0:00:02 > 0:00:08Britain is full of magnificent examples of architectural and engineering genius
0:00:08 > 0:00:12that stand testament to the men who constructed it all
0:00:12 > 0:00:16and, of course, the architects and engineers who designed it.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21From great Norman cathedrals,
0:00:21 > 0:00:26like Ely and Peterborough, right through to the Houses of Parliament,
0:00:26 > 0:00:33we're going to be looking at mighty symbols of the progress made in construction and engineering.
0:00:35 > 0:00:42What all these buildings have in common is the great range of craft skills
0:00:42 > 0:00:46that went into designing, building and decorating them.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51If it wasn't for their workmanship, graft and ingenuity,
0:00:51 > 0:00:56we wouldn't have the glorious buildings we still have today.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11This is the story of the craftsmen and their ingenious methods,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15who spent all their working lives through the last 1,000 years
0:01:15 > 0:01:19dedicated to the building of Britain.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Believe it or not, this is a cathedral.
0:01:43 > 0:01:49This is the Saxon cathedral of St Peter's in Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex.
0:01:49 > 0:01:55It was built 1,300 years ago, using stones from an old Roman fort
0:01:55 > 0:01:57that had stood on this spot.
0:01:57 > 0:02:03It's the only Saxon cathedral that still survives intact.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12It isn't very big, is it?
0:02:12 > 0:02:16It must be all of 50 foot long by 25 foot wide.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20In fact, it's so small, it'd fit in my back garden.
0:02:20 > 0:02:26Before the Norman Conquest, most Saxon churches were small like this.
0:02:26 > 0:02:33But then, in 1066, William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings
0:02:33 > 0:02:36and everything changed.
0:02:39 > 0:02:45After the Conquest, the Normans began to build on a scale that had never been seen before.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50They erected stone castles to assert their power and authority,
0:02:50 > 0:02:56and work began on a whole series of massive cathedrals around the country.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00These cathedrals weren't just a tribute to God -
0:03:00 > 0:03:07the Normans didn't want to leave anybody in any doubt about who was in charge down here on Earth!
0:03:09 > 0:03:16What distinguishes these great Norman cathedrals from the Saxon buildings they replaced
0:03:16 > 0:03:20is the great size and scale of them.
0:03:20 > 0:03:27The Normans brought with them from France all the building techniques we see here today,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31these magnificent, beautiful pillars and fine arches.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44It needed a massive labour force to construct buildings of this size,
0:03:44 > 0:03:50and the Normans more or less press-ganged the Anglo-Saxons into doing all the labouring.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55It was bad enough being conquered, never mind doing the donkey work!
0:03:55 > 0:04:01And the work was on such a different scale than anything they'd done before.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05These were the largest buildings in England at the time.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10Strength and simplicity are the main features of this style of building.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14It's based on thick walls which give the whole thing a chunky look.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18This huge expansion in the building trade
0:04:18 > 0:04:22led to the building of some of our most magnificent cathedrals.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26One or two haven't changed since they were built,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30but the majority have been added to or messed about with over the years.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35This is Peterborough and it's a good example of what I mean.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39This wonderful west front was added at the beginning of the 13th century,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43nearly 150 years after the Norman Conquest.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45But once you get inside Peterborough,
0:04:45 > 0:04:52you can see it's one of the finest and purest Norman cathedrals in all of England.
0:04:52 > 0:04:59And here, in the main crossing, with its three tiers of Norman arches, with chevrons and fancy bits,
0:04:59 > 0:05:04you get a real feeling of what Norman cathedrals are all about.
0:05:04 > 0:05:09It's nearly 500 feet long and just slightly over 200 feet wide,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and to the top of the tower it's 143 feet.
0:05:13 > 0:05:19The whole place gives you a feeling of something permanent and solid,
0:05:19 > 0:05:25these three tiers of rounded arches, resting on magnificent stone pillars.
0:05:30 > 0:05:37The great columns that support all the arches are not built of solid masonry,
0:05:37 > 0:05:43but as tubes filled with rubble. A tube has more rigidity and it's lighter than a solid pillar
0:05:43 > 0:05:47and it's quicker, cheaper and easier to build.
0:05:47 > 0:05:51When you look at the surface of some of the stones,
0:05:51 > 0:05:57there's these interesting masons' marks, and modern masons use them to this day.
0:05:57 > 0:06:03In a way, it's a signature of the man who made that stone.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07Any rough workmanship and they could nail him!
0:06:07 > 0:06:13When the place were built, you wouldn't have been able to see any of these marks,
0:06:13 > 0:06:20because the place were limewashed and painted, an example of which can be seen just up there.
0:06:23 > 0:06:29The Normans built with semicircular or round arches, like the Romans used to do.
0:06:29 > 0:06:35That's why sometimes they're called Norman and sometimes Romanesque.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39The arch really is the main thing about all these cathedrals.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42It did, basically, three things.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46It saved material, it also looked very attractive
0:06:46 > 0:06:50and it let lots of light flood in from the sides.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54Of course, lots of people wonder how they built arches -
0:06:54 > 0:06:56very simple, really.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59You make a wooden framework, then build round it.
0:06:59 > 0:07:05Take the frame away. If it's been built right, the arch will stay in place.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07Success!
0:07:07 > 0:07:14The more courses of brick or stone you build on top of this and the more weight that goes on it,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18the more solid the whole thing becomes.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21At least, that's the theory.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24I'm going to sit on top of it and see what happens.
0:07:32 > 0:07:33How's that?
0:07:48 > 0:07:53That were an arch at ground level, bit of a disaster, really.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57At least you get the basic idea of the principle of the arch.
0:07:57 > 0:08:02If I'd used a bit more cement in the mortar, it would've stayed up.
0:08:02 > 0:08:10Just behind me, up there, how did they go about building them three tiers of arches?
0:08:10 > 0:08:15People sometimes think these builders had no machines, but that's not so.
0:08:15 > 0:08:20Peterborough has a great windlass, or winding engine,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23which was left in place inside the roof.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28I've got someone who can tell us about this piece of machinery.
0:08:28 > 0:08:36This is Zachary who is an expert in medieval engines and winching machines.
0:08:36 > 0:08:44- Tell us all about this beautiful model that you've made of this particular thing behind us.- Thanks.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47It's known as a windlass.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51I might suggest that it's really a hoist.
0:08:51 > 0:08:56- A windlass has a vertical spindle... - Like a horse gin?- Exactly.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Whereas, this is a hoist,
0:08:59 > 0:09:04but we can call it a windlass and oblige the people in the past.
0:09:04 > 0:09:10My idea was that, as the wheel rotates,
0:09:10 > 0:09:17the wheel being 10 feet in diameter, approximately, and the shaft is about a foot in diameter,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21which means you have a 10-1 ratio.
0:09:21 > 0:09:29That means that a 12-stone man would effectively be able to raise 15 hundredweights,
0:09:29 > 0:09:36and, because of the principle of the rope going through the block and tackle
0:09:36 > 0:09:41over the weight, and then back up to what I think was used -
0:09:41 > 0:09:48the ring anchor - then that would double again the efficiency,
0:09:48 > 0:09:53which means the 12-stone man could lift 30 hundredweights - 1½ tons.
0:09:53 > 0:10:00Such a person, I've calculated, could lift that weight to 100 feet
0:10:00 > 0:10:04in about a quarter of an hour. And then he would need a rest.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11- Crack a bottle of wine open or summat like that!- Indeed!
0:10:11 > 0:10:16I suppose, when you look at the real thing, it's obvious, like you said,
0:10:16 > 0:10:23- you'd pull it apart pretty quick. - You could, because all of the joints were dowelled and nailed,
0:10:23 > 0:10:27so it would've been easy to dismantle and move elsewhere.
0:10:27 > 0:10:34Three chaps could take that apart in 15 minutes and take it to another part of the wall.
0:10:34 > 0:10:41- They won't want to move these when they're up - they're too far horizontal.- They'd be hard to move.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46- They'd be getting them sat on the mortar pretty quick.- Absolutely.
0:10:46 > 0:10:51By the time the great Norman cathedrals were being built,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55it was also a time of great change in the building industry -
0:10:55 > 0:10:58new methods and ways of doing things.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02The ribbed vaulting were quite a new invention.
0:11:02 > 0:11:08It's very strong and here at Peterborough were one of the first places they actually used it.
0:11:08 > 0:11:14It's basically a couple of arches that come together in the centre,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18like the half-completed one I've got here in my garden.
0:11:18 > 0:11:25In order to build a groined ceiling or a groined roof out of stone,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29first of all you needed the centring, that's what this is here.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34The centring is two wooden arches, one leaning on the other one.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38When you started to lay the masonry around the bottom,
0:11:38 > 0:11:44it was important that you kept it the same height all the way round,
0:11:44 > 0:11:49so the weight on the centring stayed basically the same, as you might say.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53The next bit is the exciting bit.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57I'm going to knock this block of wood from underneath the centring
0:11:57 > 0:12:02and, hopefully, the centring will fall out or fall down,
0:12:02 > 0:12:08and, hopefully, the arch will stay where it should do, stood up. Here goes.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18There it is! Almost half a perfect groined roof.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23But just to prove how strong it really is, this is a 56lb weight,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26which I'm gonna stick on the top.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33How's that?
0:12:33 > 0:12:37It's only 2 inches thick, but it's holding that.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41In real terms, it'd be a few hundred tons, I should imagine.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47Groining like this would take the weight of the walls above and give them added support.
0:12:47 > 0:12:53If you study the stonework, there's all sorts of interesting things you can see.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56I found this unbelievable mistake!
0:12:56 > 0:13:00Up about 4 or 5 feet from the edge of the parapet,
0:13:00 > 0:13:04is this series of five stones with semicircular notches in,
0:13:04 > 0:13:10which, if you study a bit below the arches with the pillars below -
0:13:10 > 0:13:15obviously, these stones were cut to have something to do with that,
0:13:15 > 0:13:21and yet weren't needed, so they put D-shaped filling-in pieces in and worked them into the wall above.
0:13:21 > 0:13:26It's quite obvious that economy were at the top of their list
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and they didn't waste a lot.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33The huge scale and solidity of a cathedral like Peterborough
0:13:33 > 0:13:39is a symbol of the Norman idea that the Church was a powerful agent of state control,
0:13:39 > 0:13:46so it's no surprise that they built some of their greatest cathedrals in centres of Anglo-Saxon resistance.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52In the years immediately after the Conquest,
0:13:52 > 0:13:56some parts of the country held out longer than others.
0:13:56 > 0:14:02The East Anglian fenlands was one of these and, here, Saxon rebels waged a guerilla war against the Normans.
0:14:02 > 0:14:09Once they were defeated, the Normans wanted to make sure it wouldn't happen again,
0:14:11 > 0:14:15so what they built here was a massive demonstration of their power and authority.
0:14:19 > 0:14:25Norman Ely was an enormous fortress-cathedral,
0:14:25 > 0:14:30over 500 feet long and 200 feet high, which took 37 years to complete.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35This magnificent tower is almost like a Norman keep.
0:14:35 > 0:14:41It's complete with battlements and it's over 200 feet high and it dominates the whole area.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44You can see for miles from up here.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49You hardly needed a castle when you'd got a cathedral like this.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Like Peterborough, Ely is one of our best-preserved Norman cathedrals,
0:14:53 > 0:14:59but one of the things I find interesting here is the effect
0:14:59 > 0:15:04of alterations made by later builders and on the original Norman structure,
0:15:04 > 0:15:06like the tower, for instance.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10The tower is even taller than when the Normans first built it.
0:15:10 > 0:15:16300 years later, they erected this magnificent octagonal bell chamber.
0:15:16 > 0:15:21It sits on top of the old Norman structure, dominating the landscape.
0:15:21 > 0:15:26The only problem was those later engineers got their sums wrong,
0:15:26 > 0:15:34because the alterations to the tower put a massive extra weight on the old Norman foundations.
0:15:34 > 0:15:40They realised that the original walls weren't strong enough for the extra weight,
0:15:40 > 0:15:45so they put a sort of stone skin inside the original tower.
0:15:45 > 0:15:52It's quite ingenious and, if you look down, you can see how they reinforced the arches to take the strain.
0:15:52 > 0:15:59The main body of Ely Cathedral was built over a period of 100 years.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04You can see how the way it was built changed over this time,
0:16:04 > 0:16:11as the Normans improved their techniques and moved from the round arch to the pointed, Gothic version.
0:16:15 > 0:16:24Now, really, the big difference between the Norman arch and the Gothic or pointed arch
0:16:24 > 0:16:26is the fact that in the Norman one
0:16:26 > 0:16:33the thrust went sideways and you needed much greater weight in the abutments or the walls.
0:16:33 > 0:16:41The pointed arch, of course, the weight goes straight down and very little pressure sideways.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46If you go in some of the Gothic sort-of-style cathedrals
0:16:46 > 0:16:53and look how slender everything is, the pillars that support the pointed arches,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57and then you go in a Norman one and see how chunky everything is,
0:16:57 > 0:17:01you can see it were a great advance in architecture.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06When most people think of cathedrals, they think of stonemasons,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08but there's more to it than that.
0:17:08 > 0:17:14There were as many joiners and they'd come into various categories.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19Carpenters did the rough stuff, like all the centring for the arches,
0:17:19 > 0:17:23and the joiners did the finer bits, like carving the bullions,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26not to mention the plumbers...
0:17:26 > 0:17:34Also the lead roof and all the downspouts, all of them would be made on site, with the lead burners.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39And stonemasons who did all the lovely tracery for the windows,
0:17:39 > 0:17:44and the other branch would be the rough guys who infilled the walls.
0:17:44 > 0:17:50Down here, on this grass, at that time, it would be a hive of industry.
0:17:50 > 0:17:56There'd be quite a few wooden sheds that the craftsmen had made themselves
0:17:56 > 0:18:02to protect themselves from the rain and the weather and the elements.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05It'd be a castles-building season.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10When the sun come out in summer, they'd all be happy up on the walls,
0:18:10 > 0:18:17but, in winter, I suppose they spent most of their time underneath a roof down here,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21chiselling beautiful tops for columns and things like that.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Basically, the stonemason's craft involves two types of work.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28There's the geometric masonry like this,
0:18:28 > 0:18:33which is very disciplined and follows definite lines.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37Pieces of stone like this go straight into the building.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42But if there's any embellishments to do, like faces, flowers or leaves,
0:18:42 > 0:18:46then it goes into the carver's workshop.
0:18:52 > 0:18:59And when you look closely, you can see that the whole building is filled with their intricate handiwork.
0:19:08 > 0:19:14The reason that made all this possible was the rapid improvements being made in metalwork,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17especially in blacksmithing.
0:19:17 > 0:19:22They made better tools with better cutting edges,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26which enabled stonemasons and joiners to do much finer work.
0:19:26 > 0:19:33All the fancy tracery and everything were much easier worked with better steel in the tools,
0:19:33 > 0:19:36that enabled joiners and carpenters
0:19:36 > 0:19:43to make really graceful centres for building all them beautiful groined ceilings.
0:19:43 > 0:19:50Now that more resistant types of stone and more durable wood could be used,
0:19:50 > 0:19:56the cathedral builders could design columns that were narrower and more graceful-looking.
0:19:56 > 0:20:02The sculptors and carpenters were able to do finer and more delicate designs.
0:20:02 > 0:20:08It was the great age of cathedral building and it created master craftsmen
0:20:08 > 0:20:13who could push the boundaries of their craft to new limits.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16And this is their greatest masterpiece.
0:20:21 > 0:20:28In 1322, the central tower collapsed, destroying the Norman choir.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Instead of rebuilding the tower,
0:20:31 > 0:20:37the cathedral bursar Alan of Walsingham designed an octagon to replace it.
0:20:39 > 0:20:46It was an amazing feat of engineering that began with the building of eight huge stone pillars
0:20:46 > 0:20:48over 100 feet high.
0:20:48 > 0:20:55But their biggest challenge was the fact the roof over this space needed to let in the light.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00And this is the solution they came up with -
0:21:00 > 0:21:02the lantern.
0:21:04 > 0:21:10It was designed by William Hurley, King Edward III's master carpenter,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13and it took 14 years to build.
0:21:23 > 0:21:30To really appreciate what keeps all this lot up here, you've got to view it from the inside.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35This wonderful octagonal-shaped lantern at Ely Cathedral,
0:21:35 > 0:21:39this, weighing over 200 tons of wood and lead,
0:21:39 > 0:21:44and just hanging precariously over this great void...
0:21:44 > 0:21:51This really is my personal idea of how they managed to get it up all them years ago.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59These beams here are the main ones and the horizontal one below it.
0:21:59 > 0:22:05That joint is just a half-lap joint. Must've been the first joint they made down below in the field.
0:22:05 > 0:22:12They would obviously bring this great 50-foot long bulk of oak in at the bottom,
0:22:12 > 0:22:19and raise it up and then stand it on the corbel or in the slot down there in the dark,
0:22:19 > 0:22:23and have it leaning out at this jaunty angle.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27There'd be maybe 50 or 60 blokes, you know, on the end of the rope,
0:22:27 > 0:22:34that control the set of rope blocks that raise the real weight of the thing.
0:22:34 > 0:22:41As it came up, it would have other guy ropes on and men pulling the bottom out and keeping the top right.
0:22:41 > 0:22:47When they got it in a position where they could anchor it to the stonework,
0:22:47 > 0:22:53everybody would be holding on to the ropes while some intrepid character crept out on to the stonework
0:22:53 > 0:22:56and shoved in the big iron pin.
0:22:56 > 0:23:03This would have to be sort of repeated 8 times all the way around the...16 times, really,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06cos there's two for every corner.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11The next piece would come up in the same manner with the rope blocks,
0:23:11 > 0:23:18with the aid of a couple of planks chucked out on here for somebody to go out on.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21It'd be pretty easy to secure the corner there
0:23:21 > 0:23:26and then construct what I've called the foundation ring of the lantern.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30At this point, they could lay down the cross members.
0:23:30 > 0:23:35These are inserted to stop the whole thing twisting.
0:23:35 > 0:23:42All these would have been marked out on terra firma down on t'floor. You can see the scribe marks
0:23:42 > 0:23:45where they all slot in,
0:23:45 > 0:23:50so when it arrived up here, they didn't get it the wrong way round.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Once they got the bottom part of the frame in place,
0:23:54 > 0:24:00they'd be able to get the eight vertical poles for the lantern itself right in the centre,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04and then secure it with another ring at the top.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09They'd reached a stage of stability where they knew it couldn't collapse.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Until then, it must've been very precarious.
0:24:12 > 0:24:17When you think it weighs 200 tons and it were done all them years ago,
0:24:17 > 0:24:19it's a credit to them men.
0:24:19 > 0:24:26A lot of them couldn't even read or write, but they had it somehow or other, for the glory of God!
0:24:45 > 0:24:50In Norman times, the Church was very powerful,
0:24:50 > 0:24:55and the bishops were not only builders, they were also warriors,
0:24:55 > 0:25:00and there's nowhere better to see this than here in Rochester,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03where the cathedral is almost built in the castle grounds.
0:25:03 > 0:25:09Many of the greatest castle builders in the country were bishops,
0:25:09 > 0:25:17and they helped William the Conqueror stamp his authority with God as well as the sword.
0:25:17 > 0:25:24Rochester Castle was built by William de Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury,
0:25:24 > 0:25:31and it's the largest keep in England with walls and it's 113 feet high.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36If you look behind me, you'll see that Rochester Castle
0:25:36 > 0:25:41has got three square towers and one round one - at this corner.
0:25:41 > 0:25:47Down at the museum, they have a wonderful model that explains why.
0:25:50 > 0:25:551215 - King John held siege to Rochester Castle,
0:25:55 > 0:26:00but it only lasted for five weeks - and here's the reason why.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Now, while the battle raged above,
0:26:07 > 0:26:11King John's men dug a tunnel from, no doubt, a safe distance
0:26:11 > 0:26:16to undermine the tower on the corner, the south tower,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19a thing I've done many times -
0:26:19 > 0:26:23underpinning a large tower or a chimney stack.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26When I was pulling something down,
0:26:26 > 0:26:31I always used to follow exactly the same procedure.
0:26:31 > 0:26:35I nearly always won, as King John's men did.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Here, you can see exactly what they did.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43The tunnel that they dug is only a few feet below the surface,
0:26:43 > 0:26:49Hence, the excessive amount of props holding up the fields and the sods, the soil.
0:26:49 > 0:26:57Once they got to the base of the tower, reputedly, they burnt the fat of 40 pigs on the pit props
0:26:57 > 0:27:00to make them burn a bit better.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08The order has obviously been given to retreat.
0:27:08 > 0:27:15The fire's now raging, there's a man there with fire on a stick like a torch.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17Exciting!
0:27:17 > 0:27:21There's always that worry about will it fall down or not.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24In this case, it all did come tumbling down.
0:27:37 > 0:27:42Unlike my tower, the keep's walls were so strong, it stayed standing.
0:27:42 > 0:27:48It was taken over by the new king Henry III after John's death,
0:27:48 > 0:27:53who turned it into a royal castle and built the round tower we see today.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Sadly, the keep is an empty shell today,
0:28:00 > 0:28:06but, when it was first built, it was a magnificent statement of Norman power.
0:28:06 > 0:28:10The castles and cathedrals that the Normans built
0:28:10 > 0:28:12transformed the face of England,
0:28:12 > 0:28:19and the way the country looked changed just as fundamentally as the way it was ruled.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24Buildings like this helped the Norman conquerors to establish themselves,
0:28:24 > 0:28:31bringing a stability and permanence that united England under one monarchy.