0:00:02 > 0:00:04I'm surrounded by all the carved stonework under the rainbow.
0:00:04 > 0:00:07Up here on the roof of Burghley House in Lincolnshire.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11This is the greatest monument of the Elizabethan renaissance,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13an age when fantasy was the fashion.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14This is climbing great buildings.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19Throughout this series , I'll be scaling our most iconic structures
0:00:19 > 0:00:21from the Normans to the present day.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25I'll be revealing the building's secrets, and telling a story of how
0:00:25 > 0:00:31British architecture and construction developed over 1,000 years.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45The next step in my journey through the evolution
0:00:45 > 0:00:48of British architecture, brings me to Burghley house in Lincolnshire.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Built for William Cecil, Lord Burghley,
0:00:51 > 0:00:55who was the treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I, over 400 years ago,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59it's the finest example of an Elizabethan house in the country.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08She ruled England with a clever series of political and social
0:01:08 > 0:01:14compromises, led by a new generation of Protestant self-made elites.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17Foremost among them was William Cecil, Lord Burghley,
0:01:17 > 0:01:21who built Burghley House, the most eloquent testament to the age.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Burghley House is a prodigy house,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28a name given to a group of enormous, courtier-built dwellings,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31which were anticipated to accommodate Elizabeth
0:01:31 > 0:01:35and all of her court while she made her way around the country.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37She could scarcely afford to build herself.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42It was the courtiers who created the greatest monuments of the Elizabethan age.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Burghley House, like many prodigy houses, was remarkable for its size,
0:01:50 > 0:01:54but also for its more serious approach to a new form of architecture - classical.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58That's what I'm going to be having a look at today on my climbs.
0:01:58 > 0:02:04I'll clamber to the top to see Lord Burghley's glorious 16th century roof.
0:02:04 > 0:02:05Hats off, I love it.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09Lose my balance over the great central courtyard.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Wow, ya-ya, oi-oi.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14And scale 112 feet up the tower
0:02:14 > 0:02:17to get a look at the magnificent clock face.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19That is a heck of a clock, isn't it?
0:02:19 > 0:02:20But I won't be going it alone.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24I'll be joined by one of Britain's top climbers, Lucy Creamer...
0:02:27 > 0:02:31..a team of riggers and fearless cameraman, Ian Burton...
0:02:34 > 0:02:39..in my quest to uncover the history of England's greatest Elizabethan house.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55The first climb will take us up the north front,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58so I can get a good look at its masonry and its roof.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03The north front was added to the original house by Lord Burghley in around 1587.
0:03:03 > 0:03:06So, what are you hoping to see up here, Dr Foyle?
0:03:06 > 0:03:09We are going to have a look at the facade
0:03:09 > 0:03:14that was remodelled the year before the Spanish Armada happened.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Right, we're making progress now, anyway.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21Well, we're bouncing our way up.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23Much as Queen Elizabeth did.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28During the 16th century, the fashion for many Elizabethans
0:03:28 > 0:03:31of taste and wealth was to build their homes in rich, red brick,.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36But Lord Burghley had a finer source of building materials, closer to home.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40So, I thought this was an Elizabethan building
0:03:40 > 0:03:42and weren't they brick-built?
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Yeah, brick building remains popular in the Tudor period and only gets
0:03:46 > 0:03:53more popular, but this is near a seam of glorious golden limestone.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55It's all Jurassic, 200 million years old.
0:03:55 > 0:03:58Golden colour, you can cut it in any direction,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00so it's called a free stone and you can sculpt it.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04- OK.- So, it is, frankly,
0:04:04 > 0:04:07the best building material Britain can offer, this stuff.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13William Cecil inherited a smaller Burghley House in 1552.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16Anticipating a visit from the Queen, who often travelled
0:04:16 > 0:04:19with an entourage of several hundred people,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Lord Burghley set upon enlarging the house on a huge scale.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26The third storey and front entrance were eventually added,
0:04:26 > 0:04:29but on completion, William Cecil's builders
0:04:29 > 0:04:31had left behind something rather odd.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33Amazingly, from this position,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35you see the way these windows are stepped.
0:04:35 > 0:04:41Each one is higher than the next. The string course over the tops...
0:04:41 > 0:04:42- Looks wonky.- Cranky, isn't it?
0:04:44 > 0:04:48From here you can see much more clearly what has gone on,
0:04:48 > 0:04:54the curved part and that storey, that's what's been added in 1587.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56So it's a remodelling, an alteration.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59This is actually all part of the first building
0:04:59 > 0:05:02and for some reason this string course just...
0:05:02 > 0:05:04- They've put it on a slope!- It dives!
0:05:04 > 0:05:07I like that. These Burghley masons
0:05:07 > 0:05:10were adjusting, making it fit.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Hats off, I love it. Still here, isn't it?
0:05:14 > 0:05:17450 years on, it's still standing, it is perfectly all right.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Despite having done a few of these climbs now,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26I still haven't got used to being suspended in mid-air.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28We're getting quite high now.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32Oh, boy, we are aren't we? Nice solid stone underneath.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36Don't look down. That's my philosophy.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40William Cecil didn't just build Burghley House as a family home.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42He wanted to make a political statement.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47Prodigy houses were about one-upmanship, courtiers trying to outdo each other
0:05:47 > 0:05:52to impress Elizabeth and Lord Burghley's finest example of this can be seen right at the top.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54- There we go.- Excellent.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58There we go. Wow! Look at that. That makes it all worthwhile.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06That's got to be one of the great architectural views of Britain.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Spire, lions, pinnacles, amazing.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Turrets, the lot!
0:06:13 > 0:06:16It's a glorious, like a giant outdoor sculpture gallery.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20Incredibly impressive, and obviously meant for display,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23probably from a distance, but also close up, no doubt about that.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Very finely cut. It looks like a lost city.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29Something more exotic than the Elizabethan age itself.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32It looks, with these columns, like the ruins of ancient Rome.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36So for me to get to grips with it and understand it a bit better,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38I think I better have a mosey around.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50Up here on the roof at Burghley House,
0:06:50 > 0:06:53we see the English renaissance really coming to life.
0:06:53 > 0:06:59Toward the end of the 16th century, European influences started to emerge in English architecture.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03The European renaissance was based on the thought and art of Ancient Greece and Rome.
0:07:05 > 0:07:09Not having travelled across Europe to see renaissance buildings at first-hand,
0:07:09 > 0:07:12many Englishmen built on a more or less traditional model,
0:07:12 > 0:07:15adding Greek and Roman ornament where they saw fit.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18On the roof of Burghley, you see the great chimneys,
0:07:18 > 0:07:23cast as Doric columns, you see obelisks everywhere, round arches,
0:07:23 > 0:07:29making this one of the most fantastical and imaginative examples of the English renaissance.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Back in the 16th century, this roof may not have only been
0:07:36 > 0:07:38a place from which to admire the surrounding landscape,
0:07:38 > 0:07:43it could also have been a setting in which to carry out affairs of state.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47If Burghley had been able to prize people away from the dining hall
0:07:47 > 0:07:49and bring them up to the roof space,
0:07:49 > 0:07:53he might have taken them aside and lobby them in private.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57We're left to wonder how the conversations held on this roof
0:07:57 > 0:08:00might have influenced the politics of Elizabethan England.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09The roof is without doubt a breathtaking sight, but when building it,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Lord Burghley didn't just have aesthetics to consider.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16He also had practicalities it take into account.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18There is about an acre and half of lead roofs at Burghley.
0:08:18 > 0:08:25These date to the mid-1980s, when they replaced a lower, flatter roof that failed and let in water.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29But there is about as much acreage again of a very different
0:08:29 > 0:08:32kind of roof material, which lends itself to a steeper pitch.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35That's Collyweston stone slate.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Collyweston stone slate is a local treasure.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43It's not a true slate as such - it's a sandy limestone
0:08:43 > 0:08:45that splits along its seams.
0:08:45 > 0:08:51It's mined about five or six miles south-west of Burghley House.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55To find out how the slate is made, I'm heading underground.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Laurie, how do you turn the log into slates?
0:08:58 > 0:09:01I'll show you.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04Basically, what you do is find the seam on the log
0:09:04 > 0:09:07and basically, you will just tap it and tap it
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and you can hear it ringing.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12There again you should be able to clive that off.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15- What you must do is...- Hang on, "clive"?- Clive, yeah. Split.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Right you don't split it you clive it?
0:09:18 > 0:09:19Yeah, it's cliving.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22All of a sudden it's going to open up, is it?
0:09:22 > 0:09:26It should do. It should clive into four or five big slates.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29There is no mechanical substitute for this.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33No, not at all, Jonathan. I wish there was.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36I'd love to have to have a go, if I might.
0:09:36 > 0:09:37Course you can, Jonathan.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45I think I can feel it coming off.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47It becomes hollow, doesn't it, it starts to ring.
0:09:49 > 0:09:50I think I've got it.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59There you go, Jonathan, that'll make a shorter slate on the roof, that will.
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Look at that, it's beautiful.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05- It's really sparkly. That would make a slate?- That would, Jonathan.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09That would be dressed, all squared up and a nail hole in the top.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11I'm pleased as punch! Look at that.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24The roof of Burghley surrounds an impressive stately courtyard.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29The house was originally designed as a stage on which to present Queen Elizabeth I during her visits,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32so Lord Burghley left nothing to the imagination.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37He used every piece of stonework, every ornament, to add grandeur and richness to the space.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42In order to get a better look at William Cecil's architectural
0:10:42 > 0:10:46masterpiece, I'm going to perilously venture across the courtyard
0:10:46 > 0:10:48on something similar to a tightrope.
0:10:48 > 0:10:50Wow!
0:10:50 > 0:10:52This looks incredibly bouncy.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55It looks a bit baggy. Don't pull that tower down.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57I think we're going to have fun on this.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01- It's you and I both on this one? - It is, yes.
0:11:01 > 0:11:02No sudden moves, Luce.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05So, what d'you reckon to this view?
0:11:05 > 0:11:10You know, it's like architectural indigestion. You know?
0:11:10 > 0:11:13It's... Wow, ya-ya, oi-oi!
0:11:13 > 0:11:17- Yeah.- Yeah.- That didn't make the indigestion any better.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20You don't know when to stop looking.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25The inner courtyard is an excellent example of the English renaissance.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29Here we have up-to-date features in Greek and Roman style,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32combined with old Tudor influences.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36Interesting, though, to see that in this courtyard
0:11:36 > 0:11:41there are those one, two, three triumphal arches, so that when you come in
0:11:41 > 0:11:43through what looks like an old fashioned gatehouse,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47you see that big glazed top floor, the octagonal turret.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50This is the stuff you'd see at Hampton Court 60 years before.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52So maybe the opening gesture is about,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55"Look how established we are". I don't know.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Then you come in here and look - the man's an ambassador
0:11:58 > 0:12:01on the European stage and actually you could be in contemporary France.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03What if he receives French ambassadors?
0:12:03 > 0:12:06You know, people from Europe. Maybe Italy.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11- Who then might walk in and think, "I see, very much up to the latest European..."- Man of the world.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14Exactly, isn't it? You're of an older order,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17yet you are up to date. He's trying to cover everything here.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19Or maybe he is speaking to different audiences.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22He's an ambassador, after all. A diplomat.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26William Cecil may have been treasurer to the Queen and a powerful statesman,
0:12:26 > 0:12:30but he wanted to leave a subtle reminder that he came from more humble roots.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Look there at the lions on the top.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39- I know.- Bearing the shield on top of them and more lions with wheat.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42- Another wheat sheaf. - What's the significance of the wheat?
0:12:42 > 0:12:44Well, he comes from a farming family.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46- Cecil?- Ultimately, yeah.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50They're not true aristocracy, but they are quite a recent nobility.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52His father was a more miner courtier.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56- OK.- But he went on such an ascendant,
0:12:56 > 0:13:00it's a reminder of the fact that his money comes from farming.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02He's not got ill-gotten gains.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04- It is nice that he acknowledged it, though.- Yeah.
0:13:04 > 0:13:05Shall we go?
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Right. Had enough up here, Dr Foyle?
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Plenty, thank you, madam. I'm off.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17I'm on my way, as well.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Eugh, wow! God, it feels so different when you're down here.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Of course, this is what he wants you to see, isn't it?
0:13:32 > 0:13:36From your head height, those great towers loom over you.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48William Cecil wanted people to know he was from a farming background,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50but he was also intent on showing off his status
0:13:50 > 0:13:52as a Lord and courtier to the Queen.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57Rising grandly on the east side of the courtyard
0:13:57 > 0:14:01and crowned with a colossal obelisk, is the clock tower.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03I wanted to climb up it to get a closer and unique look
0:14:03 > 0:14:08at that exquisite example of English renaissance architecture.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11So, we're going to go up the clock tower, now Luce.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14- Meet some characters on the way. - Yeah.
0:14:16 > 0:14:21Adorning the clock tower are some historic figures that Lord Burghley wanted to associate himself with.
0:14:21 > 0:14:27There are one, two, three, four characters. There is Aeneas.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29The legendary ruler of Troy.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32This is the great triumphal gateway, the sort of thing
0:14:32 > 0:14:36you would have seen in Rome, which Europe was aware of at this point.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39The Roman emperors, having conquered foreign lands,
0:14:39 > 0:14:41built triumphal arches and this is one.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44This is Cecil's front door. It's is a triumphal arch.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48So how else do you convey triumph, other than picking on some of the greats from history?
0:14:48 > 0:14:51So, Aeneas of Troy, there is Paris.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55- Who have we got here? It's Charles V.- Oh, right.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59An early 16th century ruler of the biggest dominion in Europe.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02So, Germany and Spain combined.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05And that one is Suleiman the great,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09- the early 16th century ruler of Turkey.- OK.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14- They're a curious mix. Put them all in the same room it could be an interesting dinner party.- I know!
0:15:16 > 0:15:20William Cecil didn't use just these figures to align himself with ancient history.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23He employed the raw ingredients of Greek building,
0:15:23 > 0:15:26which were later adopted and modified by the Romans,
0:15:26 > 0:15:29to show he was well versed in classical architecture.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36Many Elizabethans buildings show off the connoisseurship of the patron
0:15:36 > 0:15:41by showing that he or he knows which order the classical columns go into.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44In fact, they are called classical orders. They are ordered.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Now we are at level one.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51So, right by Ian there, with the scrolling capitals.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53- OK.- These little beauties,
0:15:53 > 0:15:57it goes like that, that is the Ionic order.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01On the ground floor is the simpler Doric order
0:16:01 > 0:16:03which goes like this.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06It's much simpler,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09but have a look at how fat the Doric columns are
0:16:09 > 0:16:11and then look at these Ionic ones.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17And have a look at those - the next one up.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21That belongs to the Corinthian order. That's the third one.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24The Doric columns are quite fat, the Ionic ones are medium,
0:16:24 > 0:16:26the Corinthian ones are skinnier.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31The point is that Doric ones have to support quite a lot,
0:16:31 > 0:16:33so they have to be stocky.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35So they have these male attributes.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38- The Ionic ones are medium ones.- Hmm.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41The top ones are the more feminine order.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45They have less supporting to do as they are being supported by the Doric ones.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49So the tower is of the order were to show you understood the Roman way
0:16:49 > 0:16:53of stacking the orders, the kind of thing you would understand if you
0:16:53 > 0:16:56studied the coliseum, or major Roman buildings, they have this system.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00- Right, shall we go?- Let's do it.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Let's meet the clock.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- Luce, we've approached the Corinthian level.- Oh, yeah.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12It is like a ready reckoner of a lift shaft, isn't it?
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Would you like Ionic level or the Corinthian level?
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Bing! Next stop, the clock.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- Yes.- That is a heck of a clock, isn't it?
0:17:21 > 0:17:25It's amazing. It looks just as good as it looks from the ground.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29Wow, this is amazing, I'm really impressed.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32How come it's only got one hand?
0:17:32 > 0:17:34Clocks of this age tend to have one hand.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38I don't think we're yet at age with two hands on a clock.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40What the alternative is a sundial.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43All you see is one shadow making it waits around the clock.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47So this is a much bigger, much better equivalent.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50So, totally cutting edge for them, I think.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54It's very impressive.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58OK, Jonathan. Now for the best bit.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00In my mind the best bit.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03We have to crawl under these massive, awesome lions.
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Right, let's get in there.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13The clock tower may have been in at the height of cutting edge design during the 16th century,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16but being a noble English Lord, William Cecil wanted to stake his claim
0:18:16 > 0:18:21on the country's past and to remind people of England's rich history.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And a good example of that is here in the medieval-style Great Hall.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35During the Elizabethan age, many people abandoned
0:18:35 > 0:18:42large medieval halls and instead made single storey reception spaces.
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Not here. This one measures over 60 feet high and in its time would
0:18:45 > 0:18:49have been the setting for good old-fashioned feasts and dancing.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52This room, I think, is fabulous.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55I've known this room since I was quite young.
0:18:55 > 0:18:56I've never got up close to it.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00My next climb will give me a one in a lifetime chance
0:19:00 > 0:19:03to get a unique view of this dramatic roof.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06- He's off.- He's on his way.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11It's a glorious thing.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14It seems incredibly complicated.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19Why would they have gone to so much effort to make the roof the shape it is?
0:19:19 > 0:19:22When you get to this room, one of the last to be built,
0:19:22 > 0:19:25we're talking in the 1580s now, so it's 25 years
0:19:25 > 0:19:31after the house began to be built and the Great Hall is constructed to look like a medieval hall.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35So, this is a hammer beam construction.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39- You see these beginning life in the early 14th century.- Hammer beam?
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Hammer beam, yes. The horizontal beams are the hammer beams.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45- OK.- So in the 14th century they pioneered a technique
0:19:45 > 0:19:49of breaking the horizontal beams down into steps.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53What they found was that they had this wonderfully complex looking arrangement.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57So what all this adds up to is that it seems that Burghley,
0:19:57 > 0:19:5925 years into building,
0:19:59 > 0:20:02is looking back. He's getting nostalgic now.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05He's fed up with high fashion, he's looking back to Olde England
0:20:05 > 0:20:09and yearning for a lost age.
0:20:15 > 0:20:20In 1598, just eight years after the Great Hall was completed,
0:20:20 > 0:20:21Lord Burghley died.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29For almost 100 years, the House was left practically untouched,
0:20:29 > 0:20:34until Burghley's descendant, John Cecil, the 5th Earl of Exeter,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37decided to remodel its interior, on a grand scale.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43I'm in the south range to have a look at
0:20:43 > 0:20:46the remarkable artwork on the walls and the ceilings.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48This is the best place to see how the 5th Earl
0:20:48 > 0:20:51left his mark on Burghley House.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Now a key feature of these prodigy houses
0:20:54 > 0:20:56were suites of rooms like this.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00Grand spaces, that were beyond the needs of a family,
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and beyond the needs of just showing off,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05but could be given over should a Monarch come and visit.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09These rooms were all redecorated at the end of the 17th century
0:21:09 > 0:21:11by the 5th Earl of Exeter.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15They culminate in this beautiful room, the Heaven Room,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17painted by the Italian, Antonio Verrio.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Inspired by his journeys through Europe, the 5th Earl employed Verrio
0:21:27 > 0:21:31to paint intricate and beautiful images from ancient mythology.
0:21:31 > 0:21:34John, the 5th Earl sounds an interesting character,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37but what did his interests extend to?
0:21:37 > 0:21:41He was a great man. A modern man, a modern thinking man.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45He was known as the travelling Earl, because he went to Europe,
0:21:45 > 0:21:50where he bought over 350 great paintings back to Burghley.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52What kind of a man was Verrio?
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Hmm. "Difficult", I think, would be the best word.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01He was a fiery character.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05There are lovely stories of him pursuing the servant girls here.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07The best I think is the cook.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09Who he was enamoured of.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11She rejected him so he painted her on the ceiling
0:22:11 > 0:22:14with six breasts as the Goddess of Plenty.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20It wasn't just the cook who ended up on the ceiling of the Heaven Room.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Verrio also included other real people.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26The Earl's children were painted as cherubs.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30The Dean of Windsor was portrayed as Bacchus, the God of wine
0:22:30 > 0:22:34and Verrio even included himself.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38Verrio achieved some amazing interiors. They are beautiful.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Quite remarkable.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45Quite remarkable interiors. Probably the best painted rooms in England.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05There are very few Tudor interiors left at Burghley.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09There's the kitchen, the Great Hall, and then this, the Roman staircase
0:23:09 > 0:23:12and this is the most avant garde of them.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14Think of a Tudor staircase.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18They tend to be oak things with an open well in the middle,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21whereas this has a solid wall, big, generous stone steps,
0:23:21 > 0:23:24the kind of thing you would find in maybe an Italian
0:23:24 > 0:23:28or maybe a French palace and it's vaulted, too, again in stone.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31With lots of expensively carved emblems.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35Amongst them, the little castles and other devices
0:23:35 > 0:23:37that you see in Lord Burghley's arms.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40And they go up... And they go up...
0:23:40 > 0:23:43And up,
0:23:43 > 0:23:44and then up.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52The Roman staircase winds its way expensively and ostentatiously
0:23:52 > 0:23:55right the way up to the top of the building
0:23:55 > 0:23:58and then through that small door you emerge on to the lead.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01The point is that this was a thoroughfare,
0:24:01 > 0:24:05a major route to bring guests up on to the top of the building
0:24:05 > 0:24:10to take in Lord Burghley's estate - and what a spectacular view.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24For the end of my journey through Burghley House, I'll abseil
0:24:24 > 0:24:26down the west front to get a closer look at what was the
0:24:26 > 0:24:31original grand entrance, intended to welcome Queen Elizabeth
0:24:31 > 0:24:33when Cecil built it in 1577.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37It houses the state rooms which include the bedroom,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39designed to accommodate the Virgin Queen.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43- Just beware...- My eyes just had to adjust themselves
0:24:43 > 0:24:47to a much greater focal distance than I expected. Right.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51It's a winner from any angle, isn't it?
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Burghley looks great when you look at it, it's fabulous when you look from it,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57when you're inside it!
0:24:59 > 0:25:03It's a great irony that such a glorious house, containing 115 rooms
0:25:03 > 0:25:08and which took 32 years to build, was never seen by the Queen.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10She attempted a visit in 1565,
0:25:10 > 0:25:14but was turned back during an outbreak of smallpox.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18But proof of the expense and the attention to detail in this building
0:25:18 > 0:25:22can be seen in every square inch of this house.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25Yep. Wow!
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Look at these little guys.
0:25:29 > 0:25:30Fantastic!
0:25:30 > 0:25:32It's amazing, the condition, isn't it?
0:25:32 > 0:25:36- Every little grain of wheat on that sheaf.- Yeah.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39The hair and these tiny lion's manes.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41Gosh, you could pick them up, couldn't you?
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Like children's toys. They're great.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46But their teeth are still sharp!
0:25:46 > 0:25:49I don't get how that happens. Stone's just so good.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55Also bearing Lord Burghley's family crest are these striking golden gilded gates.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59One of the 5th Earl's greatest additions to the house,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04they were designed to catch the glow of the sun as it set in the west.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09The 5th Earl of Exeter, commissioned Jean Tijou,
0:26:09 > 0:26:13a French ironsmith who worked at Hampton Court and St Paul's cathedral,
0:26:13 > 0:26:18and had a little foundry off Piccadilly, and some of the English accounts call him John Tissue,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22who wanted him to be one of ours, but he made this gorgeous set
0:26:22 > 0:26:26of gilded gates as the western entrance to Burghley house
0:26:26 > 0:26:30and remember, it was Lord Burghley's original western entrance front
0:26:30 > 0:26:34and the 5th Earl of Exeter wanted to commemorate that.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37Not only that, but the family heraldry,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40with the lions bearing a wheat sheaf as the central emblem.
0:26:40 > 0:26:45These are a very gilded set of gates, compared with many of the period,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49but, you know, who can deny a family like the Earls of Exeter
0:26:49 > 0:26:52the way to show off like king Midas?
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Because it's such rich farmland in this area.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57Just wealth everywhere.
0:26:57 > 0:27:02And to open these gates and divide the sheaf of wheat, you know,
0:27:02 > 0:27:05it's like this metaphor of a harvest every time you enter the house.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09It's still got something of an atmosphere of bounty today,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11hasn't it? It's a treasure house.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Burghley House was designed not just as a family home in the country,
0:27:29 > 0:27:33but a palace by proxy for one of Britain's most iconic
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and distinguished monarchs, Elizabeth I.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39It's sad, and maybe a bit ironic that she never made it here,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41but nonetheless, it survives today
0:27:41 > 0:27:45in astonishing condition, in what is, to my mind, the most
0:27:45 > 0:27:49romantic overture of architecture of Elizabethan England.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10Next time, how Sir Christopher Wren achieved the ultimate marriage
0:28:10 > 0:28:12of science and religion to create one of Britain's
0:28:12 > 0:28:16most iconic landmarks - St Paul's Cathedral.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:46 > 0:28:48E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk