0:00:50 > 0:00:52TOOT-TOOT!
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Some years ago, I met the gentleman who owns this engine.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03He lives in a castle,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06and he invited me to have a look at it.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09It's not a proper castle,
0:01:09 > 0:01:13it's a country house built to look like a castle,
0:01:13 > 0:01:16with battlements and everything.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19But it's never been under siege.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22'Its owner is James Harvey Bathurst.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27'We got friendly because he's a traction engine enthusiast
0:01:27 > 0:01:29'and a railway enthusiast.'
0:01:29 > 0:01:31That's happened to me.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35'I helped him restore one of his engines, Atlas,
0:01:35 > 0:01:39'which once resided in Manchester,
0:01:39 > 0:01:44'but now it lives here, on the forecourt of Eastnor Castle.'
0:01:45 > 0:01:47Here we are in the Great Hall,
0:01:47 > 0:01:52but it looks a lot more comfy than a proper castle.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Castles are cold, draughty places,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and this is lovely and comfortable.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03James, the owner, will tell us all about it, and how it all came about.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06It's a bit surprising, isn't it?
0:02:06 > 0:02:09It does look like a castle from a distance,
0:02:09 > 0:02:13and, in 1800, people were looking back to medieval times.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16My family had been here 200 years
0:02:16 > 0:02:19and, to show they were a really old family,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22they wanted an impressive building.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27Revival castles - this one's Norman revival - seemed to be the fashion.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31It's the sheer size of this room to impress people, eh?
0:02:31 > 0:02:35It's incredibly impressive, yes.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39So this pretend castle was never put to the test in war.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Real castles had a serious purpose.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48They were built to keep attacking armies out.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00So how did something so functional
0:03:00 > 0:03:02turn into something as ornate as this?
0:03:02 > 0:03:04BELL TOLLS
0:03:07 > 0:03:12In this series, we'll be looking at how and why things were built,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14what materials and tools were used,
0:03:14 > 0:03:16and how buildings
0:03:16 > 0:03:20were adapted to meet changing needs.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24We'll visit some of my favourite castles,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26cathedrals and great houses,
0:03:26 > 0:03:32as well as bridges, tunnels, and other great engineering marvels,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35all different in style and purpose.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38But what they have in common for me
0:03:38 > 0:03:42is the craft skills involved in designing,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44building and decorating them.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52From some of our most mysterious and ancient monuments
0:03:52 > 0:03:58to a shiny, futuristic structure like the Lloyds Building in London,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02the skills of architects and builders are there to be seen.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07But I'm starting off by going to see something very simple.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Man's most basic need was to defend himself,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16and our earliest constructions
0:04:16 > 0:04:20were earthworks like the banks and ditches
0:04:20 > 0:04:23surrounding Old Sarum in Wiltshire.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27These huge earthworks were built in the Iron Age,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30you know, 500 years BC.
0:04:30 > 0:04:36It defies all wonder when you think they had no machinery, you know.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40It were built by basic tools and muscle power.
0:04:40 > 0:04:45When you think, to get up there where the defenders were,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48you'd to come up this banking over here
0:04:48 > 0:04:54with whatever you were going to throw at 'em... You'd be knackered!
0:04:54 > 0:04:57Then you've to descend into the valley,
0:04:57 > 0:05:01with men up there throwing rocks at you,
0:05:01 > 0:05:06and attempt to get up. It must have been a pretty...
0:05:06 > 0:05:08you know, impossible place to take.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12And when you think, all that time ago, you know...
0:05:12 > 0:05:16Like the forerunner of a castle.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20But it was all pretty basic.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24To see real engineering skills on a truly grand scale,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27you have to wait for the Romans.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30When the Romans came to Britain,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34they brought more complex building techniques
0:05:34 > 0:05:36than we'd ever had before, you know.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Hadrian's Wall is the biggest monument they left behind for us.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44It stretches across northern England
0:05:44 > 0:05:48from Bowness on the Solway Firth to Wallsend.
0:05:51 > 0:05:55Its purpose was to stop marauding Scots crossing the border,
0:05:55 > 0:05:58or as Hadrian put it,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02to stop the barbarians getting towards the Romans.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Work started in 122AD,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08and it took six years to build.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10They worked bloody hard, you know.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13It's an amazing piece of work.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18You can't help but notice how the quality varies
0:06:18 > 0:06:21as you go from area to area.
0:06:21 > 0:06:27In places, it follows the contours of the land, and other places, it's level,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31as though that section had some sort of levelling gear.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Of all the forts along Hadrian's Wall,
0:06:38 > 0:06:45Housesteads is one of the best preserved, with examples of nearly everything:
0:06:45 > 0:06:50the governor's house, the granary, the latrines.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57This is rather a splendid pillar
0:06:57 > 0:07:02that I think once upon a time must have supported two arches
0:07:02 > 0:07:06in what's left of the northern gateway.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Beautiful chisel marks still here...
0:07:08 > 0:07:13It's amazing after all these years, all these centuries.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15These two towers, one on each side,
0:07:15 > 0:07:20the far one were once the guard room, I've heard tell.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Judging by the thickness of the walls,
0:07:23 > 0:07:27it must have been maybe 30 or 40 feet high.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Quite a nice bit of building...
0:07:30 > 0:07:34No wonder, really, that it's lasted so long.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39If it were so well built, why is so little of it left today?
0:07:39 > 0:07:43Well, when the Romans left in about 400AD,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47the wall was abandoned, and people nicked bits of stone
0:07:47 > 0:07:51to build walls, farms, even churches and abbeys.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54But even from what's left today,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58you can see how it was built, if you look carefully.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01This is one of the highlights
0:08:01 > 0:08:03of the whole fort,
0:08:03 > 0:08:08the communal bathtub, and the communal toilets, or latrines.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13It's rather ingenious how they kept the water in it, you know.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17They chiselled grooves down the ends of each stone,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19and poured molten lead down,
0:08:19 > 0:08:23and then of course they'd caulk it up,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27rather like they'd caulk the planks in t'deck of a ship.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31The water from the bath came out here
0:08:31 > 0:08:34and was channelled into the latrines.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38It came round here, dripped into this trough,
0:08:38 > 0:08:42than ran the full length of the toilets,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44and back this way,
0:08:44 > 0:08:49back into the main channel that took away all the effluent.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54The reason for the trough were that while you sat on the thunderbox,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56you washed your sponge in the water,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59and when you'd done that,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03these sinks, the rectangular one and the round 'un,
0:09:03 > 0:09:05were where they washed their hands.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09What became of the sponges, I don't know,
0:09:09 > 0:09:14because all the actual planking with the holes in's all gone.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21I suppose it ran down the hill where the sheep are.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25It must have been a bit stinky down there.
0:09:25 > 0:09:29What's interesting is how they kept the water in the bath.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Right, that's it.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37At Housesteads Fort,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40the Roman baths...
0:09:40 > 0:09:44The way they had of keeping water in 'em, you know -
0:09:44 > 0:09:47as the stone flags came end to end,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50they actually cut a groove down the middle,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53and poured molten lead in,
0:09:53 > 0:09:55like I've just done.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58They would maybe have had to build
0:09:58 > 0:10:00a pile of stones up at each side,
0:10:00 > 0:10:06with clay behind to stop the molten lead shoving the clay out, you see.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09I'm lucky. I've got a moulding box,
0:10:09 > 0:10:13and sand on each side, which has the same effect.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17I'll now dismantle the moulding box and shift the sand,
0:10:17 > 0:10:20and we'll be able to see er...
0:10:21 > 0:10:26just how well the lead is all the way down in the joint.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28Now, if we...
0:10:28 > 0:10:33If you imagine that these things were three feet deep,
0:10:33 > 0:10:37the diamond-shaped slot in the middle
0:10:37 > 0:10:41would stop the flagstones moving in either direction.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Blooming heck! It's stuck, believe it or not!
0:10:47 > 0:10:52I didn't expect that. I didn't think it would have done that.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Erm... You know, I mean, really,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59if it were caulked, it'd be watertight.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04I think I'll go and build a Roman bath now! Quite good, that.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Hadrian's Wall only saw active service for 300 years.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20Dover Castle, one of Europe's strongest fortresses,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22saw action from the Iron Age
0:11:22 > 0:11:24up till the atomic age, almost.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Ken, who's the general manager,
0:11:27 > 0:11:32is going to tell me why it's such a strategic and important spot.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34We're high up. That's a good start.
0:11:34 > 0:11:40The reason why it's so important is out there. You can just see France,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44they can see us, and that means they want to invade.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49This place is here to protect this country from invasion.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51Just in case Mr Bonaparte set sail.
0:11:51 > 0:11:57Everyone landed here. It's a natural harbour, the cliffs are steep,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00and it's the only place you can land.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04It probably all started with an Iron Age fort.
0:12:04 > 0:12:10On top of that, the Romans built a lighthouse. They landed nearby,
0:12:10 > 0:12:13wanting to invade and go on from there.
0:12:13 > 0:12:19Iron Age fort, Roman lighthouse, a Norman keep, both World Wars...
0:12:19 > 0:12:21It covers the whole of history.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24The 12th-C keep was built by Henry II,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27and with a few modifications,
0:12:27 > 0:12:31it retained a military role
0:12:31 > 0:12:33right up to 1945.
0:12:33 > 0:12:40'Henry made Dover into one of the most powerful medieval castles. Its great strength
0:12:40 > 0:12:46'was due to the successive rings of defensive walls protecting the keep.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48This is the last line of defence.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53To get to the keep from here, you have to cross a drawbridge
0:12:53 > 0:12:59to get to the inner bailey, which has a wall, then there's the outer bailey.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04The ditches on both sides go all the way down to the cliffs,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07which are fairly impregnable anyway.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09It's a 300-foot sheer drop.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14This is the highest point, so 300ft of cliffs, and we're about 90ft up.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17You get a good view.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19You can see France very well.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24And from across that narrow strip of water came the greatest threats,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28so Dover Castle was heavily fortified,
0:13:28 > 0:13:30and barracks were built.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35In the late 18th C, when Britain was at war with France,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38conditions here became overcrowded,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41so the Royal Engineers brought in miners
0:13:41 > 0:13:44who tunnelled into the cliffs
0:13:44 > 0:13:48to create underground barracks for over 2,000 men.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, they were very little used.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58This is the Napoleonic staircase. It's a double helix.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03That means there's two staircases, one on top of the other.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08There's a triple one the other side of the hill for Western Heights.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13'And just before the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939,
0:14:13 > 0:14:17'they were turned into a bomb-proof command headquarters.'
0:14:17 > 0:14:20It's very interesting down here.
0:14:20 > 0:14:25This is the command centre for the coastal artillery.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27Each of the tunnels
0:14:27 > 0:14:29had its own use by different people.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Next door was the Navy, with Admiral Ramsay.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37Coastal Artillery were here, but the guns and radar
0:14:37 > 0:14:40were all controlled from here.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43And the gentleman who planned Dunkirk,
0:14:43 > 0:14:49somewhere in these tunnels he had his little hideaway.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54The next long tunnel along is the Navy's tunnel,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56That's where Vice Admiral Ramsay,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00who was initially looking after the Dover patrol,
0:15:00 > 0:15:04the Channel and the ships going through there...
0:15:04 > 0:15:09He masterminded the evacuation of Dunkirk.
0:15:09 > 0:15:13Altogether, 338,000 men were evacuated from Dunkirk,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16and over 800 ships brought them back
0:15:16 > 0:15:19to the safety of Dover.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26This is the balcony for the secret tunnels.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29All other railings in World War II
0:15:29 > 0:15:35were melted down for guns, but there are pictures of Ramsay and Churchill
0:15:35 > 0:15:39and the King coming here to observe France.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44They could see the war happening. If there was something coming over,
0:15:44 > 0:15:49they nipped back into the tunnel and were safe.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59What makes Dover so important is its location,
0:15:59 > 0:16:02and the places castles were built
0:16:02 > 0:16:06were usually determined by geographical features.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09The best example is in Scotland,
0:16:09 > 0:16:14so I went up to Edinburgh to see Scotland's most famous castle.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21Edinburgh Castle stands on the sheer crag of Castle Rock,
0:16:21 > 0:16:26the core of an extinct volcano. It rises 435 feet above sea level,
0:16:26 > 0:16:30and it's a pretty formidable natural defence.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34You couldn't build a castle on better foundations,
0:16:34 > 0:16:39and so high up, that's what's interesting, on top of this volcano.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Even now, when you're down in t'town and look up,
0:16:43 > 0:16:47with all these escarpments chiselled on the edge of the rock,
0:16:47 > 0:16:50it looks a hell of a long way up.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55What it must have looked like when just this bit was stuck on top...
0:16:55 > 0:17:01I can imagine the enemy turning up, and saying, "Sod it! We'll go."
0:17:05 > 0:17:10In the 15th and 16th centuries, this was a royal palace,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13and it became a symbol of royal power.
0:17:13 > 0:17:19And even today, Edinburgh is more than just an historic monument.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22It still has symbolic significance,
0:17:22 > 0:17:28and that's why the Scottish National War Memorial is here.
0:17:28 > 0:17:34The impressive building behind me, the Scottish National War Memorial,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37is one of the most recently built.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39I've seen a few war memorials
0:17:39 > 0:17:43but, believe me, this one takes some licking.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Inside this war memorial is this magnificent bronze
0:17:52 > 0:17:57that depicts every aspect of the 1914 War, you know,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00from nurses to tank regiments,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04artillery, flying-machine men, the lot.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10The whole lot of this bronze were first carved in wood
0:18:10 > 0:18:13by Alice and Morris Meredith-Williams.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Must have been Welsh.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18And after it had been carved in wood,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22it went to the foundry to be used as a pattern
0:18:22 > 0:18:24to cast the bronze.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28It certainly captured the sadness of it all.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31There's nobody smiling, you know,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35in any of the faces, and it's all very sad.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Inside this iron casket
0:18:41 > 0:18:45are the names of 150,000 Scots men and women
0:18:45 > 0:18:48who died in the First World War.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54BAGPIPE MARCH
0:18:58 > 0:19:02Military tradition and pageantry are still strong here.
0:19:02 > 0:19:07I've seen the Tattoo on TV and been impressed. On my visit,
0:19:07 > 0:19:12I had an appointment with a man who keeps another tradition going.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54- That were exciting. Hello, Tam. How are you doing?- Very well.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58This is Tam the Gun, and every day for the last 21 years
0:19:58 > 0:20:01he's done that. Why do you do it?
0:20:01 > 0:20:07It dates from 1861, Fred. They started it for shipping in the Forth
0:20:07 > 0:20:11- so ships' captains could set their chronometers.- It's a lovely gun.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15Actually, it was designed in 1936,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18put into production in 1939,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and it's been going strong ever since.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26I found it exhilarating, the build-up to one o'clock.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30It were like when we're knocking a big chimney down,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33the same exciting feeling, you know.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37- Give it a good welly, Fred. - Will do! I'll do that.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41CLANG!
0:20:41 > 0:20:43You can imagine that in 1914!
0:20:44 > 0:20:47- Did you enjoy that?- Yeah!- Good.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51People have them by t'fireplace
0:20:51 > 0:20:55- as poker stands.- Do they? THEY BOTH LAUGH
0:20:56 > 0:21:00From ceremony and pageantry in Scotland,
0:21:00 > 0:21:05I went to Wales to see an awesome symbol of military domination.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11Conwy is a classic example of the invincible medieval castle.
0:21:11 > 0:21:17Edward I was by far our greatest castle builder, and his memorial
0:21:17 > 0:21:22is the great chain of eight great stone fortresses
0:21:22 > 0:21:26he built in north Wales in the space of 25 years.
0:21:26 > 0:21:31It was the greatest feat of royal building in British history.
0:21:31 > 0:21:35The castles were a symbol of Edward's power,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39an ultimate weapon against any threat of a Welsh uprising.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44Their defences needed to be very sophisticated,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48so, to carry out the work, Edward employed a Frenchman,
0:21:48 > 0:21:53James of St George, the greatest military architect of his age.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57And in these outposts of English power,
0:21:57 > 0:22:01the art of castle building reached its peak.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04They were all built to withstand
0:22:04 > 0:22:09any pounding from any siege weapon that had been devised at the time,
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and made any form of attack difficult and dangerous.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16There are eight main towers,
0:22:16 > 0:22:23but the four more smaller towers at this end were the king's quarters.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27The only way in... It's really two halves.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30The only way into the king's quarters
0:22:30 > 0:22:36were by battling through the main body of the castle, or by sea.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41As you can see, it would have been a heck of a job scaling the walls,
0:22:41 > 0:22:45especially with people pouring boiling tar on you,
0:22:45 > 0:22:48throwing all sorts of stuff, bows and arrows.
0:22:48 > 0:22:55It's not as if you could dig under it. It's all based on solid rock.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58It's a piece of monumental engineering,
0:22:58 > 0:23:04a massive achievement for its time, and when you look closely
0:23:04 > 0:23:09at the walls and towers, you get some clues as to how it was built.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13That's a big stone, that.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Apparently, when they built these castles,
0:23:17 > 0:23:24in-between the flat, level decks of scaffolding, they had these inclined planes
0:23:24 > 0:23:28they dragged the rocks up. So it's odd,
0:23:28 > 0:23:31when you study castles and look at 'em,
0:23:31 > 0:23:34some appear to have no putlog holes.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37That's these little black holes
0:23:37 > 0:23:42where a piece of timber, a short length called a putlog, went in.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Tied to the end were fir poles,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48or tree trunks, for want of a better name,
0:23:48 > 0:23:54and of course lashed with rope, and the planks rested on the putlogs.
0:23:54 > 0:24:00They sawed them off as they went back down, and then most castles
0:24:00 > 0:24:03were cement-rendered and lime-washed.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07You can imagine the rendering over a bit of wood,
0:24:07 > 0:24:09and 500 years later the wood rots.
0:24:09 > 0:24:15Some of them look like currant cake, there's so many putlog holes in 'em.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24But what was it like to attack one of these places?
0:24:24 > 0:24:29I went to Warwick for a practical demonstration.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35Tell us a bit about....
0:24:35 > 0:24:39- how you'd get in here. - Well, Master Frederick,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42you're well within archer range.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Below 200 yards, you're taking your life in your hands.
0:24:46 > 0:24:51Look across the crenellations at the top of the castle.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55I have my men positioned in each of the archer loops
0:24:55 > 0:25:00to look down on anyone attacking the gateway.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02Once we got to the drawbridge...
0:25:02 > 0:25:06Presumably they had something to shelter behind,
0:25:06 > 0:25:09while we started work on it.
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Once you'd got to the portcullis, it'd be a bit tough even then.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17It's the castle's strongest point,
0:25:17 > 0:25:22this barbican. You'd almost be insane to attack here.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26If you got this far, you'd look like a pincushion!
0:25:29 > 0:25:34Right, Master Frederick. We're in the barbican itself,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38and assuming the enemy had made it through the mighty oaken doors
0:25:38 > 0:25:42that rest upon these hinges there...
0:25:42 > 0:25:46While they're trying to batter through those,
0:25:46 > 0:25:51look up, and you're below murder holes, from which in the floor above
0:25:51 > 0:25:58people could pour boiling sand, or quicklime, or burning oil onto the attackers.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02But once you're through THIS portcullis,
0:26:02 > 0:26:04doorways surround this bottom level!
0:26:04 > 0:26:06YELLING
0:26:23 > 0:26:25I didn't like THAT.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Bloody hell!
0:26:29 > 0:26:32The Middle Ages were turbulent times,
0:26:32 > 0:26:36but most castles last saw real action
0:26:36 > 0:26:40at the end of the Civil War.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44Many of them became palaces and stately homes.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48Warwick is a good example of how they changed.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52It's one of the finest medieval castles in England,
0:26:52 > 0:26:57but within its walls is a magnificent country house.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02By the 1890s, it was a favourite retreat
0:27:02 > 0:27:06for some of the most important figures in Victorian society.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10In some of the castle's rooms
0:27:10 > 0:27:15is a re-creation of a house party including a young Winston Churchill.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21This is really my period, you know,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23the beauty and splendour of it all.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27I'd like to have been a maintenance man here,
0:27:27 > 0:27:32coming to work every morning and fettling bits of furniture.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35I believe you've got a squeaky caster.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38Ah, Dibnah. Remove your cap, please.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Thank you.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44I think there's something wrong with this caster.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Excuse me, Mr Churchill,
0:27:48 > 0:27:51while I fettle this here table leg.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13Subtitles by Paul Murray, ITFC, for BBC Subtitling - 2000
0:28:13 > 0:28:16E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk