0:00:02 > 0:00:05Historic houses both humble and grand
0:00:05 > 0:00:09have all played their part in the story of our nation
0:00:09 > 0:00:12but today, many are at risk and some in danger
0:00:12 > 0:00:15of being lost forever.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18I'm going to be following the fortunes of six properties
0:00:18 > 0:00:22all facing their own struggle for survival.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27- Oh, look, you can see the round!- Yep.- Wow!
0:00:29 > 0:00:32It's like walking into a Tudor fantasy.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35This is not quite what I was expecting.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39And they all have new owners,
0:00:39 > 0:00:42committed to turning them in to their dream home.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45It's a bit like a little old lady waiting for a face-lift,
0:00:45 > 0:00:47and we're coming in to make her better.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51I never, ever thought I would do a project like this in my life before.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57I've spent years restoring derelict old properties,
0:00:57 > 0:01:00and, having poured everything into trying to create
0:01:00 > 0:01:03my perfect family home, I know what a challenge it is
0:01:03 > 0:01:06to rescue a precious old building.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11There's a lot riding on it and it's scary times.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15We love it and we want to finish it, but sometimes it just feels like too much.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18It's Restoration Home.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36One of the great pleasures in life is a day out in the countryside,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40but what adds to our enjoyment is the buildings -
0:01:40 > 0:01:42ramshackle farmhouses and barns,
0:01:42 > 0:01:46places that have served the land for centuries.
0:01:47 > 0:01:51All appear unremarkable, but each has their own story.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55We've found one such house, but one that's in trouble.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03It's called Coldbrook Farm, and it's in Monmouthshire, south Wales.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07On the outside, it looks like the kind of run-down farmhouse
0:02:07 > 0:02:11you could pass a thousand times and never give a second glance.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18But inside are clues that there could be more to Coldbrook
0:02:18 > 0:02:19than meets the eye.
0:02:21 > 0:02:23In the kitchen, there's some Tudor timberwork
0:02:23 > 0:02:28that was enough, back in 1952, to get the place a Grade II listing.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37Since then the house went largely unnoticed,
0:02:37 > 0:02:40as it slipped slowly into a state of disrepair.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45But even though Coldbrook Farm may be unkempt,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47it's never been unloved.
0:02:51 > 0:02:52For the last 12 years,
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Kim Harris and Bill Parry have used it as their weekend home -
0:02:56 > 0:02:59a tumbledown country retreat for them and the family.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Would you like to see it again, a cow being born?
0:03:04 > 0:03:08- Would you?- So disgusting. - So disgusting.
0:03:08 > 0:03:14During the week Kim, Bill and the three children, Louey, Finn and Betty, live in London.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Kim is a sales director for a publishing company,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21while Bill is an insurance loss-adjuster in the city.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24- Come on, then. Who's a sheepdog?- Me!
0:03:24 > 0:03:29But Bill grew up right here - in fact, on the farm next door.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33And now he wants to make this their full-time home.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37I think it's always been a...a goal of mine
0:03:37 > 0:03:41to settle down with my family back here in Wales.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44I've lived in London long enough now
0:03:44 > 0:03:47and I feel, especially with the kids getting older, schooling,
0:03:47 > 0:03:49and I just want the kids to be able to run round in the fields.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53And I feel as though I'm coming home. This is the family farm.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56My father's still here, my uncle's farm is up there,
0:03:56 > 0:04:00another uncle's farm is there, I feel I'm coming back to where I belong.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Where are they going?
0:04:02 > 0:04:05We don't want them going in the house, do we?
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Right now it seems that some of his dad's sheep
0:04:09 > 0:04:13have got into the wrong field.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18Bill's dad bought this farm 30 years ago to merge it with his own.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19The house just came with the land.
0:04:19 > 0:04:25Then, 12 years ago, Bill bought it off his dad for £200,000
0:04:25 > 0:04:29because even then he'd started thinking about coming home.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35You guys were the best sheepdogs ever.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40But for Kim and Bill, there's more to Coldbrook Farm
0:04:40 > 0:04:42than just a new home in the country.
0:04:42 > 0:04:44It's also a mystery they want to solve.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49For years, they've been picking curiously
0:04:49 > 0:04:52at the plain, 20th-century walls to see what lay beneath.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57This room looked very different, completely different,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59it was all shiny, white concrete walls
0:04:59 > 0:05:03and there was a 1960s little gas fire there.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07So none of this stone or anything was exposed.
0:05:09 > 0:05:10All these beams were covered up.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Then, five years ago, Bill decided to rip the whole kitchen
0:05:15 > 0:05:18off the wall to find out what was behind it.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22And that's when they began to realise
0:05:22 > 0:05:25just how special their house might be.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Now, if you look over here this is what we first uncovered here, um,
0:05:33 > 0:05:36what I think is a beautiful bread oven.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39This was all full of rubble, basically,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43and so we took all the rubble out and then we found out
0:05:43 > 0:05:48all these beams go across here, and therefore we've realised
0:05:48 > 0:05:49this is the original front door.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55This was all covered up here - I think basically plastered over -
0:05:55 > 0:06:00so we uncovered that and found this marvellous big old stone lintel here,
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and, obviously, this fantastic fireplace.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07Those first discoveries got Bill and Kim thinking.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11They knew Coldbrook needed major repairs and modernisation,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14but they also knew that they wanted to make
0:06:14 > 0:06:17the most of the building's wonderful historic features.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21So the project, and the cost, just grew.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26The projected budget for the whole restoration project here
0:06:26 > 0:06:31is about 350,000, which is obviously a lot of money for us,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35but fortunately, when we met each other in London,
0:06:35 > 0:06:39we were of advanced age and we both had property in London which means
0:06:39 > 0:06:42we can sell one of those properties, or both,
0:06:42 > 0:06:44to fund the project here,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47so that's worked out quite nicely in our favour.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53With no experience of restoration, building or even DIY,
0:06:53 > 0:06:58Bill and Kim knew they needed help, and soon settled on local architects
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Martin Hall and his partner - and wife - Kelly Bednarczyk.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Their challenge was to come up with a design
0:07:05 > 0:07:08that would combine historic character and rural charm
0:07:08 > 0:07:11with sophisticated style and modern comforts.
0:07:14 > 0:07:19What they came up with was no less than Kim and Bill's dream home.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26The idea that clinched it was to reopen the original front door
0:07:26 > 0:07:29so that the massive barn that was later built on that side
0:07:29 > 0:07:32could be converted into a huge kitchen
0:07:32 > 0:07:34with a mezzanine family room.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39Then the old kitchen can be the dining room,
0:07:39 > 0:07:41and the pantry becomes a study.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45In the living room, modern design will be at the fore
0:07:45 > 0:07:48with an exposed wooden spiral staircase
0:07:48 > 0:07:50connecting to the first floor,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54where there's space for three bedrooms and a big family bathroom.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00Above is the attic and the plan is to open that up
0:08:00 > 0:08:04as the master bedroom, and a guest bedroom too, both en suite.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13I never ever thought I'd do a project like this in my life before
0:08:13 > 0:08:15and it is very, very exciting,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19and you do get nervous with it, wondering what you've taken on
0:08:19 > 0:08:21and should you be doing it,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23but if you have nerves it means you're excited.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28So with the finances organised, the plans approved,
0:08:28 > 0:08:32and the house cleared out, work can really get going.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44The builders have got until the middle of October
0:08:44 > 0:08:45to finish the whole project,
0:08:45 > 0:08:50and one of the first things is to sort out the old kitchen wall.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55The huge stone lintel over the fireplace has a dangerous crack,
0:08:55 > 0:08:58and to make it safe, they're going to brace the stone
0:08:58 > 0:09:01with a steel beam bonded to the back.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06The historic timberwork is being powder-blasted
0:09:06 > 0:09:09to strip off centuries of paint and grime,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13while up on the roof, all the tiles have been removed
0:09:13 > 0:09:16so that the 16th-century roof structure can be repaired.
