and that she now offered it all up, 261 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:10,760 along with all of its power therein, to Queen Elizabeth. 262 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:12,480 And Elizabeth's reaction? 263 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,880 Well, she certainly enjoyed the spectacle but she was heard to quip 264 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,040 privately that surely everything 265 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,200 she was being offered was hers anyway. 266 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:30,080 Dudley's conjuring of Camelot served a strong purpose. 267 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,840 The Tudors claimed a direct lineage with King Arthur 268 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,600 and it was a further attempt to legitimise Elizabeth's reign 269 00:18:37,600 --> 00:18:41,600 after she had been declared a 'bastard queen' by the Pope. 270 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:45,360 Kenilworth was to be a showpiece for her golden age. 271 00:18:47,120 --> 00:18:49,640 It's reputed that Elizabeth and her entourage, 272 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,600 which included 31 barons and 400 servants, 273 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,600 cost Dudley some £1,000 a day, 274 00:18:56,600 --> 00:19:00,200 that's roughly 175 grand in today's money, 275 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:05,360 and that's on top of the £60,000, some 10.5 million quid, 276 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:08,200 that he'd already spent improving the castle, 277 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,240 including that very handsome tower behind me 278 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:15,040 which was used as Queen Elizabeth's luxury state apartments. 279 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,760 Here's an interesting artefact from the Queen's apartments 280 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:22,920 and it's not what you might think. 281 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,760 It looks like a heavily-carved overmantel, 282 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:27,520 but, in fact, it's believed to be 283 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,360 the headboard from Queen Elizabeth's bed. 284 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:32,600 Here, you can see a carved 'E', 285 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:36,960 and over on the other side is an 'R' carved into the wood. 286 00:19:36,960 --> 00:19:40,200 Now, it stands of course for Elizabeth Regina, 287 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,000 but it could as easily stand for Elizabeth and Robert. 288 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,720 Aside from her favourite pursuits such as dancing and hunting, 289 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:05,840 Dudley laid on bear-baiting, Italian acrobatics, 290 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,040 and even a poet dressed as a singing holly bush who, 291 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:10,240 in florid verse, 292 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,480 tried to convince Elizabeth to stay for a few more days. 293 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:17,240 And it's even said that the festivities were witnessed that day 294 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,680 by a ten-year-old local lad named Will Shakespeare, 295 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:24,520 and what he saw made it into A Midsummer Night's Dream. 296 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,120 HE PLAYS A MELODY 297 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:36,680 For the duration of her 18-day visit, the clock which once adorned 298 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:39,480 the southeast turret of the central tower behind me, 299 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,280 you could still see exactly where it was today, 300 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:44,120 was dramatically stopped 301 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:48,120 to indicate that time itself stood still for the Queen. 302 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:51,000 This was a moment frozen in history. 303 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,160 Kenilworth was a new realm, 304 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,640 a realm based on the ideas symbolised by Camelot - 305 00:20:56,640 --> 00:21:02,080 something enduring, something noble, something worth protecting. 306 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:18,280 Whilst the Tudors may have turned castles into playthings 307 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:21,760 for the fashionable aristocracy, it would be many years 308 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,080 before castles entirely lost their military purpose. 309 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,120 And in the Stuart Age that followed, 310 00:21:30,120 --> 00:21:34,240 the defensive function of the castle would be enshrined in law. 311 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:43,560 In 1628, the leading jurist of the day, Sir Edward Coke, 312 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,240 published this book, a legal treatise 313 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,160 called The Institutes Of The Laws Of England, 314 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:51,120 in which he laid down the whole concept 315 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:53,800 of something called Castle Law. 316 00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,880 In this law, he designated a person's abode as a place 317 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,200 where they had certain protections and immunities. 318 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,640 And it contains a line that has remained in common parlance 319 00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:05,680 ever since. 320 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:10,840 "For a man's house is his castle, 321 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,640 "and each man's home is his safest refuge." 322 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:25,880 But in 1643, the second year of the English Civil War, 323 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,000 it wasn't a man but one extraordinary woman 324 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,360 who embodied Coke's dictum that a man's home is his castle. 325 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,760 I've come to Corfe Castle in Dorset, probably my favourite castle, 326 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:41,600 for its wonderful setting. 327 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,840 And it was here that one of THE most extraordinary 328 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:49,120 and largely untold stories of the English Civil War took place. 329 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:56,400 GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING 330 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,600 This Civil War, fought between Oliver Cromwell's 331 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:05,640 Parliamentarians and the royalists under King Charles I, 332 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:10,080 caused ancient castles, fortifications and even town walls 333 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,920 to suddenly acquire a value and function 334 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,040 that had been almost forgotten. 335 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:16,880 SHOUTING 336 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:18,680 GUNFIRE 337 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,760 And by 1643, with most of Dorset 338 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,360 in the hands of the parliamentary forces, 339 00:23:24,360 --> 00:23:28,360 Corfe Castle was holding out as a royalist stronghold. 340 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,680 But when its owner, the Lord Chief Justice Sir John Bankes, 341 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:35,960 was called away to attend the King, 342 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:40,080 his wife, Lady Mary, assumed control of the castle. 343 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:45,720 And together, with her six daughters and a force of just five men, 344 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:50,160 Lady Mary now prepared to withstand any assault levelled at her. 345 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,200 The first attempts to take the castle were pathetic 346 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:56,400 to say the least. 347 00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,600 A small group of Parliamentarians pretended to be a stag-hunting party 348 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:02,520 but their ruse was seen through. 349 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:06,440 And then another, astonishingly, pretended to be a group of tourists 350 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,640 wanting to look around the castle, but Lady Mary 351 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:12,840 sent them all packing and ordered the gates closed to all comers. 352 00:24:16,120 --> 00:24:19,760 Fearing further and more serious attempts on the castle, 353 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:25,080 Lady Mary stocked up on provisions and called in reinforcements. 354 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:29,560 And it was just in time because in June, 1643, 355 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:33,360 the Parliamentarians launched a major siege 356 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:37,560 with a force of between 500-600 Roundheads 357 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,960 and two siege engines nicknamed The Boar and The Sow. 358 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:47,920 The siege ensued for six weeks. 359 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,080 The Parliamentarians were unable to breach the castle walls 360 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:54,400 and proved easy targets for the royalist marksmen. 361 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,680 With Lady Mary's garrison commander 362 00:24:56,680 --> 00:24:59,520 successfully protecting the Outer Bailey down there, 363 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:04,000 Lady Mary herself took control of the Inner Ward up here. 364 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,040 GUNFIRE 365 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:09,000 GUNFIRE 366 00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:12,280 GUNFIRE 367 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:13,320 GUNFIRE 368 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,000 One account of the siege describes how Lady Mary herself 369 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,880 and her daughters had to repel assailants on siege ladders 370 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:25,200 by heaving down stones and hot embers from the walls. 371 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,560 The siege ended with the loss of over 100 Parliamentarians, 372 00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:37,120 as opposed to only two of the castle defenders. 373 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:41,240 Lady Mary was clearly no pushover and, for rebuffing the siege, 374 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:43,920 she gained the nickname Brave Dame Mary. 375 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:51,240 For the next two years, Corfe Castle continued to hold out 376 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,480 as a royalist stronghold, 377 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:55,520 but its luck would not last. 378 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,640 One night in February 1646, under cover of darkness, 379 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,440 a royalist officer well-known to Lady Mary, 380 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:07,280 called Lieutenant Colonel Pitman, 381 00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:09,840 arrived here at the South West gatehouse 382 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:12,840 with what appeared to be a royalist relief force. 383 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,360 But what the welcoming garrison didn't know 384 00:26:19,360 --> 00:26:22,200 was that Pitman had already been captured 385 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:25,000 and had turned his coat, switched sides, 386 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,760 in order to save his life. 387 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,160 The relief force was nothing of the sort 388 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,760 but really Parliamentarian soldiers in disguise. 389 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,440 But by the time that they realised it was too late. 390 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,800 Pitman and about 50 of his soldiers had been granted entry 391 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:42,840 and they set about seizing the castle. 392 00:26:45,120 --> 00:26:48,280 After several hours of fighting, Brave Dame Mary 393 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:49,880 and her garrison surrendered. 394 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,920 So Corfe was finally taken, but only by treachery. 395 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:03,640 And what of Lady Mary? 396 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:11,240 Here at Kingston Lacy, a few miles from Corfe, 397 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,280 which subsequently became the Bankes' family home, 398 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:18,360 a fascinating relic survives from the siege of Corfe Castle. 399 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,560 Brave Dame Mary may have lost her castle 400 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,120 but she did retain her dignity 401 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:33,640 and, for all of her fortitude and extreme courage, 402 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:37,520 she was allowed to keep the keys to her castle. 403 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:42,080 And she was allowed to keep all of them, from this absolute monster 404 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,720 right down to this little chappie here, 405 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:47,760 a symbolic reminder of this extraordinary moment 406 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:49,080 in our castle history. 407 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:00,920 Lady Mary's resilience 408 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:04,360 had been a huge embarrassment to the Roundheads 409 00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:05,920 and, upon Corfe's capture, 410 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:09,000 Parliament realised they needed to make an example of it, 411 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:11,040 so, with immediate effect, 412 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,040 they ordered the destruction of the castle. 413 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:18,560 However, they hadn't reckoned on its solidly-engineered structure. 414 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,920 Despite the most determined attempts 415 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,280 to destroy the castle with gun powder, 416 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,160 they simply couldn't raze it to the ground. 417 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,640 The marvel of Corfe's construction meant 418 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:33,480 that its immense masonry held fast. 419 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,480 Its walls bowed out and slid down the slope here, 420 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,680 but they simply refused to be destroyed. 421 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,720 With its custodian Brave Dame Mary defeated, 422 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:47,000 it's almost as if the castle itself was resisting history's attempts 423 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:48,200 to extinguish it. 424 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,240 Yet for Charles I, there wasn't a safe castle 425 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,400 in which to make a last stand. 426 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:10,320 Instead, he was entirely at the mercy 427 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:12,720 of the victorious Parliamentarians. 428 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:19,240 Whilst Parliament and the army debated what to do 429 00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:21,000 with their troublesome King, 430 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,080 Charles had slipped quietly away from Hampton Court, 431 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:26,160 where he'd been placed under house arrest, 432 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:29,680 and he made sail across the Solent for the Isle Of Wight. 433 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:31,800 He believed it was the perfect vantage point 434 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:33,840 where he could stay in touch with his supporters 435 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:35,920 both at home and on the Continent. 436 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:48,000 But as soon as he reached his intended destination, 437 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,320 here at Carisbrooke Castle, 438 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,840 and surrendered himself to its governor Colonel Hammond, 439 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:57,680 Charles realised he'd made a serious misjudgement. 440 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:02,600 Far from helping Charles to escape, Colonel Hammond became his jailer. 441 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,760 Charles was no ordinary prisoner and, to begin with, 442 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:13,000 he and his large entourage enjoyed considerable freedom, 443 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,080 hunting and hawking and careering about the island 444 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:17,320 in their carriages. 445 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,840 The meals he ate were hardly the food of prisoners, 446 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,520 20-course feasts were prepared for him. 447 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:34,280 This is the King's bedchamber. 448 00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:38,000 Guards were set at his door to make sure that he couldn't escape, 449 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,880 but he still managed to communicate with the outside world. 450 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,760 There's even a letter that he sent from this room... 451 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:49,080 ..and it's fascinating because it's written in code. 452 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,440 Even after generations of scholarship, 453 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:56,480 we still don't know what this cipher means, 454 00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:59,240 so it's a challenge for all you code breakers out there. 455 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:05,640 As well as composing secret messages, 456 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:08,480 Charles was also planning his getaway. 457 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:17,560 The King's chief ally in the castle was Henry Firebrace and, 458 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,080 as relations with Parliament deteriorated, 459 00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:22,440 together, they plotted his escape. 460 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:27,720 So the plan was for King Charles to escape out of his window here 461 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,880 down a rope that Firebrace would have left in his room, 462 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,240 and Firebrace would then meet him here. 463 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:36,400 Together, they would cross the castle yard 464 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:38,680 to the base of the wall on the southern side. 465 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:43,600 Here, Charles would climb the steps to the battlements. 466 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,120 The plan was to come here because it's a short drop 467 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:53,480 to the ground below, and he could then scramble down the slope, 468 00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:55,720 meet a friend with a fast horse 469 00:31:55,720 --> 00:31:57,960 who would then whisk him away to a waiting boat. 470 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:01,120 But none of this happened 471 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:04,400 cos Charles was unable to fit through his window. 472 00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:06,960 The one thing he'd said to leave up to him, 473 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:09,000 but he was unable to deliver. 474 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,120 Something to do with all of those meals? 475 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:16,480 Charles was now thrown wide open to ridicule, 476 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,080 as shown by this illustrated pamphlet 477 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:21,000 that was distributed at the time. 478 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:25,040 A further escape attempt ended in failure 479 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:27,000 and forced Parliament's hand. 480 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:31,720 In November 1648, Charles was escorted back to the mainland 481 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:36,120 before being tried and found guilty of high treason against the realm. 482 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,960 Two months later, he was beheaded. 483 00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:44,680 So, poor old Charles got the chop, 484 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,880 but I rather like the irony of what happened here, 485 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:52,280 how a castle fit for a king so easily became a prison for one. 486 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:59,000 But although Carisbrooke had served the Parliamentarians well 487 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,080 in detaining the monarch, 488 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:05,440 they had ideological objections to the whole idea of castles. 489 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:09,520 They saw them as symbols of aristocratic and royal privilege. 490 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:14,080 As the Civil War came to an end, Parliament began to draw up 491 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:18,280 a big and worrying plan for castles throughout the land, 492 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,120 namely slighting. 493 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:27,800 Slighting - in other words, partly destroying the fortifications 494 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:30,040 so that they shouldn't be useful again - 495 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:34,400 is the penalty that the victorious Parliamentarians inflict, 496 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,280 particularly on royalist-sympathising towns 497 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:39,120 and on royalist aristocrats. 498 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,560 It is a potent symbolic demonstration of the new order 499 00:33:42,560 --> 00:33:44,560 and it is also practically significant 500 00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:48,840 cos it means that they are less likely to be able to resist a siege. 501 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:54,880 Here at Kenilworth, 502 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:59,280 which had been such a spectacular showpiece for Elizabeth I, 503 00:33:59,280 --> 00:34:03,240 Parliament now made a very lasting point. 504 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:08,160 Slighting the north face of this magnificent central tower 505 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:11,000 was unnecessary from a military perspective, 506 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:13,680 but it was the castle's most visible feature 507 00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:18,080 and its most potent symbol of the old royalist order. 508 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:22,000 By tearing this place down, Parliament was displaying 509 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,840 how it had torn open the heart of the monarchy. 510 00:34:35,720 --> 00:34:40,320 They even dug up the formal gardens, and drained the Great Mere. 511 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:45,360 Kenilworth finally lost its reflected glory. 512 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,720 By the 1650s, over 100 castles 513 00:34:51,720 --> 00:34:55,360 and fortified towns had been slighted across the country. 514 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,760 But what Parliament hadn't quite realised, 515 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,760 as witnessed at both Corfe and Kenilworth, 516 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:04,480 was that slighting a castle was no easy feat. 517 00:35:04,480 --> 00:35:05,880 You could use gun powder, 518 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:09,320 but the quantities you needed to bring down a castle were vast, 519 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:12,480 and it rapidly became prohibitively expensive. 520 00:35:12,480 --> 00:35:15,440 Or if you wanted to re-use the material, 521 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:19,160 you needed teams of labourers, you needed masons, miners 522 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:20,760 and carpenters. 523 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:25,160 Tearing these places down was often as challenging as putting them up. 524 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,560 Aside from the task of demolition itself, 525 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:34,240 deciding which castles were to be slighted 526 00:35:34,240 --> 00:35:36,200 seemed to be equally difficult... 527 00:35:37,280 --> 00:35:40,400 ..with the House Of Commons and House Of Lords constantly 528 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:43,600 at odds with each other over which castles to ruin 529 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:45,240 and which to maintain. 530 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:50,600 And when it came to Windsor Castle here, which had been captured 531 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:54,400 by Oliver Cromwell in 1642 and used as a prison, 532 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:57,880 the bill to slight it, the proposal even to demolish it, 533 00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:01,760 was said to have been beaten down by just a single vote. 534 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,760 It's fascinating to think that there was once a time 535 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:08,200 when Windsor Castle, perhaps our most iconic castle, 536 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,640 and the castle that symbolises our history and monarchy 537 00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:13,680 on an international stage, 538 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,840 was being seriously considered for demolition. 539 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:24,560 But although Windsor and other prominent castles survived, 540 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:27,920 in truth, the slighting of castles during this period, 541 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:29,960 was the single most radical change 542 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:34,080 to the established architecture of England until the Second World War. 543 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:49,040 With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 544 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:51,240 and the end of internal conflict... 545 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:57,000 ..the castle began to be seen in an entirely different light. 546 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:02,960 During the restoration and beyond, the castle underwent a distinct 547 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,120 transformation in the public imagination. 548 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:10,040 No longer a structure used to defend or uphold the realm, 549 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:13,480 it came to symbolise a great historical past, 550 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:17,360 almost as if it was defending the idea of a realm. 551 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,280 This was something well understood by one of the leading architects 552 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:26,520 of the day, Sir John Vanbrugh 553 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:30,880 who, in 1707, wrote that he wished to give his designs 554 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:33,440 "something of the castle air" 555 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:37,160 and to make "a very noble and masculine show." 556 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,040 And it's this little gem in Blackheath, South London, 557 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,400 built by the architect for his family in 1718 558 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,480 which best captures this ambition. 559 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:52,960 For four years in his youth, Vanbrugh had been imprisoned 560 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:55,360 as a spy in the French Bastille. 561 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:57,920 But far from burying this experience, 562 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:01,480 he drew on it to recreate a fortress or castle 563 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:06,040 in miniature, complete with square flanking towers, a turret 564 00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:11,040 and even its rumoured secret escape tunnels running down to the river. 565 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:15,280 Vanbrugh's notion of a "castle air" gained ground 566 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:18,960 during the early 18th century, and architects of stately homes 567 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,720 across the country began to be inspired by this castle style. 568 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:30,480 Vanbrugh's castle style led into a period of particular reverence 569 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:32,160 for the medieval. 570 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:37,080 This kind of revivalism really did embolden architects 571 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:39,560 to do new things in architecture. 572 00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:42,040 They were looking back to a particular period 573 00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:45,640 with its pointed arches, quatrefoil windows, 574 00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:49,760 the romance of it all, for something that was quintessentially British. 575 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:52,480 It was really a sort of pretence of history. 576 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:56,720 It was a staging of the past in the present 577 00:38:56,720 --> 00:39:01,200 to show a patron and an architect's sensibility and understanding 578 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:04,000 and an intellectual knowledge of that history. 579 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,080 And the chief exponent of this revivalism 580 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,680 was the writer and politician Horace Walpole. 581 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,200 As the son of the first Prime Minister 582 00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:17,600 and a relative of Admiral Nelson, 583 00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:21,320 Walpole was steeped in the values of England's ruling class. 584 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:27,240 In 1747, Walpole had chanced upon two cottages 585 00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:31,200 known as Chopped-Straw Hall, here on the banks of the Thames 586 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,360 in Twickenham, and he set about transforming them. 587 00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:38,280 "I'm going to build a little Gothic castle," he wrote to a friend, 588 00:39:38,280 --> 00:39:40,080 "with battlements, pinnacles, 589 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:44,960 "even a great round tower looming large in his vivid imagination." 590 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,640 And today, it still closely resembles the earliest colour 591 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:07,480 sketches that were made of it. 592 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:15,440 Walpole's Gothic castle took its vast numbers of visitors 593 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,960 on something of a mood journey back to the Middle Ages, 594 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:20,160 to ancient strongholds, 595 00:40:20,160 --> 00:40:23,400 knights in armour and all the panoply of chivalry. 596 00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:27,440 Walpole wanted the experience to convey feelings of both gloom 597 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:31,960 and warmth, and he even coined a term that conveyed both. 598 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:35,360 Rather brilliantly, he called it "gloomth." 599 00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:42,960 Walpole's Gothic castle, which he christened Strawberry Hill, 600 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,360 stunned 18th-century society. 601 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:48,760 It was unlike anything else in the country 602 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,800 and was soon to become a tourist Mecca. 603 00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,800 Walpole delighted in entertaining the gentry, 604 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:58,320 foreign ambassadors and occasionally even royalty. 605 00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:04,600 Such was the public's demand to see Strawberry Hill 606 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:07,680 and sample a bit of "gloomth" for themselves 607 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:11,160 that Walpole had to confine it to four visitors a day 608 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:13,600 with published rules for their guidance, 609 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:15,920 but strictly no children allowed. 610 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:22,960 These are visiting cards, and they were recently discovered 611 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:25,120 trapped behind the mantelpiece. 612 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:27,120 And they give you a real sense of people 613 00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:30,800 desperate to come in and see this magnificent building. 614 00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:34,320 They're written on the back of old playing cards, 615 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:38,320 and this one is from a tea merchant and, as it says, 616 00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:40,640 "They will be extremely obliged to him 617 00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:45,080 "to let them see his house at any time this morning." 618 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:49,280 And the name of that tea merchant was Mrs Twining. 619 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:10,120 Perhaps unsurprisingly, living in this fantasy fortress 620 00:42:10,120 --> 00:42:12,240 began to rub off on Walpole 621 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:16,920 for here, one morning in 1764, he awoke from a dream 622 00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:20,160 in which he'd imagined himself to be in an ancient castle... 623 00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:28,640 ..where, on a great staircase, he'd been confronted 624 00:42:28,640 --> 00:42:31,480 by a gigantic fist in armour. 625 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:46,480 And so vivid was his dream that later that day, 626 00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:50,760 Walpole sat down and began to write a story based on his vision. 627 00:43:00,960 --> 00:43:04,440 The book that emerged, The Castle Of Otranto, 628 00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,720 is now widely considered to be the very first Gothic novel, 629 00:43:07,720 --> 00:43:11,840 containing all the classic tropes of mystery and horror. 630 00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,920 It was an immediate success, it sold out across Europe 631 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:16,320 in a matter of weeks, 632 00:43:16,320 --> 00:43:19,000 and it lead the poet Thomas Gray to comment 633 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:21,840 that it had made us all afraid to go to bed at night. 634 00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:31,080 "A clap of thunder at that instant shook the castle to its foundations. 635 00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:36,080 "The earth rocked, and the clank of more than mortal armour 636 00:43:36,080 --> 00:43:37,240 "was heard behind. 637 00:43:38,920 --> 00:43:42,960 "The moment Theodore appeared, the walls of the castle behind Manfred 638 00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:47,920 "were thrown down with a mighty force, and the form of Alfonso, 639 00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:50,480 "dilated to an immense magnitude, 640 00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:53,120 "appeared in the centre of the ruins." 641 00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:59,880 With his novel The Castle Of Otranto and this incredible building 642 00:43:59,880 --> 00:44:03,680 which he described as "the prettiest bauble you ever saw," 643 00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:07,360 Walpole had combined both the real and imaginary. 644 00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:08,760 His Gothic revival conjured 645 00:44:08,760 --> 00:44:12,560 a new, romanticised view of the noble castle, 646 00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:16,080 one inhabiting both our dreams and our nightmares, 647 00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:19,440 and now presiding over a mythic realm. 648 00:44:25,720 --> 00:44:28,000 You could conceive of Strawberry Hill 649 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:29,600 as one great big folly. 650 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:33,960 It inspired other landowners, other patrons, 651 00:44:33,960 --> 00:44:36,600 to have the confidence to build their own follies 652 00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:38,240 within their landscape. 653 00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:41,880 But this was a very desirable thing to have within your grounds. 654 00:44:41,880 --> 00:44:44,840 It added an air of history to your landscape, 655 00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:47,640 an air of always being there. 656 00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:51,320 But it was part of this wider lust for the past, 657 00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:55,000 this wider reverence for the medieval past 658 00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:58,200 and a fascination with all things Gothic. 659 00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:02,040 But follies gave that kind of romance to your landscape. 660 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:03,760 You could invite your friends, 661 00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:07,160 you could even attract tourists to come and see your folly. 662 00:45:15,920 --> 00:45:19,800 Around 1740, an architect named Sanderson Miller 663 00:45:19,800 --> 00:45:24,480 began building castle follies on the estates of his wealthy patrons. 664 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:28,440 This one at Hagley Hall in Worcestershire, 665 00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:32,160 widely thought to be his finest, is one of the 30 or so 666 00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:35,160 that he completed across the country. 667 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:38,080 The surprising thing about these castle follies 668 00:45:38,080 --> 00:45:41,240 is that Sanderson Miller built them as ruins. 669 00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:45,480 This is exactly what the very first visitors would have seen, 670 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:49,200 and so convincing was it that they asked about the sieges 671 00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:54,400 it had endured and the blood that had been spilt inside its walls. 672 00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:57,160 Our old friend Horace Walpole was among those 673 00:45:57,160 --> 00:45:59,440 who marvelled at Miller's creation, 674 00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:03,360 saying that it had the true rust of the Wars Of The Roses. 675 00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:05,680 "I wore my eyes out with gazing," he wrote, 676 00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:09,080 "my feet with climbing and my vocabulary with commending." 677 00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:17,000 The castle ruin now became part of an emerging Romantic sensibility 678 00:46:17,000 --> 00:46:18,480 born out of a reaction 679 00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:20,640 against the growing industrialisation 680 00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:22,560 of the countryside. 681 00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:26,600 It produced a new aesthetic known as the 'picturesque,' 682 00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:30,040 a concept coined by the Reverend William Gilpin 683 00:46:30,040 --> 00:46:33,800 in his series of books written for the leisured traveller. 684 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:38,280 Gilpin instructed his travellers 685 00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:43,600 to examine the face of a country by the rules of picturesque beauty. 686 00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:46,720 And he told them that the elegant relics of ancient architecture, 687 00:46:46,720 --> 00:46:51,080 such as castle ruins, deserved our veneration. 688 00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:53,120 In this wonderful passage from one of his books, 689 00:46:53,120 --> 00:46:57,280 he even sets out the principles of the perfect castle ruin. 690 00:46:58,560 --> 00:47:00,760 "..after all, that art can bestow, 691 00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:05,040 "you must put your ruin at last into the hands of nature to finish. 692 00:47:05,040 --> 00:47:09,000 "If the mosses and lichens grow unkindly on your walls, 693 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:12,240 "if the ivy refuses to mantle over your buttress 694 00:47:12,240 --> 00:47:15,760 "or to creep among the ornaments of your Gothic window, 695 00:47:15,760 --> 00:47:19,120 "if the ash cannot be brought to hang from the cleft 696 00:47:19,120 --> 00:47:23,720 "or long, spiry grass to wave over the shattered battlement, 697 00:47:23,720 --> 00:47:26,840 "your ruin will still be incomplete." 698 00:47:33,560 --> 00:47:37,720 And it wasn't just writers who were embracing these aesthetic ideals. 699 00:47:39,600 --> 00:47:43,440 The young Joseph Turner was already at the forefront of painting 700 00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:45,160 this new Romantic age. 701 00:47:50,880 --> 00:47:54,400 And he had a particular penchant for the castle itself, 702 00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:56,560 and it was Norham on the Scottish border 703 00:47:56,560 --> 00:47:58,440 that especially caught his eye. 704 00:48:01,520 --> 00:48:05,000 Turner first saw Norham Castle from a stagecoach 705 00:48:05,000 --> 00:48:08,000 on his way to Berwick in 1797. 706 00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:10,280 He was only 22. 707 00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:14,120 Of all the English castles built to repel the Scottish, 708 00:48:14,120 --> 00:48:16,720 Norham was the most savagely fought over 709 00:48:16,720 --> 00:48:21,040 until finally succumbing to a Scottish siege in 1513 710 00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:24,360 when the Great Tower was shattered by cannon fire. 711 00:48:35,880 --> 00:48:39,040 The cannons had long fallen silent by the time Turner 712 00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:40,720 came to paint the castle. 713 00:48:42,400 --> 00:48:44,800 And he would like to recount later in life 714 00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:48,560 that it was his first depiction of it that had launched his career. 715 00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:55,360 And this is the exact spot where Turner first placed his easel 716 00:48:55,360 --> 00:48:59,200 and to which he would return time and again throughout his life. 717 00:48:59,200 --> 00:49:02,480 Eyewitnesses who saw him here would later recount 718 00:49:02,480 --> 00:49:06,200 how he took off his hat when the castle first came into view, 719 00:49:06,200 --> 00:49:10,240 made a respectful bow to the ruins, saying that it gave him 720 00:49:10,240 --> 00:49:13,200 as much to do as his hands could execute. 721 00:49:17,440 --> 00:49:20,640 In all of his paintings and sketches of Norham, 722 00:49:20,640 --> 00:49:24,720 Turner was speaking for a generation who, like him, 723 00:49:24,720 --> 00:49:29,520 looked upon the noble castle as a window into an illustrious past. 724 00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:35,920 Turner had first visited Norham during a time of mounting unrest, 725 00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:37,960 and soon there would be new battles 726 00:49:37,960 --> 00:49:40,360 and fortifications for him to record... 727 00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:47,000 ..when, in 1803, Britain, yet again, came under threat 728 00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:49,600 from its old adversary - France. 729 00:49:52,520 --> 00:49:56,600 Turner had always been drawn to castle imagery, roaming the country 730 00:49:56,600 --> 00:50:00,160 sketchbook in hand, searching for castles to draw. 731 00:50:00,160 --> 00:50:01,920 But on the eve of war with France, 732 00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:06,120 his depiction of those castles became even more prescient, 733 00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:08,800 particularly his sketches of the south coast. 734 00:50:08,800 --> 00:50:11,840 He was observing a nation readying itself for war. 735 00:50:11,840 --> 00:50:16,120 In the background, you might have Dover Castle as a totem of the past. 736 00:50:16,120 --> 00:50:19,800 It represents history, time gone by, all the events, 737 00:50:19,800 --> 00:50:21,800 the battles that have gone on there, 738 00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:25,200 but then in the foreground, he noted details of soldiers 739 00:50:25,200 --> 00:50:29,640 building fortifications, ships testing their guns. 740 00:50:29,640 --> 00:50:32,960 He would sell those to printmakers and prints would be made. 741 00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:36,400 These images became a great comfort to many people. 742 00:50:36,400 --> 00:50:37,960 They were desirable, 743 00:50:37,960 --> 00:50:40,600 and they fuelled this patriotic fervour, 744 00:50:40,600 --> 00:50:43,840 this feeling that Britain was strong, Britain was ready for war. 745 00:50:46,160 --> 00:50:51,280 France was now seen to pose a far greater threat than ever before, 746 00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:53,880 in the shape of its emperor - Napoleon. 747 00:50:55,800 --> 00:51:00,280 In the early-19th century, he dominated the European mainland, 748 00:51:00,280 --> 00:51:03,000 and the threat of invasion was very real. 749 00:51:03,000 --> 00:51:06,400 He'd assembled a flotilla of invasion barges 750 00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:09,880 and he'd built up his fleet to challenge the Royal Navy. 751 00:51:12,880 --> 00:51:17,200 But as Britain once again faced imminent attack, 752 00:51:17,200 --> 00:51:18,880 its old sea defences, 753 00:51:18,880 --> 00:51:22,280 which had begun with Henry VIII's coastal forts, 754 00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:24,720 were deemed no longer fit for purpose. 755 00:51:26,360 --> 00:51:29,840 So a new line of what were called Martello towers 756 00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:32,600 would be needed to defend the beaches. 757 00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:43,800 A chain of Martello towers was built all along the south and east coast. 758 00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:47,720 They took their name from a fortress in Corsica, Mortella. 759 00:51:48,920 --> 00:51:51,520 It's typical of the English that we got the name wrong. 760 00:51:51,520 --> 00:51:53,880 But it's also typical of the English 761 00:51:53,880 --> 00:51:56,920 that we learnt from the strengths of our enemies, 762 00:51:56,920 --> 00:52:01,200 because the tower at Mortella took part in an epic engagement. 763 00:52:05,480 --> 00:52:10,640 On 7th February, 1794, two British warships with a combined 764 00:52:10,640 --> 00:52:14,520 fire power of over 100 guns had launched an attack 765 00:52:14,520 --> 00:52:17,560 against the French at their strategic stronghold 766 00:52:17,560 --> 00:52:19,960 of Mortella Point on Corsica. 767 00:52:23,160 --> 00:52:26,280 But despite heavy bombardment from the Royal Navy, 768 00:52:26,280 --> 00:52:30,400 Mortella stood firm, as recounted in a report prepared 769 00:52:30,400 --> 00:52:33,640 by the admiral of the Mediterranean Fleet - Lord Hood. 770 00:52:37,200 --> 00:52:40,920 The walls of the tower were of a prodigious thickness. 771 00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:44,280 And the parapet, where there were two 18-pounders, 772 00:52:44,280 --> 00:52:46,040 was lined with base junk, 773 00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:50,040 a kind of cable made with grass and filled up with sand. 774 00:52:51,600 --> 00:52:54,240 And although it was cannonaded for two days, 775 00:52:54,240 --> 00:52:58,840 within 150 yards and appeared in a shattered state, 776 00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:00,480 the enemy still held out. 777 00:53:03,800 --> 00:53:06,840 The number of men in the tower were 33. 778 00:53:06,840 --> 00:53:09,640 Only two were wounded, and those mortally. 779 00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:16,120 So when it came down to it, 780 00:53:16,120 --> 00:53:21,800 only to 18-pounder guns were enough to defy the Royal Navy. 781 00:53:21,800 --> 00:53:25,000 The tower was eventually taken by a land assault, 782 00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:27,000 but what happened at Mortella Point 783 00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:29,640 had a very lasting effect on the British. 784 00:53:31,040 --> 00:53:34,120 Impressed by its almost impregnable design 785 00:53:34,120 --> 00:53:37,160 and the small number of soldiers needed to mount, 786 00:53:37,160 --> 00:53:41,160 the Martello Tower now became Britain's latest incarnation 787 00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:42,880 of the defensive castle. 788 00:53:43,960 --> 00:53:49,440 And between 1804 and 1812, 103 of them were built, 789 00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:52,400 ranging from East Anglia to the south coast. 790 00:53:58,680 --> 00:54:02,120 This is Tower 24 in Dymchurch in Kent. 791 00:54:02,120 --> 00:54:05,200 It's the last remaining Martello Tower where you can still see 792 00:54:05,200 --> 00:54:06,920 the original layout. 793 00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:09,320 Now, these stairs are not original. 794 00:54:09,320 --> 00:54:12,240 There would have been a ladder which you could pull up 795 00:54:12,240 --> 00:54:15,840 in an emergency, a little bit like a drawbridge. 796 00:54:23,480 --> 00:54:27,240 At the top of this tower is a bit of a historical treasure. 797 00:54:27,240 --> 00:54:30,960 Remarkably, this is the original cannon, 798 00:54:30,960 --> 00:54:34,680 and it lay on the ground outside this tower for more than a century 799 00:54:34,680 --> 00:54:37,840 before this place got turned into a museum. 800 00:54:37,840 --> 00:54:40,320 Now, to give you a sense of the changing technology, 801 00:54:40,320 --> 00:54:45,440 this bad boy could fire out to sea more than a mile, and using ropes 802 00:54:45,440 --> 00:54:48,120 and tackles attached to these strong points 803 00:54:48,120 --> 00:54:50,000 all around the top of this tower, 804 00:54:50,000 --> 00:54:54,960 it could be dragged around to fire in any of 360 degrees. 805 00:54:54,960 --> 00:54:56,800 They could fire anywhere they wanted. 806 00:55:06,120 --> 00:55:09,240 But with Napoleon's defeat, the Martello Towers 807 00:55:09,240 --> 00:55:11,720 never fired a shot in anger, 808 00:55:11,720 --> 00:55:14,320 just like many of Henry VIII's coastal forts. 809 00:55:16,080 --> 00:55:19,000 However, their show of force in defence of the realm, 810 00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:23,200 again, redefined us as an island fortress. 811 00:55:23,200 --> 00:55:26,560 And so intrinsic to the landscape were they 812 00:55:26,560 --> 00:55:30,160 that Joseph Turner felt compelled to record their presence. 813 00:55:32,960 --> 00:55:35,720 But as well as these new fortifications, 814 00:55:35,720 --> 00:55:40,440 Turner, like so many of us, continued to return to the castles 815 00:55:40,440 --> 00:55:43,880 of the past, and to Norham in particular. 816 00:55:45,760 --> 00:55:51,280 At the age of 70, and 50 years after he'd first painted the castle, 817 00:55:51,280 --> 00:55:54,480 Turner came to capture it for the last time 818 00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:56,480 and for all time. 819 00:55:57,840 --> 00:56:02,440 Turner's final and magnificent painting of Norham is of a castle 820 00:56:02,440 --> 00:56:07,080 and particularly a great tower prevailing in an ethereal mist. 821 00:56:07,080 --> 00:56:08,760 And what I think he's showing us 822 00:56:08,760 --> 00:56:12,520 is how our history of conflict and violence never completely 823 00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:15,360 vanishes from our pastoral idyll. 824 00:56:15,360 --> 00:56:19,480 Those ancient battlefields are still just here all around us, 825 00:56:19,480 --> 00:56:21,360 under the ploughed fields. 826 00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:34,840 The castle continues to be the most potent symbol 827 00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:36,640 of these islands' past. 828 00:56:37,880 --> 00:56:41,680 It stands as a reminder to 1,000 years of history... 829 00:56:43,720 --> 00:56:46,640 ..from being the instruments of foreign invasion 830 00:56:46,640 --> 00:56:48,960 and nationalist expansion 831 00:56:48,960 --> 00:56:51,920 to the strategic strongholds of civil wars 832 00:56:51,920 --> 00:56:53,480 and the Romantic ruins 833 00:56:53,480 --> 00:56:57,280 that inspired a generation of writers and painters. 834 00:57:04,400 --> 00:57:06,400 At the end of the 17th century, 835 00:57:06,400 --> 00:57:10,280 the Marquess Of Halifax wrote a pamphlet that begins with a question 836 00:57:10,280 --> 00:57:12,000 for all Britons, 837 00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:15,720 "What shall we do to be saved in this world?" he asks. 838 00:57:15,720 --> 00:57:18,800 And his answer, "You must look to your moat," 839 00:57:18,800 --> 00:57:22,240 specifically meaning the English Channel. 840 00:57:22,240 --> 00:57:27,320 Because if you think about it, our entire nation is a castle. 841 00:57:27,320 --> 00:57:30,600 The white cliffs of Dover are our castle walls, 842 00:57:30,600 --> 00:57:33,200 and the English Channel is our moat. 843 00:57:38,640 --> 00:57:43,040 Of course, in a globalised world, the Channel offers about as much 844 00:57:43,040 --> 00:57:45,960 defence as our ancient castles themselves... 845 00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:50,200 ..but that, in the end, is the point. 846 00:57:51,640 --> 00:57:55,200 Castles have long since passed from the realm of history 847 00:57:55,200 --> 00:57:57,200 into that of myth, 848 00:57:57,200 --> 00:58:00,280 and that's perhaps why they continue to hold 849 00:58:00,280 --> 00:58:02,800 such an enduring fascination for us.