0:00:02 > 0:00:06This country is famous for its heritage, from its buildings to its many extraordinary objects,
0:00:06 > 0:00:10and its astonishing engineering. Much of it we already know and love,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13but this country is a treasure trove of hidden heritage,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16and it's all waiting to be discovered.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21We've been scouring the length and the breadth of the nation
0:00:21 > 0:00:23for secret treasures and hidden places
0:00:23 > 0:00:27that unlock our rich and ever-surprising history.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32And today we travel to Northumberland
0:00:32 > 0:00:35to reveal the surprising and very grand setting
0:00:35 > 0:00:38that tells the story of the birth of household electricity.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42This room was the very first in the world to be lit
0:00:42 > 0:00:47by Joseph Swan's newly invented filament light bulb.
0:00:49 > 0:00:55Charlie Luxton spends the night in one of Victorian Britain's most notorious prisons.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00It's nearly midnight, and I'm in a cold cell.
0:01:00 > 0:01:01GATES CLANGING
0:01:01 > 0:01:04Clare Balding travels to Yorkshire in search of a relic
0:01:04 > 0:01:07that was lost five centuries ago.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12Local legend has it that at least one piece of Jervaulx treasure
0:01:12 > 0:01:15escaped the grasping hands of Henry VIII.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19And guest reporter Charlie Boorman sets sail from Portsmouth
0:01:19 > 0:01:22to find a unique piece of British naval history
0:01:22 > 0:01:25that's been at the bottom of the ocean for a hundred years.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Look! You can see the tower, the top and everything.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Just below us, literally.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37This is a journey to the very heart of Britain's hidden heritage.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02Situated right in the middle of a 1,000-acre forest
0:02:02 > 0:02:04that is itself surrounded by the wild moors
0:02:04 > 0:02:06of one of Britain's remotest regions,
0:02:06 > 0:02:10I think we can confidently say today's host location
0:02:10 > 0:02:12is one of Britain's most hidden-heritage secrets,
0:02:12 > 0:02:17and one of the most stunning. Welcome to the Cragside Estate!
0:02:25 > 0:02:27If you drive an hour north of Newcastle,
0:02:27 > 0:02:31heading towards the wild and windy Northumberland moors,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35you get some idea of the remoteness of Cragside House.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41It began life almost 150 years ago
0:02:41 > 0:02:43as a simple two-storey country residence,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47the modest retreat of the now almost-forgotten industrialist,
0:02:47 > 0:02:53scientist and inventor, Sir William Armstrong.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55He had often visited this area as a child,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58and remembered it as a place of exceptional beauty.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03In 1863, he bought some land on this impossibly steep-sided valley,
0:03:03 > 0:03:07had it cleared, and built himself the house of his dreams,
0:03:07 > 0:03:11perched on a ledge of rock overlooking the river running below.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18There's a good reason why his new home was called Cragside.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21Just look where it's perched. What a location!
0:03:21 > 0:03:26Absolutely stunning. Over the years, William Armstrong had the house and the estate extended.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30He planted seven million trees, constructed five artificial lakes,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33and had 31 miles of carriage drive built.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38It was also the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40In its heyday, this place was known
0:03:40 > 0:03:42as "the palace of the modern magician".
0:03:45 > 0:03:50Built from local yellow sandstone with black-and-white Cheshire-style half timbering,
0:03:50 > 0:03:56this romantic, castle-like building would have been an extraordinary sight in Victorian England.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59In fact, to this very day, it makes quite an impression.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04The first thing that really hits you about Cragside
0:04:04 > 0:04:08is the magnitude of the place. It is absolutely vast.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13It's obviously been built by a man who didn't worry about building costs or building regulations,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17or the impractical complications of constructing a house
0:04:17 > 0:04:19on the side of a cliff in the middle of nowhere.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22It is a magnificent piece of landscaping,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25a superb piece of engineering, and it's all been made possible
0:04:25 > 0:04:28by the vision of one brilliant man.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36William Armstrong was an extremely influential figure
0:04:36 > 0:04:38of the Victorian industrial age.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42But unlike some of the more famous engineers and businessmen
0:04:42 > 0:04:44of the time, like Brunel and Thomas Telford,
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Armstrong's name isn't as widely known today.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50But, as we will find out,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53his inventions have profoundly influenced the way we lead our lives
0:04:53 > 0:04:57because many of the mod cons we now take for granted in our homes
0:04:57 > 0:05:00began their lives right here at Cragside.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05So, who exactly was William Armstrong?
0:05:05 > 0:05:09He was a son of a coal merchant, born in 1810 in Newcastle,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13- a Geordie.- Yeah. - His main passion was engineering,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16and he achieved so much from hydraulics,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19chemicals, electricity,
0:05:19 > 0:05:22shipbuilding, to the time of his death in 1900,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25there was over 30,000 workers at the Elswick works alone.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31During the 1870s, when Armstrong's business empire was at its peak,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34his companies were building hydraulic cranes for dockyards,
0:05:34 > 0:05:38warships, and armaments for governments around the world,
0:05:38 > 0:05:42and Cragside played its part in Armstrong's success,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44used to entertain potential clients.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47He filled the house with cutting-edge technology,
0:05:47 > 0:05:51hoping to impress his guests and seal the deals.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55They had heating, hot and cold running water.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58They had all the mod cons, when you look around this house.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01The house is full of them. They had a lift,
0:06:01 > 0:06:03mainly put in for the benefit of the staff,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06to take coal up to the various floors,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10a telephone system on the estate, fire-alarm system.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15The Owl Suite, the royal suite, had hot and cold running water.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19- This is incredible. And this is so ahead of its time.- It was.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21- It really is.- It is.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26But, technological innovations aside,
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Cragside was incredibly welcoming and homely,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31revealing that, in spite of his immense wealth,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Armstrong never forgot his lowly beginning.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Indeed, those who knew him remarked on his friendliness,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41good nature, and his devotion to science.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44He had the house designed in the Arts and Crafts style,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48which drew inspiration from the work of the craftsmen and artisans
0:06:48 > 0:06:50of the Middle Ages.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57In 1977, the house was passed to the Treasury
0:06:57 > 0:07:01in part settlement of death duties from the Armstrong family.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04It was then transferred to the National Trust,
0:07:04 > 0:07:08who, in 1979, opened Cragside up to the public,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11and they now look after the day-to-day running of the place.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21Let's face it, Cragside is in a remote location.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24But it's open to the public, so it's got to be run
0:07:24 > 0:07:27in a manner befitting such a grand location.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Doors open at 1:00 pm every single day,
0:07:30 > 0:07:32but an awful lot of work goes on behind the scenes,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35prepping, and that's a big task on such a large estate.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38There's only full-time staff in the house.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43There's five gardeners, a forester, and a team of dedicated, enthusiastic volunteers.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46Without them, this place wouldn't be open to the public,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48and they're having a staff meeting right now,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51so let's be nosy and have an earwig.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53THEY CHATTER
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Just to let you know there's three buses in today.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01One of them is an NT Association, so we'll probably be quite busy.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Hi, everyone. Hello. Sorry. I'm just being a bit nosy.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08I know you're going to open the house any minute now.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Have you learnt an awful lot about William Armstrong
0:08:11 > 0:08:13- and what he set out to do?- Yes.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17I think he was exceptional with the way his servants benefited
0:08:17 > 0:08:20- from his inventions. - Yes.- For sure. Yeah.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25You can see the innovations that were to the benefit of all the servants.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27He never gets the appreciation he should get.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30Championing the cause! Good on you. I won't keep you,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33cos I know you've got work to do. You're going to have lunch
0:08:33 > 0:08:36before it's one o'clock. You haven't got long!
0:08:36 > 0:08:38THEY LAUGH
0:08:38 > 0:08:40THEY CHATTER
0:08:43 > 0:08:46'While the volunteers work out who's doing what,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50'I have an opportunity to have a good look around the house myself.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53'Every room seems to be chock-full of surprises.'
0:08:53 > 0:08:56But not all of them feature on the guided tour,
0:08:56 > 0:09:00like one rather unique collection that particularly grabbed my attention.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07Do you know what? This is the most extensive collection of moulds
0:09:07 > 0:09:09I have come across in my entire life.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12We've got jelly moulds, biscuit moulds, butter moulds,
0:09:12 > 0:09:17cake moulds. You name it, Lord Armstrong has got it right here.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24'Every day, Cragside comes to life in readiness for the visitors.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29'As well as the usual work you'd expect in keeping a historic house spick and span,
0:09:29 > 0:09:33'I stumbled across one volunteer with a very unusual job,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36'and it's yet another of Armstrong's collections
0:09:36 > 0:09:39'that is the subject of this particular bit of conservation.'
0:09:42 > 0:09:44- Lovely shell collection!- Yes.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Did Lord Armstrong collect this himself?
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Not physically, no.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53He was very keen on natural history, collected all sorts of specimens,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55but the shell collection was put together for him
0:09:55 > 0:09:59- by the Hancock brothers, the... - Natural History Museum.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Natural History Museum in Newcastle, yes. Yes.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04So, how do you go about cleaning your shells?
0:10:04 > 0:10:08Well, we brush them first to get the loose dust off them,
0:10:08 > 0:10:10and then we swab-clean them.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13You've got your work cut out. There's a lot of shells here.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16- How many in the collection? - Just over 5,000.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19Job for life, then. When was the last time you did this?
0:10:19 > 0:10:22They probably haven't been swab-cleaned for...
0:10:22 > 0:10:24well, getting on for a hundred years or so.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29'Walking around the house, you really do appreciate the extent
0:10:29 > 0:10:32'to which Cragside has been preserved.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36'It feels almost like Armstrong might suddenly walk around the corner.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41'For me, it's the hallways and the staircases in particular
0:10:41 > 0:10:44'that give a sense of the hustle and bustle of life here
0:10:44 > 0:10:48'over a century ago, and allow me the opportunity
0:10:48 > 0:10:51'to go behind the scenes.'
0:10:52 > 0:10:55In its heyday, there were around a hundred servants here,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58and I'm climbing the ladies' quarter now, where they lived.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01The higher up you got, the lower down the pecking order you were,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04so on the top floor were the scullery maids,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07and over the other side of the building were the men. They kept them apart.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Coming up the last flight of stairs now,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17and you can see how high we are out there.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20We're above the rooftops.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25'It's astonishing to think it was the servants of Cragside
0:11:25 > 0:11:28'that were treated to some of the best views of the estate.'
0:11:28 > 0:11:31Wow, what a view!
0:11:33 > 0:11:36Isn't that incredible?
0:11:36 > 0:11:39- And...listen. - WATER RUSHING
0:11:39 > 0:11:41The sound of water.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Water was the driving force behind the triumph of Cragside,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48and later I'm going to learn how water played a powerful part
0:11:48 > 0:11:50in Armstrong's inventions.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55The story of Cragside, Armstrong, and the all staff that worked here
0:11:55 > 0:11:58are one of many success stories throughout Britain
0:11:58 > 0:12:01during the 19th century. But there's another side to Victorian history
0:12:01 > 0:12:05that's a little bit murkier. Charlie Luxton went to Lincolnshire
0:12:05 > 0:12:08to uncover some rather dark and disturbing parts
0:12:08 > 0:12:10of our hidden heritage.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Deep in the heart of this ancient town
0:12:12 > 0:12:15lies an important part of our heritage
0:12:15 > 0:12:18that history has tried to forget.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Enclosed behind the tall, imposing walls
0:12:21 > 0:12:24of Lincoln's Norman castle stands a building
0:12:24 > 0:12:27that was shut down over a hundred years ago,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30and it's been closed to the public ever since.
0:12:30 > 0:12:35It's a sinister remnant of a discredited, barbaric system,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39but an important reminder of how the Victorians treated criminals.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42I've come to Lincoln Castle prison,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46which is about to have its first inmate for 140 years -
0:12:46 > 0:12:47me.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54'I've been given special permission to spend the night here,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57'to try and get some sense of what life must have been like
0:12:57 > 0:13:00'for the inmates it was designed to hold.'
0:13:00 > 0:13:04The Victorians built this jail, an extension of an earlier one,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07in 1847.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10They were enthusiastic jailers.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13This prison was one of over 90 built or extended
0:13:13 > 0:13:16between the 1840s and the 1870s.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19And the reason for so many prisons was simple.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Victorian Britain had a lot of prisoners.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27'Four times as many, in fact, at the end of the 19th century
0:13:27 > 0:13:30'than at the start of it. But much of this
0:13:30 > 0:13:33'was down to the Victorians' thirst for locking people up.'
0:13:33 > 0:13:37But Lincoln Castle was more than just another jail.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41It heralded a whole new approach to the prison system.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46This is so special because it was specifically built
0:13:46 > 0:13:49for a system that at the time they thought was going to reform
0:13:49 > 0:13:52all prisons, but what actually turned out, after a couple of years,
0:13:52 > 0:13:55to be quite evil, called the separate system
0:13:55 > 0:13:58- or the Pentonville system. - So, how did that work?
0:13:58 > 0:14:02It started off in America with Quakers, Benjamin Rush.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05They decided that punishment wasn't working,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08so let's try something different. Let's try reforming.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12And the way you can reform is by religion,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15silence and solitude.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18And the way they would enforce the fact
0:14:18 > 0:14:21that you would not meet or see anybody else was,
0:14:21 > 0:14:23you had a hood,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26a hood with slits for eyes and a little peak,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29which you would put onto your head before you left your cell.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35So, if you can imagine two years of virtually not talking to anybody...
0:14:35 > 0:14:37It sent a lot of people mad.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40DISTRAUGHT SCREAMING
0:14:42 > 0:14:46'This whole system was based on control and fear.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49'Wearing this rough cloth hood
0:14:49 > 0:14:53'is uncomfortable, disorientating and very scary.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57'And as one of the few times you got to take it off
0:14:57 > 0:15:02'was to watch a prison chaplain in full-on fire-and-brimstone mode,
0:15:02 > 0:15:05'it's no wonder prisoners went mad.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09'I want my time here to give me as good an insight
0:15:09 > 0:15:12'into the lives of the prisoners as possible,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16'so I need to know more about who these men actually were.'
0:15:26 > 0:15:28Well, there's lots of people that are held here.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33They range from people convicted of stealing a scarf, maybe,
0:15:33 > 0:15:38and they would generally be held here for three months at a time.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41And then we have the very serious cases
0:15:41 > 0:15:43which can result in execution.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47The separate system was undoubtedly cruel,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50but by implementing it, the Victorians were trying,
0:15:50 > 0:15:54however badly, to improve the previous, even worse prison system.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00And it's the story of one Anderson Irvine,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03a young convict that was held here in the 1700s,
0:16:03 > 0:16:05that really highlights the poor conditions
0:16:05 > 0:16:08that existed prior to the separate system.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12He was arrested for stealing a silver cup,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16and then he was brought to Lincoln for his trial.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20After his conviction, he was sentenced to transportation
0:16:20 > 0:16:24to the colonies, so he was sent out to Australia,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27where he proved himself an able surgeon,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31so whilst we don't have records of him in books,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34we do actually have something slightly better,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37which is his name carved into one of the stones
0:16:37 > 0:16:40in the cell that he was held.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44Irvine's story is extraordinary.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47'Transported to the other side of the world for stealing a cup
0:16:47 > 0:16:50'seems incredibly harsh.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52'But worse is where he appears to have been kept
0:16:52 > 0:16:56'while an inmate here, because, deep beneath the Victorian building
0:16:56 > 0:16:59'lies another hidden prison.'
0:17:00 > 0:17:03So, Bob, how many people come down here to the basement?
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Not many. The only people who come down
0:17:05 > 0:17:10are when it needs maintenance, or when we need to look at things
0:17:10 > 0:17:12if anything's happened.
0:17:12 > 0:17:15- In there, is it?- Yep.- OK.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Pretty... Pretty narrow, isn't it?
0:17:18 > 0:17:20It is.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23- So, this would have been a transportation cell?- Yes.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- Yes.- You're joking. I mean, look!
0:17:26 > 0:17:31You couldn't keep people in... There's no light!
0:17:31 > 0:17:33There's no windows. This is ridicu-...
0:17:33 > 0:17:37This would have been packed full of people about to go to Australia,
0:17:37 > 0:17:41- on their way to transportation? - Yeah.- So our Dr Irvine,
0:17:41 > 0:17:44- he'd be down here somewhere, would he?- He will be, yes.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46Where is he? Do you know where his name is?
0:17:46 > 0:17:49- Yes, if you'd like to follow me.- OK.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55- What, through there?- Yep. - That's really old stone, isn't it?
0:17:55 > 0:17:58As we come up to this entrance here...
0:17:58 > 0:18:00- Well, I'm not getting through there. - Well, I can't!
0:18:00 > 0:18:04I'm bigger than you! But as we crouch down,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06- you can actually see... - There it is!- ..the name.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10- Irvine. Look at that. So, '84. - It is, yes.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12- So, that's 1784.- 1784.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15You can see why he ended up being a surgeon.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18He's got a very good hand. That is absolutely...
0:18:18 > 0:18:22It's almost incredible that, in this dehumanising system,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25- he just didn't want to get forgotten, did he?- No, he didn't.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29'Being held here must have been a living hell.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33'The sounds, the smells, the fear must have been overwhelming.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38'I've learnt a lot today, but now it's time for one final insight.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41'It's time for the first inmate for over a hundred years
0:18:41 > 0:18:43'to check in for the night.'
0:18:50 > 0:18:54I'm just looking through the governor's journal here
0:18:54 > 0:18:59from 1852, and there's years of it. And what it really makes you realise
0:18:59 > 0:19:02is the crushing mundanity of life here,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05a system designed to break the spirit.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08And it's funny, because when we were talking about coming
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and spending a night here, it seemed like a really good idea
0:19:12 > 0:19:15on the phone, but now I'm sat here... It's nearly midnight,
0:19:15 > 0:19:21and I'm in a cold cell that is really not very comfortable,
0:19:21 > 0:19:25and I know that, when I wake up in the morning, lying here,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28I'm going to look up at that roof,
0:19:28 > 0:19:30and the first thing I'm going to see
0:19:30 > 0:19:34is going to be the first thing that thousands of inmates saw
0:19:34 > 0:19:36over decades.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41GATES CLANGING
0:19:46 > 0:19:50The separate system was a brief but bizarre moment
0:19:50 > 0:19:54in Victorian Britain. It lasted for less than two years.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58Lincoln Castle prison itself was closed in 1887.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Ironically, it became a victim of the Victorians' obsession
0:20:02 > 0:20:06with locking people up. It quite simply ran out of space.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10And when a newer and larger prison was built nearby,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13this place became an archive store for the county council.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19This is dawn, and I can't say that I've had a hugely comfortable night,
0:20:19 > 0:20:23but I think it's been important that I came and spent some time here
0:20:23 > 0:20:26and spent the night, because so often we have a tendency
0:20:26 > 0:20:30to celebrate the great and glorious episodes in our history,
0:20:30 > 0:20:34and brush under the carpet the darker and more sinister sides,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37and that is certainly what Lincoln Castle is.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41And that's exactly what makes it such an important part
0:20:41 > 0:20:44of our hidden heritage.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53Coming up on Britain's Hidden Heritage,
0:20:53 > 0:20:56Clare Balding goes on a 500-year-old treasure hunt.
0:20:56 > 0:21:02It's extraordinary. This is what a medieval abbey would have looked like inside.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Charlie Boorman takes to the seas
0:21:04 > 0:21:07in search of the country's oldest submarine.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11- "Yeah, you've reached the sub." - "Roger."
0:21:11 > 0:21:13And I visit the first room in the world
0:21:13 > 0:21:16to be lit with electric light.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23But first, back in Northumberland, my tour of Cragside
0:21:23 > 0:21:28has taken me outside onto the 1,700-acre estate.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Surrounding the house is what's thought to be
0:21:34 > 0:21:38the biggest rock garden in Europe. It's certainly very striking.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44When the National Trust took this over,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48all this was completely overgrown with shrubs and rhododendrons,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51and I guess maintenance is an ongoing thing
0:21:51 > 0:21:53on a rockery this size.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57- Hi, there.- Hi, there. - You cutting back?
0:21:57 > 0:22:00- Oh, yes. Always cutting back. - There's a lot of it, isn't there?
0:22:00 > 0:22:03- There is.- It's a big rockery. - About four acres.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Are you happy with how the planting's gone on?
0:22:06 > 0:22:09Oh, yes, definitely. What you've got to realise is,
0:22:09 > 0:22:14when it was planted, they wouldn't have seen it mature,
0:22:14 > 0:22:18so it was a long-term vision, which is very impressive.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Lady Armstrong was an enthusiastic gardener.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26She planted rhododendrons and azaleas,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29which thrived here, balanced by other colourful shrubs
0:22:29 > 0:22:33like Berberis and Sorbus, and heaths and heathers
0:22:33 > 0:22:36which give the whole place a wild and natural feel.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Around the house, huge boulders were rolled into position
0:22:42 > 0:22:46by men using only levers and blocks and tackle.
0:22:46 > 0:22:51And on the wider estate, the planting of seven million trees
0:22:51 > 0:22:53transformed this once-bare hillside
0:22:53 > 0:22:57into the breathtaking landscape you see today.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05It leaves a legacy that suggests that Victorian industrialists
0:23:05 > 0:23:08were not just all about building smoky factories in city centres.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11In Armstrong's case, the green environment
0:23:11 > 0:23:15was something to be respected, studied and even harnessed.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22And in the 1860s, on the moors high above the house,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25he began radically altering the landscape
0:23:25 > 0:23:28with a revolutionary new project in mind.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35Lord Armstrong came to this valley as a young boy
0:23:35 > 0:23:38because he was a keen angler. He wanted to fish the water.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41And water has become the thing that's linked this house
0:23:41 > 0:23:44with many of his experiments that he's carried out within it,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48and it's highly likely that he chose this area to build his house
0:23:48 > 0:23:50not because of its outstanding natural beauty
0:23:50 > 0:23:54but because of its potential for hydroelectric power.
0:23:54 > 0:23:57Armstrong was fascinated by the potential
0:23:57 > 0:23:59for harnessing the power of water,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02and on the top of the crag way above the house,
0:24:02 > 0:24:04Armstrong diverted two rivers
0:24:04 > 0:24:07and created a series of five stunning lakes.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11'It's only out in the middle of one of these lakes
0:24:11 > 0:24:13'that the monumental scale of Armstrong's vision
0:24:13 > 0:24:16'becomes apparent. He was way ahead of his time,
0:24:16 > 0:24:18'realising the potential water provided
0:24:18 > 0:24:21'for renewable energy.'
0:24:21 > 0:24:26This wasn't here before. He built all of this high above his house,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29which created a vast head of water with so much pressure
0:24:29 > 0:24:32it could be collected through a series of pipes
0:24:32 > 0:24:34that would drive all of his experiments.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37At a time when the world's manufacturing industries
0:24:37 > 0:24:41were eating up coal and gas, Armstrong saw fossil fuels
0:24:41 > 0:24:45as expensive and wasteful, even predicting that coal would run out
0:24:45 > 0:24:47within 200 years.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51'But how, in 1878, did he turn water into electricity?
0:24:51 > 0:24:54'Cragside's resident engineer Robin Wright
0:24:54 > 0:24:57'knows all about Armstrong's technical wonders
0:24:57 > 0:25:00'and his visionary genius.'
0:25:01 > 0:25:06- This is great, isn't it? The moors. - It's a lovely spot, yes, yes, yes.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Look at the size of this! This is a clay pipe, now, isn't it?
0:25:09 > 0:25:13- Yeah. This was, er... - I mean, I'm starting to understand
0:25:13 > 0:25:19the scale of what went on here. Look at the dimensions of that!
0:25:19 > 0:25:21And this just collects water from the moor?
0:25:21 > 0:25:24Yeah. Right out on the moor he built a dam.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29The water supply runs into a canal for about a quarter of a mile,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32and then into this two-foot-diameter clay pipe,
0:25:32 > 0:25:37which eventually runs down through onto the estate.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42Imagine laying just over half a mile of this pipe,
0:25:42 > 0:25:47with a two-foot diameter, across terrain like this.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50'By the time the water reached the estate below,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54'it had dropped 140 feet, building up enough pressure
0:25:54 > 0:25:57'to turn the high-tech waterwheel or turbine.'
0:25:58 > 0:26:02'Robin is going to demonstrate how, for the first time ever,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05'Armstrong turned water pressure into electricity.'
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Well, I've got the hosepipe. You've got the dynamo in your pocket.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14Let's have a good look at that. Is that a light bulb in there?
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Yes. We've got a small LED light bulb
0:26:16 > 0:26:20with a little gearbox inside, which is driving this little dynamo,
0:26:20 > 0:26:24which is coils of wire going round a magnet...
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- OK. Copper wire. - ..providing electricity.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30- Copper wire, yeah.- Right. OK. So, there's a little nut on there,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34- so you can put that in there. - Yeah. We'll see if this works,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37and see what happens. We're trying not to get too wet.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Right. Let's try it, shall we?
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Here's water from the reservoir. Here we go.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49- Yes, we've got a bit of light there. - Look at that!
0:26:49 > 0:26:52- PAUL LAUGHS - Hey-hey-hey!
0:26:52 > 0:26:56'Armstrong's real genius was to combine the ancient technology
0:26:56 > 0:26:59'of the waterwheel with the very recent inventions
0:26:59 > 0:27:01'of his friends and fellow inventors -
0:27:01 > 0:27:04'Werner Siemens' electro-dynamo machine,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06'first demonstrated just ten years before,
0:27:06 > 0:27:09'and the incandescent light bulbs of fellow Northeasterner
0:27:09 > 0:27:11'Joseph Swan.'
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Now, when you think about hydroelectric power stations,
0:27:16 > 0:27:19you're probably imagining huge great big dams somewhere,
0:27:19 > 0:27:22or massive concrete buildings,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25not some small, unassuming little building
0:27:25 > 0:27:27in the middle of the woods here at Cragside.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30Well, look - this is it. This little cottage
0:27:30 > 0:27:32is the powerhouse!
0:27:32 > 0:27:36And this pipe is journey's end for the water,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39now running at 150 pounds per square inch.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42It runs under the floor and then hits the turbine.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46The wheel is covered, It's cased in metal to stop the water splashing everywhere,
0:27:46 > 0:27:50but it drives this shaft. You've got your two huge magnets,
0:27:50 > 0:27:52your coil of copper, that is spinning around
0:27:52 > 0:27:54at 1,300 revs per minute.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Here are the terminals that you can draw the power supply from,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00the positive and the negative.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05So, this is really what feeds the house up there -
0:28:05 > 0:28:09the world's first hydroelectric dynamo for domestic use.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12ROARING OF MACHINERY
0:28:12 > 0:28:16Armstrong's hydroelectric system ran for over 60 years,
0:28:16 > 0:28:21until Cragside was finally connected to the National Grid in 1945.
0:28:23 > 0:28:27'And later I'll learn more about the clever gadgets and gizmos
0:28:27 > 0:28:29'Armstrong was so keen to power.'
0:28:37 > 0:28:40Our reporters have been touring the British Isles
0:28:40 > 0:28:43in search of the overlooked, and in her quest for hidden heritage,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47Clare Balding has been to one of the most beautiful parts
0:28:47 > 0:28:49of the country to find a long-forgotten ruin
0:28:49 > 0:28:52that's been neglected for centuries.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Now, everyone knows all about the Yorkshire Dales -
0:29:00 > 0:29:03big, vast, beautiful landscape, great for walking,
0:29:03 > 0:29:06for cycling, for riding. But the thing about Yorkshire
0:29:06 > 0:29:08is the deeper you dig, the more you find,
0:29:08 > 0:29:12and for history buffs, this place is a treasure trove.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14There were more battles fought in Yorkshire
0:29:14 > 0:29:16than any other county in the country.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19And if you go off the beaten path, and I mean really off it,
0:29:19 > 0:29:22you will find a place like this,
0:29:22 > 0:29:27not just one of Yorkshire's but one of Britain's hidden gems.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Buried in the depths of Uredale,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39the ruins of Jervaulx Abbey tell the story
0:29:39 > 0:29:41of a vibrant monastic community,
0:29:41 > 0:29:44and of its eventual destruction
0:29:44 > 0:29:47by one of Britain's most infamous kings.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52And yet this important historical site
0:29:52 > 0:29:55is very much off the tourist trail.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59The nearby abbeys of Byland and Rievaulx
0:29:59 > 0:30:02are much better known than Jervaulx,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05and this one feels a bit like going into somebody's private garden.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10And it is privately owned. It's open to the public all year round,
0:30:10 > 0:30:12but you'll never find a massive crowd here,
0:30:12 > 0:30:17because it's so hard to find. And I haven't been here before.
0:30:19 > 0:30:21But there it is!
0:30:23 > 0:30:26That is magical.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39The monastery at Jervaulx was founded in 1156.
0:30:39 > 0:30:44'During the following 400 years, not only did the abbey develop
0:30:44 > 0:30:47'into an important centre of religious devotion,
0:30:47 > 0:30:49'but the Cistercian monks also established
0:30:49 > 0:30:53'a thriving trading community, farming the land,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56'breeding horses, and producing Wensleydale cheese.'
0:30:56 > 0:31:01At its peak, the abbey estate owned half of Uredale,
0:31:01 > 0:31:04and comprised a church, cloisters, the monks' accommodation
0:31:04 > 0:31:07and numerous outbuildings.
0:31:08 > 0:31:12It had become one of the richest and most important religious houses
0:31:12 > 0:31:16in the land, with an annual income of £500 a year -
0:31:16 > 0:31:20that's over £160,000 in today's money.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27So, Glyn, what would life have been like here in the 12th century?
0:31:27 > 0:31:29Well, there are 60 or 70 monks,
0:31:29 > 0:31:33and they're supported by perhaps three times as many lay brothers.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36It's a self-supporting organisation. It has a huge estate.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39It feeds itself. It's self-sufficient.
0:31:39 > 0:31:45Everything they eat, drink and wear is made here.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51But in 1534, the fortunes of the abbey changed dramatically.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56Henry VIII passed the Act of Supremacy,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59making himself head of the Church of England,
0:31:59 > 0:32:01and ultimately bringing about the dissolution
0:32:01 > 0:32:04of many religious houses, including Jervaulx.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09Within four years, the abbey had been demolished.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Its land became the property of the Crown,
0:32:12 > 0:32:17and much of its treasure seized, sold or smashed.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25Before its destruction, Jervaulx and its ecclesiastical treasures
0:32:25 > 0:32:28were valued at the equivalent of nearly £1.5 million
0:32:28 > 0:32:30in today's money.
0:32:30 > 0:32:34Afterwards, all that remained were the building's crumbling walls
0:32:34 > 0:32:36and broken pillars.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40'And here it's stood for nearly 500 years,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43'with the Yorkshire weather and Mother Nature taking on
0:32:43 > 0:32:45what the wreckers left behind.'
0:32:47 > 0:32:50Until, that is, the current owners acquired it
0:32:50 > 0:32:53as part of a farm in the 1970s,
0:32:53 > 0:32:56and have been lovingly caring for it ever since.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04We came down from the Borders to farm in North Yorkshire,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08and now I've slightly diversified out of farming,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11and I'm now spending more of my time maintaining the abbey.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14I mean, you've poured a fortune into this.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18We've sold four houses with the roofs on to keep this one without a roof going.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21Preserving what remains of the monastery
0:33:21 > 0:33:26is an expensive, painstaking and drawn-out process.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28Helping the owners maintain this precious abbey
0:33:28 > 0:33:32is John Maloney, a stonemason who's been involved with Jervaulx
0:33:32 > 0:33:35since the mid-'80s.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39To conserve what's here, each stone has to be individually numbered,
0:33:39 > 0:33:42removed, cleaned up and replaced.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47And, with around 25,000 stones treated so far,
0:33:47 > 0:33:49you can see why John's been kept busy
0:33:49 > 0:33:53on and off now for nearly 30 years.
0:33:57 > 0:34:00I really do love the feel of this place.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02I love the fact that you can climb all over it,
0:34:02 > 0:34:06that nowhere's out of bounds, that it's deliberately rough around the edges.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10But it is very hard to imagine the full scale,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13the grandeur, the colour of it, in its heyday.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16All of that seems to have been lost.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19Or has it been? Because local legend has it
0:34:19 > 0:34:22that at least one piece of Jervaulx treasure
0:34:22 > 0:34:25escaped the grasping hands of Henry VIII.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34It's believed that one of the churches in the area around Jervaulx
0:34:34 > 0:34:37contains an artefact from the abbey.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41So I'm off to St Andrew's Church in Aysgarth.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Legend has it that this ornately carved, brightly coloured relic
0:34:50 > 0:34:54was salvaged from the abbey during its destruction.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59It's said that 20 men heaved this huge oak screen
0:34:59 > 0:35:02the ten miles from Jervaulx to the church.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04But is the story true?
0:35:05 > 0:35:09The screen certainly has all the hallmarks of the monastic screen.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12It's very high quality, beautifully painted,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15with carved symbolic characters
0:35:15 > 0:35:18that once would have served to remind young monks
0:35:18 > 0:35:22about the sins of backbiting, drinking and of lust.
0:35:24 > 0:35:29Well, it's a magnificent piece of woodwork and carpentry,
0:35:29 > 0:35:32but how do we know whether this came from Jervaulx?
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Well, there are a couple of ways of working it out.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37First of all, just looking at the screen itself,
0:35:37 > 0:35:41it has right in the middle, at the top here,
0:35:41 > 0:35:43the initials either HM or HW.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47And we know that they occur on another piece of furniture
0:35:47 > 0:35:51from Jervaulx, from a stall end. That's a pretty good way of guessing.
0:35:52 > 0:35:56But Glyn's come to Aysgarth today armed with measurements
0:35:56 > 0:35:59taken from the abbey. As all Cistercian abbeys were built
0:35:59 > 0:36:02to a similar design, he's pretty certain that he knows
0:36:02 > 0:36:05where the screen would once have stood,
0:36:05 > 0:36:08as its stone plinth is still in place at Jervaulx.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11He has a hunch that, if proven correct,
0:36:11 > 0:36:15could finally solve the origin of this mysterious artefact.
0:36:15 > 0:36:20The gap in the plinth at Jervaulx is 70 inches.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22When we measure it here,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25I think we'll find that it's pretty close to 70 inches.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27OK.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37And in fact it's 73 inches exactly.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40The width of the door is three inches wider
0:36:40 > 0:36:43than the gap at the abbey. Allowing for the stone plinth
0:36:43 > 0:36:47to have a one-and-a-half-inch step on each side of the door,
0:36:47 > 0:36:49that's a very good match.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52The door is the one thing you can't really alter.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56We can actually fit this door through the existing foundations at Jervaulx.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01This has to come from a monastic church somewhere, and Jervaulx is the nearest.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06The craftsmanship that's gone into making this screen is undeniable,
0:37:06 > 0:37:10and it allows us a tantalising glimpse into the past,
0:37:10 > 0:37:13so that we can imagine just how stunning
0:37:13 > 0:37:16the monastery at Jervaulx would have been in its heyday.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22And look at it, for its vibrancy and its colour
0:37:22 > 0:37:26and the ornate decoration! It's extraordinary.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30And this is what a medieval abbey would have looked like inside.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39Hundreds of thousands of tourists come to the villages
0:37:39 > 0:37:42around this part of Yorkshire through the summer holidays,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45but hardly any of them will have discovered Jervaulx Abbey,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48and even fewer will know about the painted screen
0:37:48 > 0:37:52here in this church. But it all goes to show that,
0:37:52 > 0:37:56as I said earlier, the deeper you dig, the more you will discover
0:37:56 > 0:37:59about Britain's hidden heritage.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22'At Cragside, I'm continuing my quest
0:38:22 > 0:38:25'to discover more about Lord Armstrong's inventions.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28'The place is filled with gadgets we nowadays take for granted -
0:38:28 > 0:38:31'electric bells, an in-house telephone system
0:38:31 > 0:38:33'and a lift. But in the 19th century,
0:38:33 > 0:38:35'these things were revolutionary.'
0:38:42 > 0:38:45We've seen how William Armstrong created his own electricity
0:38:45 > 0:38:49before it was in common use. But what did he use it for in the house?
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Well, I can tell you, because I'm standing here.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55This room was the very first in the world to be lit
0:38:55 > 0:38:58by Joseph Swan's newly invented filament light bulb.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01What an amazing piece of history!
0:39:04 > 0:39:06Sir Joseph Swan was a physicist and chemist
0:39:06 > 0:39:10who, like Armstrong, came from the Northeast of England.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12In 1878,
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Swan invented the incandescent light bulb.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19It wasn't long before news of the breakthrough reached Armstrong,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22and he had Swan install this technology at Cragside.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28And here is one of the original lamp bases.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31There are four of them altogether in the room.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34The lamp base itself is made of copper,
0:39:34 > 0:39:38but it's been beautifully decorated with enamel.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41Lovely colours, still vibrant. It's almost cloisonne work.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44But it's the copper that helps conduct the current.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47This worked by virtue of sitting in its own tray of mercury,
0:39:47 > 0:39:49which also conducted the current.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52But there was no such thing as a light switch.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55You couldn't turn it on or off. It was constantly on.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59No-one had thought about this, because it was in its infancy stage,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01so in order to turn it off,
0:40:01 > 0:40:05you had to take it out of its bed of mercury, like that,
0:40:05 > 0:40:09then put it back in to turn it on. But I have to say, back then,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11people watching this would be in awe of it.
0:40:11 > 0:40:16They would be totally amazed. It would be like seeing a magic show, this whole room perfectly lit.
0:40:16 > 0:40:19It's no wonder this house was once described
0:40:19 > 0:40:21as "the palace of the modern magician".
0:40:28 > 0:40:31In fact, Armstrong harnessed water power
0:40:31 > 0:40:34as a means of driving numerous other imaginative gadgets
0:40:34 > 0:40:36dotted throughout the house.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50What a lovely, big, airy kitchen! Just look at the size of this!
0:40:50 > 0:40:53Is this the first dishwasher in the world?
0:40:53 > 0:40:56- Well, it's a very early form of dishwasher.- How does it work?
0:40:56 > 0:40:59It's just pressure of water,
0:40:59 > 0:41:03that you closed the door so it was all contained,
0:41:03 > 0:41:06and you had these jets of water hitting the dishes.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09He went to a lot of expense to get the water from the lakes
0:41:09 > 0:41:11- or the reservoirs to this house. - He did indeed,
0:41:11 > 0:41:15and that's what makes the whole house work, though - the power of water.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19Let's have a look at the spit. I can hear it working.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22PAUL CHUCKLES Well, this is the water-powered spit,
0:41:22 > 0:41:25which uses a very simple piece of technology
0:41:25 > 0:41:31called a Barker's mill, which is a bit like an upside-down garden sprinkler.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34And it's just a bit of elegant engineering.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37- It is. It's elaborately done. - Very elaborate.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41I must say, I like the little cast-iron urns.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44There's no need for that kind of thing on something like that.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48They're actually the grease pots for the system.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51They fill them with grease. But it's that great age
0:41:51 > 0:41:54- of function and beauty. - It is clever, isn't it?
0:41:54 > 0:41:58- It's very clever.- It's ingenious, and it made it the house
0:41:58 > 0:42:00- where modern living began, really. - Yeah.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Cragside's reputation spread rapidly throughout Victorian Britain.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13News of Armstrong's household innovations
0:42:13 > 0:42:17eventually reached the future king, who invited himself around.
0:42:17 > 0:42:22Later I'll find out more about the royal visit to Cragside.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Each week on Britain's Hidden Heritage,
0:42:27 > 0:42:31we're sending out a famous face to talk about their heritage passion,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33and today, Charlie Boorman sets off to find out
0:42:33 > 0:42:36about a submarine that's been on the sea bed
0:42:36 > 0:42:38for the last hundred years.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48'I've journeyed to the south coast of England
0:42:48 > 0:42:51'to the historic naval town of Gosport.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57'I've come here to learn about the discovery of a shipwreck,
0:42:57 > 0:43:01'a crucial piece of maritime heritage that casts new light
0:43:01 > 0:43:04'on the early beginnings of the Royal Navy Submarine Service.'
0:43:04 > 0:43:07And that's where my search is going to take me today -
0:43:07 > 0:43:10back to the very beginning of the 20th century,
0:43:10 > 0:43:13and the very first all-British Navy submarine.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16The only problem is that it's not here in dry dock.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20It's out there under the sea, where it's been lying in obscurity
0:43:20 > 0:43:22for about a hundred years.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25'As someone who is nuts about technology,
0:43:25 > 0:43:29'this journey of discovery is an incredible opportunity for me.'
0:43:29 > 0:43:34'My guide is Martin Davis, who is in charge of monitoring and protecting the site.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41'We're motoring to a point just off the coast of Bracklesham Bay...'
0:43:41 > 0:43:43HE LAUGHS
0:43:43 > 0:43:46'..where, ten metres below the surface,
0:43:46 > 0:43:48'lies the boat's remains.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53'It's a thrilling ride out. As we close in on the wreck,
0:43:53 > 0:43:55'I'm getting even more eager to find out
0:43:55 > 0:43:58'what it was they uncovered.'
0:43:58 > 0:44:00It's so exciting!
0:44:02 > 0:44:06'As we get nearer, Martin uses his onboard sonar
0:44:06 > 0:44:08'to help us pinpoint the wreck.'
0:44:08 > 0:44:11- So we'll be able to see it on here? - We certainly will,
0:44:11 > 0:44:14- if we just go very slowly now.- OK.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17Carefully go round it. We should just see the wreck
0:44:17 > 0:44:19rise from the seabed.
0:44:19 > 0:44:21OK. HE CHUCKLES
0:44:21 > 0:44:24You'll get a good view of it. Here she comes.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27- There she comes. Oh, yeah! - Little hint of it there.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30Oh, my gosh! Yeah! There it is, and it's just sitting there
0:44:30 > 0:44:33on the bed of the sea, just below us, literally.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37'What I'm seeing today is exactly what a fisherman saw
0:44:37 > 0:44:42'in 1987, when the mysterious structure showed up on his sonar.
0:44:42 > 0:44:44'He didn't know it at the time,
0:44:44 > 0:44:49'but what the fisherman was looking at was the tower of a submarine.'
0:44:51 > 0:44:55What an experience to come across it, be the first to see it!
0:44:56 > 0:45:00'It was, however, obvious to him he'd stumbled across a large wreck.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03'But it took a local dive team to establish
0:45:03 > 0:45:05'just what had been unearthed.'
0:45:05 > 0:45:09We come out the following day to see what the obstruction was,
0:45:09 > 0:45:11- not knowing what it was.- Yeah.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15Zero-vis dive.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Couldn't see hardly anything at all.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22Bumped into what turned out to be a compass,
0:45:22 > 0:45:25just there on the bottom.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28The discovery of a compass was a tantalising find.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33But visibility in British waters can be poor...
0:45:35 > 0:45:37..and the team had to make numerous trips
0:45:37 > 0:45:41before they could work out what had been found.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44We come back the following week.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47The vis had gone from zero to three metres.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50We realised it was a very early-type submarine.
0:45:50 > 0:45:54The team had a hunch the submarine dated back
0:45:54 > 0:45:58to the very beginnings of the Royal Navy Submarine Service.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01By the start of the 20th century,
0:46:01 > 0:46:03countries like France, Japan and the US
0:46:03 > 0:46:07had begun to realise the potential submarines had for military use,
0:46:07 > 0:46:11and the British were keen not to be left behind.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16So, in 1900, under a veil of secrecy,
0:46:16 > 0:46:20Vickers Sons and Maxim, at the Barrow-in-Furness shipyard,
0:46:20 > 0:46:23set about developing their very own submarine,
0:46:23 > 0:46:25codenamed the A1.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28And, incredibly, it's this very submarine
0:46:28 > 0:46:30Gordon and the divers had discovered.
0:46:30 > 0:46:35I'd been diving quite a few years, finding absolutely nothing, really.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37Then coming across this...
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Yeah. Absolutely amazing.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45Astonishingly, the A1 had been lying on the sea bed
0:46:45 > 0:46:47for a hundred years, half buried in a sandbank
0:46:47 > 0:46:50just outside the mouth of the busy Chichester harbour,
0:46:50 > 0:46:54five miles from where she was reported to have sunk.
0:46:56 > 0:47:00The experimental submarine, seen here on the day of her maiden voyage,
0:47:00 > 0:47:03proved to have a remarkable performance
0:47:03 > 0:47:06when put through her paces.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08With her crew of 11,
0:47:08 > 0:47:11the A1 had a top speed of eight knots,
0:47:11 > 0:47:13was over 30 metres long,
0:47:13 > 0:47:16could travel 25 miles under water,
0:47:16 > 0:47:18was armed with a single-firing torpedo tube,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21and one of the first practical modern periscopes.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27Conditions may have been cramped and basic for the sailors,
0:47:27 > 0:47:31but at the time, she was still one of the most advanced submarines
0:47:31 > 0:47:34anywhere in the world.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41Since her discovery, the A1 has been the subject
0:47:41 > 0:47:43of numerous archaeological dives,
0:47:43 > 0:47:46and the vessel has given up some extraordinary finds.
0:47:48 > 0:47:53My God, they're unbelievably... in perfect condition.
0:47:53 > 0:47:55- Perfect condition. - God, they're beautiful!
0:47:55 > 0:47:59Out of all the binoculars that have been found
0:47:59 > 0:48:01by not only myself but Gordon and the others,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04over the years, many pairs of binoculars,
0:48:04 > 0:48:07but the first that have been restored back to working condition.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09They do work, don't they? You can see.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13- The quality of the brass is fantastic.- God!
0:48:13 > 0:48:16That's incredible. Ross of London, they're from.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21They were hanging, in their case, down in the conning tower.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23When I reached in to lift them out on the strap,
0:48:23 > 0:48:26the strap came off the case, and they tumbled back down
0:48:26 > 0:48:29- into the submarine. - Oh, my gosh. So they were...
0:48:29 > 0:48:33They laid inside on the floor for about two years.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38A wealth of remarkably well preserved artefacts
0:48:38 > 0:48:40have been salvaged from the A1...
0:48:43 > 0:48:46..and restored back to their former glory.
0:48:49 > 0:48:53However, there is still one piece of the A1's story
0:48:53 > 0:48:55that is missing -
0:48:55 > 0:48:58how she ended up in her final resting place...
0:49:00 > 0:49:02..and what happened to the crew.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06To uncover the truth, my search has brought me
0:49:06 > 0:49:09to the vault of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum,
0:49:09 > 0:49:11where thousands of blueprints, photographs
0:49:11 > 0:49:14and declassified military documents are held,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17and that stretch right back to the very beginnings
0:49:17 > 0:49:19of the Submarine Service.
0:49:19 > 0:49:24I'm especially keen to learn about those early pioneers
0:49:24 > 0:49:26who volunteered to sail in this dangerous,
0:49:26 > 0:49:28relatively untested technology.
0:49:30 > 0:49:35The thought of being, you know, in a...in a metal contraption
0:49:35 > 0:49:38under the sea... I mean, it took a lot of nerve, didn't it?
0:49:38 > 0:49:43I say to people that it's almost like, to us,
0:49:43 > 0:49:46- going up in a space shuttle. - Yeah. Real guts.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50But they just sort of took it as everyday part of life
0:49:50 > 0:49:52for these guys. It's just the norm.
0:49:52 > 0:49:56But in March 1904, events took a tragic turn
0:49:56 > 0:49:58for the A1 and her pioneering crew.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03The submarine, captained by Lieutenant Mansergh,
0:50:03 > 0:50:05sailed to the Solent,
0:50:05 > 0:50:09ready to take part in the first full Royal Navy training exercise
0:50:09 > 0:50:11to involve a submarine.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16Mansergh, the captain, was attacking a surface vessel.
0:50:16 > 0:50:18It was the last day of the manoeuvres,
0:50:18 > 0:50:21and he was keen to press home his attack.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25A fast liner, the Berwick Castle, comes steaming through the exercise areas.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28- A civilian...- Yeah, civilian liner.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32And she doesn't see the periscope.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36The captain of the submarine is so intent on his attack
0:50:36 > 0:50:40that he doesn't see the liner bearing down on his submarine,
0:50:40 > 0:50:42so there's a collision,
0:50:42 > 0:50:46and the submarine immediately fills with water,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49because there's no partitions,
0:50:49 > 0:50:51and as soon as the damage occurred,
0:50:51 > 0:50:54the crew would have been stunned, unable to do anything,
0:50:54 > 0:50:57and all 11 of the crew were killed.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03The brave men that lost their lives in the A1 tragedy
0:51:03 > 0:51:07became the first fatal casualties of the Royal Navy Submarine Service.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10The crew had been made up of volunteers
0:51:10 > 0:51:12recruited from the Navy, with the inducement
0:51:12 > 0:51:16of an increased daily pay. They were all young family men,
0:51:16 > 0:51:20like CP Bailey, whose wife would play Let Me Like A Soldier Fall
0:51:20 > 0:51:24on her gramophone when her husband went on his underwater missions,
0:51:24 > 0:51:26never knowing whether he would return.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29On this occasion, he didn't.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32These are the names of the crew who were killed in the accident.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35- Oh, it's kind of sad to see that, really.- Mm.
0:51:35 > 0:51:38They were so young as well, weren't they?
0:51:40 > 0:51:44The sinking of HMS A1 certainly serves as a stark reminder
0:51:44 > 0:51:48of the risks taken by these heroic pioneers.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57Did they recover the vessel straight away, or...
0:51:57 > 0:51:59It took them some time to salvage the vessel,
0:51:59 > 0:52:04but she was raised. The crew were buried here locally.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08The damaged A1 was repaired and re-entered into service.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11But in 1911, she sank again,
0:52:11 > 0:52:14this time during an unmanned exercise.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18But now it would be another 80 years before she was ever seen again.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26However, it has left behind a legacy. It's because of the A1
0:52:26 > 0:52:29that all submarines were subsequently fitted
0:52:29 > 0:52:33with double-hatched conning towers, increasing the chances of survival for crews.
0:52:37 > 0:52:41In fact, many of the safety features and designs of modern submarines
0:52:41 > 0:52:44can all be traced back to this iconic boat
0:52:44 > 0:52:46and its heroic crew.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50But what does the future hold?
0:52:52 > 0:52:56The A1 submarine is part of our heritage,
0:52:56 > 0:52:59whether it's out there on the bottom of the ocean or in a museum.
0:52:59 > 0:53:02But for me, it's a little bit too hidden.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06The people who built the A1 were ingenious, brave,
0:53:06 > 0:53:08and they were pioneering,
0:53:08 > 0:53:11and the fruits of their labour shouldn't be allowed to rot away
0:53:11 > 0:53:14at the bottom of the sea.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35With my visit to Cragside Estate nearly over,
0:53:35 > 0:53:38there's just one final surprise left in store.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42This house was so advanced for its time,
0:53:42 > 0:53:46it became so well known among the upper echelons of society,
0:53:46 > 0:53:49that it was only a matter of time before it had a visit
0:53:49 > 0:53:52from the Prince of Wales, later to become King Edward VII,
0:53:52 > 0:53:55a man known for his passion of all things modern.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58And by all accounts, he was absolutely fascinated
0:53:58 > 0:54:01to visit "the palace of the modern magician".
0:54:01 > 0:54:04And he gave William Armstrong enough notice of his impending visit -
0:54:04 > 0:54:08enough time, in fact, for Armstrong to extend Cragside once again.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16In just over 18 months, an outstanding new wing was completed
0:54:16 > 0:54:19ready for the prince's visit. It was designed to be grand enough
0:54:19 > 0:54:23to host royalty, but charming and comfortable enough
0:54:23 > 0:54:26to fit in with Cragside's homely interiors.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41Ooh, this is nice, isn't it?
0:54:41 > 0:54:44It's cosy, and it's not over the top.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47It is. This is where the royal family stayed when they visited
0:54:47 > 0:54:49- in 1884. - How many nights did they stay for?
0:54:49 > 0:54:54They stayed for three nights in this set of suites, in three rooms.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57They came because these suites had hot and cold running water,
0:54:57 > 0:55:00were centrally heated, were way ahead of their time
0:55:00 > 0:55:03from what they were used to at Buckingham Palace,
0:55:03 > 0:55:05- so it was a novelty for them. - The mod cons!
0:55:05 > 0:55:08They must have been impressed, mustn't they?
0:55:11 > 0:55:15But for once, it wasn't Armstrong's futuristic technologies
0:55:15 > 0:55:18that are the biggest talking points of the royal apartments.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21Perhaps the most impressive feature is to be found
0:55:21 > 0:55:24in the new drawing room, and it's this colossal chimneypiece.
0:55:41 > 0:55:43You get into this room, and all of a sudden
0:55:43 > 0:55:47it smacks of Classical Renaissance, because of that.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51It does, but you have to remember that this room was the wow-factor
0:55:51 > 0:55:54for the royal visit that Lord Armstrong had.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56But it dominates the room.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59I think it commands the room too much.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02You walk in here and you see this wonderful cove ceiling,
0:56:02 > 0:56:05with this heavy relief plasterwork, and this curved fanlight
0:56:05 > 0:56:08which is absolutely stunning. Then your eyes drop down.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11You go, "Wow." I mean, is that Italian?
0:56:11 > 0:56:13It's all marble. It's Renaissance in style.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16It's ten tons of marble, Italian marble.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20It was shipped in pieces to London, carved in London,
0:56:20 > 0:56:24and then came up in pieces by boat to a local port,
0:56:24 > 0:56:27- came by horse and cart and was put together here.- Wow!
0:56:27 > 0:56:31- All to impress the royal visitors. - Yeah.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34- You could stand 30-odd people in that fireplace.- You could.
0:56:36 > 0:56:39'Of course, it's ironic that this decorative fireplace
0:56:39 > 0:56:42'could be the focus of the home that was such a talking point
0:56:42 > 0:56:46'for its revolutionary central-heating system.'
0:56:50 > 0:56:52'But it does serve to remind us
0:56:52 > 0:56:54'that Cragside was more than just a laboratory
0:56:54 > 0:56:57'for Armstrong to carry out his numerous innovations.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01'It was the home of a man with an appreciation for beautiful form
0:57:01 > 0:57:04'as well as technological function.'
0:57:07 > 0:57:11Armstrong died in 1900, at the age of 90.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14He had no children, and his wealth and estate
0:57:14 > 0:57:16passed to his great-nephew.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19The technological innovations that Cragside represented
0:57:19 > 0:57:23for so many years at last had come to an end.
0:57:24 > 0:57:28What I've discovered today is the extraordinary legacy
0:57:28 > 0:57:31of one of Britain's most underrated inventors.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33William Armstrong truly was a visionary,
0:57:33 > 0:57:36seeing water, as opposed to gas or coal,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39as a clean source of power and energy,
0:57:39 > 0:57:41and always trying to lighten the load for the workman
0:57:41 > 0:57:44with his inventions. That's why it's so fitting
0:57:44 > 0:57:47that Cragside should be preserved and restored
0:57:47 > 0:57:50for future generations to appreciate.
0:57:50 > 0:57:53But more than anything, it should stand as a lasting monument
0:57:53 > 0:57:56to the man who created it - Lord William Armstrong.
0:58:00 > 0:58:02If you want more information on today's show,
0:58:02 > 0:58:04check out our website at...
0:58:10 > 0:58:12Next time on Britain's Hidden Heritage,
0:58:12 > 0:58:16I uncover a house with a very long and grand past.
0:58:16 > 0:58:20Charlie Luxton goes on the hunt for some of our lost heroes
0:58:20 > 0:58:22of the Industrial Revolution.
0:58:22 > 0:58:25Clare Balding finds out about the inspiration
0:58:25 > 0:58:29behind one of our best-loved romantic novels.
0:58:29 > 0:58:31And Ann Widdecombe takes to the road
0:58:31 > 0:58:35to find out more about the desperate flight of Charles II.
0:58:36 > 0:58:40Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:40 > 0:58:44E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:58:44 > 0:58:44.