Instruments of Invasion Castles: Britain's Fortified History

-SAM WILLIS:

-'Castles.

'They dominate our landscape, tower over our history

'and fuel our imagination.'

I was brought up on stories of castles,

of knights in shining armour,

epic sieges and tactical ingenuity.

I learnt of the castle

as the ultimate expression of military might.

'And yet, fascinating as this is,

'it hides a deeper story.

'For the story of the castle is the story of these Isles.

'Of conquest, colonisation and civil war.'

Firing the cannon!

'In this series,

'I'll be looking at the impact of the castle on Britain -

'finding out how an instrument of military power

'rapidly took on far wider significance.

'I'll discover how castles invaded every part of life -

'becoming homes to a new ruling elite,

'giving birth to the feudal system...

'..and even entering our mythology and art.

'I'll be visiting many of the greatest castles

'these islands have to offer -

'the brutal bastions Edward I used to subjugate the Welsh,

'Henry VIII's defensive fortresses

'and Elizabethan palaces of seduction.'

Have a care!

'But our story begins with the arrival of the castle

'with the Normans in 1066.

'A weapon of invasion, these alien structures

'were to play a central role in the imposition of the new regime.

OWL HOOTS

'But then, in the hands of unruly barons,

'they would lead to anarchy in the realm.'

The castle dominated our landscape for a thousand years,

and changed the course of our history.

Join me, Sam Willis, for the story of the castle,

and its unparalleled role in shaping Britain.

'It was in 1066 that the castle first came to these shores,

'brought here by a man set on rule.

'Carried as the weapon of the would-be monarch -

'William the Conqueror.

'It was a vital tool in his attempt to claim the throne.

'The castle began its intimate connection with this land

'as part of the Norman invasion of England.'

Castles were an integral part of William's war chest from the outset.

Yes, his ships were packed with soldiers and horses,

but he also brought with him the wherewithal to build a castle.

A contemporary account of William's landing at Hastings

was made by the Norman historian Master Wace,

and it includes a telling passage.

"Then they cast out of the ships the materials,

"and drew them to land, all shaped, framed and pierced

"to receive the pins which they had brought,

"cut and ready in large barrels -

"so that before evening had well set in, they had finished a fort."

What he's describing is essentially a pre-fabricated castle.

The castle was such an important part of any Norman campaign,

William even invaded with one.

It wasn't the Scandinavians that introduced flat pack to Britain.

It was their descendants in France,

the men from the north - the Normans.

'If you look along the most famous record of the invasion,

'the Bayeux Tapestry, you can even see a castle under construction.

'William needed something light and quick to assemble.

'A wooden castle fit the bill perfectly.

'Looking at the tapestry, the tower appears to have been put up

'before the digging of a protective mound has been completed.

'You can see William's men still digging away

'to add to the earthwork pile.

'With cavalry to overwhelm King Harold's well-organised force,

'and a castle to secure his landing,

'William won the day.

'The Norman conquest of England was underway.'

In his successful invasion of England,

the castle became an essential tool of William's power and authority -

a way to secure both his claim and his territory.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded how the Normans,

"built castles far and wide across the country,

"and oppressed the wretched people."

The castle was beginning to put its stamp on our land.

To give himself the best chance of success,

William needed something that was quick to construct,

but that was still effective.

This is what he used.

The classic castle design - the type I was taught about at school.

The motte-and-bailey.

'A motte-and-bailey is the most basic castle design.

'A moat surrounded a walled enclosure - the bailey.

'If this first line of defence was breached,

'the defenders could retreat back to a tower

'on a specially-constructed mound - the motte.

'With the height advantage this provided,

'the defending archers could dominate the bailey and beyond.

'It was a highly-practical design.

'In its very basic form,

'the motte-and-bailey had one other significant advantage for William.'

By using wood for the walls, a castle could be built very quickly,

providing a secure place from which to assert your authority.

'This is Berkhamsted near London.

'The place where William accepted the surrender of the English in 1066.

'But this didn't mark the end of the conflict.'

It's so easy to think of the Norman conquest

as nothing more than William's crossing

and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

But, of course, it was a much longer,

more drawn out process than that.

'William's army travelled on foot and on horseback.

'It took time to cross England.

'The Saxons may not have had castles with which to oppose this invasion,

'but there were a handful of fortified towns -

'like the walled city of Exeter.

'It was to become the site of one of the first stone castles

'built by the Normans.

'But before that, they would have to lay siege to it.'

By 1067, Exeter was already a large city with an impressive history.

And you can actually read that history in its walls,

like a historical document.

You can see clearly here how we have Roman masonry.

Then above that, several courses of Saxon stones.

And then above it, this dark course of Norman masonry.

'This was added when the Normans took control of these walls,

'and finally made Exeter their own.'

But first they had to capture the city.

'The citizens had refused to swear allegiance to William.

'This is a man who is reputed to have chopped the hands and feet

'off the defending force of a French town, for insulting his mother.'

'William was not a man to cross,

'and he was marching on their city.

'William was marauding with an army including 500 cavalry.

'On the way he laid waste to parts of Dorset -

'a forbidding sign for the people of Exeter.

'Some of the city fathers faltered at the thought

'and brought him hostages in exchange for striking a deal.

'But the people of Exeter had other ideas,

'and they reneged on the arrangement.

'William set about surrounding the city,

'cutting it off from supplies.

'The siege of Exeter had begun.'

William and his army approached the city from the north-east,

fording a stream called the Longbrook,

and riding up what is now known as Longbrook Street.

At the East Gate, William had one of the hostages blinded

to show the citizens of Exeter what to expect.

But they didn't surrender, and there's even an account

that one of them took to the castle walls,

dropped his trousers, and farted.

The East Gate has now been demolished,

but you can get a sense from these walls behind me

that it was once a formidable obstacle.

William had his engineers dig tunnels

to try and undermine the walls, and after 18 days,

they partially collapsed.

It was the beginning of the end for the defenders.

But the siege was only broken when Exeter's bishop and his clergy

took a Bible and some holy relics to William,

and made him swear an oath not to sack the city

or harm its people.

He kept his word.

To secure his victory, William turned to the castle.

He charged Baldwin, Sheriff of Devon,

to build Rougemont Castle -

so named for the colour of the mound it was built upon,

and the blocks that were used in its construction.

'This gatehouse at Exeter Castle

'is one of the oldest Norman structures in England.

'It captures its moment in history perfectly.'

What we have here is a pure Norman arch,

but above it two characteristically Anglo-Saxon windows.

It's evidence of an Anglo-Saxon building gang

working under their new Norman masters.

'This marks the arrival of a brand new type of building in England.

'Stone castles were unlike anything anyone here had ever seen before -

'the Norman equivalent of the building of the pyramids.'

These stone castles were utterly alien,

and it's hard to over-emphasise the impact of their arrival.

Both literally and figuratively,

they cast a shadow over their surroundings.

A permanent reminder that there was a new boss in town.

'This was an invasion cast in stone,

'built by the very people the castles were designed to control.'

At a time when most dwellings were simple single-storey structures,

the castle was a vast undertaking,

which required the assembly of an army of masons,

carpenters and labourers,

and the movement of thousands of tons of materials

for the construction.

They were enormously expensive, time-consuming projects,

which took years to complete.

'The choice of where to build in stone

'was a carefully-considered decision

'based on strategic importance,

and the ability to dominate the skyline.'

'One of the earliest castles to be built

'was the Tower of London -

'its famous white tower designed to strike awe into the population.'

'And soon, it wouldn't just be the new ruler from across the Channel

'who erected these imposing edifices across the land.'

William set about rewarding his nobles.

He divided England amongst his followers,

and created a new class of Norman baron.

Each was given permission to build a castle

from which to exert their power.

'They were known as the Companions of William the Conqueror.

'Men like Robert de Beaumont, who became Earl of Leicester,

'and one of William's most-trusted advisors.'

From Northumberland to Cornwall,

these new barons now were lords of all they could survey

from the tops of their castle walls.

'And where the barons chose to build their castles

'was just as important as how they were built.

'This was not just an invasion of territory.

'It was a annexation of Britain's history and its mythology.'

Norman castles had symbolic functions,

symbolic importance on a whole variety of levels.

In some senses they were built to impress,

to overawe the native population.

Some important Norman castles

were built on centres of early significance.

Castles such as Colchester in Essex re-used Roman sites.

Roman masonry was incorporated.

In other cases, castles perpetuated Anglo-Saxon centres of authority

and government.

So, while the seats of power remained the same,

the face of lordship was transformed.

'This was one of the keys to the success of the Normans in Britain.

'Old Sarum, just outside Salisbury,

'had been a settlement since the Iron Age.

'The Anglo-Saxons had built a fortified town here.

'It was a strategic location

'controlling a hub of roads and rivers.

'High on a hill, it was also a very visible location.

'It was a perfect setting for a Norman castle.

By building his castle on a pre-existing site,

William gained the strategic value

that had made it important to the Anglo-Saxons.

But he also gained an immense symbolic value.

The takeover of England was given physical embodiment

in the castles of William.

'Old Sarum is where William paid off the troops

'who had fought so successfully for him.'

But it's also said that it's where he chose to compile

one of the most important documents in British history -

the foundation of our National Archives here at Kew.

Our earliest public record,

and a legal document that's still valid evidence of land title today.

'The great Domesday Book.'

This is an exact facsimile of the original historical document,

which is such an important part of British history

that it sits in a climate-controlled room.

This was the most thorough survey of a country ever undertaken,

a work that defined just what it was that William had conquered

and more importantly, how he could extract taxes from it.

Domesday means day of judgement,

so-called because it was so thorough and complete

that it was likened to the Day of Judgement,

when Christians believed that all would be judged before God.

And the book also records the transfer of lands.

Where once a Saxon lord ruled, by the time of Domesday

those lords had been replaced

by the barons William had brought with him from France,

each now safely ensconced within their own castles.

And the 913 pages describe more than 13,000 places in identical detail.

No wonder the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle said of William's thoroughness:

Today, Old Sarum is just a shadow of its former self,

largely because Henry VIII gave permission for its walls

to be plundered for building materials.

'But these old walls bore witness

'to yet another outcome of the Norman invasion.

'In the summer of 1086, William had a plan to drive his authority home -

'an idea that would turn his invasion

'into something of lasting significance.

'On 1st August, William gathered all "landowning men of any account"

'to his castle at Old Sarum.

'His intention - nothing less than the imposition

'of a new hierarchy on England.'

'The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles recorded that:

This was the first time that every landowner in the realm

was required to swear an oath to the King.

From now on, if a leading figure rebelled against William,

the loyalty of his tenants would be to the King

rather than to their immediate master.

It became known as the Oath of Sarum.

Feudal England was born here in a castle.

And the castle became the symbol of it.

'What sets the Norman fortress apart is not just its appearance,

'but its purpose.'

A castle combined many functions under one roof.

First and foremost it was home to the new Norman rulers.

The barons derived immense status from their castles.

'They made them feared.

'Each baron would have his own force of mercenaries.

'Their castle gave them a place from which to exert their power,

'but which could also offer a safe haven of protection.

'The barons used them to administer their lands.

'They were the place justice was meted out.

'In short, wherever you were in the country,

'life in Norman England revolved around the baron and his bastion.

'And they led the life of a rich elite.'

-LAUREN JOHNSON:

-Our picture of castles usually is ruined buildings,

and actually what you have to imagine every time you enter

any sort of castle space is that these were luxury accommodations.

In an age when even to have unnatural light and warmth -

to have a fire - cost money,

then to have a huge building

with walls that were potentially metres thick,

keeping out the wind and the rain, for a start, that was a luxury.

And it's a space in which many, many people are living.

Because for a lord or a lady to show their authority,

they need to be surrounded by servants.

'Every part of life was designed to reinforce

'the status of the new masters.

'The simple act of taking a meal became a constant reminder

'of who was in charge -

'starting with preparing to eat.

'Seren Evans-Charrington

'has studied the significance of castle mealtimes.'

When you're dining in a medieval castle,

you start off with your hand-washing.

You would have a designated servant, and he would wash his own hands.

He would then wash the carver's hands, and it goes on like that.

What we're finding in this period

is actually the Normans are bringing over, "Come on,"

you know, "Let's start behaving."

OK. So they're sort of imposing a new way of behaving?

They are, because they actually believe they're slightly superior.

-A touch of arrogance?

-Oh, just a little. Yes, just a little.

What's next?

We've actually got in here - this is some wine imported from France.

It was a lamentable quality.

You might have to spice it a little, and this is what this is.

-This is spiced wine.

-Right.

Here we go.

So, again, the idea is that

this is a refined thing to do because it's wine.

Ahh.

-It's imported.

-That's like cold vin chaud. That's what that's like.

So, you've got gingers in there. You've got galingale.

You've got all of these wonderful exotic spices.

So, pottage. Now, this is a dish...

-Cor, look at this.

-Yes. Now, this is actually the high-end version.

So, fine dish, ground almonds, lots of sugar in there.

Lots of lovely, rich ingredients.

So, even though it doesn't look very nice,

it's made out of stuff that's been imported.

-Again, it's new, it's actually exotic.

-Expensive, yeah.

This is the exotic version. So, take a small piece up to your mouth.

HE EXHALES

-Like spiced porridge.

-It's like sweet...

-Yeah. Sweet, spiced, tangy, gloopy porridge.

-Mm.

You need some of that now, don't you?

-Does it taste better now that you've taken the pottage?

-It does.

-Yeah, it goes together.

-That's actually really interesting.

The first time I had the wine, it was really spicy and quite harsh,

but once I'd had the sweet, gloopy mixture called pottage,

the wine tasted great.

There you go. So, after you've had your pottage,

which I know you don't want to leave, you're then over here.

-This is amazing!

-Well, this is made from marchpane, and marchpane

is an early form of marzipan. This is all about, "Look at this."

Food was theatre. This is the period where food starts to be theatre.

The Crusades are bringing over your sugar, your spices.

You've got your wine being imported from the Continent,

so all of these wonderful, exotic things are coming over.

And, for example,

a monarch was reported as spending 1,500 on sugars and spices a year.

Doesn't sound much, but a castle at the time cost 15,000 to build.

-Wow!

-So, that puts it in perspective.

So, a significant portion of their budget was spent on sugar.

This is it.

It was like they were obsessed with how they appeared at all times,

and there was a way that would make you appear Norman,

part of this ruling elite, by just the way that you ate.

This is it. So actually by you being the lord,

and, you know, you have all these people come to your feast,

you're actually getting them to, almost, give allegiance to you.

This is about gaining order over every situation.

So, you have your hierarchy of your staff.

You have your hierarchy of how you eat, how you serve.

And everything is pointing toward that lord, that King,

that whoever it be, that is sat at that top table, is in charge.

And even the way the tables are laid out points to that.

'These new rules of etiquette at the dining table

'were yet one more way in which the castle acted as a constant reminder

'of the presence of the new Norman aristocrats.'

William the Conqueror had used castles

to impose his will on England.

His intention now was to create a network to assert royal authority.

'But in creating the new baronial class,

'William had given them their own power base.

'Their castles.

'And not all barons were happy to follow the will of the King.

'Distant lands such as Northumbria gave the likes of Robert de Mowbray

'the opportunity to revolt against William's heir.

'William II had to lay siege to the castle at Bamburgh

'to bring the region back in line.

'But more and more barons began to flex their muscle.

'Within 100 years of the Norman conquest,

'England faced a new crisis.

'The King was Henry I. He had no male heir.

'In a revolutionary move, Henry gathered the barons

'and called on them to swear allegiance

'to his daughter Matilda in 1127.

'She was opposed by the grandson of William the Conqueror - Stephen.'

When Henry I died, there were two claims to the throne -

Stephen and Matilda.

This was the first time that a woman had claimed the throne of England.

'It was a watershed moment in our history.'

-LAUREN JOHNSON:

-If history is made up of what we remember,

Matilda isn't a crucial part of history any more.

She's been dropped from our collective consciousness,

and she's hugely important.

To think that less than 100 years after the Norman conquest a man -

a king - is trying to put his daughter on the throne of England.

It's one thing for women to transmit power through themselves

to their husbands, or to their sons.

It's quite another thing to actively say,

"I want my daughter to run the country."

In a period when... I mean, really. It's sort of still a tribal country.

It's made up of sets of lands that are ruled by warrior lords.

And the ability to fight and lead an army

is one of the most important things,

and it's perceived that women can't do that.

In Matilda, there is an example of a woman

who could have been an extremely successful ruler,

it's just that she is up against a man

who has managed to get himself crowned before her.

'That man was Stephen.'

What followed was a protracted civil war

with noble families across the country

divided between two legitimate claims.

The result was one of the bleakest periods in our history.

'England descended into what's become known as The Anarchy.

'The barons might declare support for either side,

'but all they were really interested in was their own power -

'a power provided by their castles.'

According to medieval chroniclers of the 12th century,

castles were not really a symptom of The Anarchy,

they were the cause of violence, and disruption,

and political turmoil.

The Anarchy, the so-called Anarchy,

was a period when castle building proliferated.

Castle building had been quite rigidly

and tightly controlled by the Crown until that point.

But those systems broke down, and even quite minor lords

were able to fortify their estate centres,

and build little castles of their own across the landscape.

'The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes this as the period when,

'"Christ and his Saints slept."'

The conflict lasted for almost two decades.

Castles were the key to victory, and both sides set about capturing them.

'Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight

'was held by a supporter of Matilda.

'The motte dominated the land around,

'making this a formidable fortress.'

'But when Stephen laid siege to it,

'the castle's Achilles heel soon brought it down.'

This is the original Norman well.

'At top of the old motte, it had been here

'since it was built in William the Conqueror's reign.'

The idea was that rain water and surface water would

be enough to keep it topped up, but it never worked.

And without water, the defending army were forced to surrender.

'Stephen was determined that the same would not happen on his watch.

'He ordered the digging of a new well -

'one that would be deep enough to keep the castle supplied

'no matter what.

'It's said it took two prisoners a year to dig.'

It's 161 ft deep,

and to give you just some sense of how deep that is,

have a look at this.

WATER SPLASHES

Four seconds it took for that water

to get down to the water table at the bottom.

Attached to this rope is a bucket, and to raise or lower it,

it's attached up to this axle, which is attached to this enormous wheel.

Now, Stephen had prisoners dig the well,

but he also had them turn the wheel to raise the bucket up,

and I'm going to give it a go.

Ohh, I'm getting dizzy.

HE LAUGHS

It's surprisingly disorientating.

Makes me feel a bit seasick, weirdly.

Once you've got it going, it's all right, but it hurts your calves.

Whoa.

I've got to keep an eye on the bucket to see where it's going.

There it is. It's coming up now.

I managed to stop it.

So, there we go.

I'm slightly out of breath, and that was with an empty bucket,

and it was only a matter of metres down the well.

You'd think that with a full bucket it'd take as much as an hour

for someone to turn this wheel and get it up,

and that would be really hard work.

It's an amazingly efficient bit of kit, this.

'Stephen may have prevailed at Carisbrooke...

'But in Lincoln, the castle fell to Matilda,

'when her supporters sent their wives on a visit

'to the governor's wife.

'When the men joined them, they were able to overpower the guards,

'and throw open the gates as the castle fell.'

'At the later Battle of Lincoln in 1141, Stephen was taken prisoner.'

But, even then, Matilda was unable to complete her victory.

Stephen's wife marched on London to prevent Matilda's coronation.

She was never crowned Queen.

'When Stephen was released,

'the war seemed to be turning against Matilda.

'But her castle, guarding a crossing of the Thames at Wallingford,

'proved vital to her fortunes.

'By 1142, it had already successfully survived

'a sustained siege.

'Then its location proved vital

'when Stephen found himself with the chance to land a knock-out blow.'

Stephen had managed to trap Matilda in the nearby castle at Oxford.

He laid siege to it.

But these are the Middle Ages.

This is long before the night vision goggles,

minefields and barbed wire of modern times.

No medieval siege could be 100% effective, and Matilda escaped.

'With Stephen's army camped all around,

'Matilda climbed from a window with a rope.

'Dressed completely in white, and accompanied by three loyal knights,

'she made her way through the besieging army

'using a snowstorm for cover.

'She crossed the frozen Thames at Abingdon

'and then escaped to the castle at Wallingford.'

Stephen had let his rival slip through his grasp.

Wallingford continued to play a vital role in the conflict.

So much so that it was at Wallingford

that the two sides reached the truce that ended The Anarchy.

'Matilda agreed to accept Stephen's rule until his death.

'In return, Stephen accepted the claim of Matilda's son Henry

'as his successor.

'His reign would found a new royal dynasty,

'one of the most powerful in England's history -

'the Plantagenets.'

Even though she was one of the most significant women in our history,

Matilda's legacy is defined by her relationship

with the men in her life.

Her epitaph reads -

"Great by birth, greater by marriage,

"greatest in her offspring:

"Here lies Matilda, daughter, wife, and mother of Henry".

'Her son was to be one of the greatest monarchs

'of the age - Henry II.

'He quickly set about taking control of his lands

'both at home and in France.

'Henry also introduced sweeping reforms to the legal system.'

The far-sighted Henry wanted to bring to an end

the practice of the clergy having its own separate legal system.

It was a fundamental attack,

and it was opposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury - Thomas Beckett.

'Beckett proved such an obstinate opponent

'that Henry's frustration eventually boiled over.

'When Beckett was murdered by sword-wielding knights

'in Canterbury Cathedral, Henry was guilty by association.

'In these violent times, power was enforced with sharpened steel,

'and castles would ring to the sound of metal

'being beaten into weapons in the forge.

'The specialist skills required to make these arms endure to this day.

'Owen Bush has been a swordsmith for 20 years.'

Right, Owen, what are we doing?

We've got some bloomery steel here. It's some stuff I've made from ore.

-Right.

-And you're gonna refine it.

So, there are impurities in that, that I'm going to get out by smashing it?

Yeah. I'm getting it to the point just before it melts,

-and you can hammer it, and squirt some of that slag out.

-Good.

My face is heating up quite dramatically just standing here.

-It's hot.

-It really is hot.

-It has to be, yeah.

So, up on there. It's quite heavy, and then just hammering in.

'In the Middle Ages, weapons would have been produced

'by artisans inside the castles.

'The Tower of London, for instance,

'was a major source of tips for crossbow bolts.'

Right. Let me come round here, then. See what this feels like.

Right. Here we go. I'm surprisingly nervous.

Right. Hammer time.

'The sparks being beaten out are the impurities,

'leaving pure steel behind.'

-Then flip over and do the other side?

-Stick it back in the fire.

-It needs to be hot.

-Right, OK.

-Yeah.

Not hot enough.

It's the second attempt.

The first one, it wasn't hot enough, so this one...

This is going to send more sparks out.

This one's going to make the sparks fly.

Whoo!

That's better.

-Good?

-That's looking good, yeah.

The more you work it,

the more you're going to squirt that slag out of it,

and it'll become a more homogenous, usable steel.

-Great. Back in?

-Yep.

How would these skills have been passed on?

They certainly would have been a secretive craft...

..in that sense, passed on from master to apprentice,

or from father to son.

Cos it's a very valuable thing to be able to do properly, isn't it?

Absolutely. It certainly is.

I mean, a smith making weapons, making swords,

would be a valuable and valued commodity.

Stage two. What's this involve?

You're going to forge the point on it and start working on the bevels.

A bevel are the angular bits towards the edge.

So, we've got a flat bar, and you've got to put edges on it.

We've got to be a bit more gentle with the heat,

cos if we burn it at this stage, the whole thing is ruined.

Do we have to be more gentle with the hammering as well?

More precise with the hammering. Not gentle, unfortunately. Just precise.

The words "precise" and "hammering" don't usually go together with me.

So, flat, and then pointed.

-How was that?

-That was fine, yeah. You need to do it again.

-And you did actually burn it.

-Did I?

-Yeah.

HE GROANS

'When steel burns, it oxidises,

'which ruins the blade, causing it to crack and break.'

It's one of these brilliant skills that looks quite simple -

and it is, really.

It's just hammering a piece of hot iron,

but when you see it done properly,

you realise how many years of practice you need

to be able to do it right.

We're now onto the very mundane task of filing this sword to shape.

Nice and steady does it. It's actually very therapeutic.

It's a really enjoyable process, this, because you can...

It's obviously a lengthy process, but...

..there's a little bit happening every time

you put the file across the sword.

And just because there's a little bit of process...

..there's a bit of hope.

There we go. That's getting it.

'This is tempering.

'The speed at which the heat is conducted away from the metal

'affects how brittle it becomes.'

I'd say this is the point at which the sword actually becomes born,

when you bring it out of the fire and putting it into oil.

Did they always use oil?

Sometimes oil, sometimes water. Sometimes brine.

If you're going to get esoteric, there's certainly, um...

..there's certainly writings

-of using the urine of a ginger virgin boy.

-Right.

-To quench into.

Which is, you know, it's written down,

and it may just be that if someone did do that in reality,

and it worked, that they stuck by rote to that process.

I don't know.

'In fact, urine has since been shown to be a very effective conductor,

'which might explain its place in the stories.

'But not the ginger hair. Or the virgin bit.'

Polished.

So, this is a finished sword.

Wow.

-A real transformation, isn't it?

-It is, yeah.

-Thank you very much for that.

-It's a pleasure.

It's always very nice to bring a sword into the world.

'The sword that struck Thomas Beckett down

'only enhanced his influence.

'He was beatified as a saint by the church

'and Henry II watched powerless as pilgrims crossed Europe,

'and began to arrive at Beckett's shrine.

'The pilgrims passed straight through Dover.

'Henry submitted himself to public penance to try and offset the guilt.

'But then he decided it was time

'to restore his royal status and prestige.

'He needed an unmistakeable sign of royal authority.

'He turned to the castle at Dover.

'Henry ordered Dover to be rebuilt at vast expense,

'lavishing almost a third of his annual income

'on this single project.

'The design is one of the greatest examples

'of the Norman style of tower anywhere in the country.'

The tower is often known as the keep,

a word that conjures up ideas of defence and protection.

'But in fact the arrival of the tower in castles

'was yet another symbol - of dominion.

'Even the name they were given supports the notion of power.

'Their name was not keep but donjon,

'which derives from the Latin word for dominion or lordship.'

A donjon is a projection of authority -

a symbol announcing its power to the surrounding settlements.

'Dover has been described as the key to England.

'By choosing to build here at Dover,

'Henry was making a very clear statement.

'This was the place pilgrims passed through

'on their way to Thomas Beckett's shrine.

'But it was also the most visible of English castles -

'a dominating presence in Henry's Anglo-French realm.

'Even Henry's choice of building materials carried a message.

'there are bands of lighter-coloured stone

'specially imported from his lands in France.

'A reminder of the breadth and wealth of Henry's domain.

'But Henry didn't choose the strongest design

'available at the time, nor even the latest fashion.

'Instead he consciously drew on the past

'to remind people of his noble ancestry,

'and his links back to rulers like William the Conqueror.'

The tower at Dover echoed the designs of the strongest kings.

This was a deliberate attempt by Henry to associate himself

with the castles and crowns of his predecessors.

There's more than a little Tower of London about it,

don't you think?

'Everything about Henry's castle at Dover

'was designed to create the right impression.

'This was a strictly-regulated world in which hierarchy was key.

'It affected every element of life in the castle.

'It was even designed into the fabric of the building.'

The King's guests didn't just knock on the front door,

but were invited to the throne room,

and they were taken through this door...

HE GRUNTS

..and up these stairs behind me.

They ascended to the seat of authority above them

in every sense.

In medieval life, the monarch travelled from castle to castle,

and wherever the King resided was said to be the throne of England.

The Tower at Dover has been furnished to reflect

what it might have looked like when Henry II was on the throne.

I could get used to this.

'Henry travelled with an entire household staff - hundreds of people

'divided into separate departments,

'each with their own area of responsibility.

'His arrival here must have been one of the spectacles of the age.

'At a time when mass communication was unheard of,

'the king had to be constantly on the move,

'maintaining his rule over every part of the country.

'Dover Castle became a crucial part of Henry's legacy -

'not just a symbol of strength,

'but a tool with which his successors could defend their crown.

'They were going to need it.'

We like to think of Britain as an island fortress.

We saw off the Armada, Napoleon and Hitler.

But here's an interesting fact for you.

We've actually been invaded successfully by sea

nine times since 1066.

And in the history of castles,

the most important of those happened in 1216,

when Prince Louis of France seized the throne.

'By this time, it was Henry's son John who was King.

'But he was so unpopular, he faced constant opposition.

'With the security their castles gave them,

'the barons had already taken the unprecedented step

'of forcing a monarch to sign an agreement

'restricting his authority - Magna Carta.

'When John began to break the terms of Magna Carta,

'it was the final straw.

'The barons invited one of their own,

'Prince Louis of France,

'to invade and seize the throne from John.'

It was Dover Castle that stood in Louis' way.

But this time the royal castles faced their biggest challenge yet -

a powerful combination of warrior barons and a foreign prince.

Dover presented a formidable obstacle,

and it gave Louis a dilemma - if left in his enemies' hands,

it could cut off his lines of supply across the Channel.

But a prolonged siege could hold up his progress.

'Louis' army surrounded the castle.

'His catapults flung rocks against the walls,

'but with little effect.

'His men, meanwhile, dug tunnels underneath the walls

'to try to bring them down.

'The only defence against this was counter-tunnels.'

Attackers and defenders dug furiously.

First, part of the wooden outer wall fell.

And then, far more significantly, one of the stone towers.

The castle walls were breached. Was victory in sight?

'Hand-to-hand combat ensued, but the well-drilled garrison

'were able to push back the attackers,

'and make good the breach.'

With stalemate re-established, Louis abandoned the siege at Dover.

'And ultimately his claim.'

'Louis returned to France defeated,

'but the siege of Dover marks one of the last times

'that a castle was able to play such an active part

'in defending the English Crown.

'In the uncertain times that followed,

'castles began to acquire a new purpose.

'John was succeeded by Henry III.

'His reign saw the creation

'of one of the most famous castles ever built,

'constructed by his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, around 1230.

'But its function was not a military one.'

In the heart of Cornwall, there is a castle of unique status.

Tintagel conjures more imagery in our mind

than any other castle in England.

'It was build by Richard, Earl of Cornwall,

'on what is said to have been the birthplace of King Arthur.

'Tintagel is a well-protected site -

'the name even means "the fort of the constriction".'

'Tintagel was once a very significant settlement.

There's a little harbour behind me here, which ships used to connect

Tintagel with distant waters as far afield as the Mediterranean.

In fact, if you dig down almost anywhere on this headland here,

you'll find treasures from all over the Mediterranean world.

I've got some of them here.

There's more fifth and sixth century pottery that's been found here

than anywhere else in the British Isles put together.

I particularly like this piece.

It's from Africa, and you can still feel

where the potter has pressed his fingers into the clay.

So, this was once a thriving settlement.

'But by Richard, Earl of Cornwall's day,

'all that was already far in the past.

'This land had no military value whatsoever.

'There hadn't been any fortifications here

'since the Iron Age.

'But the association with Arthur was to change all that.

'These ruins on a rocky headland exert a power

'far beyond their physical elements.

'For a character far more fiction that fact,

'Arthur holds an extraordinary fascination for us.'

It was the cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth

who had identified Tintagel as the birthplace of Arthur in the 1100s.

A French scholar later added the story of the Round Table,

round so that no knight could enjoy higher status than any other.

And later writers still added the story of the Holy Grail.

'Over the centuries, authors and artists would return

'again and again to the legend, adding their own ideas.

'Mallory's Morte D'Arthur, Tennyson's Idylls of the King,

'and image upon image of Camelot have fuelled imaginations everywhere

'to such an extent that this fictional character

'in an imaginary castle

'somehow became a living legend from our past.'

It's no wonder that dealing with Arthur has been described as

dealing with the history of the story of the legend.

'The man behind Tintagel Castle had been made Earl of Cornwall

'by his brother, Henry III.

'He came from the same Anglo-Norman elite.

'But he needed to be accepted by the Cornish

'to make it easier to assert his authority

'and, more importantly, collect his taxes.

'It seems that Richard, Earl of Cornwall,

'was so eager to link his fortunes with those of Arthur

'that he decided to build his very own Camelot.'

Richard decided that this was the exact spot

that Arthur was conceived.

Don't ask me how he knew.

And so the castle had to be built here. Just by the cliff's edge.

The ruins tell the story of its construction elegantly.

Richard built the outer walls first,

and then filled in this central area to make it level.

The only problem was that the walls started to fall towards the sea.

'If the castle was to be prevented from falling into the sea,

'something needed to be done.'

Hence these buttresses - they're not tied into the walls,

which suggests that they're a later addition.

And how did he build his walls?

Well, these holes give the answer.

They're known as putlogs,

because if you put a log in them,

you could then put a plank across as well, and create a platform.

And then, bit by bit, the walls would rise.

'But these are thin walls built from the local slate.

'Looking at them convinces me that this castle

'had no military value whatsoever.

'Tintagel's not a fortress, but a purely symbolic edifice.

'Looking at these evocative ruins,

'it seems little more than an expensive folly.'

And yet, Tintagel seems to have served its purpose.

The tin in Cornwall made Richard wealthy,

and he used that money to enhance his status at every opportunity.

He even bribed some German barons to elect him King of the Romans -

the first and only time

that an Englishman has held that title.

'But for Richard's brother, Henry III,

'faced with a barons' rebellion,

'castles were to prove a very different proposition -

'one that could threaten his very rule.

'The Second Barons' War would see The Earl of Leicester,

'Simon de Montfort, lead an putsch against the King.'

Although de Montfort had been defeated and killed

at the battle of Evesham,

in 1266, his supporters were locked in conflict

with the King here at Kenilworth.

'Outside, the King brought all the resources of the Crown

'to bear on the castle.

'Inside, the rebels stood firm.'

The siege lasted 172 days,

as the unruly warrior barons

took on the might of the Crown.

The castle was exceptionally well-defended.

It was surrounded by an artificial lake, or a mere.

There's nothing left of it now,

but these were once the largest-scale

defensive water features anywhere in the kingdom.

'With a garrison of 1,200,

'there were plenty of archers

'and crossbowmen to man the battlements.'

The best way to take such a castle

was to sit and wait for the occupants to run out of food.

But Henry was not just out for victory.

He needed to crush this opposition to his Crown.

Henry's army was one of the largest ever assembled

to lay siege to an English castle.

But things did not go to plan.

They managed to attach a tower to the walls,

but the subsequent attack failed when the tower was damaged.

Barges full of troops approached across the mere,

but they were repulsed, and plans to undermine the walls failed.

Even the latest heavy siege engines, eight in all,

firing stone missiles into the castle,

were unable to make a breakthrough.

But it was a fight that the king could not afford to lose.

Even after months of struggle, the two sides were locked in stalemate.

'With the military attack showing no signs of success,

'Henry adopted other tactics to try to bring about a victory.'

He brought a papal legate and two bishops to Kenilworth

to excommunicate the garrison within,

but the defenders simply dressed one of their own to look like the legate,

and excommunicated the Royal Army in return.

Two months into the siege,

Henry celebrated the Assumption of the Virgin Mary

with a feast costing the equivalent of £25,000

within plain sight of the castle walls -

just imagine the psychological impact on the starving defenders.

The garrison simply refused to surrender.

And what's more, the gates of the castle remained open

throughout the siege,

a permanent taunt to the attacking royalists.

The castle, once a hallmark of royal authority,

was threatening to become a symbol of its impotence.

'Henry never did get his crushing capitulation.

'Instead, he was forced to strike a deal.

'Although they were running out of food,

'the garrison was ready to fight to the last man.

'The siege only came to an end when Henry accepted

'that he would have to show leniency to the defenders

'if they were to give themselves up.'

Henry had his victory, but it was a hollow victory.

At 172 days, the siege of Kenilworth

is the longest to take place on English soil.

'The castle, the weapon that had spearheaded the conquest of England,

'had become a direct threat to the authority of the Crown.

'The castle had been pivotal

'to the successful invasion of England in 1066.

'From the outset, it had been part of William's plan.

'And as castles went on to secure the Norman takeover,

'they came to have a symbolic role.

'Castles shaped taste and culture,

'and even entered our mythology.

'But in building the castles that conquered this land,

'William unwittingly sowed the seeds of problems

'that these fortresses would cause for his successors.

'Kenilworth was just the latest in a long line of castles

'that were used to defy the Crown.'

'The role of the castle was becoming unclear.

'Were they now more of a liability than an asset?'

If castles would have a future

in the ever-changing conflicts and allegiances of the time,

they needed a new champion.

And the right man for the job was soon to inherit the throne.

'Next time - how Edward I took the castle

'to a new level of ruthlessness,

'and how the Welsh and the Scots paid the price.'