0:00:26 > 0:00:30This is one of the most iconic places on Britain's coastline -
0:00:30 > 0:00:32the great Norman castle of Bamburgh -
0:00:32 > 0:00:37but we're also in the heart of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44This castle was at its most powerful before there was even an England.
0:00:44 > 0:00:51During the time of the Anglo Saxons, Angleland, as it was then known,
0:00:51 > 0:00:55was divided up into seven major kingdoms,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59of which Northumbria was the most powerful.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08The 6th-century kings of Northumbria chose this rock to be their capital.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10And what a rock!
0:01:10 > 0:01:17The huge basalt crag that Bamburgh Castle stands on was chosen for its commanding position.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21Connected to the sea by a natural harbour,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24it was visible along the coast for miles.
0:01:24 > 0:01:31For the last two years, Graham Young has been exploring beneath its magnificent facade.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35Graham, I can look around and see all these lumps of masonry,
0:01:35 > 0:01:37- but presumably these are Norman or later?- Yes.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42The majority of the standing structure is the last 1,000 years.
0:01:42 > 0:01:43So where's the Saxon?
0:01:43 > 0:01:45Well, under the ground.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49We know it's here because it's written about in documentary evidence.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54We've been excavating. We have a number of Anglo-Saxon features at this level.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57There are pits and post-holes and so forth.
0:01:57 > 0:02:03The evidence is that when we stop seeing pottery, we're getting back into the first millennium AD.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Our prime dating evidence is the absence of things.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08- What about this wall...? I presume it's a wall?- It is.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12It's a rubble foundation to what is a massive timber structure,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14probably part of the gate complex.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21The first documentary evidence of a fortress here is in the year 547
0:02:21 > 0:02:25and Graham's find may well date back to that time.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30The reason that there's so little of that Anglo-Saxon fortress left
0:02:30 > 0:02:33is that after pillaging Lindisfarne,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36the Vikings hit Bamburgh.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38In the year 993,
0:02:38 > 0:02:42the original fortress was razed to the ground.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46But it wasn't a ruin for long.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51William the Conqueror's forces arrived in England in 1066,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55and within 50 years, they had made Bamburgh Castle great again.
0:02:55 > 0:03:01That it's in such good condition today, nearly 1,000 years later,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05is not quite as surprising as it first appears.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14This may seem to be the quintessential mediaeval castle,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18but the only really genuine bit is this Norman keep.
0:03:18 > 0:03:24Most of the rest was rebuilt by the 19th-century industrialist, Lord Armstrong,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26as a fairy-tale castle,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30and that's this castle's secret.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33Because, despite its outward appearance,
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Bamburgh was last used in anger over 500 years ago.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Attacked during the War of the Roses,
0:03:41 > 0:03:46it soon fell into ruins and has never regained its powerful status.
0:03:46 > 0:03:53Its final abandonment by James I reflects the decline in this area's fortunes
0:03:53 > 0:03:55at the beginning of the 17th century
0:03:55 > 0:04:01as the political importance of the border regions ebbed away.