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0:00:53 > 0:00:58- There aren't many finer sights - than a splendid ruin...
0:00:58 > 0:01:00- ..slowly crumbling in the country.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03- This might be the perfect example...
0:01:03 > 0:01:07- ..in the grounds of Wimpole Hall, - near Cambridge.
0:01:07 > 0:01:12- The arched windows tell us - it could be an old monastery...
0:01:13 > 0:01:15- ..protected from - the world by its walls.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20- We can imagine - a monk looking out at us.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22- But there's one problem.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24- It's a folly...
0:01:24 > 0:01:29- ..built by a rich - landowner in 1769...
0:01:30 > 0:01:34- ..just to improve - the view on his estate.
0:01:35 > 0:01:41- There are follies like this on many - aristocratic estates in Britain.
0:01:42 > 0:01:48- The splendour of real - ruined abbeys inspired them.
0:01:48 > 0:01:54- But our interest in holy - ruins continues to this day.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00- Today, I'm going to try to discover - why they still appeal...
0:02:00 > 0:02:05- ..centuries after their role - as holy buildings ended.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11- This obsession with ruins - is a typically British trait.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16- Romantic ideas about architectural - marvels covered in ivy...
0:02:17 > 0:02:19- ..date back to the 18th century.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23- But the roots of this obsession - go back much further.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26- Is it nostalgia - for a long lost golden age?
0:02:27 > 0:02:29- Or is it something much deeper?
0:02:29 > 0:02:35- Whatever the reason, British ruins - are protected almost religiously.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49- My next stop is Valle Crucis Abbey - near Llangollen.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55- It was one of the last abbeys - founded in Wales...
0:02:55 > 0:02:58- ..and one of the most - intact ruins.
0:02:59 > 0:03:04- This room, where monks gathered - to hear readings from the Bible...
0:03:04 > 0:03:09- ..or to listen to the Abbot, - is as striking today as ever.
0:03:11 > 0:03:17- More than a hundred people lived - and worked here in its heyday.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21- The hospitality of the abbots - of Valle Crucis was praised...
0:03:22 > 0:03:25- ..by the greatest poets - of the Middle Ages.
0:03:25 > 0:03:30- It is said that the poet Guto'r - Glyn spent his final years here.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37- I've come to meet the poet - and dramatist Aled Jones Williams.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41- Why do ruins like this - appeal so much?
0:03:41 > 0:03:45- I'm sure it creates - a kind of nostalgia...
0:03:45 > 0:03:48- ..a rather pleasant nostalgia...
0:03:49 > 0:03:50- ..for the past.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54- There's something about them, - a certain presence.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57- What is this presence?
0:03:57 > 0:04:03- It's because the monks and - the place represented something.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08- That feeling of a presence - is still here, somehow.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14- Although something has died, - maybe some essence remains...
0:04:14 > 0:04:18- ..and some kind - of continuity, perhaps.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22- The ruins here - are more intact than most.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25- Does that change - our response to the place?
0:04:26 > 0:04:28- I must admit, part of me...
0:04:28 > 0:04:33- ..is disappointed that - it's as intact as it is.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38- Part of me wants it - to be more of a ruin.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40- Why is that?
0:04:40 > 0:04:42- Maybe less...
0:04:42 > 0:04:48- ..would mean that my imagination - could be more alert.
0:04:48 > 0:04:54- It doesn't take a lot for me - to recreate this in my imagination.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58- It's something to do - with the imagination...
0:04:59 > 0:05:04- ..and the imagination's vital role - in religion and inspiration.
0:05:05 > 0:05:10- Basically, we don't know - anything about God.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16- What has to happen is that - imagination comes into play...
0:05:16 > 0:05:18- ..in religion.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21- One has to reimagine something.
0:05:24 > 0:05:30- Places like this were important - symbols of faith in the past.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33- What do they symbolize now?
0:05:33 > 0:05:38- The key factor - is the need for a symbol.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42- Maybe we, as Welsh speakers...
0:05:43 > 0:05:46- ..are very lacking in symbols.
0:05:46 > 0:05:51- I think there's something - about Protestantism...
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- ..that has been detrimental to us.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58- It's all about the word, - words and verbosity.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01- Whereas here...
0:06:01 > 0:06:03- ..it's Catholicism.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- The essence of Catholicism...
0:06:06 > 0:06:10- ..are symbols and sacraments.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12- So coming to a place like this...
0:06:12 > 0:06:16- ..gives us that awareness again...
0:06:16 > 0:06:18- ..of our need for symbols.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21- For things you can touch...
0:06:22 > 0:06:25- ..for things you can see.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30- Perhaps a place like this - rekindles that feeling.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39- The Protestant Reformation - made Valle Crucis Abbey a ruin...
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- ..like all the abbeys - in Wales and England.
0:06:43 > 0:06:49- I'm going to St Andrews in Scotland, - an independent country at the time.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53- How did the Reformation - affect Scotland?
0:06:54 > 0:06:58- In the 16th century, - all over Britain...
0:06:58 > 0:07:03- ..the old Catholic beliefs were - replaced by the new Protestant ones.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08- There was no place for monks, - so the abbeys were dissolved.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12- Here in Scotland, - they went a step further...
0:07:12 > 0:07:14- ..and got rid of bishops too.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19- There was no place - for cathedrals like this any more.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25- It's even more surprising - to an outsider...
0:07:25 > 0:07:30- ..to discover that this cathedral - was dedicated to St Andrew...
0:07:31 > 0:07:37- ..called by Christ to be his first - apostle, near the Sea of Galilee.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41- It is said that a Greek monk - brought Andrew's bones here...
0:07:42 > 0:07:44- ..in the eighth century.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50- In time, Andrew became - the patron saint of Scotland.
0:07:50 > 0:07:56- With such a pedigree, one would have - thought this cathedral at least...
0:07:56 > 0:08:02- ..would have been safe from the - 16th century's religious changes.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04- But that's not how it was.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07- In 1559...
0:08:07 > 0:08:12- ..the Protestant reformer John Knox - gave a fiery sermon...
0:08:12 > 0:08:14- ..in a church nearby.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- The congregation was so inflamed...
0:08:17 > 0:08:24- ..they came to smash the statues and - symbols of Catholic worship here.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26- They didn't stop at that either.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30- This place hasn't gradually decayed.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36- It looked very much - like this as early as 1600.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40- It clearly shows - the destructive ferocity...
0:08:40 > 0:08:42- ..of the Protestant reformers.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48- In the following centuries, - in most of Britain...
0:08:48 > 0:08:53- ..much of the passion - that drove the Reformation waned.
0:08:53 > 0:09:00- The persecution of those who upheld - the old Catholic faith is long over.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05- But in parts of Scotland - the old antipathy lingered.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09- It intensified after - immigration from Ireland...
0:09:10 > 0:09:12- ..in the 19th century.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16- Religion has become part - of the cultural identity...
0:09:17 > 0:09:19- ..of different groups in Scotland...
0:09:19 > 0:09:23- ..although some symbols of - their separateness are very similar.
0:09:24 > 0:09:30- These are Protestant apprentices - marching through Glasgow.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35- Catholics in the city - have very similar bands too.
0:09:35 > 0:09:41- That's why St Andrew's cathedral - is comparatively overlooked...
0:09:41 > 0:09:46- ..in a quiet, public park - on the edge of town.
0:09:47 > 0:09:53- Because the church is dedicated - to such an important saint...
0:09:53 > 0:09:59- ..it surprises us that Scots - don't make more of these ruins.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02- Maybe that's more honest.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06- These ruins represent - a religious difference...
0:10:06 > 0:10:08- ..that's still significant here.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13- But it would be sad if they - represented a religious divide.
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0:10:19 > 0:10:19- Subtitles
0:10:19 > 0:10:21- Subtitles- - Subtitles
0:10:31 > 0:10:35- My journey to see - Britain's holy ruins continues.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38- And they're not rare...
0:10:38 > 0:10:42- ..after the dissolution - of the monasteries and abbeys...
0:10:43 > 0:10:48- ..in the wake of the Protestant - Reformation in the 16th century.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58- Another place perfectly expressing - the otherworldliness of ruins...
0:10:58 > 0:11:03- ..is here on the cliffs - above Whitby in North Yorkshire.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06- The Saxon abbey on this site...
0:11:06 > 0:11:10- ..was one of the most - important Christian centres...
0:11:10 > 0:11:12- ..in the early Middle Ages.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16- In the seventh century, - it was run...
0:11:16 > 0:11:22- ..by one of the most powerful women - in church history, St Hilda.
0:11:22 > 0:11:28- In her time, the first hymns - in English were written.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32- One could argue - that an abbey like this...
0:11:32 > 0:11:35- ..had just as much effect - on Britain's culture...
0:11:35 > 0:11:37- ..after it became a ruin.
0:11:37 > 0:11:43- Ruins were some of the things - that inspired the Gothic movement...
0:11:43 > 0:11:46- ..in architecture, - design and literature.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49- I've come to meet John Coates...
0:11:49 > 0:11:53- ..an expert in English - literary history...
0:11:53 > 0:11:58- ..to ask why ruins became - so popular in the 18th century.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03- It's hugely complicated, but I think - there are two key words really.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06- One is picturesque - and the other is sublime.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09- There's a man called - Rev William Gilpin.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12- He wrote three essays - on Picturesque Beauty.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16- He talks about the value of ruins - as a means of contemplation...
0:12:16 > 0:12:19- ..a means of spiritual - development and so on.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21- So that's the picturesque.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24- And the sublime, - which is connected with fear.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28- Great mountains, torrents, - dark places, ruins.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31- Anything that's got some element - of awe and strangeness about it.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34- That feeds very much - into the Gothic novel...
0:12:35 > 0:12:39- ..very often set in ruined - or half-ruined mansions.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42- Secret passages, dark chambers.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- Above all, secrets from the past.
0:12:47 > 0:12:52- One Gothic novel in particular - is associated with Whitby.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54- In the 1890s...
0:12:54 > 0:12:59- ..the author Bram Stoker - set his most famous book here...
0:12:59 > 0:13:01- ..Dracula.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06- Did the abbey ruins - influence the novel?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09- One of the things - that's very striking...
0:13:09 > 0:13:11- ..when Jonathan Harker - first meets Count Dracula...
0:13:12 > 0:13:15- ..is the pride that - he has in his own past.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19- He's a creature from the past. - The past has a kind of terror...
0:13:19 > 0:13:22- ..simply because - it's so strange and so alien.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26- I think that feeds into - the figure of Dracula himself.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30- It's hard to measure - the impact of Dracula...
0:13:30 > 0:13:32- ..on 20th century popular culture.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37- More than 170 Dracula films - have been produced...
0:13:37 > 0:13:42- ..not to mention all - the stories about vampires.
0:13:42 > 0:13:48- Who'd have thought those stories - would be linked to this place?
0:13:48 > 0:13:54- But the meaning of ruins - can be rewritten, as we've seen.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00- It's ironic that - the Protestant Reformation...
0:14:00 > 0:14:03- ..that was supposed to free us...
0:14:03 > 0:14:08- ..from our superstitious past - and dependence on relics...
0:14:08 > 0:14:12- ..created hundreds - of new architectural relics.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14- Holy places like this...
0:14:15 > 0:14:19- ..have perhaps come to mean - something slightly different now.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23- But they still draw - people as much as ever.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27- That manifested itself - in the Gothic tradition.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32- But that's only one aspect - of a much older history.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39- Maybe the 18th century - interest in ruins...
0:14:40 > 0:14:42- ..felt like a new idea at the time.
0:14:42 > 0:14:48- But actually, ruins fired our - imagination at a much earlier time.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54- To find evidence of this, - I'm going to South-East Wales.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03- This is Caerwent, one of Wales's - biggest towns in the Roman era.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07- It was an important - administrative centre.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11- Although these walls - are more than 1,700 years old...
0:15:11 > 0:15:13- ..they still evoke admiration.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18- They give us a strong indication - of the power of the Empire.
0:15:19 > 0:15:24- Caerwent was built - by the Romans in 75AD.
0:15:24 > 0:15:30- It's one of the foremost - Roman sites in Northern Europe.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38- These are the remains - of the temple in Caerwent.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42- When we think - of the Romans' spiritual lives...
0:15:42 > 0:15:47- ..we tend to think they worshipped - gods like Mars, Apollo and Venus.
0:15:47 > 0:15:52- We forget that the Roman - Empire was a Christian empire...
0:15:52 > 0:15:54- ..in its later years.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59- Temples like this might have - been adapted to be churches...
0:16:00 > 0:16:03- ..or more probably, left in ruins.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06- While excavating in Caerwent...
0:16:06 > 0:16:10- ..archaeologists found a bowl - with a Christian symbol on it...
0:16:11 > 0:16:13- ..dating back to 375.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19- This is the earliest existing - evidence of Christianity in Wales.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23- But soon after the bowl was made...
0:16:24 > 0:16:28- ..the society that used it - began to draw to an end.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32- After the Romans left - Britain in the 5th century...
0:16:32 > 0:16:37- ..buildings like this - started to decay.
0:16:38 > 0:16:42- In the 8th century, - a monk in England was inspired...
0:16:42 > 0:16:45- ..by the ruins - of a Roman town like this...
0:16:45 > 0:16:49- ..to write this poem, - in early English.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53- POEM IN OLD ENGLISH
0:16:54 > 0:16:58- "Amazing stone masonry, - fated to collapse
0:16:58 > 0:17:00- "Great walls fall
0:17:00 > 0:17:06- "Buildings erected by giants, - now rubble
0:17:06 > 0:17:08- "Their roofs fallen
0:17:08 > 0:17:10- "Their towers in ruin"
0:17:11 > 0:17:16- It's surprisingly similar - to the kind of thing...
0:17:16 > 0:17:21- ..Gothic authors wrote - about ruined abbeys centuries later.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24- History tends to repeat itself.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29- But the next place we visit - shows how we can learn from that.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39- These ruins in Coventry Cathedral...
0:17:39 > 0:17:42- ..are amongst the most - recent in Britain...
0:17:43 > 0:17:45- ..and therefore, the most powerful.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49- The bombing that - destroyed this building...
0:17:49 > 0:17:53- ..is still vivid in the memories - of Coventry's oldest citizens.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58- They also remember - all those who died.
0:17:58 > 0:18:04- More than 500 planes - attacked Coventry that night.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07- Four thousand homes were destroyed.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09- The city centre was demolished.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14- Five hundred and sixty eight - people were killed.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17- The cathedral was a shell.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20- Immediately after the massacre...
0:18:20 > 0:18:26- ..people called for reconciliation - and forgiveness, not revenge.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32- After the bombing, the cathedral - master mason saw two beams...
0:18:32 > 0:18:36- ..that had fallen - from the roof in the fire...
0:18:36 > 0:18:40- ..as it happened, - in the shape of a cross.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46- He placed them against this wall, - in a pile of rubble.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50- That cross can still be seen - in the cathedral today.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55- A local priest found - three mediaeval nails...
0:18:55 > 0:18:58- ..and fashioned them - into another cross.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04- That cross is on the altar - in the new cathedral today.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09- After the war, similar crosses - were made and sent to Dresden...
0:19:09 > 0:19:14- ..Kiel and Berlin, in an attempt - to reconcile with other cities...
0:19:14 > 0:19:17- ..that had suffered in the bombing.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31- Now, the Community Of The Cross - Of Nails is a global movement...
0:19:32 > 0:19:36- ..working in countries - affected by war.
0:19:41 > 0:19:46- When a new cathedral was going to be - built in Coventry after the war...
0:19:46 > 0:19:52- ..a decision was made to keep - the ruins of the old cathedral.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00- But this place - isn't only a monument.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02- The land is still consecrated.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07- The two parts, the old and new, - still form an entity.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12- The decision to keep the ruins - and continue worshipping here...
0:20:12 > 0:20:16- ..reminds us of the need - not only to remember the dead...
0:20:16 > 0:20:21- ..but also the need - to forgive continuously.
0:20:21 > 0:20:25- In a place like this, - our experience of ruins...
0:20:25 > 0:20:28- ..becomes much more - direct and personal.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37- Strata Florida in Ceredigion - is the last stop on my journey.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40- The place has always - been dear to me...
0:20:40 > 0:20:44- ..because many of my father's - family are buried here.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49- It was one of the most important - abbeys in Mediaeval Wales.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53- But after the Reformation, - it fell into ruin too...
0:20:53 > 0:20:58- ..until the 1860s, when the engineer - Stephen Williams came here...
0:20:58 > 0:21:03- ..when building the railway - between Aberystwyth and Carmarthen.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06- He was one of the first - to dig on the abbey site.
0:21:07 > 0:21:11- He hoped the place would - become a tourist attraction...
0:21:12 > 0:21:16- ..and create business for his - railway, but it was a vain dream.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18- This was a poor area.
0:21:18 > 0:21:24- Many more left the county - than came to visit it.
0:21:24 > 0:21:29- Ceredigion has been described - as the Ireland of Wales...
0:21:29 > 0:21:34- ..because so many had to leave - in the 19th and 20th centuries.
0:21:34 > 0:21:39- Some went to the South Wales - coalfield, others to the USA.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42- Most of my family went to London.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47- But the link - with Ceredigion remained.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51- Looking at the gravestones here...
0:21:51 > 0:21:56- ..we soon see how many people - were brought back to be buried.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00- Funeral services were held - on the platforms in Paddington.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- Welsh hymns resounded - under the station's huge roof...
0:22:05 > 0:22:08- ..before the coffin - was put on the train...
0:22:08 > 0:22:12- ..for the last journey - back to the country.
0:22:12 > 0:22:18- That's how so many - of those lying here returned...
0:22:18 > 0:22:23- ..including members - of my own family.
0:22:24 > 0:22:28- For me, the feeling of nostalgia - we get in every ruin...
0:22:29 > 0:22:33- ..is intermingled with - something more personal here.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40- In the history of every ruin, - there is separation, dispersal.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45- Maybe that's why a place - like this appeals so much to me...
0:22:45 > 0:22:47- ..as someone raised in London...
0:22:47 > 0:22:51- ..because our family too - is scattered.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54- But something still draws us back.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59- Maybe this is the secret of ruins.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04- Individual members of a family...
0:23:04 > 0:23:06- ..can come to us and leave us...
0:23:07 > 0:23:10- ..but the idea of family continues.
0:23:10 > 0:23:16- In the same way, although - the old abbey that stood here...
0:23:16 > 0:23:18- ..is now quietly crumbling...
0:23:18 > 0:23:24- ..the idea and faith - that upheld it, lasts.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27- Ideas don't die.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57- S4C Subtitles by Gwead
0:23:57 > 0:23:58- .