1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,920 NARRATOR: Castles dominated the medieval landscape, 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,800 and Britain has some of the finest in the world. 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,320 Today, most are decaying relics, 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,120 many of their secrets buried in time. 5 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:21,920 Now, historian Ruth Goodman... 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:23,320 Whoo! 7 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,640 ..and archaeologists Tom Pinfold and Peter Ginn 8 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,000 are turning the clock back, 9 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,840 to relearn the secrets of the medieval castle-builders. 10 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,120 TOM: This is the ultimate in medieval technology. 11 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:38,920 The origin of our castles is distinctly French - 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:43,000 introduced to Britain at the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066. 13 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,440 MAN: Trois, deux, un... 14 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:46,880 Tirez! 15 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,840 Here in the Burgundy region of France is Guedelon Castle, 16 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,640 the world's biggest archaeological experiment... 17 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,800 ..a 25-year project to build a castle from scratch, 18 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:07,760 using the same tools, techniques and materials 19 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:09,600 available in the 13th century. 20 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,840 It's a lot of hard work at the coalface, because this is industry. 21 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,920 For the next six months, Ruth, Peter and Tom 22 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:22,800 will experience the daily rigours of medieval construction... 23 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:24,400 Drop down. WOMAN: Yep. Yep. 24 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:25,800 ..and everyday life. 25 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:28,360 How workers dressed... 26 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:30,520 HE GROANS ..and ate. 27 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:32,480 You can really smell your food, Ruth. 28 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:33,760 SHE LAUGHS 29 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:35,320 And the art of combat. 30 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:36,440 ARROW FIRES 31 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:37,520 TOM: Ohh! 32 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:44,240 This is the story of how to build a medieval castle. 33 00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,480 Four months into their adventure, 34 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,040 the team have been immersed in the building work, 35 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,320 alongside Guedelon's masons. 36 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:05,920 Perfect. Oh, good! 37 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:08,640 MAN: Tirez! 38 00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:11,760 They've learned how a castle was defended in times of war... 39 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,680 TOM: Every stone has to be in line, 40 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:17,760 because this is going to go up and up and up. 41 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,240 ..and discovered how lavishly decorated 42 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,960 castles were on the inside. 43 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:25,240 This was about showing your power! 44 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:27,680 It was about prestige. 45 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:32,720 METALLIC HAMMERING AND CLANGING 46 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:37,240 Now the team delve deeper 47 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,520 to discover the secrets of the skilled communities 48 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:44,240 whose combined expertise made such mighty castles. 49 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,640 It's just this mass of molten metal. 50 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:54,360 Castles were not made from stone alone. 51 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:58,520 Without the mastery of the medieval blacksmiths transforming metal... 52 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,160 ..and the carpenters' sophisticated grasp of geometry... 53 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:08,800 "Wow" is all I can say. 54 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:13,280 ..the castle could never be built at all. 55 00:03:14,640 --> 00:03:16,440 RUTH: This is one of those moments 56 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,960 when everything comes together extremely fast, 57 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:21,160 in quite a dramatic way. 58 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:22,600 ALL EXCLAIM 59 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:31,080 The first castles introduced to Britain by the Normans 60 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,480 were mostly built not of stone, but of wood, 61 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,640 making them quicker and cheaper to construct. 62 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,640 Their favoured design was the motte and bailey. 63 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,520 Following the conquest of 1066, 64 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,880 they erected hundreds at strategic locations across England and Wales. 65 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,800 One of the first structures completed here at Guedelon 66 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,120 is an example of a classic wooden motte and bailey. 67 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,000 You know, I-I can never remember... 68 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,520 Which...which one's the motte and which one's the bailey? 69 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,200 The motte is your mound, on top of which 70 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,000 you're probably going to end up with a wooden tower like this, 71 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,280 which in our case, in Guedelon, goes on to be the great tower. 72 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:18,480 And your bailey is the area enclosed by your palisade fence, 73 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:19,960 as we can see here. 74 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:21,640 So, this could be your bailey. 75 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,280 So, the bailey becomes the courtyard, 76 00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:25,280 the palisade fence becomes the curtain walls. 77 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:28,800 Exactly - that's the evolution of the castle right there, really, isn't it? 78 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,480 While most early castles were made of timber, 79 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,880 at key sites, the Normans invested in stone, 80 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,960 expanding on the motte-and-bailey principle 81 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,920 of high tower and defensive surrounding wall, 82 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,400 but using materials that were far more imposing and durable. 83 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,240 William the Conqueror built stone castles to make a statement - 84 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,080 Norman rule was here to stay. 85 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:12,840 The fact so many of these castles are still standing 86 00:05:12,840 --> 00:05:14,920 after almost 1,000 years 87 00:05:14,920 --> 00:05:18,520 is testament to the precision and skill of their builders. 88 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,560 It's this remarkable standard of craftsmanship 89 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,040 they're seeking to recapture at Guedelon. 90 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,040 Most of the walls are built with rubble stones, 91 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:35,400 which are easy to produce in the quarry. 92 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,800 Every ten feet, the masons build levelling courses - 93 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:46,080 rows of carefully dressed flat stones that strengthen the wall 94 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,360 and also allow the masons to regulate the structure. 95 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:53,320 If it's too regular, 96 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,440 if you're using just blocks that are shaped, but not specific, 97 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:58,960 you'll actually end up with a weak wall. 98 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,840 By putting in the levelling courses, you flatten everything out, 99 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:04,720 you start building again from a horizontal surface. 100 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,080 And, so, you'll do that again and again, right up to the top, 101 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,000 and that just keeps the strength of the wall 102 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,400 and allows you just to basically balance out 103 00:06:13,400 --> 00:06:15,040 and work from a flat surface. 104 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:18,800 Tom is helping to extract 105 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,040 a particularly large stone from the quarry by the castle 106 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,080 to use in a levelling course. 107 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:30,000 Mathieu Rigo has been a quarryman here for nine years. 108 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,720 TOM: At the moment, we're just making the small hole, 109 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:35,680 and into that we're going to insert the wedge. 110 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:37,720 And what we want to do is hit that perfectly 111 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:39,480 and that should actually work its way 112 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,160 along the natural crack in the rock. 113 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,200 So, it's not as simple as just, "Smack, smack, smack. 114 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:46,600 "There's your hole, put in the wedge." 115 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,680 HE SPEAKS FRENCH 116 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:56,000 Yeah? Oh, yeah. 117 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:57,280 HE CHUCKLES 118 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,520 Each different type of rock has its own extraction method 119 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:09,240 and quarrymen's skills were handed down from father to son. 120 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:19,800 OK, we've got our split now 121 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,520 and we just need to separate these two bits of stone. 122 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,520 So, it's over to the crowbar, get that in. 123 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:28,200 I'm going to lift it up, going to apply some more wedges. 124 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,240 In the Middle Ages, some quarrymen also worked as stonemasons. 125 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:41,440 Masons were well-paid free men 126 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,200 who enjoyed exceptional status among the workers of the age. 127 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:49,040 They travelled widely, their skills constantly in demand 128 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,440 for building great castles and churches. 129 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,800 On a construction site, the stonemason's lodge 130 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:09,800 is where they gathered to eat, drink and discuss ideas and designs. 131 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,600 Lodges became regarded as strongly symbolic buildings, 132 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,200 where the closely guarded secrets of the mason's craft were shared 133 00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:21,000 and geometry was taught. 134 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,600 In an age where there was little scientific knowledge 135 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:29,840 and a great deal of superstition, 136 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:34,720 it's easy to see why a mason's lodge acquired an almost mystical status. 137 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:42,560 Professor Ronald Hutton is a historian, 138 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:45,840 specialising in medieval and early modern folklore. 139 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,080 RUTH: We're sitting in a mason's lodge 140 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:55,320 and those words sort of conjure up certain images. 141 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:56,640 Is that true? 142 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,800 I mean, was there any such thing as freemasonry in the 13th century? 143 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:02,480 Certainly not. 144 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:04,600 Freemasonry as we know it comes along 145 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,400 in the end of the 16th century, actually in Scotland, 146 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:09,320 where they decided to pool together 147 00:09:09,320 --> 00:09:12,920 the mason's skill of understanding geometry and structure 148 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:15,960 in order to try and understand the secrets of the universe. 149 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:20,240 And that began this secret society of people dedicated to knowledge, 150 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:22,480 which grew into freemasonry as we know it. 151 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,200 So, it has absolutely nothing to do with 152 00:09:25,200 --> 00:09:27,760 this sort of medieval tradition of building? 153 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:30,760 Well, medieval masonry is the seed 154 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,280 and modern freemasonry is the full-grown plant. 155 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,440 If you're a medieval mason, you are doing God's work, 156 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,760 you're building God's houses, the churches and cathedrals. 157 00:09:39,760 --> 00:09:42,520 And as God is the grand architect of the universe, 158 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:44,080 using natural geometry, 159 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:46,080 so human masons reproduce that. 160 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,280 They are sub-creators 161 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:53,680 but are also in a highly mobile skilled, dangerous trade. 162 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,440 That's why a lodge like this is so important. 163 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,760 If you are a free mason, in the medieval sense - 164 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:02,880 in other words you're free to go where you like - 165 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:06,120 to have a place like this, a temporary home from home, 166 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:10,840 where masons can gather, share information, share hot tips 167 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,320 and simply live, play dice, booze, 168 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:15,440 chill out after the day's work is done 169 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:17,160 is absolutely essential. 170 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:22,240 Stonemasons were not the only skilled craftsmen 171 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:24,120 on a castle building site. 172 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:33,960 Castles required huge amounts of wood 173 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,480 and this called for carpenters. 174 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,240 Roof structures, doors, walkways and drawbridges 175 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:42,920 were all made from timber. 176 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,880 Wood was also key to the building process - 177 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:54,840 from scaffolding and lifting machinery to basic buckets. 178 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,200 Here at Guedelon, the wooden scaffolding 179 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,560 is a really visible part of the build. 180 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:08,160 It's also one of the most precarious and potentially dangerous. 181 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,280 Indeed, we know that in 1138, at Canterbury Cathedral, 182 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:16,280 William Sens, the master builder, was up inspecting the high vaults 183 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:20,080 when he fell from the scaffolding and was paralysed. 184 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:28,400 Essential to secure scaffolding are putlogs, 185 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:30,720 the timbers which stick out from the wall 186 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:32,720 for the scaffold planks to rest on. 187 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,920 The timbers are deeply embedded in the walls, in putlog holes, 188 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,440 into which the logs are inserted. 189 00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,480 By planning putlog holes at regular intervals, 190 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:50,000 the timbers can be continually raised in line with the stonework, 191 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,240 avoiding the need to build a scaffold up from the ground. 192 00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,560 Carpenter and stonemason have...problem. 193 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:02,160 Florian Renucci is the master mason, 194 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:04,240 overseeing all construction on the site. 195 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,280 FLORIAN: So, there it should go. 196 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:09,440 He's ultimately responsible for workers' safety here at Guedelon. 197 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:12,840 Obviously, we don't want anybody to die... 198 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,520 SHE LAUGHS ..while we're building this castle. 199 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:17,520 So, there are certain compromises. 200 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,960 You're having to have some modern health and safety issues 201 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:23,280 with the scaffolding. 202 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,560 How close is the scaffolding you're using 203 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,040 to being 13th-century scaffolding 204 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:33,760 and how much is because you need modern health and safety? 205 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:36,760 Well, the 21-century technique 206 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,480 for us to walk 207 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:42,440 is only to put the iron. 208 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:46,600 PETER: Right. And also modern wood. 209 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:48,400 So, when we look around us, 210 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:51,920 the 13th-century scaffolding wouldn't have looked very different. 211 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:52,960 Mm. 212 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,400 The wood would have been hand-produced, not machine-produced, 213 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,360 and instead of the bolts, what would it have been instead of the bolts? 214 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:02,920 Ropes. Rope. It would have just been tied? Yes. 215 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:05,360 So, we have to do, uh... A bit of compromise. 216 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,840 ..a compromise for our safety and for... 217 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,800 Yeah. ..um, building in a good way. 218 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:16,520 Yeah. But we don't change the way of building. 219 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,160 We use wood. 220 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:27,840 The completed castle will have 221 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:29,840 a chapel built into the east tower, 222 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:34,000 where the lord and his family could practise their religious devotions. 223 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:42,000 Even laymen would have heard mass at least once a day, 224 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,640 so a chapel was considered essential. 225 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:52,280 HE SPEAKS FRENCH 226 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,200 Nicolas Touchefeu is head carpenter here. 227 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,240 They must get the scaffolding in place 228 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,880 to enable the masons to build the next level of the chapel tower. 229 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:08,680 The masons have made a putlog hole 230 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:11,680 and the carpenters have prepared the wood in advance... 231 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,640 ..complete with a mortise-and-tenon joint - 232 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,160 something still favoured by carpenters today. 233 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:19,680 PETER: There we go. 234 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:26,000 So, not only do you have a mortise-and-tenon here 235 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:27,600 that can be pegged, 236 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:29,640 you've also got a bird-mouth joint, 237 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:34,120 so the putlog is actually sitting ON this as well as IN it, 238 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:36,640 to give it maximum security. 239 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:40,600 And then that putlog goes into the castle wall. 240 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,680 Pegs? In this side. This side. 241 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:46,960 It's secured with oak pegs. 242 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,520 More? No? No, it's OK. OK. 243 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,720 And that is the scaffolding...in. 244 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,640 And the build can commence. 245 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:11,200 As well as the stonemasons being largely dependent on the carpenters, 246 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:14,640 both were also reliant on another set of craftsmen. 247 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,240 Blacksmiths. 248 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,040 From hinges on doors to bars on windows 249 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,160 or the chains that raised the drawbridge, 250 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:25,920 metal was crucial. 251 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,640 At the foot of the castle is a blacksmith's forge. 252 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,600 Martin Claudel produces the tools and metalwork required at Guedelon. 253 00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,240 SCRAPING 254 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:48,480 Peter and Tom are helping mix crushed clay with sand and water. 255 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,560 They're going to help build a furnace, or bloomery, 256 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:53,720 to smelt iron for tool-making. 257 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:00,120 You think about a blacksmith's shop, 258 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:02,640 you think about all the little bits of metal kicking round, 259 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:04,440 bits of broken nail, bits of, uh... 260 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:06,520 ..uh, fragments of iron that have come off 261 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,480 when you're smacking it with the...with a hammer. 262 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,520 And this furnace is a way of melting those all down 263 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,160 and turning them back into metal that can be used. 264 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,480 These are big old bellows. 265 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:21,040 HE LAUGHS 266 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:25,400 That's good. That's good. 267 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:32,320 Once the furnace is complete, they just need to put in the door, 268 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,600 held in with an ash paste, so they can easily open it. 269 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:45,360 The giant double bellows are attached to the furnace 270 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:47,720 to pump air into it when lit, 271 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:53,280 raising the temperature from 800 to over 1,300 degrees, 272 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,040 sufficient to melt the scrap iron and steel. 273 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,560 It's a lovely melodic sound, the bellows. 274 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:05,040 It's respiration. 275 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:06,560 Breathing in and out. 276 00:17:12,600 --> 00:17:14,840 We've made the bloomer, we've made the furnace. 277 00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:18,480 We've gotta put in charcoal, we're going to throw in the scrap iron, 278 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,560 bring it up to temperature, melt this down 279 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:23,480 and, hopefully, at the bottom, 280 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,680 we're going to get, at the very least, reusable iron, 281 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,680 but perhaps we'll get steel. 282 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:35,120 But that's all about your carbon content, the purity of the fuel 283 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:38,480 and the ability to do a good smelt. 284 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:49,000 Steel is iron with a specific amount of carbon 285 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,760 dissolved inside its structure. 286 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,440 When the temperature in the furnace rises, 287 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,440 more and more carbon from the charcoal is absorbed by the iron. 288 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,720 But it's a difficult balancing process. 289 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,520 This was medieval technology, 290 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,680 long before a modern understanding of chemistry. 291 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,800 But hard steel was so useful for tools 292 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:16,000 that even small amounts were precious. 293 00:18:17,360 --> 00:18:20,960 PETER: Well, pretty soon we'll be ready to crack open that door 294 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:24,880 and hopefully have a bloom of steel, from which we can make tools. 295 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,600 We've reached that moment. The iron that's gone in the top has melted. 296 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:34,080 It's reached the bottom. 297 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,240 It's hopefully turned into a steel bloom. 298 00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:39,920 Clement is just hacking out that sort of ash-and-water paste 299 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,600 that Tommo used to patch up that door. 300 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:45,480 Ooh, door's off. 301 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:49,160 We can see the bloom. It's right at the top of that charcoal bed. 302 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:53,480 It's just this mass of molten metal. 303 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,800 All those scrap bits of metal melted down. 304 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:58,920 MAN: Ohh! 305 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,800 MEN SPEAK FRENCH 306 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,200 It's amazing to see this happen in a blacksmith's shop. I've never seen that before. 307 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,440 It just means that these guys are self-sufficient. 308 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:20,120 They need to compact the bloom 309 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:24,440 to start the folding process for working it, to shape into tools. 310 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:35,280 Next, the metal is rapidly cooled, or quenched, in water... 311 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:36,760 HISSING AND BUBBLING 312 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:38,640 ..to lock in its hardness. 313 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,400 Martin then tests it with a steel file. 314 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:48,200 Parts that feel softer than the file are iron. 315 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,040 Harder bits are hopefully steel. 316 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,800 MARTIN: I believe we got steel. 317 00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:00,120 We just have to...to work it, to see. 318 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:03,400 Being able to produce hard steel 319 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:07,680 enabled blacksmiths to make sharp cutting edges of tools, like axes, 320 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,280 which is what Martin is going to forge later. 321 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,120 CHICKS CHEEP 322 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:26,280 TWEETING 323 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,120 In the Middle Ages, the lords of castles like this one 324 00:20:40,120 --> 00:20:43,560 were part of the driving force behind the clearance of woodland 325 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:47,240 to make way for crops and to provide timber and firewood. 326 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:54,480 There are more forests in France today 327 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:56,840 than there were in the 13th century. 328 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,960 The location of Guedelon Castle was determined, in part, 329 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:06,080 by the surrounding forest, which provides large amounts of wood. 330 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,320 PETER: This is our tree. 331 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:11,680 Ooh, it has got a good bend on it, hasn't it? 332 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,320 HE SPEAKS FRENCH 333 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:15,880 Jean-Michel Hure is the head woodsman. 334 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:17,960 Relax, relax the arm. Come on. 335 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:19,840 He gives the team a lesson 336 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,680 in using medieval-style wood axes to fell a tree. 337 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,760 This is going to take us for ages. I know! 338 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,440 Trees were selected with specific uses in mind, 339 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:37,560 depending on their size and shape. 340 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,800 JEAN-MICHEL SPEAKS FRENCH 341 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,960 WOMAN: You're trying to make it look like a big pencil at the bottom. 342 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:49,440 Sarah Preston, the site administrator, 343 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,680 is helping overcome the language barrier. 344 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:56,880 JEAN-MICHEL SPEAKS FRENCH 345 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,160 He says it could... could be smoother. 346 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:02,200 Smoother. Yeah, sure, right. 347 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:04,560 Don't look over this side, then. 348 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,720 RUTH LAUGHS It's a terrible mess! 349 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,480 So, Jean-Michel's saying we're getting to the final stages now. 350 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,720 What he can't tell us is where the tree will fall exactly. 351 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,280 TOM: So it could actually fall back this way? Potentially. 352 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:25,280 So, what you're going to do is keep working, 353 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:27,040 so then you keep working, keep working, 354 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,000 and at one point, you will start to hear the tree cracking - don't stop. 355 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:37,600 It's so easy now to go and get your lump of wood 356 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:38,840 or get your bit of stone. 357 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,680 The raw materials of life are easy to acquire. Yeah. 358 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:45,680 When you see how much work is involved in the simplest of things... 359 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,280 And not just that - it's the tools to get those raw materials. Yeah. 360 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,280 And you're looking at the complete tool set for woodsmen. 361 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:55,880 Yeah. And it is, it's something that's... 362 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:58,360 It's been forged in that blacksmith's area 363 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:00,200 and it is going to last a lifetime. 364 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,440 And they would have cost a fortune, really, for an ordinary working man. 365 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:07,400 Yeah. I mean, the tools of your trade, people passed them down in families... Yeah. Yeah. 366 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:11,480 ..because you...you have to - they're too expensive to acquire. 367 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,440 This is definitely a spectator sport, I've decided. It is, yeah. 368 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,280 It's very easy to critique someone's axe skills from this distance. Yeah, it is, isn't it? 369 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,760 I can see a whole new game show coming up now. 370 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,640 Can you hear the crack yet, Tommo? I can hear cracking. 371 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,120 I don't know if it's actually the tree or me. 372 00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:37,040 It is always one of the things I like about this experience, 373 00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:40,200 it's seeing how much skill there is in the simplest of things 374 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:42,600 and how much intelligence and cleverness there is. 375 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:44,520 Mm. Are you calling Tommo simple? 376 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:46,720 SHE LAUGHS TOM: I was trying to do that. 377 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,800 No, maybe "seems simple". 378 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:51,040 Maybe that's more accurate. 379 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:52,720 SHE LAUGHS 380 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,240 CHOPPING ECHOES 381 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:57,920 Part of the woodman's skill is to plan 382 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:00,560 so the tree falls safely in the right place, 383 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:02,640 without breaking on impact. 384 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,760 JEAN-MICHEL: Ready, ready, ready. Ready, ready, ready. Wait, wait. 385 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,560 Ready, ready, ready. Continue, continue, continue, continue. 386 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:10,320 There you go. 387 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:14,040 PETER: Oh... 388 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,040 SHE LAUGHS 389 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:24,920 Once the trunk has been squared up, 390 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:28,520 it will be used by the carpenters up on the chapel tower. 391 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:40,160 Much of a castle owner's wealth came from exploiting his land 392 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:41,920 and its tenants. 393 00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:47,240 One way of doing this was to build watermills, 394 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:49,440 providing a regular source of income. 395 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:54,440 These mills would have made a huge difference 396 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,480 to the lives of local villagers and labourers. 397 00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:01,560 Producing flour for their bread 398 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:04,760 required up to two hours a day of hand-grinding. 399 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:08,520 But one mill could produce as much grain 400 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,120 as around 40 people grinding by hand. 401 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:14,880 According to the Domesday Book, 402 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:17,160 in England as early as 1080, 403 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,320 there were over 5,500 watermills. 404 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:28,040 Little is known about the mills of this time. 405 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:32,400 However, one of the most ambitious projects at Guedelon this year 406 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,640 is the construction of a 12th-century-style watermill. 407 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:40,400 The castle team and archaeologists have based its design 408 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,800 on the remains of two ancient mills, 409 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:46,760 discovered in Jura in the east of France in 2008. 410 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,560 Sophie Wintzer is one of a team of carpenters 411 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,200 who have painstakingly worked on the watermill over a two-year period. 412 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:06,880 Today is the moment of truth. 413 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,680 Today, we are going to try to make some flour in the watermill, 414 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,720 so we are going to open the sluice, the water is going to run 415 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,800 and, hopefully, the wheel is going to turn 416 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,960 and grind some grain. 417 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:29,280 PETER: So, this... being able to do this, 418 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,160 you can actually see it working and relate it back to the... 419 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:36,000 ..the evidence you found... Yes. ..in the archaeological record. 420 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:37,520 Yeah. Yeah. 421 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:41,040 So, this is why it's absolutely experimental archaeology.. 422 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:43,640 That's why we tried several times 423 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,600 and each time, we have, maybe to change some pieces 424 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,680 and to do some modification. 425 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,080 So, I think you can start by opening the sluice. 426 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:55,880 TOM: Get the water down there. Yes. 427 00:26:55,880 --> 00:27:00,240 And then we will need someone to watch if the wheel is all right, 428 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:02,360 with the paddles, and everything stays. 429 00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:04,640 So, there's an emergency stop here 430 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,240 with somebody, you know, ready to close it 431 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,320 because if there is something in the mechanism, 432 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:11,920 it destroys everything in a minute. 433 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,560 And that's a lot of work ruined very quickly, so... Yeah. 434 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,160 We can say that. 435 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,280 Emergency sluice, Yes. 436 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,840 That sluice, people making sure those paddles are fine. 437 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:25,000 Yeah. Yeah, and checking if there's no big trouble in the gear. 438 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:28,000 OK. Here. 439 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,080 Uh, I'm stepping across, bridging it. 440 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:36,120 PETER: Ooh, wow! 441 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:40,480 Better get down to our second station. 442 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:46,240 But there's a problem - 443 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,440 the mill wheel isn't turning nearly as quickly as it ought to be. 444 00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:51,040 Give it a push. 445 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,240 It means that we don't have enough pressure. Right. 446 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,920 So the grain isn't coming out and... No, it's not going round. 447 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:03,000 It's...it's all from wood, so it's a lot of friction everywhere, 448 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:04,800 so resistance, 449 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,840 and we have to find solutions. 450 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:09,880 WOOD SCRAPING You can hear the noise, can't you? 451 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,120 Yeah. The noise of the wood. It's... Yeah. 452 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:16,960 And, also, it's true that those turns have to get, uh, a bit used. 453 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:19,320 Yeah, OK. And then it will be a bit smoother. 454 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,520 Everything is too new as well. 455 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,960 It needs to be used a bit. Yeah. 456 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:31,240 This is experimental archaeology, so everything that's going on here 457 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:35,720 is all about trying to work out exactly how these worked. 458 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,200 I mean, it's easy to think of a watermill 459 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,080 in terms of water management, 460 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:41,960 and the water is coming down the sluice 461 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:43,680 and it is going into this wheel. 462 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:48,040 But the problem is it's not sufficient to drive this mill. 463 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:52,040 There's too much friction currently in the...in the mechanism. 464 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,000 So, although the stones are going round, 465 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,600 they're only going round because we're helping them out. 466 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,600 So, we just need to fine-tune this a little bit more 467 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:01,960 to get this working perfectly. 468 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,640 But we're very close. Very close. 469 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:11,000 Two years of painstaking research and building could be in vain, 470 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,040 if the problems can't be remedied. 471 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:15,800 CREAKING 472 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,280 But Peter and Tom are hopeful that some simple modifications... 473 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,120 ..and liberal application of lubricating pig fat 474 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:28,040 will solve the teething problems and get the mill working properly. 475 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:35,880 BIRD CHIRPING 476 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:44,720 CLUCKING 477 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,840 Perhaps the most essential part of the blacksmith's role 478 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:01,000 was keeping the workforce equipped. 479 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,600 The stonemasons' tools become blunt after a few days work. 480 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:08,080 Without a blacksmith to sharpen them, 481 00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:12,280 all the stone-cutting on site would come to a halt in less than a week. 482 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,320 Because iron and steel were so costly, 483 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,880 tools needed to last as long as possible. 484 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,120 But today, the blacksmiths are making a new side axe. 485 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,840 When you work together as a team, you hit, Vanson hits, 486 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:29,960 but you don't talk, it's all quiet. 487 00:30:29,960 --> 00:30:32,760 Is that just experience or you're listening to the sound? 488 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,320 Yes, it's experience. 489 00:30:34,320 --> 00:30:38,000 We used to work together and we have a code. 490 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:45,520 When I let my hammer strike, uh, on the anvil, 491 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:47,400 it means 'stop'. 492 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:50,480 That's it. So, in all the noise of working in the forge, 493 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:53,200 it doesn't actually matter, it's a visual sign as well. 494 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:54,640 That's it. 495 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:56,720 MARTIN SPEAKS FRENCH 496 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:01,080 A piece of hard steel will be welded onto an iron axe head, 497 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:02,680 to make a hard cutting edge. 498 00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:09,920 The blade is starting to taper down 499 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:11,960 and we're going to cut it any minute now. 500 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:18,080 TOM: All right? OK. 501 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:20,360 Tom has a go at cutting steel. 502 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:27,080 It's not as easy as I thought it would be. 503 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,480 Oh, I'm making some progress. 504 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:41,240 What the guys are doing 505 00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:44,440 is just measuring up the steel against the iron axe head. 506 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:46,640 It needs to be pretty precise. 507 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:49,920 Until modern times, 508 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:53,720 few methods of accurately measuring temperature existed. 509 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,120 So, blacksmiths traditionally judged it 510 00:31:56,120 --> 00:31:58,800 by watching the changing colours of the metal. 511 00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:01,920 Once the iron is white-hot, 512 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,720 the hard-cutting steel can be welded onto it. 513 00:32:05,880 --> 00:32:08,760 It's taken a lot of work to make this axe, 514 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:11,080 but when you think about it, it's a crucial tool 515 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,680 for building the castle, making the watermills, 516 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:17,160 shaping anything that was required, like scaffolding. 517 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:20,280 You can't do without an axe 518 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,760 and these guys are working hard constantly, 519 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:26,640 just to make sure those tools are available for the entire site. 520 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,320 The climax of the process, changing the qualities of metals, 521 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:36,240 was one of the medieval blacksmith's most carefully guarded secrets. 522 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,120 Martin heats the axe to a critical temperature, 523 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,000 which changes the steel's structure. 524 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:46,800 He then quenches it in vegetable oil, 525 00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:50,560 which locks in this new hardness without distorting the blade, 526 00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:52,160 as water might. 527 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:00,600 The side axe is finally sharpened, on stone. 528 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:08,240 HAMMERING 529 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,200 Medieval stonemasons may have been revered, 530 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:18,040 but many held the blacksmith's craft as supernatural. 531 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:20,920 HUTTON: Blacksmiths were intensely magical 532 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,480 because since, uh, prehistory, 533 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,840 they'd performed this extraordinary sorcery of conjuring metal from rock 534 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:29,840 and then fashioning it into beautiful things. 535 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,880 Medieval blacksmiths were regarded as great healers. 536 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:37,240 Uh, a pregnant woman afraid of labour, a sick child, 537 00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:40,000 an adult with a lingering illness 538 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:42,640 would be laid upon a blacksmith's anvil 539 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,000 and the blacksmith would pretend to hammer them, 540 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,080 to hammer the illness out of them. 541 00:33:47,080 --> 00:33:49,280 And people really believed that, like royalty, 542 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:51,560 they had the power to heal by touch. 543 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,800 Was that something that was considered to be dangerous magic 544 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,600 or was it just part of life and nobody batted an eyelid? 545 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:01,000 It's pretty scary. 546 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,080 Uh, blacksmiths are often believed to make pacts with the devil... 547 00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:08,240 Oh, right. ..ironically in which the blacksmith usually comes off better. 548 00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:12,760 For example, blacksmiths are believed to be the only people 549 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,760 who can do jobs for the devil, like shoeing his black horses, 550 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,120 without paying the price of their soul. 551 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:22,920 And there are even tales of blacksmiths, some of them saints, 552 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:26,920 who are capable of grabbing the devil's nose in their red-hot pincers 553 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,160 and tweaking it to get rid of him if he's annoying. 554 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:33,720 RUTH: How on earth did the Church respond to that? 555 00:34:33,720 --> 00:34:36,680 The Church canonised some of these blacksmiths. 556 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:40,640 Saint Dunstan in England was a classic case. 557 00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:42,480 Otherwise, they simply got along with it. 558 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:43,960 Blacksmiths were too useful, 559 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:45,440 and as long as they went to mass 560 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:47,560 and didn't have an alternative kind of religion, 561 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:48,960 there's no problem. 562 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,880 Here at Guedelon, carpenters, stonemasons and archaeologists 563 00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:00,920 have spent weeks modifying the mill mechanisms and the water channel. 564 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:04,600 Peter and Tom are going to attempt to grind their bag of grain. 565 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:08,440 We are going to start with the wheel. 566 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:11,320 Philippe Delage has been closely involved in the mill project 567 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:12,840 from the beginning. 568 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:14,840 PHILIPPE: Which we are going to turn. 569 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:17,000 And he's going to help them try it out. 570 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:18,480 CREAKING 571 00:35:18,480 --> 00:35:20,720 TOM: You can hear that stone singing. 572 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:24,920 It's unbelievable how many pieces, man-made each one of them, 573 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:27,480 are actually involved in this wheel alone, 574 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:29,920 let alone the rest of the actual building. 575 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:33,400 PETER: Yeah. It's a lot of wood. It's a lot of wood. 576 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,080 PHILIPPE: All right, good. We got enough water. 577 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:43,840 Tommo, maybe you can open the vanne. 578 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:45,480 Uh, the sluice gate here? 579 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:47,040 Yeah, that's it. 580 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:50,360 You know, you use this timber. 581 00:35:50,360 --> 00:35:52,680 For a bit of leverage. And just... Oh... 582 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:57,400 PETER: Right, off it goes. And after, you put... 583 00:35:57,400 --> 00:35:59,800 Keep it wedged open. ..this one under, like this. 584 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:03,800 And that will just control the amount of water we let through? Yes. 585 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:07,160 PHILIPPE: So, we are going to climb upstair... 586 00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:09,480 Shout out loud when it's time for me to... 587 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:11,440 You're controlling our power, man! 588 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,280 HE LAUGHS Flour power. 589 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:23,280 PETER: Filled the hopper with grain. 590 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:25,480 It's ready to be made into flour. 591 00:36:25,480 --> 00:36:28,200 Yeah. I suppose all we need is Tom to open that gate. 592 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:30,080 Yeah. You are ready, Tommo? 593 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:31,720 Ready. You can open. 594 00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:33,640 Here it comes. 595 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:35,760 Tom's opened the sluice gates. 596 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:37,840 The water's coming down. 597 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,600 It's about to hit the wheel, it's about to hit the wheel. 598 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:43,440 Hit the wheel! 599 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:45,280 Look at that! 600 00:36:56,360 --> 00:36:59,480 The mill has a paddlewheel eight feet in diameter. 601 00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:04,560 This turns an axle, turning the smaller pit wheel. 602 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:12,280 The teeth of this turn the lantern wheel, which turns the spindle. 603 00:37:13,440 --> 00:37:16,960 This powers the millstone, over three feet in diameter. 604 00:37:19,240 --> 00:37:22,600 The bottom stone, the bed stone, is fixed, 605 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:26,760 and the top one, the runner stone, revolves to grind the grain. 606 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:33,000 The water is turning that wheel 607 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,440 and our stones are going. 608 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:41,160 Finally, the mill is operating as intended, 609 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:44,920 recreating an extraordinary feat of medieval engineering. 610 00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:49,160 Right now, I can really appreciate 611 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:51,360 how precise everything has to be. 612 00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:55,000 If this isn't pinpoint accurate, it's going to damage it. 613 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:58,600 So, Peter, how's it going? Have we got flour? 614 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,520 We're getting fl... Yeah. It's brilliant, superb. 615 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:03,880 I mean, yeah, wow. 616 00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:05,640 "Wow" is all I can say. 617 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:07,120 And you... Yeah. 618 00:38:07,120 --> 00:38:09,000 You built this! No, it's OK. 619 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:17,440 PETER: I can't believe, for such a low head - 620 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:22,720 I mean, that water is falling maybe a metre, going under a wheel - 621 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:28,120 you're managing to turn a stone that is 200 kilograms 622 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:31,840 and you're managing to grind your grain into flour. 623 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:35,880 This is the beginning of industry, I suppose, 624 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:39,760 and to have this associated with a castle, 625 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:44,520 you can free up people from the daily grind to do other things. 626 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:46,000 It's amazing. 627 00:38:49,760 --> 00:38:53,080 PETER: Ah, here he comes. TOM: I'm here. Captain Power. 628 00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:54,720 THEY LAUGH 629 00:38:54,720 --> 00:38:56,600 Oh, let's see what we've got. 630 00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:58,080 Is that it? 631 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:01,280 What do you mean, is that it? 632 00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:02,800 Oh, fantastic. 633 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,280 Philippe, are you happy? 634 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:07,040 I think it's a good start. 635 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:08,560 HE LAUGHS 636 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:12,880 TOM: I mean, it's just amazing how much work 637 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:15,040 it actually takes to create one mill. 638 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:17,360 I mean, hundreds and hundreds of bits of wood, 639 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:19,120 these massive bits of stone, 640 00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,640 you gotta channel all that power from the water. 641 00:39:21,640 --> 00:39:23,360 You know, this is a big effort. 642 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:24,960 But if you're going to create bread, 643 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,200 you've gotta feed families, soldiers, workforces, 644 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:29,640 it's all worth it. 645 00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:31,160 Building castles, yeah. Exactly. 646 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,640 It all comes back... What does a castle need? 647 00:39:33,640 --> 00:39:37,280 It needs to be fed. Yeah. And this is what makes it happen. 648 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:39,880 GRINDING 649 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:46,560 And once it was up and running, 650 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:50,160 as well as producing food for the inhabitants of its castle, 651 00:39:50,160 --> 00:39:53,320 the lord could start making money from his mill. 652 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:56,640 Tenants on his land would have been obliged to use it 653 00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,320 and pay for the privilege. 654 00:40:17,240 --> 00:40:19,400 The next major project at the castle 655 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:22,320 is to build a wooden walkway, or gallery, 656 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:24,440 on the inside of the chapel tower. 657 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:27,920 This would allow soldiers 658 00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:30,160 to get from the main building to the castle walls 659 00:40:30,160 --> 00:40:33,520 without disturbing the sanctity of the lord's chapel. 660 00:40:39,640 --> 00:40:43,040 In the Middle Ages, carpenters used geometry 661 00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:45,960 to plan their wooden structures. 662 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,920 They drew on the floor because parchment was expensive 663 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:52,200 and paper still very rare. 664 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:55,640 The carpenters are planning a section of the gallery, 665 00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:58,280 by marking out a full-scale plan. 666 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:04,560 PETER: Every piece of wood in Guedelon Castle 667 00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:06,720 starts its life here, on the tracing floor. 668 00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:08,400 First of all, the plans - 669 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:12,000 they are drawn on the floor to a one-to-one scale. 670 00:41:15,320 --> 00:41:18,200 Medieval units of measurement were not standardised, 671 00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:20,400 varying from place to place. 672 00:41:20,400 --> 00:41:21,560 HE SPEAKS FRENCH 673 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:25,080 RUTH: Isn't it interesting, watching them work, too, how few numbers come into it? 674 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:27,520 It's mathematics, but it's mathematics of proportion. 675 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:31,000 It's geometry. It's, you know, two of this, three of that. 676 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,880 Halve it, double it, quarter it, third it. 677 00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:38,040 It's not 0.652. 678 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:42,040 In French, the word for thumb, 'pouce', 679 00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:44,360 is the same as the word for inch. 680 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:45,800 HE SPEAKS FRENCH 681 00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:48,680 Every site would have its own units of measurement. 682 00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:53,200 RUTH: That's a thumb, isn't it? So it's an inch. 683 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:54,840 PETER: Le pouce. Le pouce. 684 00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:58,040 Palm. Mind you, I suppose it's the length of your palm. 685 00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:01,160 And empan. So, that's your handspan. 686 00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,800 But I like the fact the inch corresponds to the word for thumb. 687 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:05,720 I really like that. 688 00:42:05,720 --> 00:42:08,240 I rather like the fact that feet and inches and yards 689 00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:10,960 is something that used to be right across Europe, you know? 690 00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:13,360 We tend to think of it as a very British thing these days. 691 00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:16,360 It's just that we hung onto it when everybody else left it behind. Yeah. 692 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:18,880 But it used to be that there were all these little inches, 693 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:21,040 all these little feet, all over the place. 694 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:22,320 Everywhere different. 695 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,680 But the system of measurement here at Guedelon 696 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,480 is based on a medieval castle that's very close by, 697 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:28,920 and if we were to turn up there 698 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,240 at the start of the build in the 13th century, 699 00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:34,200 on a board, it would say, "This is what an inch is on this site. 700 00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:37,040 "This is what the palm span is... Yeah, based on one person's body. 701 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:41,080 "..the handspan is." We don't know quite which person's body, but based on somebody's body. 702 00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:44,000 And if they were to pass away, those would have been written down 703 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:46,280 to be used until the end of the build. 704 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:47,320 Mm. 705 00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:54,680 To make a straight line on the tracing floor... 706 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:56,280 It needs to be quite tight. 707 00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:58,520 ..they use string with red ochre powder. 708 00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,040 Pull it quite high. 709 00:43:01,040 --> 00:43:02,840 Yeah. OK. 710 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:07,840 Corresponding lines are made on each section of wood, 711 00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:10,240 before matching them with the floor plan. 712 00:43:19,480 --> 00:43:22,440 And then they are levelled out and then they're plumbed up. 713 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:25,800 So, you're constantly jiggling, and it's very, very subtle. 714 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,160 Little wedges going in to make sure everything's perfect. 715 00:43:34,960 --> 00:43:38,120 Once everything is lined up, they can cut the joints. 716 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:47,760 They also chisel carpenters' marks into the wood. 717 00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:51,920 These are a code to identify the pieces of the frame, 718 00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:55,120 making it easier to reassemble on the castle walls. 719 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:58,960 Each team would have had their own code. 720 00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:04,960 Finally, they assemble the completed frame. 721 00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:13,000 PETER: This is the gallery. 722 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:14,480 I mean, I can't believe, 723 00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:18,000 from a few simple lines drawn on the tracing floor, 724 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:23,960 that we have this amazing structure, ready to go into the castle. 725 00:44:23,960 --> 00:44:27,720 And here at Guedelon, they almost think that carpentry, 726 00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:29,640 it's almost a form of genius 727 00:44:29,640 --> 00:44:31,760 cos there's so much thinking involved. 728 00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:36,280 I mean, this line running through all these beams, it's precise. 729 00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:38,480 So, this can be unassembled by the carpenters, 730 00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:40,840 it can be put to one side, it can be hoisted up, 731 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:43,600 reassembled outside the chapel tower. 732 00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:45,360 Doesn't need to be the same carpenter 733 00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:47,120 cos you've got all the marks here. 734 00:44:47,120 --> 00:44:49,720 It is a flat-pack medieval gallery. 735 00:44:49,720 --> 00:44:52,480 This is going to flip up this way. 736 00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:55,800 My feet would be down here, this is a handrail, 737 00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:57,720 there'll be spindles here, 738 00:44:57,720 --> 00:44:59,320 my head would be here 739 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:02,440 and I would be looking out onto the courtyard. 740 00:45:02,440 --> 00:45:05,680 And this is how you build a castle. 741 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:20,680 It's thought about 30 people would live in a castle like this, 742 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:22,400 from the lord and his family 743 00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:24,240 down to servants and guards. 744 00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:31,480 They would have been fed from the castle kitchen 745 00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:36,320 and bread would have been the staple of all their diets... 746 00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:38,920 ..made in the stone bread oven. 747 00:45:43,000 --> 00:45:45,240 So, it's sponging quite nice. Look at that. 748 00:45:45,240 --> 00:45:47,840 Ruth and Tom are going to try making a basic bread 749 00:45:47,840 --> 00:45:49,880 with flour from the new mill. 750 00:45:49,880 --> 00:45:53,440 Ruth is using a rising agent which was popular in the Middle Ages. 751 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:56,320 TOM: Smells a bit alcoholy. Yeah. 752 00:45:57,480 --> 00:46:01,160 RUTH: Sourdough is probably the most ancient method of raising bread 753 00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:03,640 because there's next to nothing involved, you know? 754 00:46:03,640 --> 00:46:06,360 You're just saving a bit from the previous day's batch. 755 00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:08,000 When I made the last batch of bread, 756 00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:10,280 I just broke a bit of dough off and put it to one side. 757 00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:14,080 And I popped it in some water with a fresh little bit of flour 758 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:16,640 and this is the result. 759 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:18,800 So, sourdough is literally sour dough. 760 00:46:18,800 --> 00:46:20,560 Yeah, it is. There's no trick. 761 00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:23,040 There's no trick. There's no trick to it at all. 762 00:46:23,040 --> 00:46:25,200 So, I've not added any yeast and I won't add. 763 00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:27,840 And this is going to be an awesome carbohydrate for us. 764 00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:29,520 A real staple diet. It is. 765 00:46:29,520 --> 00:46:32,760 I mean, this is your real, basic working man's bread. 766 00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:35,400 I'll be honest - at the moment, it doesn't look that appealing, 767 00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:37,600 But I guess you've got work for me to do. 768 00:46:37,600 --> 00:46:39,960 Well, do you want to give it a knead? Go on. I'm a big su... 769 00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:41,360 Do I add any of this? Yeah. 770 00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:43,560 Add a little bit at a time and start working it in. 771 00:46:43,560 --> 00:46:45,320 So it is fingers in. 772 00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:48,080 Like you were mixing lime putty, you know, that sort of thing. 773 00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:50,160 HE LAUGHS Turning it in. 774 00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:53,840 Turning it in. Am I making cement? That's it. 775 00:46:53,840 --> 00:46:56,440 I mean, it's starting to look a bit more how I imagine 776 00:46:56,440 --> 00:46:57,920 bread would look at this state. 777 00:46:57,920 --> 00:46:59,360 Bread looks like, yeah. 778 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:01,280 I thought I was coming in for a break. 779 00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:02,920 "Come into the kitchen," you said. 780 00:47:02,920 --> 00:47:06,560 Well it's not me fault you admitted you'd never made bread. HE LAUGHS 781 00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:11,040 And were these like family affairs or, you know, a proper big business? 782 00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:14,280 How would a baker make his money, as it were? 783 00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:17,720 Well, the majority of bread was made at home, on a family scale. 784 00:47:17,720 --> 00:47:19,240 Right, OK, so... By women. 785 00:47:19,240 --> 00:47:22,120 You wouldn't go out and buy - you'd actually have it in-house? 786 00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:26,200 In the 13th century, most of it is being home-made. 787 00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:30,640 OK, that's behaving much more like a lump now, isn't it? 788 00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:34,720 And you think, you know, work is involved in this at every stage. 789 00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:38,200 It's a massive effort, isn't it? It is, isn't it? It is a big effort. 790 00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:42,920 So, you're happy with that, so just roll it into a nice loaf shape. 791 00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:45,640 All right? Lovely. Yeah. 792 00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:49,200 And then I want you to make a deep, very fast cross. 793 00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:51,480 I mean, so that it's broken the surface tension, 794 00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:53,240 it's easy for the loaf to rise. 795 00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:56,360 Right. And you also get more high quality crust for your crumb. 796 00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:58,880 OK, so, two cuts, nice and quick. 797 00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:01,160 Donk, donk! That's the one. 798 00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:06,080 Burning wood heats the oven... 799 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:10,080 ..and is then raked out before the bread is placed inside. 800 00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:14,360 That's pretty warm. Do you want to rake it out? 801 00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:16,560 Do you fancy raking it out? Rake out? I can do that. 802 00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:18,560 Ohh! 803 00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:22,120 So, why am I doing this, Ruth? It seems incredibly dangerous. 804 00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:24,640 It is incredibly dangerous, you're right there. 805 00:48:24,640 --> 00:48:27,080 THEY LAUGH Just a bit of fun, isn't it? 806 00:48:27,080 --> 00:48:29,120 But basically, we don't need the fire any more. 807 00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:31,360 The fire has done its job. It's heated the stoves. 808 00:48:31,360 --> 00:48:33,240 It brought them up to cooking temperature 809 00:48:33,240 --> 00:48:36,440 and now we need to get the oven clean, ready for the bread to go in. 810 00:48:36,440 --> 00:48:39,880 Right. And we also want to put a little bit of steam in there, 811 00:48:39,880 --> 00:48:42,600 so that it will help that final rise. 812 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:45,880 Just scrape it all to the side so you've got access to the fire. 813 00:48:45,880 --> 00:48:48,920 That is your 13th-century oven health and safety, 814 00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:50,520 that little move there. 815 00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:52,080 That's your safety. 816 00:48:52,080 --> 00:48:54,240 Right, next job, Next job. 817 00:48:54,240 --> 00:48:55,880 We've got a mop that's been soaking. 818 00:48:55,880 --> 00:48:57,800 You need to just quickly mop out the oven. 819 00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,240 You're not just cleaning, you're also adding steam. 820 00:49:00,240 --> 00:49:01,960 So... That's a mop, is it? That's a mop. 821 00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:04,960 You want to get it in and throw it around. OK. 822 00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:08,920 That's it. And you can see how that water doesn't just turn to steam. 823 00:49:08,920 --> 00:49:12,640 It just sort of seems to almost explode into steam. 824 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:14,760 The oven's dry. It does. Look. 825 00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:17,880 Your next challenge is to get it on your pell. 826 00:49:17,880 --> 00:49:19,120 Right. 827 00:49:19,120 --> 00:49:21,240 There we go. There we go. 828 00:49:21,240 --> 00:49:23,880 Make sure it's sliding on the pell. It is. 829 00:49:23,880 --> 00:49:26,080 Put that on there. There you go. 830 00:49:26,080 --> 00:49:28,760 Sticking it in. Right, bang in the middle. 831 00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:32,080 Right, bang in the middle. That's it. Done! 832 00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:33,200 Oh, look at that go. 833 00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:36,320 Yeah. 834 00:49:36,320 --> 00:49:37,880 I'll give you a shout when it's done. 835 00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:40,120 OK. I'll go back. 836 00:49:40,120 --> 00:49:41,880 Back to work, then. 837 00:49:45,480 --> 00:49:47,520 BLEATING 838 00:50:00,360 --> 00:50:04,480 While the bread bakes, Tom tries out the side axe Martin made, 839 00:50:04,480 --> 00:50:06,040 to square up wood... 840 00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:11,200 ..creating flat faces from a rounded trunk. 841 00:50:14,240 --> 00:50:16,760 This is the weirdest axe I've ever used. 842 00:50:16,760 --> 00:50:19,000 The balance is all off. 843 00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:22,280 So, we got a cutting edge and a flat side and that actually helps to cut, 844 00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:25,240 but also force some of these fibres apart. 845 00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:28,360 If I put the axe down like this, 846 00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:31,200 you can actually see the pole is slightly tilted 847 00:50:31,200 --> 00:50:34,000 and that allows you to work along the wood nice and close, 848 00:50:34,000 --> 00:50:35,720 but because you're holding it here, 849 00:50:35,720 --> 00:50:39,720 there's no risk to your knuckles or your fingers as you work. 850 00:50:39,720 --> 00:50:42,120 What it comes down to, and what I'm having trouble with, 851 00:50:42,120 --> 00:50:43,680 is that fine-tuning. 852 00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:47,160 I know what I want to do, I can see what's marked out for me, 853 00:50:47,160 --> 00:50:50,240 but I'll be honest, it's not always happening that way. 854 00:51:10,120 --> 00:51:12,760 OK, the moment of truth, Ruth. 855 00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:16,840 How's your loaf done? 856 00:51:17,800 --> 00:51:20,360 It looks quite a dark loaf. Was that the intention? 857 00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:22,120 Dark. You mean burnt! 858 00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:24,760 Well... You mean burnt. THEY LAUGH 859 00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:28,360 I'm not a baker, so I don't want to make that claim. 860 00:51:28,360 --> 00:51:29,800 Oh. 861 00:51:29,800 --> 00:51:32,080 Looks like we got the oven a bit hot. 862 00:51:32,080 --> 00:51:34,440 All right, let's have a look. Whisk her out. 863 00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:42,120 That is definitely burnt. 864 00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:44,320 It's sort of like a sausage at a barbecue, isn't it? 865 00:51:44,320 --> 00:51:47,000 You can probably still eat it. 866 00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:49,720 Oh, it's on fire on the bottom. 867 00:51:49,720 --> 00:51:52,000 Well, it's cooked, definitely. It sounds healthy. 868 00:51:52,000 --> 00:51:53,400 That oven was too hot. 869 00:51:53,400 --> 00:51:56,320 It shouldn't scorch like that in that time. 870 00:51:56,320 --> 00:51:59,160 Oh, well, we'll scrape it off and... 871 00:51:59,160 --> 00:52:00,600 Hey. Exactly! 872 00:52:00,600 --> 00:52:03,160 My first loaf of bread - I'm going to eat it! 873 00:52:17,720 --> 00:52:21,560 The wooden gallery is ready to be installed beside the chapel tower. 874 00:52:28,600 --> 00:52:30,000 Oui. 875 00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:31,480 Is it time for beer yet? 876 00:52:31,480 --> 00:52:32,880 Yeah. THEY LAUGH 877 00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:35,520 Each carpenter is going to take a post. 878 00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:37,600 Myself and Tommo are just here at the handrails 879 00:52:37,600 --> 00:52:40,160 to make sure it doesn't topple over that way. 880 00:52:40,160 --> 00:52:42,960 They're going to remove the chocks 881 00:52:42,960 --> 00:52:45,760 and the three posts are going to sink down, 882 00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:48,240 and the mortise-and-tenon joints will come together 883 00:52:48,240 --> 00:52:50,280 and this gallery will be locked in place, 884 00:52:50,280 --> 00:52:55,320 ready to take the final roof section that covers it in. 885 00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:57,000 Here we go. 886 00:52:57,000 --> 00:52:59,640 Chocks out. Ooh. 887 00:53:06,840 --> 00:53:08,640 Oh! 888 00:53:12,560 --> 00:53:14,680 And the gallery's in place. 889 00:53:19,720 --> 00:53:22,240 With the basic frame in place, 890 00:53:22,240 --> 00:53:25,320 long beams are now needed for the roof section. 891 00:53:26,280 --> 00:53:27,760 All right, mate. 892 00:53:27,760 --> 00:53:29,520 Whoops! 893 00:53:29,520 --> 00:53:30,560 Sorry, mate. 894 00:53:31,760 --> 00:53:34,560 Push! Sorry! Up! Straight up, yeah? 895 00:53:34,560 --> 00:53:36,560 Yes. OK. 896 00:53:36,560 --> 00:53:38,480 After all that slow work 897 00:53:38,480 --> 00:53:41,080 where people seem to work for hours and hours and hours 898 00:53:41,080 --> 00:53:42,240 and produce very little, 899 00:53:42,240 --> 00:53:43,520 this is one of those moments 900 00:53:43,520 --> 00:53:46,560 when everything comes together extremely fast, 901 00:53:46,560 --> 00:53:48,200 in quite a dramatic way. 902 00:53:50,720 --> 00:53:52,760 Now, when you are ready. 903 00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:55,440 Up. 904 00:53:58,200 --> 00:54:00,440 Now it's going to... Yeah, drop down? 905 00:54:00,440 --> 00:54:01,520 Yeah. Yeah. There. 906 00:54:01,520 --> 00:54:02,760 OK? Yeah. 907 00:54:02,760 --> 00:54:05,240 THEY APPLAUD 908 00:54:08,640 --> 00:54:09,680 Up. 909 00:54:12,480 --> 00:54:15,840 With a bit of force, the joints go into place 910 00:54:15,840 --> 00:54:18,000 and are pegged into position. 911 00:54:23,280 --> 00:54:27,360 Just need to pop a roof on it and there you are. 912 00:54:27,360 --> 00:54:31,560 We've got a link between the... the Great Hall and the curtain wall. 913 00:54:34,640 --> 00:54:37,880 It's physical work, but to think when we first saw that drawing 914 00:54:37,880 --> 00:54:39,920 of what this was going to look like... Yeah. 915 00:54:39,920 --> 00:54:42,360 I didn't think we'd see this at the end of it. Brilliant. 916 00:54:53,600 --> 00:54:57,680 A watermill would also have a millpond, owned by the lord, 917 00:54:57,680 --> 00:54:59,480 which was a source of fish. 918 00:55:00,520 --> 00:55:04,480 And castle workers might well have been rewarded for their hard work 919 00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:06,440 with a fish supper. 920 00:55:08,320 --> 00:55:11,360 That is a scary beast. It is, isn't it? 921 00:55:11,360 --> 00:55:16,000 Pike was a favoured dish at feasts throughout the Middle Ages. 922 00:55:16,000 --> 00:55:18,440 So, freshwater fish was actually quite highly prized? 923 00:55:18,440 --> 00:55:22,760 Yeah. Yeah. And pike more so than things like salmon and trout. 924 00:55:23,720 --> 00:55:26,280 Yeah, that is a medieval fish and a half. 925 00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:33,480 Handful of leavies, fat hen, lovely medieval vegetable. 926 00:55:33,480 --> 00:55:35,400 And you're not doing anything to this pike? 927 00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:36,960 No, just shove him on as he is. 928 00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:40,600 So, half an hour - should be done. 929 00:55:50,120 --> 00:55:52,560 Ugh! Yes, yes, yes, yes. Ooh! 930 00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:54,200 Ooh, don't drop the fish. 931 00:55:54,200 --> 00:55:55,840 Does he smell good? 932 00:55:55,840 --> 00:55:58,120 OK, straight to table, I say. 933 00:55:58,120 --> 00:55:59,760 Straight to table. 934 00:56:00,720 --> 00:56:04,160 The pike is ready for presentation to Sophie, Philippe 935 00:56:04,160 --> 00:56:05,960 and others who worked so hard 936 00:56:05,960 --> 00:56:07,920 building the mill and gallery. 937 00:56:09,600 --> 00:56:12,520 Here we go. Wow! Look at that. 938 00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:14,240 Wow! That's very impressive. 939 00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:18,000 Love to say I caught that myself. 940 00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:20,400 THEY LAUGH 941 00:56:20,400 --> 00:56:25,640 I also want it noted I have brought something to this meal. 942 00:56:25,640 --> 00:56:27,480 In honour of the carpenters, you see? 943 00:56:29,760 --> 00:56:32,920 That's no way to treat your first loaf! 944 00:56:34,640 --> 00:56:38,360 Now, brutal. Agh! 945 00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:40,400 Ah, that's... Look at that. 946 00:56:40,400 --> 00:56:42,000 See how soft that is? 947 00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:44,920 It's got a good crumb. Good crumb. 948 00:56:44,920 --> 00:56:47,600 Do you wanna break some up for the people over there? 949 00:56:47,600 --> 00:56:49,440 Oh, fantastic. Thank you, Ruth. 950 00:56:49,440 --> 00:56:53,400 Philippe, having worked the mill, 951 00:56:53,400 --> 00:56:56,040 what do you think of the bread coming out? I mean... 952 00:56:56,040 --> 00:56:58,160 It's not bad! Not bad? 953 00:56:58,160 --> 00:57:00,240 Look how solid this pike flesh is. 954 00:57:00,240 --> 00:57:02,120 This is why it's one of the king of fish. 955 00:57:02,120 --> 00:57:04,520 You can actually carve it into finger-sized pieces, 956 00:57:04,520 --> 00:57:06,120 that's the...which is the point. 957 00:57:06,120 --> 00:57:09,480 You're supposed to be able to pick it up with your fingers and...yeah. 958 00:57:09,480 --> 00:57:12,560 Wow! That...that actually is really good. I mean, genuinely. 959 00:57:12,560 --> 00:57:14,560 It's all right, ain't it? Mm. 960 00:57:14,560 --> 00:57:16,200 Really nice. 961 00:57:16,200 --> 00:57:18,000 And I always thought pike was really bony 962 00:57:18,000 --> 00:57:19,760 and therefore really hard to eat, but... 963 00:57:19,760 --> 00:57:21,480 But it's not particularly, is it? 964 00:57:21,480 --> 00:57:22,800 No. There's a lot of meat. 965 00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:26,000 It's quite an intimidating-looking fish. Very. Yeah! 966 00:57:26,000 --> 00:57:28,560 You should have seen it when he was still fresh. Jeepers! 967 00:57:28,560 --> 00:57:31,040 I think we should drink to the mill. 968 00:57:31,040 --> 00:57:32,600 Yeah, cheers. 969 00:57:32,600 --> 00:57:35,000 To the mill. Cheers. Sante. Sante. Sante. 970 00:57:43,160 --> 00:57:46,840 Next time, the castle's place in the wider world... 971 00:57:49,520 --> 00:57:52,680 ..with expensive items traded across the globe. 972 00:57:52,680 --> 00:57:57,280 The spices I've got here are worth more than a chest of gold. 973 00:57:57,280 --> 00:58:01,560 And the latest architectural fashions arrive at Guedelon. 974 00:58:02,560 --> 00:58:06,280 A black, white Byzantium-inspired archway.