0:00:02 > 0:00:06I'm hanging off the side of Lincoln Cathedral because I'm on a Gothic adventure
0:00:06 > 0:00:09to see how a group of medieval masons created a building of such wonder
0:00:09 > 0:00:17that it defined English architecture for the rest of the Middle Ages. This is Climbing Great Buildings.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Throughout this series, I'll be scaling our most iconic structures,
0:00:20 > 0:00:23from the Normans to the present day.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27I'll reveal the building secrets and tell the story of how British architecture
0:00:27 > 0:00:30and construction developed over 1,000 years.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42The next step on my journey through the evolution of British architecture brings me here,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46to Lincoln Cathedral, built from 1185.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50it's one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Britain.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55In order to reveal the secrets and technological advances medieval architects made
0:00:55 > 0:00:57in constructing this Gothic masterpiece,
0:00:57 > 0:01:04I've been given unprecedented access, to get a perspective of the building never seen before.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10I'll be dangling 70 feet in the air to get a view of Lincoln's revolutionary vaulted ceilings.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14Sliding across the cathedral to get a unique view of a medieval stained glass masterpiece.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17I bet only a few people have ever been up here.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21And I'll be scaling the colossal central tower.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25All 272 feet of it.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27But I won't be going it alone.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32One of Britain's top climbers, Lucy Creamer,
0:01:32 > 0:01:36and a team of riggers, along with my fearless cameraman Ian Burton,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38will be helping me on my Gothic quest.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39Oh, my Lord!
0:01:54 > 0:01:56It's a sight for sore eyes, isn't it?
0:01:56 > 0:02:00And a climb for sore legs!
0:02:00 > 0:02:02So, we're moving on from Durham, Luce.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05And we're looking for the 13th century now.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09And behind that great facade lives a glorious cathedral.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13Begun in the closing years of the 12th century.
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Carried on through the 13th.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18And so there's a great evolution of early Gothic building in Britain.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21And I want to get up close and personal with it.
0:02:21 > 0:02:24- Shall we do it? - Let's do it.- We're off.- OK.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31The present cathedral stands on the site of a Norman cathedral,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34most of which suddenly collapsed in 1185.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39This huge western entrance front of Lincoln is quite daunting at first,
0:02:39 > 0:02:43but you can break it down into simpler elements.
0:02:43 > 0:02:49That bare stone with the round arches that's so typical of Norman work was built as a fort-like block
0:02:49 > 0:02:53by Remigius, the first bishop here from 1072,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57scared of the Anglo-Saxon rebels so soon after the Norman conquest.
0:02:57 > 0:03:03And around that are tiers of pointed arches which make a screen-like triumphal entrance.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08They were put there in the 13th century. And the towers were topped off into the 14th century.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10So several hundred years of building here.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14But behind that complex facade is something altogether more simple.
0:03:14 > 0:03:20It is one of the most harmonious and complete 13th century cathedrals in England.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Lincoln Cathedral is a phenomenal place.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47You walk in and you see this great, long perspective of arches marching off into the distance.
0:03:47 > 0:03:54With this bower, forest-like arrangement of ribs over your head.
0:03:54 > 0:04:00We're surrounded by a broad, light space which is gloriously intricate in its details.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02It salves the soul, but it engages the intellect.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06If this is heaven on earth, then it's the best rendition I've seen.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09You can only wonder what the people of Lincoln thought
0:04:09 > 0:04:12when they saw this giant, beautiful thing rising...
0:04:12 > 0:04:14into the sky.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27The pointed arch is the most obvious signature of the Gothic building style,
0:04:27 > 0:04:32which largely evolved in France. It was here Lincoln that the rich English Gothic style was fully
0:04:32 > 0:04:35developed and it gave us this wonderfully vast space here in the nave,
0:04:35 > 0:04:39which is the main body of the cathedral. In my first climb,
0:04:39 > 0:04:45I'm going to get up close to see the intricate stonework of the arches and the pillars that support
0:04:45 > 0:04:48them, that allowed the masons to create such an outstanding space.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54- This cathedral is fascinating. Love it.- Yeah, it's great.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59It's really inventive. See the way these pillars...
0:04:59 > 0:05:04You remember at Durham, they were big round things. Here, look, they're all delightful shapes,
0:05:04 > 0:05:07weaving in and out under this dark Purbeck marble.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12- But every one of them's different. - I love your enthusiasm about pillars.- Yeah!
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Abandoning Norman round arches in favour of pointed arches added strength,
0:05:19 > 0:05:23allowing for greater spans, larger windows and more light.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26It also opened the floodgates for experimentation.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35What I really want to see up there is those arches that these
0:05:35 > 0:05:40inventive pillars carry - they're incredibly complex.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43All I see is just line after line after line.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45I want to get close and see in fact what that is.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48- Show me how it's done, madam.- OK.
0:05:48 > 0:05:53These pillars carry perfect examples of early English Gothic arches.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55Pretty good view from up here.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00It took intricate moulds and skilful craftsmanship to enable the masons to produce them.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Now, in order for an English mason to make an arch like this,
0:06:06 > 0:06:12I'm going to draw the kind of shaped template that a master mason would have needed to give him.
0:06:12 > 0:06:17So we're talking about a piece of metal cut in a particular shape
0:06:17 > 0:06:21that has to be set on a stone, the stone then is cut into that profile,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24but of course this isn't just one stone. From here
0:06:24 > 0:06:27into maybe there is one stone, then there's another one.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Both incredibly complex, but very refined and simple.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Look at that! It's crazy. It's like taking a line for a walk.
0:06:35 > 0:06:41Incredibly complex, amazingly expensive, because investment of craftsmanship is enormous.
0:06:47 > 0:06:52It needed someone of extraordinary charisma to drive the construction of this great cathedral.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56And the man tasked with the job was a Frenchman, St Hugh of Avalon.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00Nicholas, where was St Hugh from?
0:07:00 > 0:07:04He came from Burgundy. His father was an aristocrat.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08The timing was odd because Lincoln Cathedral wasn't in the best condition.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12That's right. He arrived and found the cathedral in ruins.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15As a result of whatever it was, Roger of Howden says an earthquake,
0:07:15 > 0:07:19clearly there'd have been a major collapse of the structure
0:07:19 > 0:07:21and a major challenge for a new bishop.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Good man, right attitude. Sees a new cathedral as an opportunity, so how does he set about it?
0:07:26 > 0:07:31By ensuring there was going to be the money available to pay for the whole project
0:07:31 > 0:07:37and I think that's particularly where his contribution lay, because the people were convinced that
0:07:37 > 0:07:42by helping to rebuild the cathedral, they were securing the safety of their souls in the afterlife.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44And that was a very strong motivation.
0:07:44 > 0:07:51So, Lincoln, with its wonderful east end, its inventive architecture, the fact that frankly it stands at all
0:07:51 > 0:07:56- is ultimately due to this one man? - Without him, it certainly wouldn't have been achieved.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06St Hugh inspired and raised the money for this architectural wonder.
0:08:06 > 0:08:13I want to have a look at one of the cathedral's most inventive features. The vaulted ceiling.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18In order to do this, Lucy and the riggers have put together something that looks pretty daunting.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23- Right, give it a little pull down. See how it tightens up?- Yeah.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26I'm walking along something called a slack line.
0:08:26 > 0:08:31- Oh, boy!- Is that fun?- Yeah. - Do a little dance up and down.- No.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Actually, you can't help but dance.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37Stable as a horse's bedroom.
0:08:37 > 0:08:45This will enable me to see the cathedral from angles few people will ever have experienced.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47What you see, actually, when you're here
0:08:47 > 0:08:50in this position, you get quite close up to
0:08:50 > 0:08:53another of Lincoln's novelties.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55It's called a tierceron.
0:08:55 > 0:09:01And it's a little rib that comes up from one of the central bosses, so it makes a cross-shape
0:09:01 > 0:09:06and the beauty of the tierceron is that it's totally unnecessary.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09It is making a pattern for pattern's sake.
0:09:09 > 0:09:16And it leads in England to a spate of vault design which gets ever more complex and ever more wonderful,
0:09:16 > 0:09:23to the extent that after a while, when you get to Gloucester in the early 14th century, it looks like
0:09:23 > 0:09:26someone's thrown a fishing net over the ceiling. Incredible complexity.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Here is where it really starts.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41The complex vaulting is a key new invention seen here at Lincoln Cathedral.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44But what supports this massive stonework?
0:09:45 > 0:09:47I'm off to the roof to find out.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52At Durham Cathedral, we saw the birth of the flying buttress,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55hidden under the roof of the triforium.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58At Lincoln there are still some arches doing some bracing.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03But I've come up onto the roof on the south side of the nave to see what's above it. There we are.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09Properly, truly, flying buttresses. Now the French made a speciality of these because they built higher
0:10:09 > 0:10:14and more slender in proportion than English cathedrals came to be.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17We love long, Norman cathedrals and Lincoln builds on that as a theme.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21So we don't build as high, but we do build wide.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23That's what these things are doing,
0:10:23 > 0:10:30offering an extra level of bracing for broad, spacious, beautiful vaults over the nave.
0:10:30 > 0:10:32Bit of technological wonder.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36CATHEDRAL BELL CHIMES
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Here at Lincoln, the buttresses are intentionally left exposed
0:10:40 > 0:10:45to create a web of stonework that's intended to disguise the solidity of the structure.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Giving the impression that the cathedral is being suspended from heaven.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00So far, we've seen three key structural devices that Gothic architecture relied upon.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03The pointed arch, the ribbed vault and the flying buttress.
0:11:03 > 0:11:08Which combined to allow masons to construct higher and wider.
0:11:08 > 0:11:13This structural skeleton encouraged the replacement of walls with windows.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21Here at Lincoln, we see the development of large, stained-glass windows,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25using a stone framework called tracery. And the two medieval
0:11:25 > 0:11:30rose windows in the north and south transepts are its crowning glories.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Right, Jonathan. You want to see this window?
0:11:36 > 0:11:40- I do want to get close up to it, yeah. But I realise that involves some dangling.- Yeah.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44- More climbing for you, unfortunately. Or fortunately!- How's it to be done?
0:11:44 > 0:11:51We've got this Tyrolean rigged here which you can climb up these ropes just behind us,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55pull yourself across and then you can see...
0:11:55 > 0:11:58- How do I do that? - Easy. There's a pulley on there.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02You'll be able to ascend the rope and you'll be able to see
0:12:02 > 0:12:06the window at the distance that you want it to be at.
0:12:06 > 0:12:12- I shall be a quivering wreck. This is the stuff that I find hard, actually. Let's get on with it.- OK.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me as I'm going to be one of the only people
0:12:21 > 0:12:26to have seen the technicolour marvel that is the Dean's Eye from this unique viewpoint.
0:12:28 > 0:12:35It dates from after the 1192 rebuild started by St Hugh. It was finally completed in 1222.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38For the medieval masons and glaziers, this was an incredible achievement.
0:12:38 > 0:12:43So, when the stained-glass artist made this in the 13th century,
0:12:43 > 0:12:48they wouldn't even have illuminated tables, of course. They would have each section
0:12:48 > 0:12:55set out on a bench. Of course, it all then gets assembled and then the light floods through it.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58It must have been a surprise to them to see it in place.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03They're going to be standing back, looking at this thing, which they only just vaguely imagined,
0:13:03 > 0:13:06how it would all work and how the colours would chime together.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11I get the privilege of seeing that close-up in a way even they who made it were never able to.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15The craftsmen who installed this window would have been on a scaffold
0:13:15 > 0:13:19only inches away from the glass, unable to take in its full glory.
0:13:19 > 0:13:25Even when completed, they could only have seen the finished window from the galleries to its sides.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Or from the floor, looking up.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30I bet only a few people have ever been up here.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33So I, sir, am going back into looking.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42These days, we take cheap window glass for granted, but this was 800 years ago
0:13:42 > 0:13:46when most people lived in a single-storey dwelling
0:13:46 > 0:13:49with little more than slits for windows.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54It's often thought that stained glass is called the Biblia pauperum, the Poor People's Bible.
0:13:54 > 0:13:59Those who were uneducated and illiterate could read the messages of the church
0:13:59 > 0:14:02through this illuminated glass, as if it were a kind of cinema.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06It's wonderful in its variety, but you get the sense that for
0:14:06 > 0:14:11people looking at it from 60 or 70 feet below, they wouldn't be able to see what happened with figures
0:14:11 > 0:14:17whose heads are that big. It makes you think, after all, the audience is not people, it's God.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19It's His eye that matters.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29At the other end of the cathedral lies another medieval stained glass masterpiece.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34The Bishop's Eye window had all its glass smashed out during the English Civil War.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39Pieces of the original glass survive, but when the window was restored in the late 18th century,
0:14:39 > 0:14:45they were put back in a random way. Although we can't see the original images, what you get instead is this
0:14:45 > 0:14:48quite astounding kaleidoscope of glowing colour.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55But unfortunately it seems it wasn't just vandals in the 17th century
0:14:55 > 0:15:00that were intent on destroying the cathedral's beautiful glasswork.
0:15:00 > 0:15:02As the restoration team at Lincoln know only too well.
0:15:02 > 0:15:09Vandals recently broke this window, escaping from the cathedral after a burglary.
0:15:09 > 0:15:15The modern glaziers are cleaning and repairing the window, to bring it back to its former glory.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Steve. Tell me what's involved in conserving those windows.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22OK. Once you cut your piece of glass,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25you will actually need to paint it.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29So what I'm trying to paint is a piece similar to this.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34To do that, what I'll have to do is have a drawing, a tracing of the design,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36the piece of glass I've just cut, place it over the top,
0:15:36 > 0:15:40and then I have my glass paint here.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Steve and his team make the paint using the same combination
0:15:43 > 0:15:45of heavy metals used in the medieval era.
0:15:45 > 0:15:49What I'm going to do is draw one of these straight lines.
0:15:49 > 0:15:53I'm going to use the rest to do that. Place it on top.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59- Beautiful. - So that's one of my straight lines.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03So 800 years ago when those windows were made, that wasn't the end of the story.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07They had to be restored by someone. What inspired you to do it?
0:16:07 > 0:16:11It's just a fantastic honour to be able to be involved
0:16:11 > 0:16:16in preserving something like this for future generations to enjoy.
0:16:25 > 0:16:31I'm now in an area of the cathedral called the Angel Choir that contains the shrine of St Hugh,
0:16:31 > 0:16:33the man who inspired this incredible cathedral.
0:16:33 > 0:16:38I'm making my way through the triforium, the middle level of the cathedral,
0:16:38 > 0:16:43in order to cross over the choir on a pulley system known as a Tyrolean.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53I want to get a bird's-eye view to see how Early Gothic developed into
0:16:53 > 0:16:58the later 13th century style known as Decorated Gothic.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01This feels like the centre of the universe, this view.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05It's glorious. You can see right the way down to the west front.
0:17:05 > 0:17:10You can see over everything and all of the arches are gathered in perspective.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14It's marvellous. This is really the culmination of the cathedral.
0:17:14 > 0:17:22It's built in the 1250s and after St Hugh died and his life was written and the pilgrims started pouring in,
0:17:22 > 0:17:24the old cathedral... Actually you can see it.
0:17:24 > 0:17:30Uniquely, there are little black lines in the ground,
0:17:30 > 0:17:33where excavations found the old east end of the cathedral and
0:17:33 > 0:17:40all this was pulled down in 1255 and replaced with this east end. It surrounds this shrine of St Hugh.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43The architecture itself becomes a kind of super-shrine.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47It's a shrine around a shrine. Incredible richness.
0:17:47 > 0:17:53- Luce, are you going to come and join me?- Yeah. Whee!
0:17:54 > 0:17:56It's great. This is fun.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00- People would pay good money for that at a theme park.- Definitely.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04But they'd never get that view. Isn't it extraordinary?
0:18:04 > 0:18:08It goes on forever. You can see why English cathedrals are really keen on the long view.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11Rather than looking up, they look along.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14It feels like you're in this extraordinary tunnel.
0:18:14 > 0:18:15But no-one would ever see it from here.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18You can see the whole length of the cathedral.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21That's for sure, isn't it? You get a glimpse at ground level,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24- but you don't get to see the whole lot in one go.- No.
0:18:28 > 0:18:34Gothic architecture is renowned for its intricate stone carvings, and at Lincoln it's everywhere.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37And there's one particularly famous example.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40I want to show you something while we're here
0:18:40 > 0:18:43because I remember as a lad being shown this little creature.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46And it's hard to spot, even from the ground.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49The first and probably only time I'll ever get close to it.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52- Have you heard of the Lincoln Imp? - I have to confess, no!
0:18:52 > 0:18:56- But I have now. - Many stories about the Lincoln Imp.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01The plausible one is that this is a little reminder that however sacred
0:19:01 > 0:19:05a space, there's always a danger that people fall prey to evil,
0:19:05 > 0:19:08so you've got to keep an eye out for that. And there he is.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11I think we need to descend to get a good look.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14But if you look back, you can see the guy who's frowning.
0:19:14 > 0:19:20He's the one who's looking across, so he's the good eye who's keeping an eye on evil.
0:19:20 > 0:19:25There's always this balance of good and evil. It's like any good movie.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29- There he is. Bang on line with him. Look at him. - So that's the Lincoln Imp!
0:19:29 > 0:19:35There's little fella. I like him a lot. There's a story, you know, in the building of the Angel Choir.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38He was pelting rocks down.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42On his feet, there's something he's got his feet on. He's pelting rocks down
0:19:42 > 0:19:46- and it actually took the angels to come and stop him.- Oh, right.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50Well, I'm an admirer of the Lincoln Imp. The thing is, Lu, you can chuck as much
0:19:50 > 0:19:54money as you want at a building, but you can't buy skill, can you?
0:19:54 > 0:19:58To paraphrase the Beatles, money doesn't buy you skill.
0:19:58 > 0:20:04So I want to find out what's involved, carving capitals and these beautiful leaf shapes.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08- So I'm off to see a stonemason. - Great! Tell me all.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12- I'll tell you all about it. Goodbye, Imp. Cheers, Lu.- See you!
0:20:16 > 0:20:21This is a stone which is a replacement for the capital up here. So although the detail
0:20:21 > 0:20:26on it is still good, it's good for us to work on, the stone's failed, so it has to come out.
0:20:26 > 0:20:30The Imp, like the rest of the building, is made from locally quarried limestone,
0:20:30 > 0:20:35which is in constant need of repair and restoration. Paul and his team of stonemasons use
0:20:35 > 0:20:39techniques and skills that have been passed down through the generations.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44Despite technological advances, all the stonework here is done the medieval way,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47with every piece of sculpture being carved by hand on site.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54Paul, Lincoln Cathedral is really remarkable for the range and variety of its sculpture.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56What kind of work have you had to do?
0:20:56 > 0:21:01Most of the decoration throughout the building is this, and it's called stiff leaf.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05A lot of our work, the bread-and-butter stuff we're doing all the time,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08things like this capital we're replacing, is in this style.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12It's a late 12th century kind of abstract leaf design.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15- It is. It's bizarre. - Are any two alike?
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Well, they're not. They're people's interpretations of that.
0:21:18 > 0:21:24You'd have had the master mason or carver at the time would have done his one and then you'd have had all
0:21:24 > 0:21:26the other masons would be following his example.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29They look quite simple, but, believe me, they're not.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31My first one was pants when I first did it!
0:21:31 > 0:21:36To what extent do you carry on the medieval traditions that were used on this building?
0:21:36 > 0:21:42Our tools are the same. That's the traditional beechwood mallet, that one.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45And then this one is made of nylon, so it's just different materials.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48The chisels as well are very similar.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51This is a modern chisel and it's tungsten tipped.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55The old chisels would have been drawn out by a blacksmith on site.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Were they made of iron or bronze?
0:21:57 > 0:22:00They're iron. But we're working the same way.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03Our apprentices are taught the same way and we work the same way.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07I admire your work and I like the way you've kept on the medieval traditions. Thanks for showing me.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14MUSIC: "Ave Verum Corpus" by Mozart
0:22:28 > 0:22:32I thought I'd come up on the scaffolding and see the inventive carving that
0:22:32 > 0:22:35Paul and his team have produced. I like this little fellow a lot.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I empathise with him, clinging onto the building for dear life.
0:22:38 > 0:22:42That's what I'm going to be doing, up there in the central tower.
0:22:42 > 0:22:48And that is where inventive carving meets with inventive structure. Quite a different thing.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52Because there was a tower standing on this site. It collapsed in 1237.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56It was a little bit too inventive! And this is its replacement.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58I hope it holds out for me.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Let's do it.
0:23:01 > 0:23:09I'm climbing the 272 foot high central tower, which was completed in 1311.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11Back then, it would have been even more impressive.
0:23:11 > 0:23:17There used to be a spire on top, soaring to well over 500 feet.
0:23:17 > 0:23:23Well, got the ropes set up and we're just going to have to head on up into the wind and the stone.
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Any tricks on a building of this sort of height?
0:23:27 > 0:23:30Well, it's the height, but also the delicacy of it.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32So we've got to be really aware that we're not
0:23:32 > 0:23:36swinging around too much, so just try and keep a nice, steady pace.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39- Right, let's go, shall we? - OK. Here we go!
0:23:47 > 0:23:49I've been on level with these pinnacles.
0:23:49 > 0:23:54You see those faces all sticking out and grimacing.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59There's a funny order with medieval churches that it's serenity inside and chaos outside.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04There's monkeys and people grimacing, sticking their tongues out and their bums out.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06- Scary monsters...- Yeah, the lot.
0:24:06 > 0:24:09It's the chaos of the outside world and heaven inside.
0:24:09 > 0:24:15This is my highest climb yet and I'm trying not to look down.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Even though it's the middle of summer, the wind is whipping all around us,
0:24:19 > 0:24:25making it harder to ascend. But the effort is worth it to get this incredible view of the tower.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28Gosh, it's so beautiful.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32What I really like about this is how unnecessary it is. Look.
0:24:32 > 0:24:40All of those little mouldings in there. They've cut them. It's so complex. We're 150 feet up.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42Something like that.
0:24:42 > 0:24:49And delightfully cut, concave bits of hexagons sticking out.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53And then, these great heads of what might be plants,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57but the sense of this dynamic life, just this organic shape,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00as if it's sprouting and giving life.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03There's a huge sense of generosity about that.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Just because it's so unnecessary. It's just there for the love of it.
0:25:12 > 0:25:18- BELL RINGS - Oh! That's loud!
0:25:18 > 0:25:20I didn't expect that.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22What time is it?
0:25:22 > 0:25:24- We'll find out. - It's time to be scared!
0:25:26 > 0:25:34There is a building just over there, which is Lincoln Art College.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37And 20 years ago, I was a student in Lincoln
0:25:37 > 0:25:39and I used to look up at this cathedral and think,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43"Do you know what, maybe the best building in the world has already been built."
0:25:43 > 0:25:49But I tell you what, I'm one of the few who's seen it from this angle. I'm glad to share it with you.
0:25:49 > 0:25:55This majestic tower was an astonishing achievement in the early 14th century.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58- But bearing in mind the previous tower had collapsed,
0:25:58 > 0:26:03how did they build it so high without rebuilding the foundations?
0:26:03 > 0:26:09Hey, when you're up here, you notice that there is a real habit that the medieval builders had
0:26:09 > 0:26:14of building in a double skin. That is, you can see there's an inner wall there where the belfry is
0:26:14 > 0:26:19and then there's this outer series of shafts. And they're only separated by a block of masonry.
0:26:19 > 0:26:24And that thickness, whilst retaining the lightness of the passage between
0:26:24 > 0:26:30those two skins, allowed for a building of this tremendous height. It's also very stable.
0:26:30 > 0:26:36And it shows how English architecture is in some ways very old fashioned and traditional,
0:26:36 > 0:26:38and in other ways extremely inventive.
0:26:50 > 0:26:56Quite a complex arrangement at the end, but that was a phenomenal climb. I loved it.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58I loved to see the detail close-up.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09This is quite cool, actually.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11Awesome!
0:27:11 > 0:27:15Well, that climb was extraordinary, but the view from the top is amazing.
0:27:15 > 0:27:18You can see into neighbouring counties
0:27:18 > 0:27:22on the light blue horizon at 360 degrees.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25But in the Middle Ages, it would have look quite different.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27There was a spire that stood here.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31This low pyramidal roof is just a memory, a footprint, of what was here.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33It stretched as high again into the air.
0:27:33 > 0:27:39The audacity of the people who built this place, it just keeps going on amazing you.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43But in 1548, something like a hurricane came along and it blew the entire spire off.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47That would have woken you with a bang in the middle of the night!
0:27:47 > 0:27:49Even without it, Lincoln Cathedral is a marvel.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53But imagine what it would have looked like - what was officially regarded
0:27:53 > 0:27:57as the world's tallest building in its date,
0:27:57 > 0:27:59visible from up to 40 miles away.
0:28:12 > 0:28:17Next time, Caernarfon Castle, where a brutal king and brilliant architect combined to build
0:28:17 > 0:28:23an immense fortress that would crush their enemies and revolutionise castle-building in Britain.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:48 > 0:28:51E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk