1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:05,280 Castles dominated the medieval landscape... 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:08,720 ..and Britain has some of the finest in the world. 3 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:12,600 Today, most are decaying relics, 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:14,600 many of their secrets buried in time. 5 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:22,040 Now, historian Ruth Goodman... 6 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:23,240 Whoo! 7 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:27,160 ..and archaeologists Tom Pinfold and Peter Ginn 8 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:28,960 are turning the clock back 9 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:32,040 to relearn the secrets of the medieval castle builders. 10 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,120 This is the ultimate in medieval technology. 11 00:00:36,160 --> 00:00:39,280 The origin of our castles is distinctly French, 12 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,920 introduced to Britain at the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066. 13 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,160 Trois, deux, un...tirez! 14 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:54,000 Here in the Burgundy region of France is Guedelon Castle, 15 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,360 the world's biggest archaeological experiment. 16 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,320 A 25-year project to build a castle from scratch 17 00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:07,600 using the same tools, techniques and materials 18 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:09,400 available in the 13th century. 19 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:15,240 It's a lot of hard work at the coalface because this is industry. 20 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,320 For the next six months, Ruth, Peter and Tom 21 00:01:19,320 --> 00:01:23,080 will experience the daily rigours of medieval construction... 22 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:24,600 Drop down? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 23 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:25,680 ..and everyday life. 24 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:27,520 The fire is looking really good, you know. 25 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:28,760 How workers dressed... 26 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:29,800 Ooh! 27 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:30,960 ..and ate... 28 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:34,080 You can really smell your food, Ruth. SHE LAUGHS 29 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,560 ..and the art of combat. 30 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:37,640 Oh! 31 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:43,840 This is the story of how to build a medieval castle. 32 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,880 It's May, and the team have been immersed in the building works 33 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:03,960 alongside Guedelon's masons. 34 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,320 Perfect! Oh, good! 35 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:07,400 WOMAN SHOUTS IN FRENCH 36 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,040 They've learned how the castle was defended in times of war. 37 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:18,280 Every stone has to be in line because this is going to go up, 38 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,000 and up, and up. 39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,320 Now the team discover the surprisingly colourful world 40 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,160 of 13th-century castle interiors... 41 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:31,720 ..and much of the material they work with 42 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:33,360 will come straight from the ground... 43 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,080 Some of the stuff in here is ochre. 44 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,040 SHE SPEAKS IN FRENCH Oh, yes! 45 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:40,720 ..from paint to brighten the rooms... 46 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,040 When it's hot, look at the difference on my fingers! 47 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:47,960 ..to turning mud into floor tiles. 48 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:57,400 Can you imagine living in a world with no electric lights? 49 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:00,440 And they'll be rediscovering an ancient art 50 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:02,600 in a midnight firing at the kiln. 51 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,960 The medieval castles we're used to seeing today 52 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:27,000 are scarred by centuries of warfare and weather erosion. 53 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,880 Most of their original roofs, carpentry and interior finishes 54 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:36,600 have long since disappeared. 55 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,520 But these drab walls are a far cry 56 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,240 from how they looked in their heyday. 57 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,160 This is how many of us think of the interior of castles - 58 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,480 bare stone, echoey, damp, gritty under foot, 59 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:58,680 but that's because we're used to ruins. 60 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,680 When they were in use, back in the 13th century, 61 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:03,480 they were rather different. 62 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:08,040 You have to imagine tiled floors and plaster on the walls, 63 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:12,520 perhaps painted, whitewashed, and then hangings of fabric 64 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,000 over the top, filled with furniture. 65 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,800 And that, too, is covered in fabrics, cushions, all sorts. 66 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:21,600 An entirely different beast. 67 00:04:31,200 --> 00:04:34,160 To strive for accuracy, the Guedelon project 68 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,440 has adopted a specific historical timeframe to work to. 69 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:43,120 The castle is being designed and built 70 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,160 as it would have been in the France of the 1230s and '40s... 71 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:49,600 ..during the reign of King Louis IX. 72 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:56,800 The region of Puisaye in Burgundy 73 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,360 was governed by one Jean De Toucy, a vassal to the King. 74 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:06,040 In turn, De Toucy was the overlord 75 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,200 of several other lower-ranking noblemen... 76 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,920 ..and it was one of these lesser nobles 77 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:13,800 who would have commissioned a castle 78 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:16,320 like the one being built here at Guedelon today. 79 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,560 It's not a grand royal castle, 80 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,080 bristling with military might and enormous wealth 81 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:25,880 but a fortified residence 82 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,120 of relatively modest taste and design... 83 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:33,320 ..according to the rank and means of the imaginary Lord Of Guedelon. 84 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,920 The team, along with site administrator Sarah Preston, 85 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,600 are exploring some of the key rooms and quarters within the castle 86 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,360 to find out how the interiors are being dressed. 87 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,280 This is the castle's great hall. "Great" is the word. 88 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,120 So this is very much the hub of castle life. 89 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,720 This is... It's a dining hall, it's a banqueting, feasting hall. 90 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,440 I mean, this room is a statement of power and prestige, isn't it? 91 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:10,520 Absolutely, so it's important to bear in mind, 92 00:06:10,520 --> 00:06:13,440 of course, once it's finished, we won't have these bare stone walls. 93 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,800 The Great Hall was the political and business hub of castle life. 94 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:22,560 This was where the lord held court, 95 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:24,160 receiving his tenants 96 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,520 and listening to their concerns and grievances. 97 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:32,000 With many of the social rituals of the day being held here, 98 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,600 it was important for the interior design 99 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,120 to show off his wealth and status to invited guests. 100 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,920 Over the next few years, the great hall at Guedelon, 101 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,440 and the great tower adjacent to it, 102 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,080 will be dressed in the style of a 13th-century lord and his lady. 103 00:06:57,640 --> 00:06:59,400 So this is currently the lord's chamber. 104 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,200 This is where the lord would sleep with his wife and his children. 105 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:03,920 It's certainly a residential chamber. 106 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,480 You can see that from the fireplace on the wall behind us, 107 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:07,880 so it can be heated. 108 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:10,080 That's not true of all the rooms in the castle. 109 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,600 The stone walls are rough, uneven and draughty. 110 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,160 But they would have been dressed and painted. 111 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,640 Peter and Tom are going to be painting and tiling 112 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,360 some of the castle's indoor spaces, while Ruth makes paint. 113 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:34,320 So, this is the store room... 114 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:38,440 But first, Sarah takes her to the already-decorated kitchen 115 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,080 under the great hall. 116 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,440 ..but eventually it will have a render applied 117 00:07:43,440 --> 00:07:46,000 and then a limewash to make it much whiter and brighter. 118 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:47,880 Come and have a look. 119 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:49,520 Oh, I see what you mean! 120 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,160 I mean, that's real darkness into light, isn't it? 121 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:53,840 It makes such a difference. 122 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,960 People aren't used to necessarily seeing the inside of castle walls 123 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:59,960 rendered and limewashed, but it's made such a difference 124 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:02,400 to the people who work in the kitchen because it's like... 125 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:04,120 Seems to sort of bounce off, doesn't it? 126 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:05,960 Turning on an electric light, absolutely. 127 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:08,400 I guess, in terms of hygiene, it made a difference as well. 128 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,680 Yeah, definitely, really. It sort of kills anything 129 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:11,720 that might be there 130 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,040 and stops bugs getting into all the cracks and things. 131 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:15,920 So you start with a really sterile surface. 132 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,120 Repaint it if... Whenever you need to. 133 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:20,160 I mean, obviously, so far, we haven't had time 134 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,800 to render the inside of all the rooms, 135 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:24,720 we've got other priorities at the moment. 136 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,760 But as soon as we've finished kind of the major building work, 137 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:30,640 then we can get on with the job of rendering the inside 138 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,240 but I hope also the outside of the castle 139 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,080 because often the outsides of castles were also rendered 140 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:38,320 and limewashed because, in terms of visibility, 141 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,920 it just meant that your castle stood out in the landscape. 142 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:43,640 So that's something that we couldn't necessarily get away with 143 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:46,960 in a genuine historic monument, but here on this experimental site, 144 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,080 that's something that we can show our visitors. 145 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,600 Uh, the Tower Of London, the White Tower, 146 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,560 was named because it was limewashed on the outside. 147 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:04,640 The tower nearest the quarry, known as the quarry tower, 148 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,920 would have been a guardroom or shooting gallery. 149 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,120 Even this would have been brightly decorated. 150 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:18,000 The boys have been tasked by stonemason Fabrice Maingot 151 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,400 with rendering the interior wall with lime mortar, 152 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,520 the medieval equivalent of plaster. 153 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,960 We're going to use two and a half buckets of sand 154 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,360 and one lime and water, and mix it in. 155 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,680 What we're looking for here is the right consistency. 156 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:42,000 Keep on adding a little moisture, turn it in, turn it in. 157 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:43,080 Little bit more. 158 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:46,240 It's OK. 159 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:51,520 Are you happy? Is that good enough? 160 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:55,280 It's good. Yeah. 161 00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:58,360 Cosy work space. 162 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,240 Fabrice demonstrates how a medieval wall is rendered. 163 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:02,680 Put some water. 164 00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:04,760 We're not drenching it though, are we? 165 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:06,480 We're just dampening the stone. 166 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,480 If you don't put water, mortar... Just, it just won't stick. 167 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:11,800 Won't... Right. 168 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:12,840 OK. 169 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:18,120 Archaeological research has revealed that rendering 170 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,160 wouldn't have been applied in several smooth layers 171 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,640 but with a single rough coat, 172 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,480 using a technique similar to spreading butter. 173 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:29,440 Interesting technique, isn't it? 174 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,840 Keeping the board close to the wall, pushing the render up. 175 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,480 Do you understand? Right. Shall I go first? Yeah, yeah. 176 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:38,800 Do you want to try? Give it a go. Let me get it wrong. 177 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,160 Yeah, I'm going to learn from your mistakes, my friend. 178 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:42,360 HE LAUGHS 179 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:46,240 Um, so, to do a turret like this, how long do you think it would take? 180 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,440 Two, three days. Two, three days, marvellous. 181 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:50,520 That's ten days for you, Tomo. For two masons. 182 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,160 At least ten days for me. 183 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:55,960 Good luck. 184 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:57,960 We'll need it. See you later. 185 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,000 As the lime mortar is relatively porous 186 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,600 it will draw out any dampness in the wall 187 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,000 and so help to preserve the masonry underneath. 188 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:13,520 It's interesting, isn't it, that we're only putting on one coat, 189 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:15,040 that butter coat. 190 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,040 But this is an established practice, isn't it? 191 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,880 You always think, when you go to the ruin castles in the UK 192 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,560 or around Europe, these bare walls are what they were looking at. 193 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:26,960 However, not the case. 194 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,920 It was a prestige thing to get a layer of render up. 195 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:32,720 Decorate it. 196 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,560 Yeah, I mean, castles... The majority of castles, 197 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,920 they are just ruins, aren't they? You're coming to them 198 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:40,560 very long after their lives. 199 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,400 The medieval manufacture of tiles for castle roofs 200 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:02,960 and floor spaces was an industry in itself. 201 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,800 So far, at Guedelon, 28,000 tiles have been created for the roof 202 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:15,960 of the great hall building alone, 203 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,280 a job which took four years to achieve. 204 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:26,120 It's estimated that a total of 80,000 tiles will be needed 205 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,040 to cover the roofs of the castle in its entirety. 206 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:34,200 But as the four towers around the curtain wall 207 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:35,960 are still under construction, 208 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:38,800 tile production has now shifted from roof tiles 209 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:39,960 to floor tiles. 210 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:46,280 And Tom is about to discover just how laborious the process is 211 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:47,520 to make just one tile. 212 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,360 Just breaking up some of this clay, going to use it for our tiles. 213 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:55,720 Obviously not in this state, 214 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:58,000 we actually need to get a lot of these impurities out. 215 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,600 But some of the stuff in here is ochre 216 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:02,960 and ochre can actually be turned into paint. 217 00:13:02,960 --> 00:13:06,320 So I'm going to separate some of that out but, for now, 218 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,880 just stack up on this clay, get it back to the tuilerie, 219 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:12,520 or the tile makers. 220 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,400 In the 11th century, many hamlets and villages in France 221 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:19,720 specialised in tile production 222 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,360 to meet increasing demand from the local nobility. 223 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,800 And as the medieval tile trade grew, so did the strict regulations 224 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:29,400 it was governed by, 225 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:31,320 designed to standardise production. 226 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,680 Oh, that's the thing about clay, isn't it? 227 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:38,400 It's not easy to work. You can feel all the muscles getting involved. 228 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:41,960 You take some, there. 229 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:46,760 In 1280, a decree from Toulouse stipulated that good tiles 230 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,840 may only be made from well-pugged clay, 231 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:52,720 well trampled under foot and not over dry. 232 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:55,840 It feels nice, though. 233 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:57,600 Is this good for hands, good for the skin? 234 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,320 Very nice for the skin, yeah. Some people are paying for this. 235 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,560 THEY LAUGH Lucky us. 236 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:05,800 I've always wanted soft hands. 237 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,200 Tom and tile maker Aymeric Guillot are now removing any twigs 238 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,880 and stones, and making the clay homogenous and malleable. 239 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:19,880 Ah, so this hard lump here, this could be ochre. 240 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:21,280 Yes. 241 00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,480 The ochre pigments contain colourful iron oxides 242 00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:27,080 and are set aside to be used for making paint. 243 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,640 An integral feature of castle design were the toilets. 244 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,680 They were known as garde-robe, the French word for 'wardrobe'. 245 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:49,080 Clothes would often be kept inside them because it was believed 246 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,720 the smell of ammonia from urine kept parasites at bay. 247 00:14:55,080 --> 00:14:58,120 Garde-robes were often built out of the castle walls 248 00:14:58,120 --> 00:15:01,120 to allow the waste to drop down through the hole 249 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,200 to the ground or moat below. 250 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,360 Guedelon keeps a wooden grill over the holes 251 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:12,120 to dissuade any modern-day visitors from attempting to spend a penny. 252 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,480 It's a big question, isn't it, how people used garde-robes? 253 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:20,520 There is little bits of evidence. 254 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,880 In the earliest of the manners books, which are aimed at pages 255 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,960 who are serving a knight, you know, they were hoping to become a squire, 256 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,120 become a knight. It's for little lads, you know. 257 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:32,360 Their first job of the day, before their lord is up, 258 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,280 is to prepare the privy. 259 00:15:34,280 --> 00:15:37,040 And he's told to make it extremely clean, he's got to sweep it out 260 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,440 and make it clean. He's also got to put cloths in there... 261 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:44,040 Not quite sure how the cloths were used, but they're to go in there, 262 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,080 and sweet smelling herbs... 263 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:50,640 Yeah. ..so that it's somewhere comfortable and pleasant to be. 264 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,520 So at least for those at the very top of society, 265 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:55,840 going to the toilet ought to have been... 266 00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:57,680 Quite a nice experience. 267 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:01,160 Yeah, I think... I mean, it wouldn't have smelt too bad. 268 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,120 I know the poo's going down and, yes, if it's not getting moved, 269 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:07,120 there might be a bit of wafting up 270 00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:09,600 but those herbs would certainly have taken the edge off. 271 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,680 And there is, of course, the question of toilet paper. 272 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,440 There is. I mean, many people think leaves and moss 273 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,400 but, let's face it - deforestation. 274 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,040 Where the heck are you going to get a leaf of the right size 275 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:22,400 in the middle of January? 276 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:24,880 I mean, honestly. And then also you think, well, moss 277 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:27,040 but you'd have to have moss plantations... 278 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:29,560 Yeah, yeah. ..wouldn't you, to keep a big community going. 279 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:31,080 SHE LAUGHS I mean, it, it gets very, 280 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:32,840 very dry in summer. 281 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,400 So, I mean, there's nothing to say that people didn't use... 282 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,760 I mean, you know as well as I do that, archaeologically, 283 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,720 all sorts of things turn up in cesspits. Yeah, yeah. 284 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:42,880 So probably people used whatever was to hand. 285 00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:46,400 But I do wonder if maybe the more normal system, 286 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:47,960 especially in a castle, 287 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,320 would have been to have your own cloth, or rag, or flannel... 288 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,280 to wash yourself with. Or even a communal rag... Quite possibly. 289 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,920 ..and washed out in a bucket. Washed out in a bucket. Unless... 290 00:16:56,920 --> 00:16:58,920 It's perfectly possible. These privies... 291 00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,040 It certainly needs a coat of render, 292 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:03,320 a coat of limewash, probably a loo seat. 293 00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:06,320 I think a door might be a good idea too. 294 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:08,920 And a door! SHE LAUGHS 295 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:17,680 So you have take some, er... These fingers, grease is dripping. 296 00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,600 Er, you have to take it on your finger like this and, 297 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:22,400 as for a cake, you put it inside. 298 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:24,760 Just work that round. 299 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:27,840 And that's to actually lubricate the side of the template, is it? 300 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,880 Yes. So the tile will come out easily at the end. 301 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:40,360 So, er, I like to start with hand cos we can feel. You can... 302 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:43,000 ..feel all the corners. 303 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,160 It's very important to have good corners in a tile, 304 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,120 if not, the masons are really not satisfied. 305 00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:50,880 To work is very hard for them. 306 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,920 We don't want to upset the masons. No, don't do that. 307 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:57,360 So you can use this as well. 308 00:17:57,360 --> 00:17:59,520 Right, OK. When you think the corners are OK, 309 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:00,920 you can just finish with... 310 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,120 Right, so... 311 00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:07,280 But you're not just hitting it, are you? Sort of... 312 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,720 Looks like you're rolling a bit there. Yeah, a little bit. 313 00:18:09,720 --> 00:18:11,400 If you're like doing like this. 314 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:12,800 Right, OK, so. You see. 315 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,440 It's almost like you're twisting it off as you make contact. 316 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,480 That's what's happening with you. With me it's in-between, I think. 317 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:21,920 New tool. A new tool. 318 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,880 You use this one like this and try to get something very flat. 319 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:38,160 So, we have to...to see if it's OK on the other side. 320 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:40,480 When there's a problem, it's always with the corners. 321 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:42,960 Always something with the corners. OK, so if I... 322 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:45,600 So we have to check the corners. OK, my corners are good. 323 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,080 What do you think? This is perfect. Oh, yeah? 324 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,120 It's very good, yes, yes. Masons will be happy. 325 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,440 OK, you put it there and we'll do like this. 326 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,800 HE WHISTLES With the greased block 327 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,200 normally it's going. 328 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,960 But you have to sign with the name of this place. 329 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:10,120 And basically that's like quality control. 330 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:11,240 Yes. 331 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:14,120 And if we've done one, we've got another 69 to do. 332 00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:16,960 Yes. Go back to work. THEY LAUGH 333 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:32,720 Just beyond the castle walls, 334 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:36,600 Ruth is visiting Guedelon's paint house to discover how the ochre 335 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,600 found in the quarry and in the clay is used to make pigments for paint. 336 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,360 We're going to start by grinding down the earths. 337 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:51,080 Valerie Hurtault is a ceramicist by trade 338 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,240 from a family of local potters. 339 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,640 She's in charge of pigments, paint making and decoration at Guedelon. 340 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:02,120 Oh, right. So these are the pieces that Tom was finding 341 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:05,000 in amongst the clay when he was doing the tiling. 342 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,000 IN FRENCH: 343 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,640 Paint's funny stuff. It's not the same as dye. 344 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:20,800 Dye stains the fibres of what you're dyeing. 345 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:25,680 So...so, if you get a wood stain, that is a dye for wood, um, 346 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,680 because it's dyeing the wood fibres in the same way 347 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:31,800 as cloth is a dye that stains the fibres. 348 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:33,600 Paint is different. 349 00:20:33,600 --> 00:20:35,720 Paint is bits of coloured stuff 350 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:38,200 that are glued on to a surface. 351 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:42,160 And so, if they're very big lumps, the amount of light 352 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:46,400 coming off is quite small, the colour looks patchy and thin. 353 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:51,840 If you can make the particles very, very tiny, the light will refract 354 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:57,000 off them in a great burst and you'll get a really strong, intense colour. 355 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,240 I mean, I shouldn't think a 13th-century person 356 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,560 thought about light refraction but they did know 357 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:03,760 that if you grind it thoroughly, 358 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:05,520 you get a much better paint. 359 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:09,640 It's not a bad colour, is it? 360 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,160 It'll look good against the yellow. I've got yellow still on there. 361 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,720 Yellow ochre is the other key colour 362 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:21,280 found in the natural Guedelon environment. 363 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:25,160 SHE SPEAKS IN FRENCH 364 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,800 This really is the colour of Guedelon. Oui. Look at that. 365 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,040 When you're round here, everything's this colour, absolutely everything. 366 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,160 That is the dust that we breathe in 367 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,360 whenever you get anywhere near the castle. 368 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:39,000 It's what grinds under foot, it's the, you know... 369 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:40,080 Just look at the place! 370 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,160 This is the colour of the ground. 371 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,480 So, having sort of crushed it up a bit and dissolved it, 372 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:49,040 we're now sieving it. 373 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,320 We want small particles. 374 00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:57,640 As the mixture settles, the heavier ochre particles fall to the bottom 375 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,400 and the remaining liquid is left out in the sun to dry. 376 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,680 The finer particles left behind are then ground down into a powder. 377 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:12,440 It's an enormous amount of work to grind this down to the fineness 378 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,960 that you need but, when you just see the range of colours 379 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:20,120 that have been produced just out of the earth of Guedelon, 380 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:22,840 you can see why people would bother. Just look at it! 381 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:37,320 Out in the castle courtyard, Peter and Philippe Delage, 382 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:41,840 known to his fellow craftspeople as Gandalf, are mixing limewash, 383 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,320 made with one part lime and one part water. 384 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:47,160 What is that in French - limewash? 385 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:49,520 Is... Lait, lait de chaux. 386 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,760 Lait de chaux? Oh, milk of lime. 387 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,920 How can you tell it's good consistency? 388 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:57,800 Er, there's more... It's very good. 389 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:00,080 Is that... That's good? Yeah. Yeah, that's good. 390 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:02,600 Oh, should be enough. 391 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:04,680 Yeah. I'll grab that bucket. 392 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:06,520 Yes. 393 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:07,560 Come on. 394 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:11,480 Up the tower. 395 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:16,760 Peter heads towards the lord and lady's bedchamber 396 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:18,120 in the great tower... 397 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:22,640 ..to brighten things up in the garde-robe. 398 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,400 Right, left, 399 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,400 English, French, droit, gauche. 400 00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,120 And then it's down, 401 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:38,680 down, 402 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,160 down! 403 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,440 And it just gives a beautiful, beautiful texture. 404 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,600 I know at Guedelon there was a massive debate as to whether, 405 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,920 you know, they should leave the stones, the walls bare, 406 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,280 because all this work had gone in by the masons to put the stone there. 407 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:06,240 And they say if you cover it up with mortar, with render, 408 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,880 and paint it with limewash, the public won't see it. 409 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:13,960 But this is how the castles were in the medieval age. 410 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:15,800 Of course, as we come across castles... 411 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,680 ..they're ruins generally, and very little plaster work survives. 412 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,600 Ruth and Valerie experiment with a bit of 13th-century chemistry. 413 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:43,760 So this is the local yellow ochre earth. Oui, oui. 414 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:46,520 And we're cooking it... SHE SPEAKS IN FRENCH 415 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:49,440 So we're trying to turn it red. Oui. SHE LAUGHS 416 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:53,280 It's quite exciting, isn't it, that this just comes out of the ground 417 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:57,480 all yellow, and you can get this range of colours. 418 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,240 IN FRENCH: 419 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:01,920 Oh, yes! Yes, you're right. 420 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,760 I can see. There, where it's hot. 421 00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:06,880 Look at the difference on my fingers! 422 00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:13,160 Yellow ochre is a hydrated iron oxide known as limonite. 423 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,360 As it's heated over the fire, 424 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:19,000 some of the limonite turns into haematite, 425 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,120 turning the ochre into rich, darker shades 426 00:25:22,120 --> 00:25:24,680 such as burnt sienna and burnt umber. 427 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,440 Pigments like this are really ancient. 428 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:32,280 Right across Europe, if you think of those cave paintings 429 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,080 right at the dawn of human history, 430 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:38,040 this is the sort of paint that they were using to make them. 431 00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:42,080 And if you think of Britain, the Picts, 432 00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:46,920 think those people are known or described in the ancient Roman texts 433 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,280 as being covered in red paint. 434 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,920 The red men, and the Irish talk about it too. 435 00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,920 It seems to have been a really Celtic thing to do, 436 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,560 to paint yourself in red and yellow ochres. 437 00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:00,480 Vraiment rouge. 438 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:01,880 Look at that. 439 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,400 Just beyond the castle walls at Guedelon, 440 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:17,640 the earthen kiln used for the firing of tiles is lined with bricks. 441 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,920 Kilns were often owned by the local lord 442 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:25,880 who, of course, charged his tenants for using them. 443 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:32,680 In the 13th century, regulations governing the work of local tilers 444 00:26:32,680 --> 00:26:36,280 in and around Toulouse specified not only the consistency 445 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:39,000 and dimensions of the tiles themselves, 446 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,840 but also the size of the kilns used, 447 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,840 and the number of tiles permitted to be fired in any one firing. 448 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,400 Guedelon fires 4,000 tiles at a time. 449 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,560 Bruno Feval is the chief tile maker at Guedelon, 450 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:03,320 and he and his team have presided over 15 experimental firings 451 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:04,920 during the past nine years. 452 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,520 Each firing has enabled them to improve and finesse 453 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:11,760 their techniques. 454 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:22,440 The way they're placing them in the kiln, they're leaving gaps 455 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:26,600 so that, when they fire this, the flames can work their way up 456 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:31,360 through every single tile and hopefully with an even temperature, 457 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:35,400 making each one hard, each one a very similar colour 458 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,240 and making sure there's no losses. 459 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:41,080 I mean, one of the problems with these tiles, 460 00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:43,800 when you dry them out, if there's any water in there 461 00:27:43,800 --> 00:27:45,800 and you fire it too quickly - the kiln - 462 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:48,720 that water will expand cos it will turn into a gas 463 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,840 that will blow the tile apart. You'll hear a pop. 464 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:54,080 And if these are stacked incorrectly, 465 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,160 if one tile goes, several tiles could go. 466 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:01,200 They've been doing this for a number of years, 467 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:02,640 so they know what they're doing. 468 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,280 A lot of this is trial and error, experimental archaeology. 469 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,480 They know what these kilns looked like from excavations 470 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:12,920 that have been done in the UK. They've been done in the France. 471 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,320 Now they know how these kilns actually work 472 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,320 because they've been working these kilns. 473 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:39,680 Out in the peace and quiet of the forest, 474 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:43,760 Ruth is making an essential tool for applying her medieval paint. 475 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,120 So, if I'm actually going to be able to paint anything 476 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,040 that looks like something, I'm going to need 477 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:52,760 a decent brush to do it with. 478 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,560 So, I went and found some badger hair. 479 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,400 Well, I'll be honest, there was a... There was some roadkill, 480 00:28:58,400 --> 00:28:59,880 so I shaved it. 481 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,440 Um, I know it sounds a bit of a weird thing to do. 482 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:04,240 SHE LAUGHS 483 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:07,680 So, I shaved it as close to the skin as I possibly could 484 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:13,600 in order to keep the hairs all as they grow naturally in order. 485 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,840 So when I sort of grab a little tuft of it here, if I sort of 486 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:18,800 try and separate a bit out. 487 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:21,760 And what I want are these long, straight hairs 488 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:23,800 that are what helps a badger shed water. 489 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,320 The hair is designed to move water, 490 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,600 which is why it makes such great brushes. 491 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,320 I'm going to glue those hairs in place so they don't move 492 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:33,840 during the next bit of the process. 493 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:36,760 The glue Ruth is using is gum arabic, 494 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:39,320 hardened sap from the acacia tree, 495 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,000 mixed with four parts water. 496 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,200 Gum arabic, of course, is water soluble, 497 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:48,120 so I'll be able to just wash it out of the brush at the end. 498 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:50,520 And can you see how that's coming together now as a point? 499 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,640 That's exactly what I want it to do as a finished brush. 500 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,240 If you look at a modern paintbrush, there's a sort of metal bit 501 00:29:57,240 --> 00:29:59,600 between the hairs and the stick. 502 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:00,640 They're 13th century, 503 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:02,080 they're not going to mess around 504 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:03,920 trying to make a metal ferrule. 505 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,320 You just do something much, much easier and cheaper, 506 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:08,080 you go and get yourself a feather. 507 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:11,640 Cos, if you think about it, if I cut that bit off, 508 00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,080 I've got a ready made tube. 509 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:18,720 I can take a little bit of thread and bind my hairs. 510 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:21,560 Just whipping them into place... 511 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:26,200 ..as tight as I can manage. 512 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,680 And I've got a nice, firmly held, little paintbrush head... 513 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:32,640 ..which I should... 514 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:35,800 ..be able to poke through. 515 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:41,440 There we go, you can see how firmly that's in there now. 516 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:43,520 See? Paintbrush head. 517 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,440 All I need now is jam a stick in the other end - done. 518 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,720 That looks like it'll work, doesn't it? 519 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,280 The pressure's on at the tile kiln. 520 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,960 The 13th of May in medieval France was regarded as 521 00:30:59,960 --> 00:31:01,480 the day of the holy ice. 522 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:05,560 It was believed to be the last day of spring 523 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:07,800 in which a hailstorm would occur, 524 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:11,000 sent by God as a sign of his omnipotence 525 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,720 before the arrival of summer. 526 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:18,200 And, as hail often turns quickly to heavy rain, 527 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,240 that could have disastrous consequences 528 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:22,480 for the fate of this batch of tiles. 529 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:27,800 This firing has already been held up for several days 530 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:29,120 owing to heavy storms. 531 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:34,480 And, once again, dark clouds are looming overhead. 532 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:43,440 The rain is coming. 533 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:47,560 I've just got to get this finished because if these tiles get wet, 534 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:48,800 it'll be a serious problem. 535 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:52,360 Not only can it affect their ability to fire, 536 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:55,200 essentially they may explode if the water gets in there. 537 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,320 It'll also take an awful lot more fuel 538 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,440 to dry this kiln out and then get it up to temperature. 539 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:07,000 Medieval tile makers would probably have used mud, earth 540 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,880 or wooden boards to weatherproof the tops of their kilns. 541 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:15,280 But for reasons of practicality and efficiency, 542 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:18,760 Guedelon relies on sheets of 21st-century corrugated iron. 543 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:21,680 There isn't a moment to lose. 544 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:25,120 Here it comes, the holy ice. 545 00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:27,320 The hail. 546 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:29,920 The last time of the year you'll get hail 547 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:31,640 and almost, as if on cue... 548 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,760 As feared, the hail quickly turns into a downpour. 549 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:45,640 The kiln will remain covered for several days 550 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:50,520 to allow the soil around it and the wood required for firing 551 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:52,120 time to thoroughly dry out. 552 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,160 Only once Bruno has assessed that the ground and climate conditions 553 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,680 are optimum will the firing finally take place. 554 00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:03,800 Good work Peter, good work. 555 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,480 And, at this rate, it may have to be postponed for several more days yet. 556 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:10,960 Glad I've got a poncho, Tomo! 557 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:37,000 While the tile firing is on hold, 558 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,200 progress is made on the chapel tower. 559 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,000 The guard room within the lower floor is undergoing 560 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:44,720 a colourful transformation. 561 00:33:50,320 --> 00:33:53,440 Valerie and her colleague Aurelie Paillard, 562 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,840 are using the Guedelon ochre to paint a design on the walls 563 00:33:56,840 --> 00:33:58,560 known as fictive masonry. 564 00:34:00,640 --> 00:34:04,120 This was a popular style of artwork among the nobility and royalty 565 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:06,880 throughout Europe in the mid-13th century. 566 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,040 It was a less expensive way to create the illusion 567 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:20,800 of the walls having been constructed from expensive white limestone. 568 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:25,080 By limewashing the cheaper sandstone white 569 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:26,720 and then over-painting this 570 00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:29,160 with a colourful, fake stonework pattern, 571 00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:32,360 a look of grandeur and of wealth was created. 572 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:39,360 The transformation of this room is incredible, isn't it? 573 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:43,040 Yeah, to think it goes from bare stone, to render, 574 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:44,840 to limewash, to this. 575 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:46,680 I mean, this is prestige, isn't it? 576 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:49,680 In 1240, the Queen Of England had something very similar 577 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:52,920 in her bedchambers with the addition of flowers. 578 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:55,160 But, you know, it brightens the room, doesn't it? 579 00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:57,600 It's, like, visual. Yeah. It's impressive. 580 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,840 And these fake joints made out of this ochre paint 581 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:04,080 give the impression of highly-cut stone. 582 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:05,160 Exactly. 583 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,400 It's like you are replicating what's beneath it 584 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,320 but in a very stylish way, 585 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:12,160 in a way that actually says to people coming here to visit, 586 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:15,400 "This is what I'm worth. I've got money, I can make this happen." 587 00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,520 The ochre pigments would be mixed with a glue binder 588 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:22,840 made from egg, or sometimes rabbit skin, to make the paint. 589 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,360 I'm not sure if my lines are dark enough. 590 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:30,440 Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh. 591 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,920 I think I top-loaded my brush a little bit too much there. 592 00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,480 It hasn't run. That's the danger, isn't it, 593 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:40,960 too much pigment on your brush. 594 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:46,360 Touch up that and I'll nip in there. SHE SPEAKS IN FRENCH: 595 00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:55,880 No, it's all going wrong. It's going wrong, it's looking awful. 596 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:56,920 Hideous! 597 00:35:58,160 --> 00:35:59,280 Rrr-ah! 598 00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:03,680 Yeah. I've seen worse. 599 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,400 Well, I know, but, you know, you can put yourself down. 600 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:07,560 THEY LAUGH 601 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:13,320 Oh, no! Oh! Oh! Oh! 602 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:25,320 Every aspect of Guedelon's design is planned by a scientific 603 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:26,680 committee of experts. 604 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:31,640 They work closely with the staff so that every feature is based 605 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:35,200 on authentic primary sources of historical evidence. 606 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:43,160 And, just a few miles away, in the village of Moutier, 607 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,240 is a key example of that evidence. 608 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:50,560 The Church of St Peter, built around the year 1000. 609 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:58,120 The church of the Middle Ages was a huge and wealthy landowner 610 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:01,400 which exerted a powerful influence over people's lives. 611 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,040 And the interiors of its buildings often 612 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:09,000 set a benchmark for the tastes and trends of the era. 613 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:21,120 In the early 1980s, the white distemper 614 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:24,000 covering the interior walls started to crack and peel... 615 00:37:24,960 --> 00:37:26,120 This is amazing. 616 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:30,320 ..uncovering a fascinating medieval secret. 617 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:32,000 They're everywhere. 618 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:40,240 A painstaking conservation over the next ten years revealed these - 619 00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:43,400 stunning ochre murals from the 13th century. 620 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:52,520 They've provided Guedelon with an authentic and illuminating resource 621 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:56,600 from which to draw inspiration for the interior decor of the castle. 622 00:37:59,720 --> 00:38:02,120 This is the panel that we're particularly interested in 623 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:04,840 in terms of the work we're doing at Guedelon. Right. Yeah. 624 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,360 It's amazing. You can pick out there, you can see the frieze. Yeah. 625 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:11,800 And these five-petalled flowers, you find these all over the place. 626 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:15,080 Very pop art but it's pure 13th century. 627 00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:20,600 Of course, the church would have been absolutely central 628 00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:22,000 in people's lives. Yeah. 629 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:24,920 Everyone locally would have had to have come to this church. 630 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:29,600 So the paintings on these walls aren't just decoration, 631 00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:31,920 they are here to tell stories, 632 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:34,720 they can be read very much like a cartoon strip. 633 00:38:34,720 --> 00:38:35,840 Right. 634 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,880 It's almost the entertainment of the age, 635 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,240 the biblical story just laid out in scenes. 636 00:38:42,240 --> 00:38:45,440 And I like the way that the artists have also taken, uh, 637 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:48,760 the opportunity to retell the story in their way. 638 00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:51,920 If there was any kind of friction... Right. ..between them and the church. 639 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:55,800 Look, we've got Eve here... Yeah. ..sashaying away, being very cheeky. 640 00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:59,480 Giving the wink to Adam... Yeah. ..just behind here. 641 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:02,760 They have a wink. We can't see what happens behind the pillar. 642 00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,120 And then afterwards, they've got a harvest and a child, so... 643 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:08,720 I wonder what the reaction was because, presumably, 644 00:39:08,720 --> 00:39:11,400 the villagers would be in on the joke. 645 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:12,440 If only we knew. 646 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,800 Ruth is applying some of the techniques discovered 647 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:26,000 at the Church of St Peter to the bedchamber, 648 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,240 which would have been used to provide hospitality 649 00:39:28,240 --> 00:39:30,720 to the lord and lady's most-distinguished guests. 650 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:36,680 It's the most highly-decorated room in the castle so far 651 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:39,480 and Ruth is using the burnt red ochre paint 652 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:42,080 to restore the rose motifs in the window seat. 653 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,920 Obviously the domestic spaces within a castle 654 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:52,040 are intended to impress. They have to look gorgeous. 655 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:55,680 It's about the look of the place as much as anything else 656 00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:58,840 and, naturally, people painted their walls. 657 00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:03,040 It's not a church, this isn't about religious storytelling, 658 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,920 this was about showing your power. It was about prestige. 659 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:11,880 That up there, that little bit where it's painted 660 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,000 to look as if it's masonry, 661 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:17,000 with the little roses in front, often called "stones and roses", 662 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,960 is perhaps the most typical, as far as we can tell, 663 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,720 of all interior decorating designs of the mid-13th century. 664 00:40:23,720 --> 00:40:27,080 That is what the Queen Of England had on her bedroom walls 665 00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:28,640 in the Tower of London - 666 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:31,920 stones and roses, the very height of fashion. 667 00:40:40,760 --> 00:40:43,800 Back at the Church of St Peter in Moutier, 668 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:47,360 Sarah explains how the paintings on these walls 669 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:51,280 have informed the way in which Guedelon's interiors are decorated. 670 00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:59,000 And because we don't have a lot of evidence of the types of paintings 671 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,960 that were inside castles... Right. 672 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:03,920 ..we're always very careful to say to people, 673 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:06,160 "OK, we don't know if there was ever a bedroom painted 674 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:09,080 "in exactly the style that we've got at the castle..." Yeah, yeah. 675 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:11,720 ..but, just a stone's throw from the castle, 676 00:41:11,720 --> 00:41:14,920 at the same time, we're painting these same patterns 677 00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:17,240 and, crucially, it's the same colour palette. 678 00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:19,480 This is just like walking out of the quarry, isn't it? 679 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:23,280 We've got the red ochre, the yellow ochres, the browns. 680 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:25,360 I have to say, I mean, you look at the masons 681 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:27,560 while they come out of the quarry and that kind of... 682 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:30,960 ..the dust and the ochre that's on them, 683 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:34,080 that is your colour palette. Absolutely. 684 00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:37,120 Everything's there, so if we wanted to paint in this area 685 00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:40,800 with blues or greens... Yeah. ..we'd have to buy those pigments in 686 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,520 from further afield and they would have been more costly. Yeah. 687 00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:45,480 And it's interesting to see that, in a church, 688 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:48,640 the decision has obviously been taken not to have too much 689 00:41:48,640 --> 00:41:50,680 blue or green, they've used the materials 690 00:41:50,680 --> 00:41:52,400 that were available locally. 691 00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:57,600 Artwork like this just doesn't really survive in castles. 692 00:41:57,600 --> 00:41:59,760 No. Castles are generally ruins but churches, 693 00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:02,600 they're such a...an important historical reference. 694 00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:05,280 No, that was that was certainly a challenge for us 695 00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:08,200 in that we were aware that there are very few models 696 00:42:08,200 --> 00:42:10,920 of the types of paintings... Yeah. ..that there would have been 697 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:12,240 inside castles at this time. 698 00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:15,080 It was a very deliberate decision not to use the human figures. 699 00:42:15,080 --> 00:42:19,320 Right. ..cos obviously these are depicting biblical stories. 700 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:23,120 Yeah. So we stuck very much with the flowers, the trees, 701 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:24,440 the geometric shapes. 702 00:42:26,080 --> 00:42:29,040 Well, what we're wanting to do is offer people a vision of what 703 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:31,360 a 13th-century visitor might have seen... 704 00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:34,680 Yeah. ..and to get over the fact that castles weren't bare stone, 705 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:37,480 empty places, they were decorated and they were full of colour. 706 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:56,680 HYMNAL MUSIC PLAYS 707 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:14,520 Another area of the castle, 708 00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:16,560 which is the result of intense research 709 00:43:16,560 --> 00:43:19,560 into 13th-century architecture, is the chapel. 710 00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:29,120 Clement Guerard, the chief stone carver at Guedelon, 711 00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:31,680 is a highly-experienced draughtsman, 712 00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:35,040 but he's about to undertake his most ambitious project to date. 713 00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:41,040 Right now, Clement's doing the drawing for what will be 714 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:43,200 the prestige feature of the chapel, 715 00:43:43,200 --> 00:43:46,160 so much so they've actually imported a slightly less-hard 716 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:48,520 type of limestone that will be easier to carve. 717 00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:52,640 This really is precise work. 718 00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:54,760 I am marvelling at the skill he's got. 719 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:01,960 Clement is designing a decorative piece of masonry... 720 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:05,920 ..based on a very common 13th-century design 721 00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:07,440 found throughout France. 722 00:44:16,720 --> 00:44:18,920 It's a niche for the chapel wall, 723 00:44:18,920 --> 00:44:22,280 with a trefoil-shaped head which will sit upon pillars 724 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:24,840 rising from two small basins called "piscines". 725 00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:34,440 At Guedelon, white-dressed limestone is used 726 00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:36,560 for the more decorative features of the castle. 727 00:44:39,720 --> 00:44:43,280 Although it's quicker to dress than the quarry's hard sandstone, 728 00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:45,120 it's easier to chip, 729 00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:49,000 so great precision is required and mistakes could prove costly. 730 00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:13,640 Finally, it's the morning of the long-awaited firing of the kiln. 731 00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:20,040 Peter's up early to help share the workload with Florian Dubois. 732 00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:25,400 The firebox in the lower chamber has been stacked 733 00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:26,640 with logs and twigs. 734 00:45:27,800 --> 00:45:30,600 And, at last, the first piece of kindling is lit. 735 00:45:40,200 --> 00:45:42,800 Within seconds, clouds of wood smoke 736 00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:45,680 are billowing out of the top of the firing chamber. 737 00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:52,760 It's going to take hundreds of armfuls of wood 738 00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:55,520 and many hours of careful monitoring 739 00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,600 to turn these flames into the roaring blaze 740 00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:00,200 required to fire the tiles. 741 00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:04,640 A long, hot, and exhausting day lies ahead. 742 00:46:19,280 --> 00:46:22,120 The stone-carvers have completed the first part 743 00:46:22,120 --> 00:46:23,880 of the white limestone niche, 744 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:26,840 and are ready to transport it to the chapel tower. 745 00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:35,200 The hoisting of the stone requires care and attention. 746 00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:42,120 The lord, and all of those working for him, 747 00:46:42,120 --> 00:46:45,320 would have set great store by this sacred work of art. 748 00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:59,200 But, for us, the significance is that this is the first real piece 749 00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:01,840 of religious architecture that we've got in the castle. 750 00:47:01,840 --> 00:47:05,320 This is the only sacred space within the castle. 751 00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:09,520 So we're actually standing here in the area where the altar will be, 752 00:47:09,520 --> 00:47:13,440 so this is the holiest place... Right. ..of this sacred space. 753 00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:16,120 Where you'd have the holy water... Yeah. ..and the oils, yeah? 754 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:21,080 So this is the most delicate sculpture that we've done here. 755 00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:22,880 As you can see, it's a hand basin. Yeah. 756 00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:24,880 You've seen it being dressed earlier. Yeah. 757 00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:26,320 But you can see the two dips. 758 00:47:26,320 --> 00:47:29,080 Now, we had some priests visiting as we were wondering ourselves 759 00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:31,640 why there were these two kind of recesses. 760 00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:33,640 The priests that were visiting suggested that 761 00:47:33,640 --> 00:47:37,440 maybe one was for washing priests' hands before the mass 762 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:39,880 and that the other one was then for washing the implements 763 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:42,680 that had been used in the mass. Right. 764 00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:45,040 What we've been told, at least, is that the idea is that 765 00:47:45,040 --> 00:47:50,160 all the water that is in this piscine, this hand basin, 766 00:47:50,160 --> 00:47:54,680 is holy water. Yeah. And, as such, it can't just be thrown away. Yeah. 767 00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:56,920 All the water will actually... And we're not talking 768 00:47:56,920 --> 00:47:59,560 about huge amounts, but the water will just kind of filter down 769 00:47:59,560 --> 00:48:01,880 into the wall and stay within the walls of the chapel. 770 00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:05,400 So the stone of the chapel itself is obviously porous, 771 00:48:05,400 --> 00:48:07,520 it's going to absorb... Yeah. ..that holy water 772 00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:10,080 and essentially make this whole space even more sacred. 773 00:48:10,080 --> 00:48:11,440 That's the idea. 774 00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:14,440 So our mini, little temple here at Guedelon. 775 00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:17,160 So it's been an opportunity obviously for the stonemasons 776 00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:18,760 to use different techniques. Yeah. 777 00:48:18,760 --> 00:48:20,920 And then there was a little bit of improvisation 778 00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:23,440 that gave the stonemasons an opportunity to... 779 00:48:23,440 --> 00:48:26,400 to kind of have a bit of freedom of movement. You can see... 780 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:28,320 Yeah. ..each column is slightly different. 781 00:48:28,320 --> 00:48:31,880 Different. This is Matheus, you can see his mark up here on the stone. 782 00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:35,200 And, on the other side, we've got Jean Paul's right here. 783 00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:43,880 The masons' marks on dressed stones are a permanent 784 00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:47,920 reminder of the ancient skills and techniques of the medieval masons. 785 00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:54,240 Each one presents us with a unique signature of the craftsman 786 00:48:54,240 --> 00:48:56,040 who carved a particular piece. 787 00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:17,440 At the kiln, tension is rising. 788 00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:23,920 A month's rain has taken its toll and the firing is not going to plan. 789 00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:25,280 Everything got wet. 790 00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:27,360 The kiln got wet, the wood got wet. 791 00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:30,960 So it's just taken that little bit longer to dry everything out, 792 00:49:30,960 --> 00:49:32,360 get rid of the moisture. 793 00:49:34,440 --> 00:49:37,800 The blaze is still several hundred degrees below what it needs to be. 794 00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:43,400 Peter leads a frantic effort to try to save the 4,000 tiles inside. 795 00:49:47,160 --> 00:49:50,720 We know today the optimum temperature for a successful firing 796 00:49:50,720 --> 00:49:52,840 is around 1,000 degrees centigrade. 797 00:49:56,240 --> 00:50:00,040 13th-century tilers relied on their experience, 798 00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:03,920 their senses and costly trial and error. 799 00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:06,960 They would have been under intense pressure to get firings right. 800 00:50:11,200 --> 00:50:14,760 The kiln, it's just about getting up to temperature now. 801 00:50:16,120 --> 00:50:17,800 It's ready to really feed up 802 00:50:17,800 --> 00:50:20,520 and, pretty soon, those tiles will be getting close to firing. 803 00:50:20,520 --> 00:50:23,280 But it does mean it's going to be a longer day. 804 00:50:23,280 --> 00:50:25,880 I mean, the sun is setting in the sky. 805 00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:28,800 We're going to go late into the night. 806 00:50:32,240 --> 00:50:35,960 A tiler's trade depended on the local nobility's trust 807 00:50:35,960 --> 00:50:38,040 and the reliability of his product. 808 00:50:39,840 --> 00:50:42,640 And the strict laws governing the standards of production 809 00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:44,040 were rigidly enforced. 810 00:50:46,040 --> 00:50:48,440 Tiles must be correctly stacked, 811 00:50:48,440 --> 00:50:51,640 the temperature must not be too high or too low, 812 00:50:51,640 --> 00:50:55,200 the heat must be distributed evenly throughout the kiln. 813 00:50:57,840 --> 00:51:01,240 If not, the results could be under-fired, 814 00:51:01,240 --> 00:51:04,320 over-fired or, otherwise, damaged tiles. 815 00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:08,360 And a medieval lord would neither accept 816 00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:11,120 nor pay for a single substandard tile. 817 00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:16,400 Failed firing had serious consequences 818 00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:17,920 for a tiler's livelihood. 819 00:51:28,280 --> 00:51:32,640 As darkness falls, Peter and the team finally succeed 820 00:51:32,640 --> 00:51:35,680 in getting the temperature up to 1,000 degrees centigrade. 821 00:51:42,480 --> 00:51:46,120 We've been working since this morning without stopping 822 00:51:46,120 --> 00:51:48,120 and now we are a bit tired. 823 00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:53,120 It was, er... It was hard but now it's at a good temperature. Right. 824 00:51:55,840 --> 00:51:58,920 And what sort of...what sort of colours are you looking for in there? 825 00:51:58,920 --> 00:52:01,080 It must stay orange. Orange. 826 00:52:01,080 --> 00:52:02,720 If it's white, it's too much. 827 00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:07,560 If you want the tiles to be fired evenly... 828 00:52:07,560 --> 00:52:11,040 Right. ..we must stay at this temperature during two hours. 829 00:52:11,040 --> 00:52:12,600 Oh, right, OK. 830 00:52:12,600 --> 00:52:14,560 But are you happy? C'est bon, yeah? Yes. 831 00:52:14,560 --> 00:52:15,760 Yes, we are. 832 00:52:15,760 --> 00:52:17,280 Yes, it's a dream. 833 00:52:28,200 --> 00:52:30,240 HE PLAYS A TUNE 834 00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:49,880 Can you imagine living in a world with no electric lights? 835 00:52:49,880 --> 00:52:53,720 I mean, tonight we have the stars, 836 00:52:53,720 --> 00:52:57,840 we have the moon and we have the tile kiln. 837 00:52:57,840 --> 00:53:01,640 4,000 tiles, they're just about to block this up with wood 838 00:53:01,640 --> 00:53:03,440 and they're going to seal it in. 839 00:53:04,960 --> 00:53:08,840 It's a lot of hard work at the coalface because this is industry. 840 00:53:10,840 --> 00:53:14,880 Could you imagine what it must have been like to see a castle 841 00:53:14,880 --> 00:53:16,160 being built of stone 842 00:53:16,160 --> 00:53:21,040 surrounded by these kilns that were firing flames into that night sky? 843 00:53:24,680 --> 00:53:29,920 But, sat back here, thinking about perhaps the hell down there 844 00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:31,760 and the heavens up there, 845 00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:34,160 and your tiles currently in purgatory, 846 00:53:34,160 --> 00:53:35,800 which way are they going to go? 847 00:53:35,800 --> 00:53:37,320 Have you been good? 848 00:53:37,320 --> 00:53:39,960 Will they be used in that castle? 849 00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:41,320 Who knows? 850 00:53:47,200 --> 00:53:50,240 TUNE CONTINUES 851 00:53:52,960 --> 00:53:55,000 APPLAUSE 852 00:54:19,400 --> 00:54:22,080 It takes several days for the kiln to cool down. 853 00:54:23,520 --> 00:54:27,440 Peter's helping to unload the tiles and examine the results. 854 00:54:34,120 --> 00:54:38,400 THEY TALK IN FRENCH 855 00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:43,520 HE CLINKS TILES 856 00:54:43,520 --> 00:54:46,200 You can hear this? Yeah, I can hear that. It's really, like... 857 00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:47,480 This sound is perfect for us. 858 00:54:47,480 --> 00:54:49,720 That ringing sound is what you're looking for. 859 00:54:49,720 --> 00:54:53,200 HE CLINKS TILES 860 00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:55,240 Hey, perfect sounds. Ah! 861 00:54:58,200 --> 00:54:59,800 It's a good sound. So, um... 862 00:55:02,840 --> 00:55:04,960 Why are you guys spitting on the tiles? 863 00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:07,080 Oh, um, to see... 864 00:55:07,080 --> 00:55:10,360 To see if it's good, cos sometimes the sound is not enough. 865 00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:11,680 Right. 866 00:55:11,680 --> 00:55:13,000 The sound can be in the middle. 867 00:55:13,000 --> 00:55:15,960 We don't know if it's raw or cooked, so we can spit on it 868 00:55:15,960 --> 00:55:18,440 and, if the saliva stay there, it's cooked. 869 00:55:18,440 --> 00:55:21,240 If it's going inside the tile, it's not. 870 00:55:21,240 --> 00:55:24,640 Every single tile coming out of this kiln you're quality... 871 00:55:24,640 --> 00:55:27,280 Yes. ..controlling them. You're listening to the sound. Yes. 872 00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:29,160 If you're unsure, you spit on it. 873 00:55:29,160 --> 00:55:31,040 If it goes in... Yeah. ..it's undercooked. 874 00:55:31,040 --> 00:55:32,840 We can't spit on every one, there's 4,000. 875 00:55:32,840 --> 00:55:35,000 We don't have enough... 876 00:55:36,200 --> 00:55:39,720 But, uh, what happens if they... if they overcook? 877 00:55:41,040 --> 00:55:44,160 Um, we have an example. So it was not for this firing, 878 00:55:44,160 --> 00:55:46,600 it was for one before. Yeah. 879 00:55:46,600 --> 00:55:48,920 When it overcooks, it's going like that. 880 00:55:48,920 --> 00:55:51,000 So we have this bubble of gas inside, 881 00:55:51,000 --> 00:55:53,800 and the bubble is going bigger. 882 00:55:53,800 --> 00:55:56,280 And, er, the tile was burst with time. 883 00:55:57,920 --> 00:56:01,280 This is good. We've got plenty. Handmade. 884 00:56:01,280 --> 00:56:05,080 Well, I saw how hard you guys worked 885 00:56:05,080 --> 00:56:07,360 and how long it takes to make these tiles. 886 00:56:07,360 --> 00:56:09,800 I mean, it's...it's good. I'm pleased. 887 00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:13,040 You know, I'm happy for you. You know? We're happy, too. 888 00:56:14,360 --> 00:56:17,400 Er, especially with this firing, we're really happy. 889 00:56:17,400 --> 00:56:20,960 Yes, we have a very good results. It's very nice to have it. 890 00:56:30,320 --> 00:56:33,320 The fired tiles are now used to floor the fully-rendered 891 00:56:33,320 --> 00:56:34,920 and lime-washed Quarry Tower. 892 00:56:39,920 --> 00:56:42,520 It will take thousands more tiles 893 00:56:42,520 --> 00:56:47,240 and several more years of rendering, limewashing, and painting 894 00:56:47,240 --> 00:56:49,120 before the entire castle 895 00:56:49,120 --> 00:56:52,960 finally looks like it might have done in the 13th century. 896 00:56:58,040 --> 00:57:01,160 This is really starting to look like a finished castle, isn't it? 897 00:57:01,160 --> 00:57:04,520 You know, with the tiles and the walls all plastered and painted. 898 00:57:04,520 --> 00:57:07,720 It's starting to get that feel of a living space. 899 00:57:08,880 --> 00:57:11,120 I'll be honest, I did not appreciate how much work 900 00:57:11,120 --> 00:57:12,600 and effort it would take 901 00:57:12,600 --> 00:57:14,560 to get this stage actually happening. 902 00:57:14,560 --> 00:57:18,080 You know, the clay for the tiles, finding the paint. 903 00:57:18,080 --> 00:57:20,640 But when you see it, it's unbelievable. 904 00:57:20,640 --> 00:57:22,440 And I really can't wait, 905 00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:24,160 I know it's a long time in the future yet, 906 00:57:24,160 --> 00:57:26,240 but for the furniture and the furnishings, 907 00:57:26,240 --> 00:57:28,800 for the textiles to finally arrive. 908 00:57:28,800 --> 00:57:31,280 Well, it emphasises that it's actually a living space 909 00:57:31,280 --> 00:57:33,480 and not just a defensive building, doesn't it? 910 00:57:33,480 --> 00:57:35,680 In moments like this, you look at this, you know, 911 00:57:35,680 --> 00:57:37,720 yes, I could actually sit here and relax. Yeah. 912 00:57:37,720 --> 00:57:40,480 It's not all about warfare when it comes to castles. Yeah. 913 00:57:40,480 --> 00:57:42,680 This is an entertaining space. 914 00:57:42,680 --> 00:57:44,280 Next to the great hall, 915 00:57:44,280 --> 00:57:46,520 you can bring your more select guests 916 00:57:46,520 --> 00:57:48,560 in here to wine them and dine them, 917 00:57:48,560 --> 00:57:50,400 and perhaps a guest bed in here 918 00:57:50,400 --> 00:57:53,240 and everybody else sleeping round on mats. 919 00:57:53,240 --> 00:57:57,160 You can get the feel for that sort of convivial way of life. 920 00:57:57,160 --> 00:57:59,680 I have to say, though, the medieval period, 921 00:57:59,680 --> 00:58:02,000 far more colourful than I thought it was. 922 00:58:08,200 --> 00:58:12,280 Next time, the community of skills it takes to build a castle. 923 00:58:13,840 --> 00:58:16,440 From the blacksmith, transforming metal... 924 00:58:18,240 --> 00:58:20,280 ..to the never-ending need for wood. 925 00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:25,040 Plus, making a medieval watermill. 926 00:58:26,160 --> 00:58:27,560 "Wow," is all I can say.