0:09:17 > 0:09:21With Bill and Kim away in London every week,
0:09:21 > 0:09:27the project is being managed by the architects, led by Martin Hall.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31We're at the point where the skeleton of the building is at its most revealed
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and it's a rare opportunity to see any building in this state -
0:09:34 > 0:09:37particularly such an old building.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46A few weeks on and I've come to catch up on progress.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48Approaching Coldbrook,
0:09:48 > 0:09:52it's easy to forget there's more to this place than the average farm.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54Oh, wow, this room!
0:09:55 > 0:09:58'That is, until you go inside.'
0:09:59 > 0:10:02I've never seen beams like this.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05We've been told that, in the 16th century,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08when we believe these beams were installed,
0:10:08 > 0:10:12it would have taken one man one year to carve the whole beam.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15- What is this room? Was it used for something...- Yeah, yeah.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18You know, to put beams in that took one year to build,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20and all of these doors.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23The average farmer wouldn't have done that, I wouldn't have thought,
0:10:23 > 0:10:24in the 16th century,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28so why does it have such an ornate room like this one?
0:10:30 > 0:10:34Bill and Kim are planning to add some very extravagant woodwork
0:10:34 > 0:10:35of their own in the new staircase
0:10:35 > 0:10:39that will be going from the living room all the way up to the attic.
0:10:40 > 0:10:44The original staircase was here and went up like that,
0:10:44 > 0:10:50and the new one is this carved oak spiral
0:10:50 > 0:10:54sort of spiralling round with a glass panel here.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Spirals up to the first floor - a glass panel round -
0:10:57 > 0:11:00and it will spiral up again to the second floor.
0:11:00 > 0:11:02Is it really expensive?
0:11:02 > 0:11:06- It is expensive, yes. - Do you know what it's going to cost?
0:11:06 > 0:11:07- Yes.- Yeah.- Yeah.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10- I know very well. - Are you going to tell me?
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Yeah, I'm embarrassed to tell you
0:11:13 > 0:11:17it's going to cost £25,000 to put in some steps...
0:11:17 > 0:11:18to go upstairs.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Even as it is, you can see this house has potential,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28but will they really be able to make modern style
0:11:28 > 0:11:31fit in with this rustic scene?
0:11:31 > 0:11:33The odds may be against them -
0:11:33 > 0:11:37after all, the house is set in a muddy yard
0:11:37 > 0:11:40surrounded by working farm buildings,
0:11:40 > 0:11:42used every day by Bill's dad Brian.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46How do you feel about him doing it up?
0:11:46 > 0:11:47Oh, it's great stuff, isn't it?
0:11:47 > 0:11:50I was a bit thoughtful in the start
0:11:50 > 0:11:55because I just thought they were going to spoil Coldbrook
0:11:55 > 0:11:57by knocking it about cos I liked it as it was.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01But now I can see, y'know, the gift of it,
0:12:01 > 0:12:05and I think they got a good architect doing what should be done.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08While finding a way to mix old and new
0:12:08 > 0:12:12is an aesthetic challenge for Kim, Bill and the architects,
0:12:12 > 0:12:15for the builders, the problems are more practical.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21While the masons and carpenters are busy making repairs to the roof,
0:12:21 > 0:12:25downstairs, the plumbers and electricians are doing what's called the first fix -
0:12:25 > 0:12:28laying all the pipes and wires
0:12:28 > 0:12:32that will later be hidden behind walls and in the ceilings.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38But in this house, most of the internal walls are to be left
0:12:38 > 0:12:42as exposed stone and the ceilings are just going to be the bare beams.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49So where is electrician Jack Lloyd supposed to hide his cables?
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Well, it's just giving me an headache.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55You just have to run one cable which should take ten minutes,
0:12:55 > 0:12:58but you know, you look at the drawing, you speak to the foreman,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00he says it can't go that way.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Oh, it's a nightmare. It's just... tricky, you know.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06It's better to work in a housing estate,
0:13:06 > 0:13:10a normal three-bedroom house would be good right now.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13While the builders struggle to hide evidence of the 21st century
0:13:13 > 0:13:15inside the fabric of the house,
0:13:15 > 0:13:20we're going to try to dig up all we can about the building's past.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26So our historian Dr Kate Williams will be searching the archives
0:13:26 > 0:13:30to track down the people whose lives have been bound up with the house,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32while architectural expert Kieran Long
0:13:32 > 0:13:36will be looking for clues in the building itself.
0:13:38 > 0:13:40He's starting his investigation
0:13:40 > 0:13:43by checking Coldbrook's plain farmhouse exterior.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Wow.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55Wow. So here's really something much finer than we thought
0:13:55 > 0:13:59we were going to find in this stone farmhouse.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01It's really astonishing,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05this beautiful timberwork around this window.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08I've never seen anything like it, and it definitely tells us
0:14:08 > 0:14:12this is more than just your typical Monmouthshire farmhouse.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14But the real surprise is inside.
0:14:18 > 0:14:19Wow, look at this.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34It's like walking in to a kind of Tudor fantasy somehow,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37like these huge,dark timbers and this amazing oak screen here,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41and we even have pointed doorways - that kind of Gothic point -
0:14:41 > 0:14:45it's just like stepping into another era here. It's fantastic.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48What I love about this is how excessive it looks to our eyes today.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51We're so used to seeing the pathetic little architraves
0:14:51 > 0:14:53that we have around doors in our own homes,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56and, you know, that's the kind of fading memory
0:14:56 > 0:14:59of something like this. I mean, look at the size of it, the heft of it.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04I mean, it's two huge bits of tree stuck together and then carved.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06But what I love about these timbers is that
0:15:06 > 0:15:08they are holding up this doorway.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13They're fixed with dowels, there's a structural purpose to them,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15but then they're beautifully decorated.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17This is like functionalism, if you like.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19It's like what 20th-century architects try to do.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23It is holding the building up and it is also decorating the building.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25I love the unity of decoration and structure.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28But the mystery remains -
0:15:28 > 0:15:33what is all this lavish carved timberwork doing here?
0:15:33 > 0:15:36One thing we can be sure about is that this was more than just a working farm building.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39For me, those interiors are potentially of national importance,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41and what we need to do is go away
0:15:41 > 0:15:44and discover what other houses in the area have similar interiors
0:15:44 > 0:15:46and if we can understand
0:15:46 > 0:15:49what the role of this house was in this landscape.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Meanwhile, 150 miles away at home in London,
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Kim and Bill have a problem.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08The building is scheduled to finish the middle of October,
0:16:08 > 0:16:11but two of the children need to go to new schools.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Louey is due to start secondary school,
0:16:13 > 0:16:17and Betty is about to begin in reception class.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Basically, we've got to be there September 1st.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26Unfortunately, the house won't be finished on September 1st,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29so we're anticipating a couple of months
0:16:29 > 0:16:34in the rather cramped conditions of a caravan behind the cowsheds. Ha!
0:16:34 > 0:16:36When they move to Wales,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Bill and Kim aren't quitting their London jobs,
0:16:39 > 0:16:42they'll both be up in town a couple of days a week,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45and they'll both need to do a lot of work from home,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49which could be awkward with all of them squashed in the caravan.
0:16:52 > 0:16:53Meanwhile in Cardiff,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Kieran has come to the National Museum of Wales
0:16:56 > 0:16:59to search their collection on the history of architecture.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06But despite Coldbrook's extraordinary carved timberwork,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09there are almost no references to Kim and Bill's house.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14Though Keiran has found something
0:17:14 > 0:17:17in a rather unusual study done in the 1950s.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22Cyril Fox and Lord Raglan were an interesting pairing.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Cyril Fox was a historian
0:17:24 > 0:17:26and a director of the National Museum of Wales,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28and Lord Raglan was an amateur historian.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30They were friends and they, together,
0:17:30 > 0:17:32went on this journey around Monmouthshire,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34surveying hundreds of houses,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37literally hundreds of these farmhouses and, of course,
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Coldbrook Farm is one of the grandest of these wonderful houses.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46In their conclusion to this volume,
0:17:46 > 0:17:50Fox and Raglan hazard a guess at a date, but it's really a guess,
0:17:50 > 0:17:51they don't exactly know.
0:17:51 > 0:17:56And the way that they come to their conclusion is partly to do with the elaboration of the mouldings,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58and, in the end, the construction of those rubble walls,
0:17:58 > 0:18:03which they compare to another similar house they know of in Devon,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07which is dated 1553, and say, kind of in a rather imprecise way,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10"Such a date may reasonably be assigned to Coldbrook."
0:18:10 > 0:18:13They're dating it in the mid-1550s, but without great confidence.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19Filled with precise drawings, it's clear that Fox and Raglan's mission
0:18:19 > 0:18:23was more about recording these old houses for posterity
0:18:23 > 0:18:25rather than delving into their history.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27They weren't interested in the same things as we are.
0:18:27 > 0:18:33This is a book about architectural detail and types of house and a catalogue of those types.
0:18:33 > 0:18:37we're really interested in the dates and the people behind this house,
0:18:37 > 0:18:40who was it who commissioned it?
0:18:40 > 0:18:43Can we establish why it was that someone in the middle of the 16th century
0:18:43 > 0:18:46decided that that elaborate interior was necessary?
0:18:46 > 0:18:50You know, what were they trying to achieve and what's behind that thinking?
0:18:53 > 0:18:57To find out about the people who are missing from Fox and Raglan,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00our historian Dr Kate Williams has come to Aberystwyth,
0:19:00 > 0:19:05to use the archives of the National Library of Wales.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10She wants to go back to the origins of Coldbrook Farm
0:19:10 > 0:19:13and discover what made it so special.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18But Kate's not having much luck finding anything earlier than Victorian times.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23What I've found so far is a reference in the census of 1841
0:19:23 > 0:19:26to a John Powell living there. He's 75, he's a farmer,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28he has quite a large family.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31This is the closest lead I've got at the moment.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36John Powell was born over two centuries after Coldbrook was built,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39but with no other leads to follow,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41Kate's going to see where this one goes.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45So here I've got the will of John Powell.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48He died ten years after the census, in 1851.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51One thing the census didn't tell us is whether or not he owned the farm.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55It's clear from this that he did own it and also he's quite a wealthy man.
0:19:55 > 0:20:01John Powell had five children, but it was the eldest, Moses Powell,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04who would expect to inherit the whole farm.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07But there's a condition here which is quite rare in wills at the time.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10There's a condition that he gets Coldbrook Farm,
0:20:10 > 0:20:14but only if he doesn't marry or cohabit with a certain female
0:20:14 > 0:20:17by the name of Harriet Blayton.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20And if he marries or cohabits with this woman, absolutely nothing.
0:20:20 > 0:20:25He's completely cut out and it goes to the next child.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30So obviously this raises a huge and rather exciting mystery -
0:20:30 > 0:20:34who was Harriet Blayton and why on Earth was she so awful
0:20:34 > 0:20:37that the family hated her so much that, if the son went near her,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39that was the end of that?
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Kate's going to delve deeper,
0:20:42 > 0:20:44and though this may not be getting us closer
0:20:44 > 0:20:46to the origins of the place,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50it shows how important Coldbrook has been to the people who lived there.
0:20:56 > 0:21:02It's the end of July and Kim and Bill have come for the monthly meeting on-site with the architects.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Martin's wife and partner, Kelly, is here today.
0:21:05 > 0:21:08They've got some important decisions to make,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11starting with the stain colour for the new floorboards,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15which are to be laid throughout almost the entire house.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18They've got it down to a choice of three.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Kim's worried about the house being a little dark inside,
0:21:21 > 0:21:24so she favours the lightest one.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28My position is strong, it is strong!
0:21:28 > 0:21:32But I do want to feel supported!
0:21:32 > 0:21:36And I like that, but I need to sell it to Bill.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Bill, isn't this by far and away the nicest?
0:21:39 > 0:21:42Compared to what? Oh, all of these?
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Which one's the nicest, Kim? Tell me which one's the nicest?
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Oh that one, yeah, you're right! HE LAUGHS
0:21:48 > 0:21:49No, I prefer this one, but...
0:21:49 > 0:21:51You think that, don't you, Kelly?
0:21:51 > 0:21:54I think that was my personal favourite, the antique one.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56I think, if... are we painting this white?
0:21:56 > 0:21:59White and that, you could be in almost a modern house.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02I want to live in an old house, not a modern house.
0:22:02 > 0:22:08It's too sanitised with lovely white, you know, clean, bright floorboards and white walls.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13It'll be a bit too much for my delicate eyes!
0:22:13 > 0:22:14What d'you reckon?
0:22:17 > 0:22:20Yeah. Well, that one looks better, then, doesn't it?
0:22:20 > 0:22:22No-one can be persuaded to go for the...?
0:22:22 > 0:22:23Do you know, a while ago...
0:22:23 > 0:22:25Last year, I was all over that,
0:22:25 > 0:22:27but I just... It's the whole "dark" thing.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31But the joinery here is dark.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33I know. Exactly.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39There are pros and cons to having professional architects on your project.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42The best thing is that they have strong ideas,
0:22:42 > 0:22:44but that's also the problem.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48The floorboards that we chose today weren't the floorboards that I wanted to choose at all.
0:22:48 > 0:22:53But, erm, everyone's right and they are quite nice.
0:22:53 > 0:22:54It's just that they're a bit dark.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57I wanted everything to be as light as possible,
0:22:57 > 0:22:59Because the house is quite dark. But they are right,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03they should really be dark to fit in with all the wood.
0:23:03 > 0:23:04And they'll be beautiful.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08But I did just spend a lot of time looking for something different.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Kim and Bill clearly love Coldbrook but back in Aberystwyth,
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Kate has found someone whose love for the place would be put to the test.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24His father's will meant that Moses Powell had to choose between Coldbrook and the woman he loved.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28After seeing John Powell's will,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30the most intriguing thing is Harriet Blaydon.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Who is this woman who is so reviled by the family that,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36if Moses marries her, he is completely disinherited?
0:23:37 > 0:23:42The records are patchy, but Harriet is listed as a household servant
0:23:42 > 0:23:44to one of the neighbouring families,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48which, of course, would make her of lower social class.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51So did Moses choose her or Coldbrook?
0:23:51 > 0:23:56The 1851 census shows who got the farm.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59Fascinatingly, it says that Edward Powell is head of the household,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02so it's not Moses Powell at all,
0:24:02 > 0:24:08and all we can presume is that Moses is cut out of the inheritance
0:24:08 > 0:24:11because he carries on his affair, his cohabitation, whatever it is,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15with Harriet Blaydon. He is still in love with this woman.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19It would be nice to think that, even without the farm,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22the lovers went on to live happily together.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26But real life rarely leads to easy endings.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29My final trace of Moses Powell is in the 1871 census,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32where he's listed as being married to someone else.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Not Harriet at all, Caroline.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40But also what's interesting is they are living at a walks cottage in Llandenny - a small cottage.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42They're not living at Coldbrook Farm.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Moses Powell is quite... pretty poor, really, by this point.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49He's lost everything. So, clearly, he gave up a lot for Harriet.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52It's a touching story,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55but Moses and Harriet don't get us any closer
0:24:55 > 0:24:57to the origins of Coldbrook Farm.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00So Kate and Kieran both need a new lead to follow.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09When Coldbrook was built, most farmhouses would have had a well.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12But Bill and Kim didn't know that theirs is still here,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15hidden beneath an ordinary-looking manhole cover.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20- God!- Oh, my God!
0:25:20 > 0:25:21Wow! Whoa!
0:25:21 > 0:25:23I mean, hold on...
0:25:23 > 0:25:28- Look at that, that is fantastic! - It's good echoes.- Yeah!
0:25:28 > 0:25:32The question is, what should they do with it?
0:25:33 > 0:25:37Oh, I'd make a real big, I'd make a tourist feature of the thing!
0:25:37 > 0:25:39I'd open it up here.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42- I'd put the tables and chairs here. - Yeah.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44What would you do? Kelly, what would you do?
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Personally, I'd cover over it!
0:25:47 > 0:25:49- Well, really!- I would.
0:25:49 > 0:25:50This is just one of the...
0:25:50 > 0:25:54How many houses do you know in our street have got one of these?
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Deciding what to do with the well will have to wait,
0:25:59 > 0:26:02because now they have to discuss a problem with the doors.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05They all need to be custom made,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09because every doorway in the house is a different size.
0:26:09 > 0:26:14We've sent them off to the joinery company to get priced.
0:26:14 > 0:26:17And they've come back with prices,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20and it's not an exaggeration to say the prices are basically double
0:26:20 > 0:26:23the provisional sum that's in the contract.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28- How much, in total, how much over is it?- Yeah.- In total?
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Well, I guess it would be pretty much 100% over.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35So what's our options then? Have no doors?
0:26:35 > 0:26:38- No, that's not an option.- No.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40I think that was a bit of a shock.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Erm...
0:26:42 > 0:26:45But in a way, it's not a shock.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47There's always going to be those things going on.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Bill isn't so philosophical.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53He's gone off to see if he can find another way
0:26:53 > 0:26:55to alleviate the doors overspend.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00Right, well this is a door which used to go up to the attic.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03And I think we're going to do a bit of work on it,
0:27:03 > 0:27:08because apparently, anything which can be used to make a door
0:27:08 > 0:27:10is going to come in very handy,
0:27:10 > 0:27:16given the rather alarming news today of the price of doors these days.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20I didn't realise they were up with gold and oil
0:27:20 > 0:27:23as an expensive commodity!
0:27:23 > 0:27:25I wish I'd bought some years ago!
0:27:27 > 0:27:32Of course, the largest piece of new joinery is the spiral staircase.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34And if that comes back with a 100% overspend,
0:27:34 > 0:27:38even Bill would have a problem making a joke out of it.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44It's being built at a large joinery firm in Hereford.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46They're making all the parts here,
0:27:46 > 0:27:49and then they'll be assembling them at Coldbrook.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Master joiner Sam Thomas has worked on it for four weeks already,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57and it's not the easiest one he's ever made.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Yes, I have made a lot of staircases.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Probably, in my time as a joiner, probably a couple of thousand maybe.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07But nothing quite like this.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11It's a daring design, thought up by Martin the architect.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16The staircase actually is not intended to be imposing,
0:28:16 > 0:28:20it's actually intended to be sinuous and curvy and slender.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22But it's not sort of assertive
0:28:22 > 0:28:26in the sense of being a big, brash statement.
0:28:26 > 0:28:30It's actually trying to be more of a ballerina in the corner,
0:28:30 > 0:28:34if you like, rather than a big truck.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39To Martin, it's a ballerina, but for Sam, it's more of a riddle.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42Sometimes it's a lot easier to draw something than to make something.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45Architects try and make their own design
0:28:45 > 0:28:48and their own thing on something,
0:28:48 > 0:28:50but it's not easy to get there.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Some nights, I do go home and think about what I'm going to do next day
0:28:53 > 0:28:55and how I'm going to go about it, yes.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Sometimes, I wish he'd pay me for my time at home as well,
0:28:59 > 0:29:00put it that way!
0:29:00 > 0:29:03But the real test will be when it's finished.
0:29:03 > 0:29:07Because Kim and Bill are spending £25,000
0:29:07 > 0:29:10to get a two-storey-high statement of 21st-century design
0:29:10 > 0:29:15inserted into their 16th-century home.
0:29:15 > 0:29:16Let's hope they like it.
0:29:24 > 0:29:25It's the end of summer,
0:29:25 > 0:29:29and the new school year starts in three days,
0:29:29 > 0:29:31so the time has come to move to the country.
0:29:41 > 0:29:46Little bit of me is slightly concerned that I might start feeling a bit isolated down there.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50But I'm not that worried about that. Keep me out of trouble, really!
0:29:51 > 0:29:53Everything has to be cleared out,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56because this house is going to be let.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58But with Coldbrook unfinished,
0:29:58 > 0:30:02all this stuff will be going into the barns,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05and the family will living in the caravan.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07Gives you a little bit of nervousness,
0:30:07 > 0:30:10moving on to your next chapter of life, if you like,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13but, um... being sad to leave, I think,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16is always a good sentiment. It means you've had a great time.
0:30:18 > 0:30:22We are emigrating. Fantastic.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24Have you got the passports?
0:30:24 > 0:30:28Yeah, another economic migrant returns home.
0:30:46 > 0:30:50To get closer to the origins of Coldbrook Farm,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52Kieran reckons we need a definite date,
0:30:52 > 0:30:54and with all this timber here,
0:30:54 > 0:30:59it might be worth trying dendrochronology -
0:30:59 > 0:31:02the science of dating wood using the tree's growth rings.
0:31:02 > 0:31:09So, he's called in Dr Dan Miles from the Oxford Dendrochronology Lab.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13We all learn as kids that maybe a ring of a tree is a year.
0:31:13 > 0:31:14Does it really correspond?
0:31:14 > 0:31:20No, that is exactly right. Each year the tree puts on one ring
0:31:20 > 0:31:21on the outside just under the bark,
0:31:21 > 0:31:23and if it's a very dry year,
0:31:23 > 0:31:27that'll be a very narrow ring cos the tree didn't grow much,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31but if it's a really good year, warm and moist,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33the tree will grow much faster put on a much wider ring.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36We actually have to measure each ring,
0:31:36 > 0:31:40put it on a graph, and put it through statistical analysis on the computer.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44And if we have the edge of the bark, which we've got here,
0:31:44 > 0:31:47then we'll be able to work out the season of the year
0:31:47 > 0:31:48the tree was cut down.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55But to do that, Dan needs to take a few samples from around the house.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58He's got specially-made drill bits
0:31:58 > 0:32:03to cut out a core at right angles to the tree's rings.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05There's no way to do this without drilling,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08but after it's repaired later on,
0:32:08 > 0:32:12no-one will be able to see where the hole was made.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16The cores of wood will be analysed back at the lab.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20Do you feel hopeful we're going to get a reasonable sample
0:32:20 > 0:32:21and a date for the house?
0:32:21 > 0:32:24Well, the wood is nice. Everything being equal they should date,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27but you can never guarantee it until you actually do the work.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30If we can discover when the house was built,
0:32:30 > 0:32:34that could help us solve the mystery of Coldbrook Farm -
0:32:34 > 0:32:37why some of the finest-carved timberwork in Wales,
0:32:37 > 0:32:41is in an ordinary farmhouse, well off the beaten track.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Right, Betty Finn, what you want for breakfast?
0:32:46 > 0:32:51Chuck this out the way for now. Thank you, Lewis.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53It's the end of September
0:32:53 > 0:32:56and the family is getting used to caravan life.
0:32:56 > 0:33:01This is my bed here. Who's sleeping in my bed?
0:33:01 > 0:33:05Unfortunately, I was away when everyone decided which bed
0:33:05 > 0:33:10they were having and I was left with spacious, admittedly,
0:33:10 > 0:33:11but not too comfortable floor,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14in a sleeping bag
0:33:14 > 0:33:19but it's only for 12 weeks.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26We've just put all our chest of drawers from London in here.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29Got a second-hand washing machine here
0:33:29 > 0:33:34and I hang everything here and it dries sometimes.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36Both Kim and Bill have kept their London jobs,
0:33:36 > 0:33:41and they have to spend at least a couple of days a week in the city.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46But the rest of the time they do need to work from home
0:33:46 > 0:33:48and in the caravan that can be tricky.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54But Bill has found a corner of the old milking parlour,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57and when it's quiet at the local pub,
0:33:57 > 0:33:59the landlord doesn't mind Kim using a table.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05And of course, the children are having a great time.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10But then the weather has been uncharacteristically dry,
0:34:10 > 0:34:13and as autumn rolls on,
0:34:13 > 0:34:14the need to move in to the house
0:34:14 > 0:34:16is likely to become more and more urgent.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26After nine weeks working on the new staircase at the joinery workshop,
0:34:26 > 0:34:31Sam has brought it to Coldbrook to start putting it together.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34But it looks like there's been a terrible mistake.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40We started to set out, really,
0:34:40 > 0:34:45mark things where we needed to mark things, get things in place,
0:34:45 > 0:34:47and this was going to be our first bit
0:34:47 > 0:34:49but there is a problem with this,
0:34:49 > 0:34:55and, uh, there's a slight issue with the floor
0:34:55 > 0:34:57which is not what measurements I had,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00to what we made, to what is here at the moment.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04In other words, it doesn't fit.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07The first flight is too tall.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09It's about 70 mil, to be fair, so, yeah,
0:35:09 > 0:35:12it's quite a big issue to get over now as well.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18With hundreds of man-hours already invested in this,
0:35:18 > 0:35:23they need to wait until Martin, the architect, can take a look at it,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25and hope that he can come up with a solution,
0:35:25 > 0:35:28apart from remaking it all from scratch.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34But the stairs aren't the only thing that may have to be redone
0:35:34 > 0:35:40because Kim has been thinking about the colour of the walls.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43The painters have started with a warm, yellowish white,
0:35:43 > 0:35:46but she's been experimenting on top with some tester pots.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51Oh, I prefer the...
0:35:51 > 0:35:52I like the yellow.
0:35:52 > 0:35:53SHE BLOWS A RASPBERRY Well!
0:35:57 > 0:36:00No...that...grey...yellow...no.
0:36:00 > 0:36:01I have no choice.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03I don't know why I bother.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06I make a lot of effort to put some creative thought into it
0:36:06 > 0:36:08and I just get stampeded over.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11Happy with that. Bill, are you happy with that?
0:36:11 > 0:36:18Um, if you're happy, Kim, then I'm at peace.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20OK, ha-ha-ha.
0:36:25 > 0:36:2980 miles away at the Oxford Dendrochronology Lab,
0:36:29 > 0:36:34Dr Dan Miles has been analysing the timber cores he took,
0:36:34 > 0:36:38in order to discover exactly when Coldbrook was built.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41He now has an answer.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44We can show that the house was probably built,
0:36:44 > 0:36:49probably in 1538, because the tree was still growing that winter.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53The tree was probably cut down during the winter of 1537-8,
0:36:53 > 0:36:58and were used probably right away, although the great big tree
0:36:58 > 0:37:02used for those big window jambs were cut down
0:37:02 > 0:37:05a couple of years before in 1535-6.
0:37:09 > 0:37:10So, now we know exactly
0:37:10 > 0:37:14when these timbers and stones were first put together,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18and it's earlier than anyone thought - 1538.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25But having a precise date is a significant discovery
0:37:25 > 0:37:29not just for us but also for the whole study of Tudor architecture.
0:37:33 > 0:37:37So Richard Suggett has come to take a look at the results.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41He's from the Royal Commission On The Ancient And Historical Monuments Of Wales.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47So, with Coldbrook, we were saying mid-ish 16th century,
0:37:47 > 0:37:52but it could be later, so to have it earlier than the mid-16th century
0:37:52 > 0:37:55and to have the exact felling date
0:37:55 > 0:37:57really makes it very important.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59It's like the rungs on a ladder -
0:37:59 > 0:38:03it gives you a secure handhold for building chronology.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07But this earlier date means that Coldbrook
0:38:07 > 0:38:10could have a very illustrious connection
0:38:10 > 0:38:14because the house is less than two miles from Raglan Castle,
0:38:14 > 0:38:17which was built by the Earl of Pembroke
0:38:17 > 0:38:19in late medieval times.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23It's very interesting Coldbrook, like so many vernacular houses,
0:38:23 > 0:38:24is a documentary blank.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26There's just nothing there and yet
0:38:26 > 0:38:31the house says the person who built it was a person of consequence.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35So, I think you can start making
0:38:35 > 0:38:37some reasonable speculations
0:38:37 > 0:38:39about the identity of the builder.
0:38:39 > 0:38:44It's very near Raglan, and we know that the Earl of Pembroke,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47who died in 1469, had a lot of illegitimate children
0:38:47 > 0:38:51whom he settled on various estates.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54And I think it's quite possible -
0:38:54 > 0:38:57although not susceptible to proof yet -
0:38:57 > 0:38:59that the people who built Coldbrook
0:38:59 > 0:39:02were actually descended from the Earl of Pembroke.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05So, yes, quite extraordinary.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07Based at Raglan Castle,
0:39:07 > 0:39:11that Earl of Pembroke was William Herbert,
0:39:11 > 0:39:13one of the most powerful lords in Britain,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17and a major player in the Wars Of The Roses.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19If Coldbrook was built for his illegitimate descendants,
0:39:19 > 0:39:23that might explain all the fine-carved timber.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27So Kate and Kieran now have a new lead to follow.
0:39:35 > 0:39:41November in Wales can be pretty cold, and it's usually very wet.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44But this year the winter rains have stayed away,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47which is just as well, because the family is still in the caravan.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Hello. Can I come in? Are you decent?
0:39:50 > 0:39:52Oh, yes, you are!
0:39:53 > 0:39:56So, how long have you been living in the caravan?
0:39:56 > 0:40:00- About ten weeks. Is it about ten weeks?- Ten weeks.
0:40:00 > 0:40:04So, generally speaking, you're slightly behind schedule?
0:40:04 > 0:40:10- Yes, we should have moved in... - On 15th October,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13so probably be more like 15th December, hopefully.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Not a 100% guarantee on that,
0:40:15 > 0:40:18- but the heating's working in the house.- Is it?- Yes.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20So, all the builders are there working in T-shirts.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22So the heating's on in the house,
0:40:22 > 0:40:24the kitchen's dry, the stairs are dry,
0:40:24 > 0:40:26and you're freezing your ... off
0:40:26 > 0:40:30- in the caravan, really damp. - Absolutely.- OK.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32When they eventually move into the house,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35Kim and Bill aren't going to know what hit them.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38For example, in the caravan,
0:40:38 > 0:40:40the kitchen is about three square metres,
0:40:40 > 0:40:43while in the house it's almost 50.
0:40:43 > 0:40:46- When I'm going to sleep at night I think about cooking.- Do you?
0:40:46 > 0:40:50How do you see yourself? What are you cooking?
0:40:50 > 0:40:54- Well, roast pork. Constantly. - Checking the crackling!
0:40:56 > 0:40:58I dream about us coming home on a Sunday
0:40:58 > 0:41:01to roast pork in the evening and all the kids
0:41:01 > 0:41:05having their baths, and us all having roast pork and red wine.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09Bill, is there anything you're really looking forward to?
0:41:09 > 0:41:13Yeah. When we move in, I'm really looking forward to seeing
0:41:13 > 0:41:17the satisfaction on Kim's face and the happiness it'll bring her
0:41:17 > 0:41:18to finally move in,
0:41:18 > 0:41:22cos she's put so much effort into the house,
0:41:22 > 0:41:23and much more than I,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27- so she deserves everything that the house will give her.- Oh!
0:41:27 > 0:41:30- That's a lovely thought.- Oh!
0:41:30 > 0:41:32- I know it's lovely.- Awww!
0:41:32 > 0:41:34I didn't mean that. I hope everyone understands,
0:41:34 > 0:41:36that was just for the camera.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39Of course it was for the camera. We know you're tough as old boots.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42I am a hard Welsh farmer's son, all right?
0:41:42 > 0:41:44It's true - Bill's tough. He must be -
0:41:44 > 0:41:46he's spent the last ten weeks
0:41:46 > 0:41:48sleeping on the floor in the caravan.
0:41:48 > 0:41:49But the question is -
0:41:49 > 0:41:51will the restoration atually end
0:41:51 > 0:41:55before Bill and Kim's good humour finally cracks?
0:42:01 > 0:42:05Back in the archives, the discovery of a definite date
0:42:05 > 0:42:09for Coldbrook Farm has given Kate's investigation a new direction.
0:42:09 > 0:42:13She's looking into the suggestion that the house may have been built
0:42:13 > 0:42:17by the illegitimate descendants of William Herbert,
0:42:17 > 0:42:19the First Earl of Pembroke,
0:42:19 > 0:42:23who lived less than two miles away at Raglan Castle.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27And it seems he wasn't the only Herbert
0:42:27 > 0:42:30who had illegitimate offspring.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34In front of me, I've got two family trees - rather different -
0:42:34 > 0:42:37one of the illegitimate children of the Herberts,
0:42:37 > 0:42:38and one of the legitimate.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41So, here we've got the Earl of Pembroke, his son,
0:42:41 > 0:42:45and then all their many illegitimate children.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47But unlike quite a lot of other aristocratic families,
0:42:47 > 0:42:52the illegitimate - the natural sons, of course, not the daughters -
0:42:52 > 0:42:54are taken into the circle of inheritance,
0:42:54 > 0:42:55they all become of places.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58They are all, say, Edward Herbert of somewhere.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01So they gain a house, they gain an estate,
0:43:01 > 0:43:02they gain land.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05Even if they're just natural sons, they get a great stature.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09And amongst those places is a red herring.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13This timeline is the legitimate children only,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16and there's a mention of Coldbrook here -
0:43:16 > 0:43:17but it's not our Coldbrook.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20It's Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook, who died in 1469.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22He has a house, Coldbrook, in Abergavenny.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24Coldbrook House at Abergavenny
0:43:24 > 0:43:28would have been about ten miles from Coldbrook Farm.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32Sadly, the last house on the site fell into ruin,
0:43:32 > 0:43:34and was demolished in 1954.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36This isn't our Coldbrook Farm,
0:43:36 > 0:43:38but it seems to be very likely the two are connected.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40It was quite common in the period
0:43:40 > 0:43:42for families to name houses for the same name,
0:43:42 > 0:43:44to link them in a naming sense,
0:43:44 > 0:43:47whether it's owned by the same man or another man,
0:43:47 > 0:43:48but Coldbrook was very important
0:43:48 > 0:43:50to the Herbert family,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54and it shows, I think, why Coldbrook Farm has the name that it does.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57Coldbrook Farm and Coldbrook House.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00One we know was held by the Herberts,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03the other is little more than a stone's throw away
0:44:03 > 0:44:07from their original powerbase at Raglan Castle.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10But Kate's evidence is circumstantial.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13So, maybe Kieran can find proof.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Meanwhile, Sam the joiner has met with Martin
0:44:18 > 0:44:20about the stairs that didn't fit.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23There's always the risk with something
0:44:23 > 0:44:25that is made off-site in this way,
0:44:25 > 0:44:27and is totally fits together in this way,
0:44:27 > 0:44:28that you could have created
0:44:28 > 0:44:31the world's most expensive pile of kindling.
0:44:31 > 0:44:36And, um, I'm hugely pleased that isn't what's happened.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40It turns out it's the floor that's wrong.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42The stairs are fine,
0:44:42 > 0:44:46so they can get on with putting them up.
0:44:46 > 0:44:48It was always in the plan to raise the height
0:44:48 > 0:44:50of the floorboards on the landing
0:44:50 > 0:44:54to compensate for different levels between the bedrooms.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58The problem was that work hadn't been done before Sam turned up
0:44:58 > 0:45:00with the staircase.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04This floor now will be built up to that floor level
0:45:04 > 0:45:08so when you step off, it'll all be nice and flat.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12A weight off my mind to get it in there, get it fitted in there.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14Just hope the other one goes as well as this one.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18This isn't the final finish of the wood.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21Sam still has weeks of work to do
0:45:21 > 0:45:22applying an oak veneer,
0:45:22 > 0:45:24but when that's done,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28we'll all find out if mixing modern design with historic house
0:45:28 > 0:45:31really was a good idea.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37Kieran's come to Raglan Castle looking for evidence
0:45:37 > 0:45:40to link Coldbrook Farm with the Earl of Pembroke
0:45:40 > 0:45:42and the Herbert family.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51So this is Raglan Castle, this extraordinary pile of stones,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54which was once one of the greatest castles in Monmouthshire,
0:45:54 > 0:45:56and we've come here because
0:45:56 > 0:45:59this was the seat of the Herbert family,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01this would have been the most important building,
0:46:01 > 0:46:03the seat of their power and influence
0:46:03 > 0:46:07and also the place where their taste became broadcast, if you like.
0:46:07 > 0:46:09So, I'm hoping there may be an architectural link
0:46:09 > 0:46:12between this place and Coldbrook Farm.
0:46:17 > 0:46:21The castle was destroyed during the English Civil War,
0:46:21 > 0:46:24but it's still possible to see how the rooms were laid out.
0:46:24 > 0:46:27So, what's really exciting about this,
0:46:27 > 0:46:31is that it's a taste of the social life that, really,
0:46:31 > 0:46:33this building is all about.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36And this is the heart of it.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38This hall is just an extraordinary expression
0:46:38 > 0:46:40of how this whole society worked.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42You can imagine this hung with tapestries,
0:46:42 > 0:46:46with a minstrel's gallery, people eating here and, at that end,
0:46:46 > 0:46:48a high platform, a dais, so-called,
0:46:48 > 0:46:50where the lord or the earl
0:46:50 > 0:46:53would have sat to express his seniority,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55would have had his top table.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57We have exactly the same thing at Coldbrook.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01At Coldbrook, the old kitchen would have been the great hall,
0:47:01 > 0:47:02and we know there was a dais
0:47:02 > 0:47:05because you can still see the wear marks
0:47:05 > 0:47:09where it used to rub up against the oak panelling.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12To me, this is the room that helps us understand best
0:47:12 > 0:47:14the small hall at Coldbrook.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24So, we've been searching the castle architectural references that
0:47:24 > 0:47:26might lead us to comparison with Coldbrook
0:47:26 > 0:47:28and I think I've found one -
0:47:28 > 0:47:29I mean this doorway upstairs -
0:47:29 > 0:47:33we know there was once a dining room right above here in the castle
0:47:33 > 0:47:36and the doorway is strikingly similar.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40You know, you can imagine, in Coldbrook Farm, the craftsmen were looking at this decoration
0:47:40 > 0:47:43and reproducing it with the materials
0:47:43 > 0:47:44they had to hand which was timber.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46So it's not definitive proof,
0:47:46 > 0:47:49and it certainly doesn't mean that the same craftsmen worked here
0:47:49 > 0:47:52and at Coldbrook, but there's definitely an influence,
0:47:52 > 0:47:56an idiom of gothic castle architecture from the 14th and 15th century,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59that's somehow finding its way through to Coldbrook Farm.
0:48:05 > 0:48:07It's almost Christmas,
0:48:07 > 0:48:11the family have been living in the caravan for 15 weeks,
0:48:11 > 0:48:13and the builders have finally finished.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Bill's coming back from London tonight - and hopefully -
0:48:18 > 0:48:19or this afternoon -
0:48:19 > 0:48:22and hopefully we'll have all the sofas and beds in.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27And I can't wait to cook in the kitchen tonight -
0:48:27 > 0:48:31not that I know - don't think I know how to use any of it.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33I don't know if any of it works.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37- Do you want to sleep in the caravan one more night?- No!
0:48:45 > 0:48:47Most of their stuff from the London house
0:48:47 > 0:48:49is in one of Brian's barns,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52but Kim is keen not to clutter up their new house straightaway.
0:48:52 > 0:48:57So, today, they're moving in just the basics.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59Couple of sofas, that chest of drawers,
0:48:59 > 0:49:00that chest of drawers and that.
0:49:00 > 0:49:01Brilliant!
0:49:03 > 0:49:08- OK, Kim?- Yeah?- There you go.
0:49:08 > 0:49:09Oh, Betty! Oh, Betty!
0:49:09 > 0:49:11# Happy birthday to you... #
0:49:11 > 0:49:12Can I have a kiss?
0:49:12 > 0:49:15# Happy birthday, dear Mummy
0:49:15 > 0:49:19# Happy birthday to you. #
0:49:19 > 0:49:22Betty seems to have got the wrong idea -
0:49:22 > 0:49:25it isn't actually Kim's birthday.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30They are, I think they are for,
0:49:30 > 0:49:33I think they are moving in flowers, aren't they?
0:49:33 > 0:49:36We're set for a romantic first night in the house,
0:49:36 > 0:49:37I think, aren't we?
0:49:37 > 0:49:41I've got the champagne and salmon and the pate.
0:49:41 > 0:49:44Yeah. Let's not let romance get in the way of it.
0:49:44 > 0:49:45Oh!
0:49:58 > 0:50:02After months of building work and weeks in the caravan,
0:50:02 > 0:50:07Kim and Bill finally made it into their farmhouse for Christmas.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11It's now spring and I've come to find out
0:50:11 > 0:50:15how the family are enjoying life down on the farm
0:50:15 > 0:50:16But before that,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19our experts Kate and Kieran are going to share everything
0:50:19 > 0:50:22they've found out with Kim and Bill.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25Well, the dendrochronology can tell us much more precisely,
0:50:25 > 0:50:29and what was really exciting is it came up with an exact date,
0:50:29 > 0:50:32in fact, earlier than even Fox and Raglan,
0:50:32 > 0:50:34even the experts had ever suspected.
0:50:35 > 0:50:36Moses can't have the house
0:50:36 > 0:50:41if he is to marry to this woman Harriet Blayton,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45so he can't have it if he marries this lady.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49And when we saw this doorway,
0:50:49 > 0:50:52you can't help make comparisons to this doorway.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57That means so much to think there is a link
0:50:57 > 0:50:59between this place and the castle.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02It's absolutely fantastic,
0:51:02 > 0:51:07and we've spent hours and hours sitting in all these rooms here,
0:51:07 > 0:51:09and talking about where they'd come from and why.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11And I suppose talking to you guys
0:51:11 > 0:51:15and hearing these tales really brings it to life.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19A year ago, the house was in a terrible state,
0:51:19 > 0:51:23but now the time has come to find out if Kim and Bill
0:51:23 > 0:51:28have succeeded in blending historic features and modern style.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30- It looks fantastic!- Thank you.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32- Are you thrilled?- Yes.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34We finally got there.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39It was broken down and worn out,
0:51:39 > 0:51:41but now Coldbrook Farm has been transformed.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10Oh, Kim! The staircase!
0:52:10 > 0:52:14- It looks great.- Yes.
0:52:14 > 0:52:15Do you like it, Bill?
0:52:15 > 0:52:19Uh, against all my will, I love it, yeah.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23Well worth it, actually. Well worth the money spent on it.
0:52:23 > 0:52:29Originally budgeted at £25,000, the final bill was almost £30,000.
0:52:29 > 0:52:33But then, Sam and the joiners did spend over 700 hours
0:52:33 > 0:52:35getting it perfect.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39I love it. I love the way it ties in the old wood
0:52:39 > 0:52:41and the modern use of the house.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43And it doesn't take over, does it?
0:52:43 > 0:52:45It sits on the side of the wall.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47It's really lovely.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50But you could have gone for a normal, off-the-peg staircase
0:52:50 > 0:52:53with a normal banister.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56Yeah, that was the original idea, as well.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58I just didn't think... I thought, "A stairs is a stairs,
0:52:58 > 0:53:02"just a collection of steps," but I didn't realise it was art.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07So, that's Bill and Kim's piece of history now?
0:53:07 > 0:53:13Yeah, I think so. I think there's a subconscious thought of that.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16You have to do something that's in keeping with the rest of the house
0:53:16 > 0:53:19- or else it's almost sacrilege.- Yeah.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24The stairs go all the way up to the attic,
0:53:24 > 0:53:28where Kim and Bill's bright and stylish bedroom
0:53:28 > 0:53:33has been created under the ancient roof timbers.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35The children's bedrooms are on the first floor,
0:53:35 > 0:53:39where there's also a guest bedroom
0:53:39 > 0:53:43and a big family bathroom.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49White walls throughout tie everything together,
0:53:49 > 0:53:51as do the new oak floorboards,
0:53:51 > 0:53:56stained dark to blend in with all the old timber.
0:53:56 > 0:54:01Kim, these floors... you wanted a lighter floor.
0:54:01 > 0:54:06Yes, no I always wanted light floors, but everyone outvoted me.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08- Did they.- Yes!
0:54:08 > 0:54:09Everyone!
0:54:09 > 0:54:12So, I thought, fair enough. They were probably right. Yes.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14I was just very keen on getting as much light in here as possible,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18but, no, they were right. Everyone's right, as usual.
0:54:21 > 0:54:22Also designed to match in
0:54:22 > 0:54:24are the new doors.
0:54:24 > 0:54:29Each one is a different size, so they all had to be custom made.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31- Bill.- Yes. - How much did this door cost?
0:54:31 > 0:54:32Well, too much.
0:54:32 > 0:54:34Not a thousand pounds?
0:54:34 > 0:54:37- Something not far off it, yeah. - You got a lot of doors.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39You must have spent all your money on doors.
0:54:39 > 0:54:43Yeah, but I was quite pleased to do that,
0:54:43 > 0:54:45I really enjoyed that bit of it.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50- But they're special doors. Special doors.- They are!
0:54:50 > 0:54:55But the most impressive timberwork is still where it always was -
0:54:55 > 0:55:00in the original great hall, that was later the old kitchen,
0:55:00 > 0:55:04and is now Kim and Bill's dining room.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12Ah, the historical heart of the home!
0:55:12 > 0:55:13It's delightful!
0:55:15 > 0:55:21Is it very different from living in a modern London home?
0:55:21 > 0:55:26It's fabulous having all these features around
0:55:26 > 0:55:28and the wood is very comforting,
0:55:28 > 0:55:33but we do have a lot of mod cons in here that I've never had before.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36And most of those mod cons are in the room
0:55:36 > 0:55:39that used to be the old barn next door...
0:55:42 > 0:55:46..which has now been completely transformed
0:55:46 > 0:55:49into a very stylish farmhouse kitchen.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54That also includes a mezzanine play area to keep the kids close by.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58I love the fact that from here I can see the old beams
0:55:58 > 0:56:02and the wood and then this shiny bit of modern technology,
0:56:02 > 0:56:04and all that, and out to this ancient view.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07- I think it's just...- Yes.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11It actually makes me feel quite jealous.
0:56:13 > 0:56:18The whole restoration was originally budgeted at £350,000,
0:56:18 > 0:56:22but the final bill was about £400,000.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24So, was it worth it?
0:56:24 > 0:56:30This is way beyond our dreams four years ago.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32- Oh, yeah.- Way beyond it.
0:56:32 > 0:56:36Couldn't be happier with the outcome. Not one regret, at all.
0:56:36 > 0:56:38- No.- Nothing.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40It's definitely a magical spot, here,
0:56:40 > 0:56:43and it's definitely a magical sort of house.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45Yeah.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55Bill has known Coldbrook Farm for most of his life,
0:56:55 > 0:57:02but only ever as a shabby farmhouse set amidst beautiful countryside.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06But as the layers of history were peeled back,
0:57:06 > 0:57:10Coldbrook Farm began to give up her secrets.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12The story began in 1536 when,
0:57:12 > 0:57:15not far from here, a tree was felled
0:57:15 > 0:57:19and craftsmen began work on the detailed beams
0:57:19 > 0:57:24that would form a house for a man of incredible wealth and status.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27Nearly 500 years later,
0:57:27 > 0:57:31different craftsmen have been making modern pieces
0:57:31 > 0:57:36to sit effortlessly alongside the old.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39Only this time their brief was different.
0:57:39 > 0:57:44Kim and Bill didn't want a house of wealth and status -
0:57:44 > 0:57:46somewhere to show off -
0:57:46 > 0:57:50they wanted to create a simple family home,
0:57:50 > 0:57:56somewhere that they love, and they have done exactly that.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07On the next Restoration Home,
0:58:07 > 0:58:09a mistreated architectural gem in Scotland,
0:58:09 > 0:58:13with new owners committed to reinstating its perfect beauty.
0:58:13 > 0:58:17Is it important to get the detail right?
0:58:17 > 0:58:20Our intention is to get it as correct as we can -
0:58:20 > 0:58:21basically, regardless of cost.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23And we discover its links
0:58:23 > 0:58:27to Britain's greatest arts and crafts masterpieces.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30The DNA of Sanford house is somewhere here.
0:58:47 > 0:58:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd