1 00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:07,540 Britain is full of magnificent examples of architectural and engineering genius 2 00:00:07,540 --> 00:00:11,860 that stand testament to the men who constructed it all 3 00:00:11,860 --> 00:00:15,780 and, of course, the architects and engineers who designed it. 4 00:00:17,060 --> 00:00:20,260 From great Norman cathedrals, 5 00:00:20,260 --> 00:00:25,460 like Ely and Peterborough, right through to the Houses of Parliament, 6 00:00:25,460 --> 00:00:32,780 we're going to be looking at mighty symbols of the progress made in construction and engineering. 7 00:00:34,820 --> 00:00:41,580 What all these buildings have in common is the great range of craft skills 8 00:00:41,580 --> 00:00:45,980 that went into designing, building and decorating them. 9 00:00:45,980 --> 00:00:50,020 If it wasn't for their workmanship, graft and ingenuity, 10 00:00:50,020 --> 00:00:54,940 we wouldn't have the glorious buildings we still have today. 11 00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:10,500 This is the story of the craftsmen and their ingenious methods, 12 00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:15,020 who spent all their working lives through the last 1,000 years 13 00:01:15,020 --> 00:01:18,220 dedicated to the building of Britain. 14 00:01:36,340 --> 00:01:40,300 Believe it or not, this is a cathedral. 15 00:01:42,580 --> 00:01:48,420 This is the Saxon cathedral of St Peter's in Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex. 16 00:01:48,420 --> 00:01:54,180 It was built 1,300 years ago, using stones from an old Roman fort 17 00:01:54,180 --> 00:01:56,340 that had stood on this spot. 18 00:01:56,340 --> 00:02:02,020 It's the only Saxon cathedral that still survives intact. 19 00:02:08,940 --> 00:02:11,420 It isn't very big, is it? 20 00:02:11,420 --> 00:02:15,700 It must be all of 50 foot long by 25 foot wide. 21 00:02:15,700 --> 00:02:19,540 In fact, it's so small, it'd fit in my back garden. 22 00:02:19,540 --> 00:02:25,540 Before the Norman Conquest, most Saxon churches were small like this. 23 00:02:25,540 --> 00:02:32,780 But then, in 1066, William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings 24 00:02:32,780 --> 00:02:35,020 and everything changed. 25 00:02:38,940 --> 00:02:44,980 After the Conquest, the Normans began to build on a scale that had never been seen before. 26 00:02:44,980 --> 00:02:49,980 They erected stone castles to assert their power and authority, 27 00:02:49,980 --> 00:02:56,020 and work began on a whole series of massive cathedrals around the country. 28 00:02:56,020 --> 00:02:59,780 These cathedrals weren't just a tribute to God - 29 00:02:59,780 --> 00:03:06,100 the Normans didn't want to leave anybody in any doubt about who was in charge down here on Earth! 30 00:03:08,180 --> 00:03:15,420 What distinguishes these great Norman cathedrals from the Saxon buildings they replaced 31 00:03:15,420 --> 00:03:19,820 is the great size and scale of them. 32 00:03:19,820 --> 00:03:26,380 The Normans brought with them from France all the building techniques we see here today, 33 00:03:26,380 --> 00:03:30,460 these magnificent, beautiful pillars and fine arches. 34 00:03:38,540 --> 00:03:43,300 It needed a massive labour force to construct buildings of this size, 35 00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:49,940 and the Normans more or less press-ganged the Anglo-Saxons into doing all the labouring. 36 00:03:49,940 --> 00:03:54,500 It was bad enough being conquered, never mind doing the donkey work! 37 00:03:54,500 --> 00:04:00,700 And the work was on such a different scale than anything they'd done before. 38 00:04:00,700 --> 00:04:04,820 These were the largest buildings in England at the time. 39 00:04:04,820 --> 00:04:09,540 Strength and simplicity are the main features of this style of building. 40 00:04:09,540 --> 00:04:13,740 It's based on thick walls which give the whole thing a chunky look. 41 00:04:13,740 --> 00:04:17,540 This huge expansion in the building trade 42 00:04:17,540 --> 00:04:21,660 led to the building of some of our most magnificent cathedrals. 43 00:04:21,660 --> 00:04:25,300 One or two haven't changed since they were built, 44 00:04:25,300 --> 00:04:29,740 but the majority have been added to or messed about with over the years. 45 00:04:29,740 --> 00:04:34,260 This is Peterborough and it's a good example of what I mean. 46 00:04:34,260 --> 00:04:38,740 This wonderful west front was added at the beginning of the 13th century, 47 00:04:38,740 --> 00:04:42,060 nearly 150 years after the Norman Conquest. 48 00:04:42,060 --> 00:04:44,980 But once you get inside Peterborough, 49 00:04:44,980 --> 00:04:51,140 you can see it's one of the finest and purest Norman cathedrals in all of England. 50 00:04:51,140 --> 00:04:58,380 And here, in the main crossing, with its three tiers of Norman arches, with chevrons and fancy bits, 51 00:04:58,380 --> 00:05:03,300 you get a real feeling of what Norman cathedrals are all about. 52 00:05:03,300 --> 00:05:09,020 It's nearly 500 feet long and just slightly over 200 feet wide, 53 00:05:09,020 --> 00:05:13,020 and to the top of the tower it's 143 feet. 54 00:05:13,020 --> 00:05:18,420 The whole place gives you a feeling of something permanent and solid, 55 00:05:18,420 --> 00:05:24,540 these three tiers of rounded arches, resting on magnificent stone pillars. 56 00:05:29,740 --> 00:05:36,220 The great columns that support all the arches are not built of solid masonry, 57 00:05:36,220 --> 00:05:42,740 but as tubes filled with rubble. A tube has more rigidity and it's lighter than a solid pillar 58 00:05:42,740 --> 00:05:46,380 and it's quicker, cheaper and easier to build. 59 00:05:46,380 --> 00:05:50,260 When you look at the surface of some of the stones, 60 00:05:50,260 --> 00:05:56,940 there's these interesting masons' marks, and modern masons use them to this day. 61 00:05:56,940 --> 00:06:02,220 In a way, it's a signature of the man who made that stone. 62 00:06:02,220 --> 00:06:06,100 Any rough workmanship and they could nail him! 63 00:06:06,100 --> 00:06:12,620 When the place were built, you wouldn't have been able to see any of these marks, 64 00:06:12,620 --> 00:06:19,100 because the place were limewashed and painted, an example of which can be seen just up there. 65 00:06:22,660 --> 00:06:29,020 The Normans built with semicircular or round arches, like the Romans used to do. 66 00:06:29,020 --> 00:06:34,100 That's why sometimes they're called Norman and sometimes Romanesque. 67 00:06:34,100 --> 00:06:38,980 The arch really is the main thing about all these cathedrals. 68 00:06:38,980 --> 00:06:41,500 It did, basically, three things. 69 00:06:41,500 --> 00:06:45,900 It saved material, it also looked very attractive 70 00:06:45,900 --> 00:06:49,340 and it let lots of light flood in from the sides. 71 00:06:49,340 --> 00:06:53,180 Of course, lots of people wonder how they built arches - 72 00:06:53,180 --> 00:06:55,140 very simple, really. 73 00:06:55,140 --> 00:06:58,500 You make a wooden framework, then build round it. 74 00:06:58,500 --> 00:07:04,780 Take the frame away. If it's been built right, the arch will stay in place. 75 00:07:04,780 --> 00:07:06,820 Success! 76 00:07:06,820 --> 00:07:14,180 The more courses of brick or stone you build on top of this and the more weight that goes on it, 77 00:07:14,180 --> 00:07:17,740 the more solid the whole thing becomes. 78 00:07:17,740 --> 00:07:20,420 At least, that's the theory. 79 00:07:20,420 --> 00:07:23,900 I'm going to sit on top of it and see what happens. 80 00:07:30,980 --> 00:07:33,020 How's that? 81 00:07:47,860 --> 00:07:52,820 That were an arch at ground level, bit of a disaster, really. 82 00:07:52,820 --> 00:07:56,860 At least you get the basic idea of the principle of the arch. 83 00:07:56,860 --> 00:08:01,780 If I'd used a bit more cement in the mortar, it would've stayed up. 84 00:08:01,780 --> 00:08:09,180 Just behind me, up there, how did they go about building them three tiers of arches? 85 00:08:09,180 --> 00:08:14,420 People sometimes think these builders had no machines, but that's not so. 86 00:08:14,420 --> 00:08:19,140 Peterborough has a great windlass, or winding engine, 87 00:08:19,140 --> 00:08:22,860 which was left in place inside the roof. 88 00:08:22,860 --> 00:08:27,300 I've got someone who can tell us about this piece of machinery. 89 00:08:27,300 --> 00:08:35,420 This is Zachary who is an expert in medieval engines and winching machines. 90 00:08:35,420 --> 00:08:43,700 Tell us all about this beautiful model that you've made of this particular thing behind us. Thanks. 91 00:08:43,700 --> 00:08:46,140 It's known as a windlass. 92 00:08:46,140 --> 00:08:51,020 I might suggest that it's really a hoist. 93 00:08:51,020 --> 00:08:55,900 A windlass has a vertical spindle... Like a horse gin? Exactly. 94 00:08:55,900 --> 00:08:58,500 Whereas, this is a hoist, 95 00:08:58,500 --> 00:09:03,780 but we can call it a windlass and oblige the people in the past. 96 00:09:03,780 --> 00:09:09,540 My idea was that, as the wheel rotates, 97 00:09:09,540 --> 00:09:16,900 the wheel being 10 feet in diameter, approximately, and the shaft is about a foot in diameter, 98 00:09:16,900 --> 00:09:20,100 which means you have a 10-1 ratio. 99 00:09:20,100 --> 00:09:28,220 That means that a 12-stone man would effectively be able to raise 15 hundredweights, 100 00:09:28,220 --> 00:09:35,660 and, because of the principle of the rope going through the block and tackle 101 00:09:35,660 --> 00:09:40,460 over the weight, and then back up to what I think was used - 102 00:09:40,460 --> 00:09:47,220 the ring anchor - then that would double again the efficiency, 103 00:09:47,220 --> 00:09:52,620 which means the 12-stone man could lift 30 hundredweights - 1½ tons. 104 00:09:52,620 --> 00:09:59,740 Such a person, I've calculated, could lift that weight to 100 feet 105 00:09:59,740 --> 00:10:03,940 in about a quarter of an hour. And then he would need a rest. 106 00:10:06,500 --> 00:10:10,420 Crack a bottle of wine open or summat like that! Indeed! 107 00:10:10,420 --> 00:10:15,740 I suppose, when you look at the real thing, it's obvious, like you said, 108 00:10:15,740 --> 00:10:23,020 you'd pull it apart pretty quick. You could, because all of the joints were dowelled and nailed, 109 00:10:23,020 --> 00:10:26,900 so it would've been easy to dismantle and move elsewhere. 110 00:10:26,900 --> 00:10:33,420 Three chaps could take that apart in 15 minutes and take it to another part of the wall. 111 00:10:33,420 --> 00:10:40,780 They won't want to move these when they're up - they're too far horizontal. They'd be hard to move. 112 00:10:40,780 --> 00:10:45,580 They'd be getting them sat on the mortar pretty quick. Absolutely. 113 00:10:45,580 --> 00:10:50,340 By the time the great Norman cathedrals were being built, 114 00:10:50,340 --> 00:10:54,660 it was also a time of great change in the building industry - 115 00:10:54,660 --> 00:10:57,580 new methods and ways of doing things. 116 00:10:57,580 --> 00:11:01,260 The ribbed vaulting were quite a new invention. 117 00:11:01,260 --> 00:11:07,980 It's very strong and here at Peterborough were one of the first places they actually used it. 118 00:11:07,980 --> 00:11:13,540 It's basically a couple of arches that come together in the centre, 119 00:11:13,540 --> 00:11:17,660 like the half-completed one I've got here in my garden. 120 00:11:17,660 --> 00:11:24,540 In order to build a groined ceiling or a groined roof out of stone, 121 00:11:24,540 --> 00:11:28,620 first of all you needed the centring, that's what this is here. 122 00:11:28,620 --> 00:11:34,140 The centring is two wooden arches, one leaning on the other one. 123 00:11:34,140 --> 00:11:37,780 When you started to lay the masonry around the bottom, 124 00:11:37,780 --> 00:11:43,140 it was important that you kept it the same height all the way round, 125 00:11:43,140 --> 00:11:48,540 so the weight on the centring stayed basically the same, as you might say. 126 00:11:50,260 --> 00:11:52,820 The next bit is the exciting bit. 127 00:11:52,820 --> 00:11:56,900 I'm going to knock this block of wood from underneath the centring 128 00:11:56,900 --> 00:12:01,300 and, hopefully, the centring will fall out or fall down, 129 00:12:01,300 --> 00:12:07,220 and, hopefully, the arch will stay where it should do, stood up. Here goes. 130 00:12:12,980 --> 00:12:17,260 There it is! Almost half a perfect groined roof. 131 00:12:17,260 --> 00:12:22,660 But just to prove how strong it really is, this is a 56lb weight, 132 00:12:22,660 --> 00:12:24,940 which I'm gonna stick on the top. 133 00:12:30,180 --> 00:12:32,220 How's that? 134 00:12:32,220 --> 00:12:36,460 It's only 2 inches thick, but it's holding that. 135 00:12:36,460 --> 00:12:40,180 In real terms, it'd be a few hundred tons, I should imagine. 136 00:12:40,180 --> 00:12:46,460 Groining like this would take the weight of the walls above and give them added support. 137 00:12:46,460 --> 00:12:52,740 If you study the stonework, there's all sorts of interesting things you can see. 138 00:12:52,740 --> 00:12:55,700 I found this unbelievable mistake! 139 00:12:55,700 --> 00:12:59,420 Up about 4 or 5 feet from the edge of the parapet, 140 00:12:59,420 --> 00:13:03,660 is this series of five stones with semicircular notches in, 141 00:13:03,660 --> 00:13:09,620 which, if you study a bit below the arches with the pillars below - 142 00:13:09,620 --> 00:13:14,220 obviously, these stones were cut to have something to do with that, 143 00:13:14,220 --> 00:13:20,980 and yet weren't needed, so they put D-shaped filling-in pieces in and worked them into the wall above. 144 00:13:20,980 --> 00:13:25,420 It's quite obvious that economy were at the top of their list 145 00:13:25,420 --> 00:13:28,260 and they didn't waste a lot. 146 00:13:28,260 --> 00:13:32,380 The huge scale and solidity of a cathedral like Peterborough 147 00:13:32,380 --> 00:13:39,060 is a symbol of the Norman idea that the Church was a powerful agent of state control, 148 00:13:39,060 --> 00:13:45,780 so it's no surprise that they built some of their greatest cathedrals in centres of Anglo-Saxon resistance. 149 00:13:46,980 --> 00:13:51,660 In the years immediately after the Conquest, 150 00:13:51,660 --> 00:13:55,380 some parts of the country held out longer than others. 151 00:13:55,380 --> 00:14:01,820 The East Anglian fenlands was one of these and, here, Saxon rebels waged a guerilla war against the Normans. 152 00:14:01,820 --> 00:14:08,340 Once they were defeated, the Normans wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again, 153 00:14:08,340 --> 00:14:14,380 so what they built here was a massive demonstration of their power and authority. 154 00:14:18,460 --> 00:14:24,100 Norman Ely was an enormous fortress-cathedral, 155 00:14:24,100 --> 00:14:30,060 over 500 feet long and 200 feet high, which took 37 years to complete. 156 00:14:30,060 --> 00:14:34,380 This magnificent tower is almost like a Norman keep. 157 00:14:34,380 --> 00:14:40,740 It's complete with battlements and it's over 200 feet high and it dominates the whole area. 158 00:14:40,740 --> 00:14:43,660 You can see for miles from up here. 159 00:14:43,660 --> 00:14:48,300 You hardly needed a castle when you'd got a cathedral like this. 160 00:14:48,300 --> 00:14:52,940 Like Peterborough, Ely is one of our best-preserved Norman cathedrals, 161 00:14:52,940 --> 00:14:58,580 but one of the things I find interesting here is the effect 162 00:14:58,580 --> 00:15:03,460 of alterations made by later builders and on the original Norman structure, 163 00:15:03,460 --> 00:15:05,860 like the tower, for instance. 164 00:15:05,860 --> 00:15:09,860 The tower is even taller than when the Normans first built it. 165 00:15:09,860 --> 00:15:15,340 300 years later, they erected this magnificent octagonal bell chamber. 166 00:15:15,340 --> 00:15:20,420 It sits on top of the old Norman structure, dominating the landscape. 167 00:15:20,420 --> 00:15:26,020 The only problem was those later engineers got their sums wrong, 168 00:15:26,020 --> 00:15:33,340 because the alterations to the tower put a massive extra weight on the old Norman foundations. 169 00:15:33,340 --> 00:15:39,700 They realised that the original walls weren't strong enough for the extra weight, 170 00:15:39,700 --> 00:15:44,300 so they put a sort of stone skin inside the original tower. 171 00:15:44,300 --> 00:15:51,980 It's quite ingenious and, if you look down, you can see how they reinforced the arches to take the strain. 172 00:15:51,980 --> 00:15:58,500 The main body of Ely Cathedral was built over a period of 100 years. 173 00:15:58,500 --> 00:16:03,500 You can see how the way it was built changed over this time, 174 00:16:03,500 --> 00:16:10,580 as the Normans improved their techniques and moved from the round arch to the pointed, Gothic version. 175 00:16:14,660 --> 00:16:23,180 Now, really, the big difference between the Norman arch and the Gothic or pointed arch 176 00:16:23,180 --> 00:16:25,740 is the fact that in the Norman one 177 00:16:25,740 --> 00:16:32,940 the thrust went sideways and you needed much greater weight in the abutments or the walls. 178 00:16:32,940 --> 00:16:40,620 The pointed arch, of course, the weight goes straight down and very little pressure sideways. 179 00:16:40,620 --> 00:16:46,060 If you go in some of the Gothic sort-of-style cathedrals 180 00:16:46,060 --> 00:16:52,220 and look how slender everything is, the pillars that support the pointed arches, 181 00:16:52,220 --> 00:16:56,340 and then you go in a Norman one and see how chunky everything is, 182 00:16:56,340 --> 00:17:00,220 you can see it were a great advance in architecture. 183 00:17:00,220 --> 00:17:05,180 When most people think of cathedrals, they think of stonemasons, 184 00:17:05,180 --> 00:17:07,460 but there's more to it than that. 185 00:17:07,460 --> 00:17:13,140 There were as many joiners and they'd come into various categories. 186 00:17:13,140 --> 00:17:18,620 Carpenters did the rough stuff, like all the centring for the arches, 187 00:17:18,620 --> 00:17:22,700 and the joiners did the finer bits, like carving the bullions, 188 00:17:22,700 --> 00:17:25,980 not to mention the plumbers... 189 00:17:25,980 --> 00:17:33,180 Also the lead roof and all the downspouts, all of them would be made on site, with the lead burners. 190 00:17:33,180 --> 00:17:38,740 And stonemasons who did all the lovely tracery for the windows, 191 00:17:38,740 --> 00:17:43,980 and the other branch would be the rough guys who infilled the walls. 192 00:17:43,980 --> 00:17:49,260 Down here, on this grass, at that time, it would be a hive of industry. 193 00:17:49,260 --> 00:17:55,380 There'd be quite a few wooden sheds that the craftsmen had made themselves 194 00:17:55,380 --> 00:18:01,700 to protect themselves from the rain and the weather and the elements. 195 00:18:01,700 --> 00:18:04,340 It's be a castles-building season. 196 00:18:04,340 --> 00:18:09,660 When the sun come out in summer, they'd all be happy up on the walls, 197 00:18:09,660 --> 00:18:16,300 but, in winter, I suppose they spent most of their time underneath a roof down here, 198 00:18:16,300 --> 00:18:20,340 chiselling beautiful tops for columns and things like that. 199 00:18:20,340 --> 00:18:24,340 Basically, the stonemason's craft involves two types of work. 200 00:18:24,340 --> 00:18:27,780 There's the geometric masonry like this, 201 00:18:27,780 --> 00:18:32,620 which is very disciplined and follows definite lines. 202 00:18:32,620 --> 00:18:36,220 Pieces of stone like this go straight into the building. 203 00:18:36,220 --> 00:18:42,100 But if there's any embellishments to do, like faces, flowers or leaves, 204 00:18:42,100 --> 00:18:45,940 then it goes into the carver's workshop. 205 00:18:51,500 --> 00:18:58,780 And when you look closely, you can see that the whole building is filled with their intricate handiwork. 206 00:19:07,180 --> 00:19:13,980 The reason that made all this possible was the rapid improvements being made in metalwork, 207 00:19:13,980 --> 00:19:16,460 especially in blacksmithing. 208 00:19:16,460 --> 00:19:21,140 They made better tools with better cutting edges, 209 00:19:21,140 --> 00:19:26,020 which enabled stonemasons and joiners to do much finer work. 210 00:19:26,020 --> 00:19:32,900 All the fancy tracery and everything were much easier worked with better steel in the tools, 211 00:19:32,900 --> 00:19:35,580 that enabled joiners and carpenters 212 00:19:35,580 --> 00:19:42,460 to make really graceful centres for building all them beautiful groined ceilings. 213 00:19:42,460 --> 00:19:49,180 Now that more resistant types of stone and more durable wood could be used, 214 00:19:49,180 --> 00:19:55,460 the cathedral builders could design columns that were narrower and more graceful-looking. 215 00:19:55,460 --> 00:20:01,660 The sculptors and carpenters were able to do finer and more delicate designs. 216 00:20:01,660 --> 00:20:07,660 It was the great age of cathedral building and it created master craftsmen 217 00:20:07,660 --> 00:20:12,100 who could push the boundaries of their craft to new limits. 218 00:20:12,100 --> 00:20:15,740 And this is their greatest masterpiece. 219 00:20:20,820 --> 00:20:27,180 In 1322, the central tower collapsed, destroying the Norman choir. 220 00:20:27,180 --> 00:20:30,420 Instead of rebuilding the tower, 221 00:20:30,420 --> 00:20:36,860 the cathedral bursar Alan of Walsingham designed an octagon to replace it. 222 00:20:38,540 --> 00:20:45,340 It was an amazing feat of engineering that began with the building of eight huge stone pillars 223 00:20:45,340 --> 00:20:47,700 over 100 feet high. 224 00:20:47,700 --> 00:20:54,580 But their biggest challenge was the fact the roof over this space needed to let in the light. 225 00:20:54,580 --> 00:20:59,260 And this is the solution they came up with - 226 00:20:59,260 --> 00:21:01,460 the lantern. 227 00:21:03,900 --> 00:21:09,660 It was designed by William Hurley, King Edward III's master carpenter, 228 00:21:09,660 --> 00:21:12,620 and it took 14 years to build. 229 00:21:22,220 --> 00:21:29,500 To really appreciate what keeps all this lot up here, you've got to view it from the inside. 230 00:21:29,500 --> 00:21:34,580 This wonderful octagonal-shaped lantern at Ely Cathedral, 231 00:21:34,580 --> 00:21:38,980 this, weighing over 200 tons of wood and lead, 232 00:21:38,980 --> 00:21:43,540 and just hanging precariously over this great void... 233 00:21:43,540 --> 00:21:50,220 This really is my personal idea of how they managed to get it up all them years ago. 234 00:21:53,260 --> 00:21:58,260 These beams here are the main ones and the horizontal one below it. 235 00:21:58,260 --> 00:22:04,900 That joint is just a half-lap joint. Must've been the first joint they made down below in the field. 236 00:22:04,900 --> 00:22:12,020 They would obviously bring this great 50-foot long bulk of oak in at the bottom, 237 00:22:12,020 --> 00:22:18,220 and raise it up and then stand it on the corbel or in the slot down there in the dark, 238 00:22:18,220 --> 00:22:22,060 and have it leaning out at this jaunty angle. 239 00:22:22,060 --> 00:22:26,180 There'd be maybe 50 or 60 blokes, you know, on the end of the rope, 240 00:22:26,180 --> 00:22:33,700 that control the set of rope blocks that raise the real weight of the thing. 241 00:22:33,700 --> 00:22:40,420 As it came up, it would have other guy ropes on and men pulling the bottom out and keeping the top right. 242 00:22:40,420 --> 00:22:46,140 When they got it in a position where they could anchor it to the stonework, 243 00:22:46,140 --> 00:22:52,580 everybody would be holding on to the ropes while some intrepid character crept out on to the stonework 244 00:22:52,580 --> 00:22:55,140 and shoved in the big iron pin. 245 00:22:55,140 --> 00:23:02,940 This would have to be sort of repeated 8 times all the way around the...16 times, really, 246 00:23:02,940 --> 00:23:05,460 cos there's two for every corner. 247 00:23:05,460 --> 00:23:10,900 The next piece would come up in the same manner with the rope blocks, 248 00:23:10,900 --> 00:23:17,140 with the aid of a couple of planks chucked out on here for somebody to go out on. 249 00:23:17,140 --> 00:23:20,780 It'd be pretty easy to secure the corner there 250 00:23:20,780 --> 00:23:25,460 and then construct what I've called the foundation ring of the lantern. 251 00:23:25,460 --> 00:23:29,820 At this point, they could lay down the cross members. 252 00:23:29,820 --> 00:23:34,260 These are inserted to stop the wall twisting. 253 00:23:34,260 --> 00:23:41,740 All these would have been marked out on terra firma down on t'floor. You can see the scribe marks 254 00:23:41,740 --> 00:23:44,780 where they all slot in, 255 00:23:44,780 --> 00:23:49,140 so when it arrived up here, they didn't get it the wrong way round. 256 00:23:49,140 --> 00:23:53,140 Once they got the bottom part of the frame in place, 257 00:23:53,140 --> 00:23:59,380 they'd be able to get the eight vertical poles for the lantern itself right in the centre, 258 00:23:59,380 --> 00:24:03,460 and then secure it with another ring at the top. 259 00:24:03,460 --> 00:24:08,540 They'd reached a stage of stability where they knew it couldn't collapse. 260 00:24:08,540 --> 00:24:11,980 Until then, it must've been very precarious. 261 00:24:11,980 --> 00:24:16,260 When you think it weighs 200 tons and it were done all them years ago, 262 00:24:16,260 --> 00:24:18,860 it's a credit to them men. 263 00:24:18,860 --> 00:24:25,380 A lot of them couldn't even read or write, but they had it somehow or other, for the glory of God! 264 00:24:44,780 --> 00:24:49,980 In Norman times, the Church was very powerful, 265 00:24:49,980 --> 00:24:54,260 and the bishops were not only builders, they were also warriors, 266 00:24:54,260 --> 00:24:59,140 and there's nowhere better to see this than here in Rochester, 267 00:24:59,140 --> 00:25:02,980 where the cathedral is almost built in the castle grounds. 268 00:25:02,980 --> 00:25:08,700 Many of the greatest castle builders in the country were bishops, 269 00:25:08,700 --> 00:25:17,020 and they helped William the Conqueror stamp his authority with God as well as the sword. 270 00:25:17,020 --> 00:25:24,060 Rochester Castle was built by William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury, 271 00:25:24,060 --> 00:25:30,220 and it's the largest keep in England with walls and it's 113 feet high. 272 00:25:30,220 --> 00:25:35,260 If you look behind me, you'll see that Rochester Castle 273 00:25:35,260 --> 00:25:40,980 has got three square towers and one round one - at this corner. 274 00:25:40,980 --> 00:25:46,060 Down at the museum, they have a wonderful model that explains why. 275 00:25:49,060 --> 00:25:54,420 1215 - King John held siege to Rochester Castle, 276 00:25:54,420 --> 00:25:59,660 but it only lasted for five weeks - and here's the reason why. 277 00:26:03,620 --> 00:26:06,140 Now, while the battle raged above, 278 00:26:06,140 --> 00:26:10,700 King John's men dug a tunnel from, no doubt, a safe distance 279 00:26:10,700 --> 00:26:15,420 to undermine the tower on the corner, the south tower, 280 00:26:15,420 --> 00:26:18,340 a thing I've done many times - 281 00:26:18,340 --> 00:26:22,380 underpinning a large tower or a chimney stack. 282 00:26:22,380 --> 00:26:25,140 When I was pulling something down, 283 00:26:25,140 --> 00:26:30,220 I always used to follow exactly the same procedure. 284 00:26:30,220 --> 00:26:34,340 I nearly always won, as King John's men did. 285 00:26:34,340 --> 00:26:38,060 Here, you can see exactly what they did. 286 00:26:38,060 --> 00:26:42,660 The tunnel that they dug is only a few feet below the surface, 287 00:26:42,660 --> 00:26:49,060 Hence, the excessive amount of props holding up the fields and the sods, the soil. 288 00:26:49,060 --> 00:26:56,820 Once they got to the base of the tower, reputedly, they burnt the fat of 40 pigs on the pit props 289 00:26:56,820 --> 00:26:59,740 to make them burn a bit better. 290 00:27:03,460 --> 00:27:07,940 The order has obviously been given to retreat. 291 00:27:07,940 --> 00:27:14,060 The fire's now raging, there's a man there with fire on a stick like a torch. 292 00:27:14,060 --> 00:27:16,020 Exciting! 293 00:27:16,020 --> 00:27:20,220 There's always that worry about will it fall down or not. 294 00:27:20,220 --> 00:27:23,740 In this case, it all did come tumbling down. 295 00:27:36,420 --> 00:27:42,020 Unlike my tower, the keep's walls were so strong, it stayed standing. 296 00:27:42,020 --> 00:27:47,220 It was taken over by the new king Henry III after John's death, 297 00:27:47,220 --> 00:27:52,420 who turned it into a royal castle and built the round tower we see today. 298 00:27:55,620 --> 00:27:59,220 Sadly, the keep is an empty shell today, 299 00:27:59,220 --> 00:28:05,620 but, when it was first built, it was a magnificent statement of Norman power. 300 00:28:05,620 --> 00:28:09,340 The castles and cathedrals that the Normans built 301 00:28:09,340 --> 00:28:11,580 transformed the face of England, 302 00:28:11,580 --> 00:28:18,500 and the way the country looked changed just as fundamentally as the way it was ruled. 303 00:28:18,500 --> 00:28:23,700 Buildings like this helped the Norman conquerors to establish themselves, 304 00:28:23,700 --> 00:28:30,820 bringing a stability and permanence that united England under one monarchy. 305 00:28:30,820 --> 00:28:37,100 Next week, I'll be going to Wales to look at the art of medieval castle building, 306 00:28:37,100 --> 00:28:43,780 and we'll discover how an English king and a French architect changed the way castles were built forever. 307 00:28:47,500 --> 00:28:52,500 If you'd like to find out more about the building of Britain, 308 00:28:52,500 --> 00:28:55,980 why not visit the website at...