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For the past 20 years I've driven
hundreds of thousands of miles
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to uncover
the history of these islands.
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But now it's time for a different
approach.
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I'm going to turn the engine off,
and leave the car behind.
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Instead, I'm going to walk.
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My walks will uncover the richest
history from our finest landscapes
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in a way that's only
possible on foot.
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This time, I've come to a quiet
corner of the south-east -
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the fields, woodland and the Downs
of Kent and East Sussex.
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But 500 years ago, this most
unlikely of areas
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echoed with the
noise of industry
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and dripped with
the intrigue of political upheaval.
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And the architect of that upheaval
was none other than the towering
figure
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of England's most fascinating
monarch, Henry VIII.
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This historical quest takes me
on a walk through an area
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we know as the Weald.
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On a sunny day, there can't be many
other parts of the country
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so enchanting.
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My four-day walk starts in Kent
with the great estates of
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Penshurst and Hever,
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both central to the bloody game of
Tudor politics.
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Deeper into the Weald,
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and day two reveals the remains
of a Tudor Industrial Revolution.
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Into Sussex, and Ashdown Forest,
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spectacular walking territory now,
but once a playground
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for a sporting king.
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Finally, over the South Downs to
Lewes, and the orgy of destruction
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that defined the final years of
Henry's reign.
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But here in Penshurst village,
just ten miles south of the M25,
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I'm starting with a seismic change
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that began in the early years of
Henry's reign.
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The young Henry came to the
throne in the year 1509,
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and immediately he married
Catherine of Aragon,
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which is what his dad Henry VII
wanted
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because it helped cement a
European alliance.
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So, in a way, you could say
that that marriage was a hangover
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from the old order, an order that
Henry was about to turn on its head.
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He may have been
famous for his fearsome rage
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and many marriages
but, more importantly,
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he transformed English society,
especially the make-up
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of the royal court.
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It was a brutal and bitter process,
and it began right here
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at Penshurst Place some ten years
into Henry's reign.
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So I've arranged to meet my friend,
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top historical novelist
Philippa Gregory,
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to find out what happened to Henry's
first high-profile victim.
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Hi, how lovely to see you!
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Well, I'm so glad you've come
here,
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it's one of the great show
houses of Kent
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and it's one of the places where, in
a sense, there's a turning point
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for the whole of Henry's
reign, and it happens right here.
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By Henry's reign, Penshurst
was in the hands of Edward Stafford,
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better known as the Duke
of Buckingham, a top aristocrat
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with a pedigree stretching
back centuries.
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And, in 1519, Henry arrived here at
Penshurst,
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honoured guest at one
of the events of the age.
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Wow!
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That is some roof, isn't it?
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Isn't it fabulous?
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You could throw a bit of a party
in here, couldn't you?
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Well, they did throw an amazing
party in here in 1519.
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The Duke of Buckingham
put on the biggest,
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most expensive party, probably, that
Henry had ever seen.
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It cost £1 million in today's money
and it lasted for ten days.
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So what did he want out of Henry?
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I think he wanted to demonstrate
his luxury and his extent
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of his wealth, and it was really
a terrible, terrible mistake.
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Because?
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Because what Henry saw was how
many retainers he had,
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how much power he had, how grand
he was - as grand as a king.
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This hall is not unlike Westminster
Palace and immediately
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Henry's paranoia about his subjects
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just really became too strong for
him.
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So what happened to Buckingham?
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Well, the worst thing.
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Henry had him accused of conspiring
for the king's death
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and prophesying the king's death,
and those are both treasons.
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So he was tried before a jury
of his peers the very next year
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after this party.
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And?
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The year after that he was executed.
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Buckingham was the first to fall
foul of Henry's ability
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to find treason in his own court.
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His execution was a demonstration
of how things would now be,
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because by 1520, the confident young
king was becoming a suspicious,
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brutal monarch.
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In my opinion, Henry goes from this
point to a real paranoid anxiety
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about the aristocracy, about the old
order that had links to the
royal family,
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that had these huge retainers,
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that had enormous wealth, and that
he felt might challenge him.
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So what's Henry's role in bringing
about a new order?
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Well, he deliberately attacks
the aristocrats.
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He cuts down the numbers of armies
they can have standing,
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and what he does is he really
identifies himself with the new men,
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so he promotes people from not just
the middle classes,
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but quite lowly people, he picks
out...
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He talent-spots people, people
like Thomas Cromwell,
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people like Cardinal Wolsey,
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people like Thomas Boleyn from
Hever Castle.
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Hever Castle and the Boleyn family,
two names for ever linked with
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the Tudor age.
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They're also next on my historic
route
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through the Kentish countryside.
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But why have Hever's owners become
synonymous
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with Henry's new social order?
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That's what I hope to find
out as I head west,
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following the Eden Valley
for four miles,
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from the old money of Penshurst to
the new world of the Boleyn family.
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The locals round here call this
path the Coach Road,
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although, actually, it's from a long
time before coaches.
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This used to be the main line of
communication
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between Penshurst and
Hever Castle.
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My route between these two big
estates has hardly changed in 500
years.
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It's a bit of a treat for all
modern walkers.
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Penshurst and Hever are still
the area's dominant landowners,
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and they've managed to preserve
the original Coach Road that
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connected them.
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All right, this is just a tidgy
little path now,
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but it was once a major
thoroughfare.
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They say that this path was eroded
by century after century
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of people's feet and horses' hooves
and pigs' trotters and so on,
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but, look at this.
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That's solid rock, isn't it?
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There must have been some
engineering.
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It's quite creepy, isn't it?
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I'm coming up to the edge of the
Hever estate.
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500 years ago, this was the way to
one of the burgeoning powerhouses
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of Tudor England.
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And, who knows, maybe Henry himself
once rode along this very track?
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He certainly would have had a good
reason
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because while he was still married
to Catherine of Aragon,
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Hever was the home of his most
famous squeeze,
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Thomas Boleyn's daughter Anne.
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Look at that! It's like something
out of a fantasy novel, isn't it?
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Got this symmetrical castle with the
moat and the drawbridge
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and these immaculate lawns.
It's even got a flag there.
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You can just imagine a handsome
young prince riding up,
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setting everyone's hearts aflutter
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and then riding off with the
beautiful girl, can't you?
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Well, that's the fairy tale,
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but were Henry and Anne really
besotted with each other,
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or was Anne simply a pawn in her
father's efforts to influence
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Henry's court?
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Helping me find out at Anne's
childhood home
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is historian Tracy Borman,
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a specialist in the role of Tudor
women.
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What were the Boleyns like?
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The Boleyns were really
part of the new order.
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Thomas Boleyn was hugely popular
with Henry VIII.
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But he was from trade, he wasn't
from the old aristocracy,
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and he was, sort of, a relatively
new member of the court scene,
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but Henry loved him.
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And Thomas didn't just have one, he
had two secret weapons -
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his daughters.
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In the early 1520s
it was Mary, not Anne,
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who first became the king's
mistress.
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But with Thomas to oversee things,
tactics were rather different
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once Henry's eye had come to settle
on the younger Boleyn daughter.
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Do you think Henry actually
loved Anne Boleyn?
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I think Henry was certainly
infatuated by Anne.
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I also think there is an element
of wanting what he couldn't have.
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Anne kept Henry at bay for seven
years.
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He was a great hunter, it was
the thrill of the chase.
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She didn't give herself to him
during those seven years?
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She didn't, she didn't, you know?
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It was the mid-1520s when she first
really came to his attention,
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and for seven long years she held
him at bay,
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which was quite a feat, you know?
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He had many mistresses, he was a
great romancer,
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he was the King of England, for
goodness' sake!
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What evidence do we have that he was
so besotted by her?
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We have this series of fantastic
letters that Henry wrote to Anne.
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In this first one here he talks
of being in great agony,
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you know, having been stricken with
the dart of love,
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and one of the later ones here,
clearly something has happened
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by this stage between Henry and
Anne,
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because he talks about wishing
himself in his sweetheart's arms,
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especially late at night, you know.
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"I'm now writing this shorter
letter to you at this time
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"because of some pain in my head,
wishing myself,
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"especially at evening, in my
sweetheart's arms,
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"whose pretty dukkys I trust
shortly to kiss."
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Indeed.
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He didn't mean that kind of duckie,
did he?
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He certainly didn't!
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Henry and Anne's love story has
become a romantic classic,
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retold and embellished by each
and every generation.
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But behind his racy writing,
Henry had a serious purpose.
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He was chasing the male heir
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that his first wife Catherine had
failed to produce.
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Thomas Boleyn knew that
and, unlike his neighbour,
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the Duke of Buckingham, he managed
the fiery-tempered king well
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and positioned his younger
daughter very well.
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Anne Boleyn would never have
got where she did
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if it hadn't been for one thing -
her dad's money.
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So the question now is,
"Where did that come from?"
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My walking quest to reveal
the extraordinary transformation
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that took place here in the Weald
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has already shown me how fast people
could rise and fall
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in the court of Henry VIII.
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But all this politicking,
all the machinery of patronage,
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would have ground to a halt if
hadn't been for one simple thing -
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money.
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The court around King Henry VIII
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was full of rich, showy people,
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and if you were an aspiring family
who wanted to break into that
charmed circle,
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you had to splash the cash.
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But where were you going
to get it from?
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The old way was simply to inherit.
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But today I'm exploring
an incredible new path to riches
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and power in Tudor England.
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Having spent the night in Cowden,
day two of my walk winds south,
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00:12:56,464 --> 00:12:59,224
crossing from Kent into East Sussex
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to the edge of the great
Ashdown Forest.
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Back in the open air.
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Unbelievably, while Henry was
chopping and changing his courtiers,
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the whole of this quiet area
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resounded to the noise
of heavy manufacturing.
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Almost three centuries
before the Industrial Revolution,
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the Weald was the setting
for an era-defining transformation -
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the rise of a major iron industry.
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Hi, Jeremy!
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Hi, Tony!
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There are few traces of that
industry left today,
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but I've wandered a mile north
of Cowden
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as I've been invited
to drop in on Crippenden Manor.
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It was built just after 1600
with new industrial wealth,
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and it's retained a few clues
from its past.
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This is it?
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This is it, yes.
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Wow... It's a cannon.
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It's a cannon. A 16th century cannon.
And what is more it was made locally.
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I didn't realise that they made
weapons around here?
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They did, it was a big
industry in Tudor times.
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And it's made of...?
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Cast iron. And that was
one of the new things about it.
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It was a new type of gun.
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Iron was cheaper than bronze,
much easier to get hold of,
239
00:14:13,304 --> 00:14:15,664
and that was the big advantage.
240
00:14:15,664 --> 00:14:17,624
We don't know what it's doing here?
241
00:14:17,624 --> 00:14:21,144
Well, we do know what it's doing here
- the gun itself was a reject.
242
00:14:21,144 --> 00:14:24,544
We know because various features
on it indicate that.
243
00:14:24,544 --> 00:14:30,504
For example here, you've a sizable
blemish on the side of the gun.
244
00:14:30,504 --> 00:14:32,944
Clearly, there was a fault
in the casting.
245
00:14:32,944 --> 00:14:35,904
Up at the front here,
you've got these holes,
246
00:14:35,904 --> 00:14:39,824
and these rather badly damaged
pieces at the front.
247
00:14:39,824 --> 00:14:43,984
It was discarded because of something
going wrong in the casting.
248
00:14:45,704 --> 00:14:47,944
Ironically, the Crippenden cannon's
failure
249
00:14:47,944 --> 00:14:52,504
means it's still here in the Weald,
450 years after it was cast.
250
00:14:54,304 --> 00:14:58,264
But dozens more like it would have
been in use at the many forts
251
00:14:58,264 --> 00:15:01,304
Henry had built to protect
the south coast.
252
00:15:01,304 --> 00:15:05,544
The king himself was encouraging
the expansion of a new economy.
253
00:15:08,544 --> 00:15:09,984
Why? Why here?
254
00:15:09,984 --> 00:15:12,784
Well, the answer is in my pocket...
255
00:15:12,784 --> 00:15:15,064
That. Which is iron ore.
256
00:15:16,384 --> 00:15:19,824
The sort of iron ore
you'd find locally.
257
00:15:19,824 --> 00:15:21,184
It's... Well, feel it.
258
00:15:22,304 --> 00:15:24,544
It's quite distinctly heavy,
isn't it?
259
00:15:24,544 --> 00:15:26,144
It is, isn't it?
260
00:15:26,144 --> 00:15:30,024
'Rocks like this were extracted
from thin seams of iron ore,
261
00:15:30,024 --> 00:15:31,624
'just below ground level.
262
00:15:31,624 --> 00:15:35,264
'These seams which were laid down
millions of years ago
263
00:15:35,264 --> 00:15:37,784
'were soon found
right across the Weald.'
264
00:15:37,784 --> 00:15:41,744
In Henry VIII's time, who would
have been involved in this industry?
265
00:15:41,744 --> 00:15:43,544
It was a money-making business,
really.
266
00:15:43,544 --> 00:15:47,584
Local landowners like Thomas Boleyn
and his brother, for example,
267
00:15:47,584 --> 00:15:51,424
they were either lessees
or owners of iron works.
268
00:15:51,424 --> 00:15:53,224
And to help me on my way,
269
00:15:53,224 --> 00:15:56,904
Jeremy's giving me a copy
of an iron industry map.
270
00:15:56,904 --> 00:16:00,824
An 18th century plan of the site
that produced the Crippenden cannon.
271
00:16:00,824 --> 00:16:02,264
Thank you very much.
And you can have your iron back.
272
00:16:02,264 --> 00:16:04,064
Thank you.
273
00:16:04,064 --> 00:16:04,864
Cheers, Jeremy. Bye!
274
00:16:04,864 --> 00:16:05,864
Cheerio.
275
00:16:11,384 --> 00:16:14,704
The Boleyn family were quick to
invest in the new industry,
276
00:16:14,704 --> 00:16:19,584
but over time the likes of merchants
and even clergymen got involved,
277
00:16:19,584 --> 00:16:20,904
producing not just weapons,
278
00:16:20,904 --> 00:16:24,584
but agricultural and domestic iron
products, too.
279
00:16:25,784 --> 00:16:29,464
By the end of Henry's reign,
the Weald was intensely exploited
280
00:16:29,464 --> 00:16:32,224
with 50 furnaces and forges.
281
00:16:32,224 --> 00:16:36,224
But today you have to look carefully
to find the clues in the landscape.
282
00:16:41,024 --> 00:16:42,944
That's quite a sight, isn't it?
283
00:16:42,944 --> 00:16:45,384
Tucked away behind the back
of a little lane.
284
00:16:47,024 --> 00:16:51,424
In 1500, there would have been
no more than a stream here.
285
00:16:51,424 --> 00:16:53,384
The creation of Cowden Furnace,
though,
286
00:16:53,384 --> 00:16:57,664
led to a perfectly straight dam wall
being constructed,
287
00:16:57,664 --> 00:17:01,184
still evident
at the end of the pond.
288
00:17:01,184 --> 00:17:05,904
It gathered enough water to power
the production of 200 tons of iron
a year.
289
00:17:07,384 --> 00:17:10,344
This valley would have been
an industrial complex,
290
00:17:10,344 --> 00:17:14,544
but today,
it's quite a challenge to work out.
291
00:17:15,904 --> 00:17:18,144
Right, it says Furnace Pond.
292
00:17:18,144 --> 00:17:22,784
So that's a bit of a clue, isn't it?
293
00:17:22,784 --> 00:17:26,224
Actually, it should be the other way
round,
294
00:17:26,224 --> 00:17:30,664
so if I compare it
with Jeremy's map...
295
00:17:33,144 --> 00:17:35,784
Beautiful, isn't it?
296
00:17:35,784 --> 00:17:40,744
So, yeah, that's the flat bit
there -
297
00:17:40,744 --> 00:17:44,864
that must be the dam with
the furnace behind it,
298
00:17:44,864 --> 00:17:47,784
so it must be over in this direction
here somewhere.
299
00:17:53,744 --> 00:17:57,824
Sadly, at the end of Furnace Pond
in Cowden,
300
00:17:57,824 --> 00:18:01,664
all the iron industry buildings
disappeared over 200 years ago.
301
00:18:05,704 --> 00:18:08,584
What really intrigues me
is this quarry.
302
00:18:08,584 --> 00:18:12,824
Because the furnaces
were made of stone.
303
00:18:12,824 --> 00:18:15,304
So, it seems to me quite plausible
304
00:18:15,304 --> 00:18:20,144
that they could have got the stone
for that furnace from here.
305
00:18:20,144 --> 00:18:22,904
And the other thing is that
the slag, the residue,
306
00:18:22,904 --> 00:18:27,344
they just chucked away, and it was
left lying all over the place.
307
00:18:27,344 --> 00:18:31,464
So if I poke around for a bit,
I hopefully...
308
00:18:32,584 --> 00:18:37,104
Presenters always find it straight
away on telly, don't they?
309
00:18:37,104 --> 00:18:41,024
Yay! There you are,
got my presenter's badge.
310
00:18:41,024 --> 00:18:42,824
Bit of slag.
311
00:18:47,064 --> 00:18:49,424
The innovation behind
this entire economy
312
00:18:49,424 --> 00:18:51,904
was the blast furnace itself.
313
00:18:51,904 --> 00:18:56,224
It allowed iron to be produced on an
industrial scale for the first time.
314
00:18:58,544 --> 00:19:00,064
Far from leading the way, though,
315
00:19:00,064 --> 00:19:04,464
England had to import the furnace
technology, and the skilled workers,
316
00:19:04,464 --> 00:19:06,784
from across the Channel.
317
00:19:06,784 --> 00:19:09,544
But being close to the Continent,
close to London,
318
00:19:09,544 --> 00:19:13,864
and with plenty of iron ore,
the Weald was ideally positioned.
319
00:19:15,304 --> 00:19:16,704
By the late 16th century,
320
00:19:16,704 --> 00:19:19,824
iron was a multi-million pound
business in modern terms,
321
00:19:19,824 --> 00:19:23,984
making its leaders new fortunes,
and showing that under Henry,
322
00:19:23,984 --> 00:19:27,624
the national economy
was about more than just farming.
323
00:19:35,784 --> 00:19:38,704
Leaving Cowden,
I'm also leaving Kent,
324
00:19:38,704 --> 00:19:42,504
as this valley marks the point
where I cross over into East Sussex.
325
00:19:43,544 --> 00:19:47,104
And I'm entering a place where
industrial history
326
00:19:47,104 --> 00:19:49,064
is definitely not the attraction.
327
00:19:58,984 --> 00:20:00,544
Look at this path now.
328
00:20:00,544 --> 00:20:03,144
Beautifully clear across this field.
329
00:20:03,144 --> 00:20:07,464
Well maintained. Not a nettle
in sight, used regularly.
330
00:20:08,744 --> 00:20:11,984
Welcome to the world
of Winnie the Pooh!
331
00:20:15,184 --> 00:20:18,024
My path is passing close
to Cotchford Farm,
332
00:20:18,024 --> 00:20:20,944
once the home of AA Milne.
333
00:20:20,944 --> 00:20:24,584
He was born in London and spent
years working as a playwright,
334
00:20:24,584 --> 00:20:27,864
but a move to the country in 1925
335
00:20:27,864 --> 00:20:31,944
inspired the magical world
of Pooh Bear and his friends.
336
00:20:33,304 --> 00:20:36,464
Milne wrote the stories
for his young son Christopher Robin,
337
00:20:36,464 --> 00:20:41,184
but the inspiration and ideas for
Pooh's adventures came from this,
338
00:20:41,184 --> 00:20:42,864
their local landscape.
339
00:20:44,624 --> 00:20:47,704
Including the ever popular
Pooh Bridge.
340
00:20:52,984 --> 00:20:55,824
And anyone with an affection
for the Pooh stories
341
00:20:55,824 --> 00:20:58,904
will know that a simple accident
with a fir cone
342
00:20:58,904 --> 00:21:02,344
led to the discovery
of a much-loved game.
343
00:21:07,344 --> 00:21:08,944
"That's funny," said Pooh.
344
00:21:08,944 --> 00:21:13,144
"I dropped it on the other side...
and it came out on this side!
345
00:21:14,184 --> 00:21:17,344
"I wonder if it would do it again?"
346
00:21:17,344 --> 00:21:20,464
It did. It kept on doing it.
347
00:21:20,464 --> 00:21:23,584
And that was the beginning of
the game called Poohsticks,
348
00:21:23,584 --> 00:21:25,264
which Pooh invented,
349
00:21:25,264 --> 00:21:29,424
and which he and his friends used
to play on the edge of the forest.
350
00:21:31,704 --> 00:21:33,824
Right, c'mon. Other side.
351
00:21:35,064 --> 00:21:36,344
Let's see him come out.
352
00:21:39,264 --> 00:21:41,304
My money's on the big one.
353
00:21:41,304 --> 00:21:43,704
Yay. There's one! Yes!
354
00:21:44,944 --> 00:21:48,824
But you see that water there,
how it's reddy-brown?
355
00:21:48,824 --> 00:21:55,344
That's a clear indication there's
iron in the underlying rocks there.
356
00:21:57,984 --> 00:22:02,064
Even here, on the edge of Pooh's
magical Hundred Acre Wood,
357
00:22:02,064 --> 00:22:05,584
there are signs of the area's
real past.
358
00:22:05,584 --> 00:22:09,824
Believe it or not, the home of
Poohsticks was once a Tudor forge!
359
00:22:12,944 --> 00:22:15,984
All over here would have been
flooded, all that field,
360
00:22:15,984 --> 00:22:19,104
right down probably as far
as the digger.
361
00:22:19,104 --> 00:22:22,784
And the water would have been held
back by a dam that was here.
362
00:22:22,784 --> 00:22:27,304
You can see a bit of it now,
and all the rest is eroded.
363
00:22:27,304 --> 00:22:30,264
And there would have been
a forge here.
364
00:22:30,264 --> 00:22:32,504
I can't imagine that Winnie the Pooh
365
00:22:32,504 --> 00:22:35,784
would have been particularly
pleased by the noise of a hammer
366
00:22:35,784 --> 00:22:38,064
slamming down on red hot iron.
367
00:22:38,064 --> 00:22:40,784
Eeyore would have been furious.
368
00:22:45,704 --> 00:22:47,824
It's time for me to leave Pooh,
his friends,
369
00:22:47,824 --> 00:22:50,024
and the iron-masters behind me.
370
00:22:52,224 --> 00:22:55,744
It's strange to think of the Weald
as an industrial powerhouse,
371
00:22:55,744 --> 00:22:58,984
and to be fair, it was
a short-lived role for the area.
372
00:23:01,104 --> 00:23:03,904
Iron was found elsewhere,
cheap coal too.
373
00:23:03,904 --> 00:23:07,344
And just 200 years
after it had arrived,
374
00:23:07,344 --> 00:23:11,264
the industry that changed the face
of the south east disappeared.
375
00:23:17,864 --> 00:23:21,624
For me tomorrow, it's on
to the great Ashdown Forest,
376
00:23:21,624 --> 00:23:24,024
and the Tudor sport of kings.
377
00:23:33,144 --> 00:23:36,264
It's day three of my walk
through the Weald.
378
00:23:36,264 --> 00:23:38,984
Having spent the night
in the village of Hartfield,
379
00:23:38,984 --> 00:23:43,584
I'm heading for a cup of tea in the
tiny hamlet of Colemans Hatch.
380
00:23:43,584 --> 00:23:47,864
Yesterday I was uncovering
the traces of the incredible
381
00:23:47,864 --> 00:23:51,184
iron industry that made such an
impact here 500 years ago.
382
00:23:52,704 --> 00:23:57,144
Today I'm going to leave the sweat
and noise of the furnaces behind
383
00:23:57,144 --> 00:24:01,064
to take a look at another one of
Henry VIII's legacies.
384
00:24:01,064 --> 00:24:04,344
This is the Ashdown Forest,
which has remained pretty much
385
00:24:04,344 --> 00:24:07,024
untouched for the last
thousand years.
386
00:24:07,024 --> 00:24:10,944
And all this area here, as we've
seen, was completely
387
00:24:10,944 --> 00:24:15,144
turned on its head by the
Tudor iron industry.
388
00:24:15,144 --> 00:24:19,944
But here has remained virtually
pristine. I want to find out why.
389
00:24:22,424 --> 00:24:27,464
Ashdown today remains the biggest
public space in south-east England.
390
00:24:27,464 --> 00:24:31,224
It sits across a sandy
ridge at the top of the High Weald.
391
00:24:31,224 --> 00:24:34,744
Reaching 200 metres high in places,
392
00:24:34,744 --> 00:24:37,384
the forest makes for some
great walking.
393
00:24:42,144 --> 00:24:44,104
That's pretty nice, isn't it?
394
00:24:44,104 --> 00:24:46,664
I sometimes forget how spectacular
395
00:24:46,664 --> 00:24:49,704
some of the views in southern
England are.
396
00:24:49,704 --> 00:24:54,944
That's Kent there, where I've
come from, and over there's Surrey.
397
00:24:54,944 --> 00:24:59,024
You see the ridge
of the North Downs?
398
00:24:59,024 --> 00:25:00,224
All very nice.
399
00:25:01,504 --> 00:25:03,784
Morning!
400
00:25:03,784 --> 00:25:06,544
But Ashdown doesn't
seem like much of a forest,
401
00:25:06,544 --> 00:25:10,264
at least not in the modern,
densely wooded sense.
402
00:25:10,264 --> 00:25:13,784
Ashdown though is as true
a forest as you could hope to find.
403
00:25:13,784 --> 00:25:17,864
It was the Normans who
first introduced the concept.
404
00:25:17,864 --> 00:25:20,344
For them, a forest wasn't defined by
what grew in it,
405
00:25:20,344 --> 00:25:25,904
but by a strict set of rules
governing what went on in it,
406
00:25:25,904 --> 00:25:27,744
be it woodland, heath or grass.
407
00:25:27,744 --> 00:25:30,864
Applied to vast tracts of land,
408
00:25:30,864 --> 00:25:34,384
these rules were designed above all
409
00:25:34,384 --> 00:25:38,144
to support a very important
activity - hunting.
410
00:25:38,144 --> 00:25:40,504
And if there's one thing
we know about Henry VIII,
411
00:25:40,504 --> 00:25:44,664
it's that he loved hunting almost
as much as he loved women.
412
00:25:44,664 --> 00:25:47,784
So I'm heading to one of the
forest's landmarks,
413
00:25:47,784 --> 00:25:50,704
and one of its finest viewpoints,
414
00:25:50,704 --> 00:25:52,944
because to this day, it's got a
distinct connection
415
00:25:52,944 --> 00:25:54,304
with the Tudor king.
416
00:25:54,304 --> 00:25:55,304
Hi, Chris.
417
00:25:55,304 --> 00:25:56,664
Hello, Tony. How are you?
418
00:25:56,664 --> 00:25:59,024
All right.
This is King's Standing, isn't it?
419
00:25:59,024 --> 00:26:00,664
It is, yes.
420
00:26:00,664 --> 00:26:04,504
I've read that this was the site
of Henry VIII's hunting lodge.
421
00:26:04,504 --> 00:26:05,424
Is that right?
422
00:26:05,424 --> 00:26:06,784
Well, apparently so.
423
00:26:06,784 --> 00:26:09,344
We don't know
that Henry VIII ever came here.
424
00:26:09,344 --> 00:26:10,024
Oh!
425
00:26:10,024 --> 00:26:11,744
It's a great shame, isn't it?
426
00:26:11,744 --> 00:26:13,384
But we're pretty certain
427
00:26:13,384 --> 00:26:17,704
that there was something here at
least from the 14th century onwards.
428
00:26:17,704 --> 00:26:20,144
What do you mean, there was
something here?
429
00:26:20,144 --> 00:26:23,584
Well, the name Standing is
a good clue.
430
00:26:23,584 --> 00:26:27,424
We think that standings in relation
to a forest where
431
00:26:27,424 --> 00:26:31,024
they are hunting deer would have
been somewhere where they came and
432
00:26:31,024 --> 00:26:36,144
the hunters, their followers, they
would have been here perhaps under a
433
00:26:36,144 --> 00:26:40,944
shelter and they'd have watched the
deer being driven past and shot at.
434
00:26:40,944 --> 00:26:42,584
You can imagine being a king,
435
00:26:42,584 --> 00:26:45,344
standing here looking at all
the deer below you.
436
00:26:45,344 --> 00:26:47,864
Absolutely, it would
have been a fantastic spectacle.
437
00:26:47,864 --> 00:26:49,224
It's a great view.
438
00:26:49,224 --> 00:26:50,224
Absolutely.
439
00:26:52,584 --> 00:26:56,504
Here, just a day's ride from London,
the great and the good of the Tudor
440
00:26:56,504 --> 00:27:02,344
world had 14,000 acres to hunt in.
A day with Henry and his entourage
441
00:27:02,344 --> 00:27:05,864
would have been the greatest
networking opportunity of the age.
442
00:27:05,864 --> 00:27:10,144
But for the king himself,
hunting was pure escapism,
443
00:27:10,144 --> 00:27:13,584
away from the prying
eyes of court life.
444
00:27:13,584 --> 00:27:17,344
So it's no surprise that hunting
trips often became thinly veiled
445
00:27:17,344 --> 00:27:20,144
excuses to court a chosen lady.
446
00:27:20,144 --> 00:27:23,144
For the seven years of their
courtship
447
00:27:23,144 --> 00:27:26,024
it's believed that Anne Boleyn rode
out alongside Henry
448
00:27:26,024 --> 00:27:27,344
on several occasions.
449
00:27:28,744 --> 00:27:30,704
And even when she wasn't there,
450
00:27:30,704 --> 00:27:32,984
we know Henry was still
thinking of her.
451
00:27:34,504 --> 00:27:37,984
"To cause you yet
oftener to remember me,
452
00:27:37,984 --> 00:27:43,504
"I send you, by the bearer of this,
a buck killed late last night
453
00:27:43,504 --> 00:27:44,944
"by my own hand,
454
00:27:44,944 --> 00:27:50,224
"hoping that when you eat of it you
may think of the hunter."
455
00:27:51,584 --> 00:27:53,304
Is it true you get snakes up here?
456
00:27:53,304 --> 00:27:56,144
It is indeed. You get adders.
457
00:27:56,144 --> 00:27:58,304
What, the little diamond-backed
ones?
458
00:27:58,304 --> 00:28:00,504
That's right
and occasionally some black adders.
459
00:28:00,504 --> 00:28:02,144
You're winding me up!
460
00:28:02,144 --> 00:28:05,424
No, when we were out here
earlier on we did actually see
461
00:28:05,424 --> 00:28:06,944
a black adder.
462
00:28:10,144 --> 00:28:12,504
The rules of the forest allowed
locals
463
00:28:12,504 --> 00:28:15,864
limited rights to gather wood
and graze their animals,
464
00:28:15,864 --> 00:28:18,984
which helped maintain the sporting
terrain.
465
00:28:21,344 --> 00:28:23,544
It was a low-key form of land
management
466
00:28:23,544 --> 00:28:26,064
that had worked very
well for generations.
467
00:28:31,264 --> 00:28:33,864
But for the first time under Henry,
468
00:28:33,864 --> 00:28:37,424
there was now real
pressure on the land of the forest.
469
00:28:37,424 --> 00:28:39,504
The iron industry was all around
470
00:28:39,504 --> 00:28:42,544
and looking enviously at the
undeveloped Ashdown.
471
00:28:43,704 --> 00:28:46,704
Here was land where more iron
ore could be found.
472
00:28:46,704 --> 00:28:49,424
And to keep the furnaces burning?
473
00:28:49,424 --> 00:28:53,424
Well, the forest had tons
and tons of timber.
474
00:28:55,384 --> 00:28:57,224
It's up here somewhere, I promise.
475
00:28:57,224 --> 00:29:01,424
So Chris is leading me to the
western edge of Ashdown,
476
00:29:01,424 --> 00:29:06,624
to show me the decisive action Henry
took to ensure the forest's future.
477
00:29:08,544 --> 00:29:10,984
OK, Tony, this is what I've
brought you to see.
478
00:29:10,984 --> 00:29:13,344
Strewth! You don't often see
something like this
479
00:29:13,344 --> 00:29:14,144
sticking out of a forest, do you?
480
00:29:14,144 --> 00:29:16,544
No. This is the pale.
481
00:29:16,544 --> 00:29:19,464
This originally surrounded
all of Ashdown Forest.
482
00:29:19,464 --> 00:29:20,344
What's a pale?
483
00:29:20,344 --> 00:29:26,184
It comes from the word palisade
and it means the bank and ditch
484
00:29:26,184 --> 00:29:28,904
and the fence that surrounded
the forest.
485
00:29:28,904 --> 00:29:32,384
Its main function was to keep
deer in and poachers out.
486
00:29:32,384 --> 00:29:34,544
How long has there been
something like this here?
487
00:29:34,544 --> 00:29:37,224
Well, the original pale
was built by the Normans.
488
00:29:37,224 --> 00:29:40,904
So we're going back to perhaps
the 13th century.
489
00:29:40,904 --> 00:29:44,184
This pale was probably
built by Henry VIII.
490
00:29:44,184 --> 00:29:47,184
We have a record in 1521 where he
commands
491
00:29:47,184 --> 00:29:50,304
that the pale around Ashdown
is rebuilt.
492
00:29:50,304 --> 00:29:52,464
The whole thing is about 26 miles.
493
00:29:52,464 --> 00:29:55,824
So you might have had a bank
up to say about here
494
00:29:55,824 --> 00:29:58,944
and then sticks all the way around.
495
00:29:58,944 --> 00:30:00,184
Yes.
496
00:30:00,184 --> 00:30:02,544
Why do you think Henry saw
the need to do this?
497
00:30:02,544 --> 00:30:06,784
Maybe he liked hunting, and I think
the most important thing,
498
00:30:06,784 --> 00:30:08,024
it's a status symbol.
499
00:30:11,584 --> 00:30:13,984
So here,
in the face of modern industry,
500
00:30:13,984 --> 00:30:19,024
the modernising king was keen to
preserve one of the old traditions.
501
00:30:19,024 --> 00:30:21,624
If he hadn't acted to
save his hunting land,
502
00:30:21,624 --> 00:30:24,984
the forest we still enjoy today
might have been overrun
503
00:30:24,984 --> 00:30:26,144
centuries ago.
504
00:30:34,184 --> 00:30:36,624
As I leave the wild heathland of the
forest,
505
00:30:36,624 --> 00:30:40,784
I'm heading south-west through
delightful Sussex villages
506
00:30:40,784 --> 00:30:42,664
like Fairwarp and Buxted.
507
00:30:43,824 --> 00:30:46,184
The landscape becomes cosier,
more gentle,
508
00:30:46,184 --> 00:30:49,944
and there's a noticeable
return to the world of agriculture.
509
00:30:53,184 --> 00:30:55,344
Look at those.
Aren't they fantastic?
510
00:30:55,344 --> 00:30:58,304
Anyone who's been to this
part of England
511
00:30:58,304 --> 00:31:01,864
will be familiar with that sight -
oast houses!
512
00:31:01,864 --> 00:31:05,864
They were used to dry the hops
when they'd just been harvested.
513
00:31:05,864 --> 00:31:10,904
They're an icon of East Sussex and
Kent. Elegant, unmistakable.
514
00:31:10,904 --> 00:31:12,304
Love them!
515
00:31:16,064 --> 00:31:18,824
But oast houses are more than just
cute little objects
516
00:31:18,824 --> 00:31:21,064
that you stick on the front of a
tourist brochure.
517
00:31:21,064 --> 00:31:23,664
They're symbols of another
revolution
518
00:31:23,664 --> 00:31:25,784
that took place in Henry's time.
519
00:31:25,784 --> 00:31:29,504
Not an industrial revolution
or a political one -
520
00:31:29,504 --> 00:31:31,664
a beer revolution!
521
00:31:33,744 --> 00:31:37,544
It's well known that Henry and his
friends enjoyed a good drink.
522
00:31:37,544 --> 00:31:40,264
It's less known that the
traditional hops of Kent
523
00:31:40,264 --> 00:31:43,504
and East Sussex
are nothing of the sort.
524
00:31:43,504 --> 00:31:47,264
In fact, they're a foreign import
brought in from the Netherlands
525
00:31:47,264 --> 00:31:51,144
with the foreigners now working in
the booming local economy.
526
00:31:53,584 --> 00:31:56,704
But to really understand
the drinking revolution
527
00:31:56,704 --> 00:32:00,064
that resulted, I'm dropping in on a
brewing expert
528
00:32:00,064 --> 00:32:03,864
at a 600-year-old inn,
here in the village of Blackboys.
529
00:32:06,944 --> 00:32:09,784
It's called the Blackboys.
Is that a slavery thing?
530
00:32:09,784 --> 00:32:10,824
No. Well, I hope not.
531
00:32:10,824 --> 00:32:15,864
We think it's derived from the
Tudor iron industry,
532
00:32:15,864 --> 00:32:19,664
where the charcoal burners would
have come in for a drink
533
00:32:19,664 --> 00:32:24,584
with rather sooted black faces
and it got the nickname from that.
534
00:32:24,584 --> 00:32:28,104
It's odd, this thing about beer,
because I had always assumed
535
00:32:28,104 --> 00:32:31,584
that beer was the quintessential
English drink.
536
00:32:31,584 --> 00:32:33,824
In those days they would have
been drinking ale.
537
00:32:33,824 --> 00:32:35,304
So what's the difference?
538
00:32:35,304 --> 00:32:38,344
Ale is an alcoholic beverage
produced from barley
539
00:32:38,344 --> 00:32:39,904
without the use of hops,
540
00:32:39,904 --> 00:32:43,264
whereas beer, from the Flemish
"bier", is an alcoholic beverage
541
00:32:43,264 --> 00:32:45,504
brewed from barley with
the use of hops.
542
00:32:45,504 --> 00:32:49,824
We first saw beer in 1400,
imported from Europe.
543
00:32:49,824 --> 00:32:53,384
But we were actually growing
hops in 1520 in this country.
544
00:32:53,384 --> 00:32:55,784
Do we have any idea what the
ale that they would have been
545
00:32:55,784 --> 00:32:59,184
drinking around here before Tudor
times would have been like?
546
00:32:59,184 --> 00:33:03,304
Well, we do. This is actually
produced without hops.
547
00:33:03,304 --> 00:33:08,024
It has in it a herb called sweet
gale or bog myrtle.
548
00:33:08,024 --> 00:33:15,664
And this really is the nearest
thing you'll get to the sort of ale
549
00:33:15,664 --> 00:33:19,824
that was being
drunk in the Middle Ages.
550
00:33:19,824 --> 00:33:20,304
Cheers!
551
00:33:20,304 --> 00:33:21,384
Your good health.
552
00:33:21,384 --> 00:33:23,864
Right, this is the old ale...
553
00:33:26,024 --> 00:33:27,424
Mmm...
554
00:33:27,424 --> 00:33:30,664
It's like one of those rather
sweet
555
00:33:30,664 --> 00:33:34,944
bottled beers that you used to drink
when I started drinking in the '60s.
556
00:33:34,944 --> 00:33:37,504
Yes, very sweet and without that
characteristic hop.
557
00:33:37,504 --> 00:33:38,584
Yeah.
558
00:33:38,584 --> 00:33:42,624
And as for the beer brewed here
since Tudor times, well, you
559
00:33:42,624 --> 00:33:46,624
only have to walk into any
pub in the land to sample that.
560
00:33:46,624 --> 00:33:50,664
Hopped beer has hardly changed
in 500 years.
561
00:33:50,664 --> 00:33:54,544
Well, I'll certainly be eternally
grateful to our Tudor forebears
562
00:33:54,544 --> 00:33:56,664
and their little bit of
Flemish magic.
563
00:33:56,664 --> 00:33:59,864
Certainly had a profound
influence on me over the years.
564
00:33:59,864 --> 00:34:02,704
But as I seem by some eerie
coincidence - cheers! -
565
00:34:02,704 --> 00:34:05,144
to have found myself in a bar,
566
00:34:05,144 --> 00:34:07,304
I think we'll knock today's
walk on the head.
567
00:34:07,304 --> 00:34:10,344
One more day. Tomorrow,
it's the South Downs
568
00:34:10,344 --> 00:34:13,144
and the greatest of all
of Henry's legacies.
569
00:34:27,864 --> 00:34:29,384
I've been discovering
570
00:34:29,384 --> 00:34:32,144
that events here around the
landscape of the Weald
571
00:34:32,144 --> 00:34:35,584
changed our history in the
time of Henry VIII.
572
00:34:35,584 --> 00:34:38,944
But after three days walking
from Kent into East Sussex,
573
00:34:38,944 --> 00:34:42,224
I'm on the home stretch.
574
00:34:42,224 --> 00:34:44,424
My route from Blackboys to Lewes
575
00:34:44,424 --> 00:34:47,864
heads south-west across the marshy
Sussex levels,
576
00:34:47,864 --> 00:34:51,584
before reaching the sizeable bulk of
the South Downs
577
00:34:51,584 --> 00:34:55,024
and my final destination
of the county town.
578
00:34:58,104 --> 00:35:00,944
Of all the changes that took place
in Henry's reign,
579
00:35:00,944 --> 00:35:05,144
there's one that sticks out and
that is the Reformation.
580
00:35:05,144 --> 00:35:08,024
There can't be many moments
in English history
581
00:35:08,024 --> 00:35:10,024
that had such a profound impact.
582
00:35:10,024 --> 00:35:12,384
And I'm off to the town of Lewes,
583
00:35:12,384 --> 00:35:14,864
because that was such an important
centre
584
00:35:14,864 --> 00:35:19,504
for this dramatic and often violent
transformation.
585
00:35:26,144 --> 00:35:28,864
The Reformation was the great
religious schism
586
00:35:28,864 --> 00:35:31,864
that saw England part company with
the Catholic faith,
587
00:35:31,864 --> 00:35:34,984
establishing itself as a Protestant
kingdom.
588
00:35:36,544 --> 00:35:39,744
Henry forced this change through
during the 1530s,
589
00:35:39,744 --> 00:35:43,344
the most tumultuous decade of his
reign.
590
00:35:43,344 --> 00:35:46,144
It was a period when religion,
politics
591
00:35:46,144 --> 00:35:49,664
and the king's personal life
all collided.
592
00:36:00,184 --> 00:36:01,944
Seven miles out from Lewes,
593
00:36:01,944 --> 00:36:05,344
I'm crossing the broad floodplains
of the Laughton Levels
594
00:36:05,344 --> 00:36:08,104
to find a remarkable snapshot of
English life
595
00:36:08,104 --> 00:36:10,344
on the eve of the Reformation,
596
00:36:10,344 --> 00:36:13,584
because it was here at the start of
the 1530s
597
00:36:13,584 --> 00:36:16,704
that the royal courtier Sir William
Pelham
598
00:36:16,704 --> 00:36:21,064
chose to build himself the finest
Tudor home in the area.
599
00:36:21,064 --> 00:36:22,104
Hello.
600
00:36:22,104 --> 00:36:23,744
Welcome to Laughton Place.
601
00:36:23,744 --> 00:36:25,144
Thank you very much.
602
00:36:25,144 --> 00:36:26,944
Very nice to see you.
603
00:36:28,024 --> 00:36:30,744
What you have to imagine
on this site,
604
00:36:30,744 --> 00:36:35,224
roughly bounded by the hedges today,
would have been a great house,
605
00:36:35,224 --> 00:36:37,624
pretty much on the scale
of Hever Castle, in fact.
606
00:36:37,624 --> 00:36:38,744
Wow!
607
00:36:38,744 --> 00:36:41,784
And this is all that remains of it.
608
00:36:41,784 --> 00:36:46,664
Apart from its size, what's so
particular about the architecture?
609
00:36:46,664 --> 00:36:50,184
Well, there's the brickwork, which
was a newly discovered technology
610
00:36:50,184 --> 00:36:52,344
and still very expensive,
611
00:36:52,344 --> 00:36:56,984
but the real glory is the fantastic
terracotta decoration on the tower
612
00:36:56,984 --> 00:36:59,224
as you can see here on this window.
613
00:36:59,224 --> 00:37:03,984
And this was the latest fashion
in the Tudor court in the 1530s,
614
00:37:03,984 --> 00:37:05,824
very Italianate.
615
00:37:05,824 --> 00:37:08,224
I suppose this is the time
when Henry VIII
616
00:37:08,224 --> 00:37:11,504
is seeing himself very much as a
sort of Renaissance prince
617
00:37:11,504 --> 00:37:14,224
and wants to be surrounded by this
kind of thing.
618
00:37:14,224 --> 00:37:16,304
Absolutely. So for Sir William
Pelham
619
00:37:16,304 --> 00:37:18,104
deep in the Sussex countryside,
620
00:37:18,104 --> 00:37:21,264
he's really bringing
the latest London fashions
621
00:37:21,264 --> 00:37:23,944
down to his house and going for it!
622
00:37:23,944 --> 00:37:26,024
But it wasn't a fashion that lasted,
was it?
623
00:37:26,024 --> 00:37:29,704
No, it didn't, because in the 1530s,
of course, Henry VIII
624
00:37:29,704 --> 00:37:33,304
decides to break away from the Roman
Catholic Church
625
00:37:33,304 --> 00:37:35,304
and from that point onwards
626
00:37:35,304 --> 00:37:39,304
anything remotely Italianate becomes
slightly suspicious.
627
00:37:40,344 --> 00:37:43,784
So just as this fashion
statement was completed,
628
00:37:43,784 --> 00:37:47,104
it was overtaken by national events.
629
00:37:47,104 --> 00:37:51,704
After seven years of waiting,
Henry got his wish in 1533
630
00:37:51,704 --> 00:37:53,744
and married Anne Boleyn.
631
00:37:55,184 --> 00:37:57,904
The Boleyn family had reached
the very top.
632
00:37:59,184 --> 00:38:01,824
But in declaring his first marriage
invalid,
633
00:38:01,824 --> 00:38:05,224
Henry was wilfully ignoring the
Pope's orders,
634
00:38:05,224 --> 00:38:07,984
for which he was excommunicated.
635
00:38:09,384 --> 00:38:11,984
As I head into the final stage of my
walk,
636
00:38:11,984 --> 00:38:18,544
England was heading for a religious
and political revolution.
637
00:38:36,504 --> 00:38:39,824
It's only when you stop that you get
the reward
638
00:38:39,824 --> 00:38:44,024
of the fantastic views up here on
the South Downs.
639
00:38:44,024 --> 00:38:50,264
Over there's the High Weald
and Ashdown Forest, where I was.
640
00:38:50,264 --> 00:38:55,184
And over there...is the Levels that
I've just come from.
641
00:38:56,384 --> 00:38:57,904
Very nice.
642
00:38:59,624 --> 00:39:03,224
The South Downs, which stretch
from Eastbourne to Winchester,
643
00:39:03,224 --> 00:39:04,944
look out towards Europe
644
00:39:04,944 --> 00:39:08,504
and the Catholic powerbase from
which England was soon to break.
645
00:39:10,864 --> 00:39:13,264
With Henry and the Pope now at
loggerheads
646
00:39:13,264 --> 00:39:17,144
and with a Protestant mood for
reform sweeping the nation,
647
00:39:17,144 --> 00:39:18,584
there was strong support
648
00:39:18,584 --> 00:39:22,984
for the King becoming supreme head
of an independent Church of England.
649
00:39:31,304 --> 00:39:34,464
Henry was the figurehead
of the English Reformation,
650
00:39:34,464 --> 00:39:40,384
but its chief strategist was his new
right-hand man, Thomas Cromwell.
651
00:39:40,384 --> 00:39:44,744
By 1534, the King's chief minister
had become a policy maker,
652
00:39:44,744 --> 00:39:48,144
spin doctor and enforcer rolled into
one.
653
00:39:51,104 --> 00:39:53,144
As the lowly son of a Putney brewer,
654
00:39:53,144 --> 00:39:57,424
Cromwell was the archetypal new man
of Henry's court.
655
00:39:57,424 --> 00:39:59,624
And the final destination of my walk
656
00:39:59,624 --> 00:40:03,264
is the perfect place to see
Cromwell's work.
657
00:40:03,264 --> 00:40:07,024
In 1536, just three years into her
marriage,
658
00:40:07,024 --> 00:40:11,464
Cromwell orchestrated the execution
of the flirtatious Anne Boleyn,
659
00:40:11,464 --> 00:40:13,944
who'd failed to produce a male
heir.
660
00:40:16,064 --> 00:40:18,144
But Cromwell's place in history
661
00:40:18,144 --> 00:40:21,824
comes as architect of the
Dissolution of the Monasteries.
662
00:40:26,024 --> 00:40:27,624
The South Downs around Lewes
663
00:40:27,624 --> 00:40:31,784
would have once belonged to the
priory of St Pancras.
664
00:40:31,784 --> 00:40:34,944
The priory was the richest
religious house in Sussex
665
00:40:34,944 --> 00:40:40,264
and for 450 years it was the beating
heart of the town.
666
00:40:40,264 --> 00:40:44,504
Cromwell's vision was to remove the
Catholic threat of the monasteries
667
00:40:44,504 --> 00:40:47,064
and under the banner of religious
reform
668
00:40:47,064 --> 00:40:51,304
bring about the greatest re-ordering
of wealth and power since 1066.
669
00:40:52,544 --> 00:40:54,584
The Dissolution would allow Henry
670
00:40:54,584 --> 00:40:57,424
to complete his overhaul of Tudor
society
671
00:40:57,424 --> 00:41:01,424
by reallocating land and property
among his new court.
672
00:41:04,824 --> 00:41:09,144
But here in Lewes, things were
rather personal for Cromwell.
673
00:41:09,144 --> 00:41:10,864
This was where he wanted
674
00:41:10,864 --> 00:41:13,864
to establish his own seat in the
country.
675
00:41:13,864 --> 00:41:18,184
So, wherever possible,
he'd preserve the priory's assets.
676
00:41:21,104 --> 00:41:26,064
But for the consecrated heart of the
site it was a different story.
677
00:41:29,464 --> 00:41:32,784
It's really romantic to see
all these ruins,
678
00:41:32,784 --> 00:41:35,064
but what would it have looked like
originally?
679
00:41:35,064 --> 00:41:39,584
Well, you've got to imagine here
a massive monastic complex.
680
00:41:39,584 --> 00:41:47,144
You would have had the great church
of St Pancras lying just over there,
681
00:41:47,144 --> 00:41:49,824
something the size of Chichester
Cathedral.
682
00:41:49,824 --> 00:41:52,184
Really?! So absolutely massive!
683
00:41:52,184 --> 00:41:53,304
Enormous. Yes.
684
00:41:53,304 --> 00:41:56,624
It would have been 100 metres
long, 21 metres wide,
685
00:41:56,624 --> 00:41:59,944
with five bells in one of the bell
towers
686
00:41:59,944 --> 00:42:02,984
and five chapels around the east
end,
687
00:42:02,984 --> 00:42:06,824
all the other buildings that you see
here associated with it.
688
00:42:12,424 --> 00:42:16,184
In November 1537, the last prior
here
689
00:42:16,184 --> 00:42:18,504
voluntarily signed a document
690
00:42:18,504 --> 00:42:21,424
surrendering Lewes Priory to the
government.
691
00:42:21,424 --> 00:42:24,944
Resisting Cromwell would have been
tantamount to treason.
692
00:42:30,064 --> 00:42:33,584
The actual demolition itself must
have been an enormous job.
693
00:42:33,584 --> 00:42:38,464
Yes. Thomas Cromwell's agent,
Giovanni Portinari,
694
00:42:38,464 --> 00:42:43,424
and 17 men brought the whole of the
monastic buildings down
695
00:42:43,424 --> 00:42:45,984
within eight to ten days!
696
00:42:45,984 --> 00:42:48,024
That's phenomenally quick!
697
00:42:48,024 --> 00:42:51,904
It is. You can see clearly here
the way the walls
698
00:42:51,904 --> 00:42:56,384
have been undermined and brought
down on themselves.
699
00:43:05,424 --> 00:43:08,784
Did Cromwell himself benefit from
all this mayhem?
700
00:43:08,784 --> 00:43:10,664
Initially, of course, I think he
did.
701
00:43:10,664 --> 00:43:13,824
He acquired large amounts of
monastic property
702
00:43:13,824 --> 00:43:16,064
and he was at the height of his
power.
703
00:43:16,064 --> 00:43:20,824
He had just arranged the marriage
of Henry to Anne of Cleves,
704
00:43:20,824 --> 00:43:23,384
but the marriage was a disaster.
705
00:43:23,384 --> 00:43:26,024
His enemies gathered against him.
706
00:43:26,024 --> 00:43:28,504
Cromwell was charged with heresy
707
00:43:28,504 --> 00:43:31,544
and Henry had him executed in July
1540.
708
00:43:34,944 --> 00:43:38,864
It was Henry's fourth wife who
really did for Cromwell.
709
00:43:38,864 --> 00:43:41,304
He'd successfully orchestrated the
King's divorce
710
00:43:41,304 --> 00:43:44,464
from Catherine of Aragon, the
downfall of Anne Boleyn
711
00:43:44,464 --> 00:43:47,784
and the marriage to the ill-fated
Jane Seymour,
712
00:43:47,784 --> 00:43:52,464
but then it was the disastrous union
with Anne of Cleves.
713
00:43:52,464 --> 00:43:57,024
Four wives and now a very unhappy
king.
714
00:43:57,024 --> 00:43:59,664
In the febrile court of the
paranoid Henry
715
00:43:59,664 --> 00:44:02,984
that was all the ammunition
Cromwell's enemies needed.
716
00:44:05,664 --> 00:44:09,344
And here in Lewes there's
a fabulous little twist.
717
00:44:09,344 --> 00:44:12,104
Cromwell's last act before his
execution
718
00:44:12,104 --> 00:44:16,344
was to reluctantly support the
King's divorce from Anne of Cleves.
719
00:44:16,344 --> 00:44:21,144
The divorce settlement awarded
the German noblewoman this house,
720
00:44:21,144 --> 00:44:22,904
as well as the priory lodgings
721
00:44:22,904 --> 00:44:25,424
which Cromwell had snatched for
himself
722
00:44:25,424 --> 00:44:27,664
straight after the Dissolution.
723
00:44:34,304 --> 00:44:38,944
Anne got no fewer than nine grand
houses in Sussex.
724
00:44:38,944 --> 00:44:42,704
And guess what she got in Kent?
Both Hever Castle
725
00:44:42,704 --> 00:44:44,944
and the Duke of Buckingham's
old pad,
726
00:44:44,944 --> 00:44:48,864
the starting point of my journey,
Penshurst Place.
727
00:44:48,864 --> 00:44:51,504
And she survived and lived to
enjoy them
728
00:44:51,504 --> 00:44:56,504
long after Henry and Thomas Cromwell
were in their graves.
729
00:44:59,144 --> 00:45:02,864
On this walk I've come across a host
of Tudor players,
730
00:45:02,864 --> 00:45:04,944
and whether they were old money or
new,
731
00:45:04,944 --> 00:45:07,104
they all shared the challenge
732
00:45:07,104 --> 00:45:09,664
of keeping on the right side of the
king.
733
00:45:09,664 --> 00:45:13,584
Remarkably, Anne of Cleves never
did fall out with Henry
734
00:45:13,584 --> 00:45:17,104
and she ended as one of the most
unlikely winners
735
00:45:17,104 --> 00:45:20,984
in the course of a tumultuous
38-year reign.
736
00:45:27,184 --> 00:45:29,464
Henry died some eight years after
737
00:45:29,464 --> 00:45:33,144
his seismic Dissolution of the
Monasteries had taken place,
738
00:45:33,144 --> 00:45:36,944
by which time the royal court had
been transformed.
739
00:45:36,944 --> 00:45:41,064
As had the economy, society, even
the landscape.
740
00:45:41,064 --> 00:45:43,504
And by breaking with Rome,
741
00:45:43,504 --> 00:45:47,304
he'd severed the relationship
between England and Europe.
742
00:45:47,304 --> 00:45:51,184
Henry brought hundreds of years
of medieval life
743
00:45:51,184 --> 00:45:54,464
to a decisive and often disruptive
end
744
00:45:54,464 --> 00:45:58,464
and ushered in a new, very modern
era.
745
00:45:58,464 --> 00:46:02,824
And 500 years ago,
this little corner of England
746
00:46:02,824 --> 00:46:05,304
was at the heart of it all.
747
00:46:07,944 --> 00:46:10,104
If you want to follow in my
footsteps,
748
00:46:10,104 --> 00:46:14,704
you can download a guide
to my walk from -