0:00:04 > 0:00:09500 years ago, England was emerging into a new era.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14After years of war, plague and famine, the kingdom was enjoying
0:00:14 > 0:00:20peace and prosperity under the reign of the first Tudor King, Henry VII.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27A new class of business savvy farmer was thriving,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29boosting food production...
0:00:29 > 0:00:31And then over she goes.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36..while wool from their sheep was generating half the nation's wealth.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41Many of the nation's farms were under the control
0:00:41 > 0:00:46of the biggest landowner in England after the King - the monasteries.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51Their influence could be felt in every aspect of daily life.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54They were not just places of religion.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58They were at the forefront of technology, education and farming.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04But with the daily lives of monks devoted to prayer, they depended
0:01:04 > 0:01:10increasingly on tenant farmers who worked and tended their lands.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12There thee go.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19Now, historian Ruth Goodman, and archaeologists Tom Pinfold
0:01:19 > 0:01:24and Peter Ginn, are turning the clock back to Tudor England -
0:01:24 > 0:01:26here at Weald and Downland in West Sussex -
0:01:26 > 0:01:29to work as ordinary farmers
0:01:29 > 0:01:32under the watchful eye of a monastic landlord.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39- Here.- That's the way, nice.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44To succeed, they'll have to master long lost farming methods.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46Watch those flanks, they're going again.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49And get to grips with Tudor technology...
0:01:52 > 0:01:54Quite noisy.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Wow, it's a really violent process.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59..while immersing themselves in the beliefs...
0:01:59 > 0:02:01ALL: Amen.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05..customs and rituals that shaped the age.
0:02:06 > 0:02:10This is merry England, for heaven's sake, so to speak, let's enjoy it.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18This is the untold story of the monastic farms of Tudor England.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32It's late spring.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36The team have been running their Tudor farm for two months.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40They've set up a pig enterprise,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43breeding Tamworths to pay rent to the monastery...
0:02:44 > 0:02:48..sheared their Southdown sheep and sold the fleeces,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50a big earner for the monastic farmer...
0:02:51 > 0:02:55..and they've mastered driving oxen, the tractors of the age,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58to sow a pea crop.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01They're fast, they're faster than I thought they'd be.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07Now, they're turning their attention to making the staple foods
0:03:07 > 0:03:12of everyday Tudor life - bread and ale.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17Records show that it wasn't unusual for a person to consume
0:03:17 > 0:03:21a 2 lb loaf and 8 pints of ale a day.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26It's amazing how much of the diet bread and beer made up.
0:03:26 > 0:03:34Yeah, 80% of Britain's total calorific intake was between bread and beer.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36- Yeah.- You know, grain-based. Which is quite, that's just one,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39really it's just one little tiny group of foods providing the main sustenance.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42It's your carbohydrates, isn't it? That's your energy to get you through the day,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44doing everything you need to do.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46And it's going to be cheaper than proteins.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50There's going to be the same amount of calories in a pint of beer as half a loaf of bread.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52So, when things look like that...
0:03:52 > 0:03:57That is a third of your calorie intake, isn't it?
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Which, when you consider that many people are on the edge, and that's
0:04:00 > 0:04:02pretty much all they're eating, that's an enormous part of the diet.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Tudors drank ale, not just for the calories,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09but because water from wells was often contaminated.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13The alcohol killed any bacteria, making it safe to drink.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16Dieticians, sort of, analysing this these days would say that
0:04:16 > 0:04:19the only thing that's missing from this diet is a bit of vitamin C.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22But it doesn't take much, you only have to have the occasional leaf
0:04:22 > 0:04:23now and again from something edible -
0:04:23 > 0:04:25you know, the, the odd apple,
0:04:25 > 0:04:29the occasional bit of cabbage, and you've sorted that problem out.
0:04:34 > 0:04:36To produce a daily ration of bread and ale,
0:04:36 > 0:04:39six acres of wheat and barley were required,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42per person, per year.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46Failure of these crops could quickly result in famine.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50And, in Tudor England, one in four harvests failed.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57People had little understanding of agricultural science,
0:04:57 > 0:05:02so, to ensure a good harvest, they were guided by age-old superstitions.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06But, most of all, they turned to God.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08Prosper the work of those who enable us
0:05:08 > 0:05:10to supply the resources of our small world.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12ALL: Amen.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Right, onwards and upwards.
0:05:14 > 0:05:18It's 40 days after Easter, Rogationtide,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22when farm workers processed around their parish boundary,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24praying for a successful harvest.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29It was known as "beating the bounds".
0:05:29 > 0:05:33But there was another purpose to this ritual.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37In 1500, parish maps were virtually non-existent,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41so beating the bounds reminded everyone of landmarks
0:05:41 > 0:05:43that divided their parish from the next.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Folklore historian Professor Ronald Hutton
0:05:49 > 0:05:51has come to partake in the ritual.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53We have to pass the knowledge down to the younger
0:05:53 > 0:05:55members of our parish.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58How, how do we get these guys to remember?
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Here's the bad news -
0:06:00 > 0:06:02it's a mixture of pain and pleasure to make it memorable.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Pain, because young boys were regularly beaten
0:06:05 > 0:06:09or hung up and down by their legs and bounced on the ground.
0:06:09 > 0:06:14And then, when you'd made them remember bitterly what this place was and why it was special,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17you'd give them treats, like cakes, afterwards to cheer them up.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Now, young Edmund, come on.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Right, this has happened to every parishioner,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27male parishioner, in the past - they need to remember this tree.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32Look, being dangled upside down!
0:06:32 > 0:06:36- There's the tree, see the tree? - Er, yeah.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39- See the landscape? - Yeah.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42- Tree. Going to remember?- Yes. - Yes, that's the right answer.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44- Raar!- Ow.- Ooh.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48You think he remembers what's going on, what's the pay-off?
0:06:48 > 0:06:51The pay-off is cake. It's fruit cake.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54Oh, yummy.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Another generation sorted.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08The better-off supplemented their diet of bread and ale with meat.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11The Tudor age saw tenant farmers begin to breed pigs
0:07:11 > 0:07:15commercially for the first time.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18The farmer's under the... the control of the monasteries.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23These pigs represented, essentially, a pig factory. The little ones
0:07:23 > 0:07:27are ready to go, get the boar in, get them pregnant, carry on.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29No longer are we subsistence farmers -
0:07:29 > 0:07:32we are now business farmers.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36The farm has two sows that will produce around 12 piglets a year
0:07:36 > 0:07:39between them, a useful addition to the farm's income.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43The piglets are ten weeks old
0:07:43 > 0:07:46and should now be ready to wean from their mothers.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50Once the sow stops producing milk, she'll be ready to breed again.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54- All right, guys?- Yeah, we're good, thanks, Neil, how are you?
0:07:54 > 0:07:59- How are you getting on, all right? - Yeah, not bad, how are you?- Right, you ready for it?- Pretty much.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Farmer Neil Kerswell
0:08:01 > 0:08:05is helping the boys lure the piglets away from the sows and into the sty.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09The secret to any wean is not to get them too stressed -
0:08:09 > 0:08:13if we're calm, they'll be calm. Come on then, in you go, in you go.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Come, this way, Georgie, Georgie, come on.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18Look, it's home, what's in there?
0:08:18 > 0:08:20- In.- Four in.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22Don't even try and...
0:08:22 > 0:08:24Five in. Six in.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Yeah!
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Yes, yes, yes. Six small pigs in there.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31- Well done. - Two big pigs over there.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35But their joy is short-lived.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39- Come on, come on. - An escapee.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41- Are you struggling? - Oh, no, boys!
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Our little piglets have found out that they can burrow
0:08:44 > 0:08:45under our makeshift hurdles.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47Now another one.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50It was close, we almost got there. My mistake entirely.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53It's always like this, Peter, and, don't worry,
0:08:53 > 0:08:54it never ever goes to plan.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56And, do you know what, there's always one.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Look, I'll reason with it, look.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03You're currently marking your cards as the one we're going to eat.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05You know, that's not reasoning - that's threatening.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08You've really, you've really got to go in there.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17Finally, after much cajoling, the piglets are separated and taken to the woods.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Come on, piggies. Come on, pigs. Come on, pigs.
0:09:23 > 0:09:27In Tudor England, piglets were often fattened on common land, in forests.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31Here, they could eat fallen acorns, beech nuts and chestnuts.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35This ancient rite was known as "pannage".
0:09:37 > 0:09:38Keep calling.
0:09:38 > 0:09:39I'm over here.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42- You're not lost.- Tudor farmer, putting his pigs in the woods.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46It's... Not only are you clearing that land out, it's essential,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48for free... to put on the weight to these guys.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51That is exactly what they need. And they'll be up here about...
0:09:51 > 0:09:53I don't know, three months or so.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56Erm, and get 'em right up to weight, and they'll absolutely love it.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59There's loads of things for them to explore.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02- Come on, then, guys, come on.- Hup. Come on. Up you go. Go on.
0:10:04 > 0:10:05Come on, greedy pig.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11As tenant farmers, Tom, Peter and Ruth
0:10:11 > 0:10:14would have employed workers to tend to the animals and crops.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19It was the farmer's duty to accommodate and feed his staff,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23and the farm would have produced its own bread and ale.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25Essential to both was yeast.
0:10:27 > 0:10:31It made the bread rise and, in ale, turned sugar to alcohol.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36It was made by capturing bacteria from the air.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40I've come to see how my plan to capture some wild yeast is going,
0:10:40 > 0:10:45and it looks like I might have some success.
0:10:45 > 0:10:51The idea is that I'm trying to harvest the wild yeasts
0:10:51 > 0:10:54that are in the air all the time.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56I mean, they grow naturally on grain,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59they also grow on the skins of fruits.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02And these can start you off in your brewing and your baking.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06So, I've got a bowl of flour and water, and there's tiny,
0:11:06 > 0:11:11tiny little bubbles, which suggests that fermentation has begun,
0:11:11 > 0:11:13which means there must be yeast present.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Making money from the pig enterprises
0:11:25 > 0:11:28relies on a continuous supply of piglets being bred.
0:11:28 > 0:11:30With the large litter fending for themselves,
0:11:30 > 0:11:33it's time to reintroduce the boar to the sows.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35- Come on.- He is huge.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38He is a big boy, he is a big boy.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39However, he is only 18 months old.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42- Oh, really.- Yes.- Wow.- Yes.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44He looks very different, though. Is he, is he a Tamworth?
0:11:44 > 0:11:47No, he's not a Tamworth - he's still a very old English breed.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50Yeah. A breed called a Oxford Sandy and Black.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Now he's in the pen, you might find there's a...a bit of scrapping,
0:11:56 > 0:12:01a bit of fighting going on - it's just them figuring out who's boss.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05They'll figure out very, very quickly that he's the boss.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07And then, once these girls are pregnant, it's going to be what,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10three months, three weeks, three days?
0:12:10 > 0:12:12It is, yes, it is. Now she's obviously only just weaned.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17She'll probably take about three to five days to come back into heat.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20And once the boar takes an interest in her, which he certainly
0:12:20 > 0:12:23will once she comes back into heat. Yeah, I think
0:12:23 > 0:12:25we're looking at not very long -
0:12:25 > 0:12:27three months, three weeks, three days.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30- Fantastic. - You'll be a proud father.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43A farm this size would have employed around ten workers,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46together drinking up to 300 gallons of ale a month.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52The job of producing these vast quantities often fell to women.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58The raw ingredient was barley.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01The first stage was to turn starches in the grain into sugar,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03a process known as malting.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09Seeds store their energy, through the winter, as starch.
0:13:09 > 0:13:13But, come the spring, a new process begins inside the grain.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16And those starches get transformed into sugars,
0:13:16 > 0:13:18and it's that sugar we want to capture.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23So we actually need to start this grain growing but only just so far.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28And then we'll kill it and use that sugar to make our beer.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33But I think we've still got a lump there, look.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36- Ah, you're a perfectionist, aren't you?- I am a perfectionist.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Putting me to work here.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Water stimulates growth in the grain.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Having let the grains swell, now what we're trying to do is,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52sort of, I don't know, recreate the conditions of spring.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55We, they, they've got all the water they need
0:13:55 > 0:13:58and then they need a little bit of warmth.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01Over the next few days the barley is heaped into a smaller,
0:14:01 > 0:14:03deeper pile, to contain the heat.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11And you can feel the warmth from it, can't you? And that smell.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13Yeah.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16They always say, if you start thinking now about what
0:14:16 > 0:14:19you're actually making, then you get that really pungent, then...
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Absolutely.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Making ale was a time consuming job that had to be
0:14:24 > 0:14:27fitted around tending to the crops and livestock.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33Despite this, most Tudor farmers had little real concept of time -
0:14:33 > 0:14:36they simply worked from dawn till dusk.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42Life in a Benedictine monastery, however,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45was based around a strict routine.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50Tom and Peter have come to meet Abbot Aiden Bellenger
0:14:50 > 0:14:53to find out how time was managed.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57What would a typical day be like for the monks?
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Every day of the year, the monks' gathering have seven services
0:15:01 > 0:15:03during the day and one at night.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06So, one would be talking about getting up in the morning
0:15:06 > 0:15:10as soon as it's light and then carrying on until dark.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14And then getting up once during the night for a night prayer,
0:15:14 > 0:15:16which is the eighth prayer of the day.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19There would be time for silence, time for reading,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22time for eating, even time for talking.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27So, I suppose, a time-measuring device is, actually, almost essential.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29That's right, yes.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32Because one of the things St Benedict says the Abbot has to do
0:15:32 > 0:15:34is keep everything regular.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40To remind monks when to pray, a bell rung out across the monastery,
0:15:40 > 0:15:42dictating the rhythm of life.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Monasteries often had their own foundries where bells were cast.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Tom's come to the foundry to help Andrew Lacy
0:15:51 > 0:15:54make a new bell for the monastery.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56He begins by making a mould.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01First, you've got to design the shape of the bell.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05So, to do that, we cut a shape like this, OK.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09So, you can see the design of the outside of the bell just cut into a piece of wood.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14Put it onto a blade like this, which is a strickle, and you literally
0:16:14 > 0:16:17get some daub, which is clay, and hair
0:16:17 > 0:16:19and sand, and then you just keep
0:16:19 > 0:16:22swiping it round until it makes the right shape.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33This forms the inside of the bell.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36Then Andrew builds up layers of wax, which,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40when smoothed off with a larger strickle, forms the outside.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44- So, the wax is on top of a initial mound of daub.- Yep.
0:16:44 > 0:16:45- We're going to put more daub on...- Yep.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49So, the thickness of the wax is, effectively, the thickness of our bell.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52The wax will be melted and replaced by our bronze.
0:16:52 > 0:16:53That's exactly it.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Everything that's wax now is going to be bronze later.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04This is the lost wax method, and it's typical of the Tudor period.
0:17:04 > 0:17:08The wax is covered in daub then fired in a kiln.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12This not only hardens the daub, but it melts away the wax,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14leaving a bell-shaped cavity.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17This is the mould, this is the bell mould, and it's erm, ooh,
0:17:17 > 0:17:19quite a heavy lump.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23So, all the wax that was in there that made up the bell has been drained away.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- Right.- So, there's now a cavity where that wax was.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28- Where our metal will go?- Exactly.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31Bell metal, a type of bronze, has been around
0:17:31 > 0:17:36for over 3,000 years and is an alloy of tin and copper.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Which kind of composition are we looking for?
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Well, ideally, it's going to be 20% tin,
0:17:43 > 0:17:45so the rest of it's going to be copper.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48And when we mix those two together you get this lovely bronze.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00- What kind of temperature are we going to get to?- About 1,100.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02- It's serious heat, isn't it? - Oh, yeah, yeah.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08- I think we're ready to pour, I think we're totally there.- Right.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11I think this is spot-on.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Andrew has just one chance to get this right -
0:18:13 > 0:18:17an air bubble in the bronze will ruin the bell.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Bells are so central to religious life that the Abbot would
0:18:20 > 0:18:22actually come onto monastic land,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25where the bells are being made, and bless the kilns.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Shows how important these were.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Yeah.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35- I'm hoping that's perfect. - It felt good.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39You know, when, when it feels right, it, kind of, intuitively,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41intuitively, it IS right.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Knowing when to ring the bell was vital.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52Early medieval monks relied on sundials or water clocks
0:18:52 > 0:18:54to tell the time.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57The problem was someone then had to ring the bell by hand.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02What was needed was a way of automating the process.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05And it was in a 13th-century monastery
0:19:05 > 0:19:07that a mechanical clock was invented.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12Peter's meeting Alan Midleton,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16from the British Horological Institute, to see how it worked.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20I suppose we take measurement of time very much for granted.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22But this must have been amazing at the time.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25It was an enormous breakthrough, the mechanical clock.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Before the Industrial Revolution,
0:19:27 > 0:19:30clocks were the most complex mechanisms ever, ever made.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32But, at the time, it would have been miraculous.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Completely miraculous, yes.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38The key to the mechanical clock was a device called the foliot.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41This ensured it ran at a constant rate
0:19:41 > 0:19:44so time could be measured reliably.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Er, the foliot's is mounted on what's called a staff -
0:19:47 > 0:19:52the staff has two flags or pallets on it, and as the tooth of this
0:19:52 > 0:19:56gate wheel drops off one pallet, it lands on the next one,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59and, erm, and so it goes backwards and forwards.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02And this controls the rate at which it unwinds.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04- If that wasn't there?- The wheels would spin around at high speed,
0:20:04 > 0:20:08- and the clock would stop in a couple of minutes.- Oh, right.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11But there was a complication to this system.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15In monasteries, religious services were split between those
0:20:15 > 0:20:18observed in hours of light and those during hours of darkness.
0:20:19 > 0:20:23So day and night had to be divided into 12 hours each,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25regardless of the season.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29This meant summer daytime hours would be longer than 60 minutes
0:20:29 > 0:20:32and night-time hours shorter.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34In winter, the reverse was true.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38This is the genius of the fellows up here,
0:20:38 > 0:20:40because you've got these two weights on here.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43As you can see, this is for either
0:20:43 > 0:20:46a long summer's day or a long winter's night.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48It goes...it goes quite slowly.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53By moving the weight in towards the centre of the foliot,
0:20:53 > 0:20:55the clock runs faster,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59making each passing hour shorter for a winter's day or summer's night.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Erm, that, that is quite a strange concept to me,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07in terms of you are actually altering your clock in order
0:21:07 > 0:21:10to delineate time based on the seasons.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13You're still quite tied into those seasons.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15Yes, we are. This is the way in which they operate,
0:21:15 > 0:21:19and their clocks had to... had to work to that standard.
0:21:19 > 0:21:20It's amazing to think
0:21:20 > 0:21:23that need to regulate prayer throughout the day,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26the impact that that has had on future societies.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30It's absolutely crucial. It's one of the greatest machines ever devised.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Peter's installing a mechanical Tudor clock at the monastery
0:21:37 > 0:21:41- to call the monks to prayer. - Oh, wow!
0:21:41 > 0:21:45He's setting it up to automatically ring Tom's bell.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49Well, hopefully, it'll sound amazing when it's struck.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53I'm really pleased with this, to be honest.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00As this goes round, it's going from the one to the two,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03then it just kicks the arm round, which rings the bell.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Close to the...
0:22:06 > 0:22:10But Peter's installation has disengaged the all-important foliot.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18You might be calling all the monks to prayer
0:22:18 > 0:22:20a little more often than they want.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Calm down. It's very temperamental.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29After some adjustments, the clock is running properly.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31That's good.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35This clock is set now to ring eight times a day,
0:22:35 > 0:22:36calling the monks to prayer -
0:22:36 > 0:22:40so seven times during the daylight hours and once at night.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44I mean, that is such an important development, isn't it?
0:22:45 > 0:22:47But it all started in the monasteries.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Mechanical clocks spread from monasteries to church towers
0:22:53 > 0:22:58across the nation, and time became fundamental to people's lives.
0:23:03 > 0:23:07Back on the farm, Ruth's producing ale for the farm workers.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11The barley's been malting in warm, damp conditions for a week.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Well, it's happened, the barley has sprouted.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17I need to stop this straightaway before it sprouts any more.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21But the smell has changed too. That is ready for the kiln.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31The malting process has turned starch in the grain into sugar.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34To stop the process, Ruth's heating it in the bread oven.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39I haven't got my oven as hot as I would for bread -
0:23:39 > 0:23:41don't need that sort of temperature.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46I just need to dry out the grain, to kill all that shoot.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49The sugar rich barley is ready to be turned into ale.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53I'm not making beer, I'm making ale.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Beer is technically ale plus hops,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59and there's going to be no hops involved in this.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01Beer was a Continental, particularly a Dutch thing,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04that eventually comes over to Britain.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09But in 1500, almost all of us are completely drinking ale.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14Next, the malted barley is boiled in water to release the sugars.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19Water from wells was often contaminated and dangerous to drink.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23But this process made it safe.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Now this has to come up to the boil
0:24:25 > 0:24:27and then simmer for about half an hour.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30And this, of course, this boiling is what makes the beer
0:24:30 > 0:24:34so safe to drink - it's sterilising the water.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38And then the alcohol that we're going to produce will keep it sterile.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Farmers provided food and drink for their small workforce.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Pop the lid on, come back in half an hour.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50Monasteries, on the other hand, had to cater on a much larger scale,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54not just to monks but all the lay folk who worked there.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57So, their brew houses and bake houses
0:24:57 > 0:25:00produced vast quantities of ale and bread.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Peter's helping out in the monastery's bake house.
0:25:04 > 0:25:08First, he's sourcing the main ingredient - wheat flour.
0:25:08 > 0:25:09Hi, Peter, you all right?
0:25:09 > 0:25:12This was ground, on demand, at one of the monastery's mills.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16If you wouldn't mind just holding that why I shin up.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Rather you than me.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21Peter's come to High Salvington Windmill in Sussex
0:25:21 > 0:25:25where miller Peter Casebow begins by setting the sails.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27Tie on there.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31Although this mill dates from the 1750s,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34it's of similar design to a Tudor mill.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40- That's it. There we've got it nicely spread, OK?- Yep.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43And that should now catch the wind nicely.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46The trouble is with the wind is it can be, I've just taken
0:25:46 > 0:25:49the brake off now, OK, and we've lost the wind.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52Well, I suppose, you're, you're at the mercy of the wind.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54We'll have to turn the mill round and see
0:25:54 > 0:25:56if we can find some wind from a slightly different direction.
0:25:56 > 0:26:00- So, what we're going to do now is to lift the steps of the mill.- Right.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05- So, I'll do that by pulling up this lever, which will do that.- Wow.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08And the...the steps are now clear off the ground.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11So, this, this whole thing is going round.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15It's just balancing on a post, then...?
0:26:15 > 0:26:18- Well, there's something like 26 tons there.- 26 tons?
0:26:18 > 0:26:21See if we can get a bit more power out of her - she's going quite well now.
0:26:21 > 0:26:22She is.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32The wheat is carried up to the grindstones by a winch powered by the sails.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40I'll take that off, and you can see the stones underneath there.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42You have one at the bottom called the bed stone,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46- and that's wedged tight into the floor.- So, that doesn't move? - So that doesn't move.
0:26:46 > 0:26:51- Right.- Er, because there's quite a bit of friction when you're grinding.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53And then you have the runner stone, which is the one on the top,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57and that runs with a slight gap above the bed stone.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00The surface of a mill stone is carved with deep furrows.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Now, the bed stone has them cut in the same as the runner stone.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07And when they, sort of, the two come together, you can
0:27:07 > 0:27:10- imagine they act rather like a pair of scissors.- Yeah.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13And they shear the grain and create the flour that way.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16It's supposed to be better than, you know,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18crushed, like the modern mills.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24A miller was at the mercy of the wind,
0:27:24 > 0:27:26and so far there hasn't been enough to grind.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29But Peter's sensed a change in the weather.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32- Let's get this thing going, shall we?- OK.- Put the brake on.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35And that will enable us to then put this in gear.
0:27:35 > 0:27:41- That's right. OK, here we go. - Oh. Is that in?
0:27:41 > 0:27:43Yeah, that's in.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48I'm just doing up the sprattle. Cor, it's actually... You're going to grind.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51We're going to grind on this.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56OK, brakes coming off.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01Yes, she's running.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08We've got some stuff coming through now.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Oh, yeah, yeah, I can see it. Oh, look.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15- And we'll actually test the quality of the flour by the rule of thumb. OK?- Yeah.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19I can tell whether it's the right sort of consistency.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22So, that's where the saying comes from, rule of thumb?
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Yes, and if it's fine enough, then that's it.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28I'm no expert, but it feels fairly fine to me.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32- Little bit of... - It's not too bad, here you are. - A little bit of granular.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34I mean, it's like a wholemeal, isn't it?
0:28:34 > 0:28:38It is wholemeal, yes. As we say, "Mice and all."
0:28:47 > 0:28:49Another commodity required by the monasteries was wax,
0:28:49 > 0:28:53essential to make church candles.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Candles represented the light of God,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59and those made from beeswax rather than animal fat
0:28:59 > 0:29:03were particularly special, as they burned with a pure, clean flame.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09To produce a continuous supply, monasteries kept their own bees.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13Tom's helping beekeeper Paul Ham
0:29:13 > 0:29:19harvest the wax, which came with a useful by-product, honey.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22The honey was the only form of intense sweetener that they'd got
0:29:22 > 0:29:25in those times, but the beeswax was the only form of wax.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28Today, we've got paraffin wax and lots of different kinds of wax.
0:29:28 > 0:29:32But then, for making ink, for lost-wax casting for jewellery,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36for all sorts of little processes, that was a major industrial product.
0:29:36 > 0:29:38You've given me some gear here.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40- A little bit of protection. - A little bit of protection.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43This is my overalls, is it?
0:29:43 > 0:29:46So, that will cover everything, including your codpiece.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48So, that will, sort of, er...
0:29:48 > 0:29:51And you've got a wicker mask on there,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53which I'm not sure how much you'll see.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55But your face is obviously the bit that you want to protect
0:29:55 > 0:29:57more than anything else.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00We'll just turn them up gently.
0:30:00 > 0:30:04Tudor bees were kept in skeps - upturned wicker baskets.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07Oh, I mean, that, visually, that's amazing.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11This was the way bees were kept for over 2,000 years,
0:30:11 > 0:30:15until the invention of the modern beehive in the 19th century.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20You can see they're really quite dark bees, almost you'd say black.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24But this is the British black bee - this would have been the bee in Tudor times.
0:30:24 > 0:30:27- Right, so, this actually has a heritage.- Oh, definitely.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31And it was only in Victorian times that people went off
0:30:31 > 0:30:33to Italy and round on their Grand Tour.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36They saw their golden bees out there and thought, "Oh, we'll have some of those."
0:30:36 > 0:30:38And then we've got different kinds of bees now.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42But people are keen to get back to the original Tudor bee,
0:30:42 > 0:30:45cos they're very suited to our climate.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49The bees build wax honeycomb to contain their larvae
0:30:49 > 0:30:51and stores of pollen and honey.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55That's incredible.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00Goose, just to, sort of, brush them off.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04And the goose feather, basically, is like a very safe way...
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Well, a brush might get their legs stuck in it.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09So, if it's hairy, this has got nothing to catch for the bees.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11So, we'll pop that on there and let's see
0:31:11 > 0:31:14if we can get a little bit more.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17So, why do bees make honey from wax?
0:31:17 > 0:31:19Well, this colony and the queen in here,
0:31:19 > 0:31:22she could live for as long as nine years.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24So, they've got to have enough stores for the winter,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27so the honey is their food for the winter.
0:31:27 > 0:31:32But bees, they're geared to produce lots of honey,
0:31:32 > 0:31:34and, if you give them space, this colony will go on
0:31:34 > 0:31:39and produce maybe 40, 50 lbs of surplus honey in a year.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42Once the honeycomb has been extracted the two products,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46honey and wax, must be separated.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50Just break off the comb and pop that into here.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53And then you crush that with your hands?
0:31:53 > 0:31:55- It just runs out.- Yeah.
0:31:55 > 0:31:56I just want to taste some.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00You can see that the caps on there, that's sealed, proper honey.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04It's still warm from the hive, and er, to me, that's the best way to...
0:32:05 > 0:32:06That's, that's amazing.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09My lips are almost stuck together, but...
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Cos sugar's lovely and sweet,
0:32:12 > 0:32:16but honey has an amazing flavour with it as well,
0:32:16 > 0:32:18something really quite magical.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20It is fairly stunning stuff.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25It's so good.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34Peter's brought the flour to David Carter,
0:32:34 > 0:32:39in the monastic bake house, where three types of bread were produced -
0:32:39 > 0:32:41unleavened Communion bread for use in church,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44fine white bread for the Abbot,
0:32:44 > 0:32:47and maslin bread for the monks and lay people.
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Maslin is a derivation of the French "masseline",
0:32:53 > 0:32:55and that means a mixture.
0:32:55 > 0:32:59And, hence, what we've got here is a mixture of flours.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04To Peter's wheat flour, barley and rye flours are added,
0:33:04 > 0:33:06then mixed with salt.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11Salt not only flavours and preserves bread, it works with gluten
0:33:11 > 0:33:14in the flour to give the dough strength and elasticity.
0:33:17 > 0:33:18So pop it in, into the middle.
0:33:18 > 0:33:23To make it rise, they're using Ruth's yeast, produced in the barley field.
0:33:23 > 0:33:28In Tudor times, yeast was regarded as something really quite magic.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34Nobody really understood what it was or why it worked.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39And, in fact, in a book from 1469 called The Brewer's Book,
0:33:39 > 0:33:43yeast was referred to, in a single word, "God is good."
0:33:45 > 0:33:49And it wasn't until the 1800s that yeast
0:33:49 > 0:33:53was fully understood as an organism on its own.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58- On the board? - On the board, yep.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02Yeast reacts with sugars in the flour to produce carbon dioxide gas.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07This is trapped in the gluten of the dough, making it expand and rise.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10If it fights back, show it who's boss, Peter.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14You're going to eat the bread - the bread's not going to eat you.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16The dough is left to rise, or prove,
0:34:16 > 0:34:20then knocked back to redistribute gas bubbles produced by the yeast.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Just liberally dust the top with a bit of flour.
0:34:28 > 0:34:29I like that flourish -
0:34:29 > 0:34:32it's the sign of a good baker, a good flourish.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35Great. Lovely, one, two, three, out.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39After it's proved a second time, it's ready to bake.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44Unveil the magnificent loaf. Hey, wow, look at that.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47I'll scrape out the oven.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50You scrape out the oven, I'll bring the magnificent loaf.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54The oven is heated by lighting a wood fire inside.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57Once it's up to temperature, the fire is scraped out...
0:34:57 > 0:34:58Let's get this in the oven.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01..and the bread bakes using the residual heat.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04And we're going to give it a push and a pull. And there we are.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06Oh, nicely done, nicely done.
0:35:06 > 0:35:14Let me, ooh. Ah, ooh! My feet are hot.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21At the farm, Ruth's following an ale-making recipe
0:35:21 > 0:35:24that goes back to Neolithic times.
0:35:24 > 0:35:26The malted barley has been boiled
0:35:26 > 0:35:30to produce a liquid rich in sugars, known as wort.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33And I can draw this first batch off.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41So, this batch of beer will be the strongest.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44And once I've drawn all this water off, I'll put another
0:35:44 > 0:35:47load of water on the same grain and boil it up again.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50And that will make a much weaker beer.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52So, this is more your, sort of, evening drinking,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55getting drunk beer, and the next batch would be your, sort of,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58daytime drinking beer, when you're thirsty
0:35:58 > 0:36:00but you need to still have your wits about you.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05Now it's time for the flavourings.
0:36:05 > 0:36:11So, in goes my elderflower and in goes a small amount of honey.
0:36:14 > 0:36:15Just a little bit.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19Stir that through.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23And while the beer's still hot like this,
0:36:23 > 0:36:29the flavours of the herbs will be drawn out into the liquor.
0:36:33 > 0:36:35Now that it's cooled, I'm just straining,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37cos, naturally, I don't want any organic matter
0:36:37 > 0:36:41which would introduce bacteria into the beer.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Finally, ale balm, a yeast,
0:36:43 > 0:36:47is added to turn the sugar from the malted barley into alcohol.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51So, a little bit of my ale balm, from the last brew, into that pot,
0:36:51 > 0:36:55and the alcohol within the liquid will keep it sterile.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09At the monastery, the beeswax has been separated from the honey
0:37:09 > 0:37:13and melted, ready to make church candles.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18Paul starts by making the wick.
0:37:18 > 0:37:24If you go into church, you'll see these impressive candles that,
0:37:24 > 0:37:27you know, don't smell bad. They last. yeah.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31- And a beautiful, clean, white light.- Yeah.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33I mean, to us, they may look slightly...
0:37:33 > 0:37:38but compared to, say, LEDs or something, but compared to yellowy,
0:37:38 > 0:37:42spotty tallow candles, the clean light of beeswax,
0:37:42 > 0:37:46- it was very clean and very bright. - Yeah.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50The wick is repeatedly dipped into the beeswax,
0:37:50 > 0:37:52slowly building up the layers of the candle.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56- It's dripping down.- Yeah. - That will solidify fairly quickly.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59And we want it as straight as possible,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01cos that's the centre, the core of our candle.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06It is, it's the centre, and if it burns off, then it'll drip down the side, so if you get it nice
0:38:06 > 0:38:08and straight, then you'll get a nice clean, even burn.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13So that's now almost solid, so then we can dip again.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35- Pretty well enough for a light read. - So, that'll be good enough for the monastery.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39Yeah, I think so, they'd got through a chapter, perhaps.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Finally, the ale is stored in butts where the sugar will continue to ferment.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55That's another batch in the butt...
0:38:55 > 0:38:58in its butt, in the buttery.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01And that's what this room is for - it's for storing all my ale
0:39:01 > 0:39:04and everything to do with drinking. So all the jugs and the cups
0:39:04 > 0:39:07and everything come in here.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09And then, next door is my pantry, and that, of course,
0:39:09 > 0:39:13is where we store all the bread and things to do with eating -
0:39:13 > 0:39:17you know, bowls, spoons, napkins, candlesticks, that sort of thing.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20Together, they form the sort of service end of the house.
0:39:22 > 0:39:26Ale brewed with malted barley was drunk by everyone,
0:39:26 > 0:39:30but the type of bread you ate was determined by social status.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36At the monastic bake house, Peter's making some of the finest
0:39:36 > 0:39:40quality loaves exclusively for the Abbot - manchet bread.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44This is going to be made with white flour.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48It is exactly the same as the wholemeal wheat flour
0:39:48 > 0:39:53that went into the last loaf, except it's been sieved or bolted.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57And it was that sieving process that, in fact, made the flour
0:39:57 > 0:40:04so expensive, and that is why it became associated with high status.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Now, that is so much finer against my fingers -
0:40:07 > 0:40:10it's like mixing a cloud.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14The whole thing about manchet loaves was they were very much lighter,
0:40:14 > 0:40:16they were greater in volume,
0:40:16 > 0:40:22they were softer and not as hard to eat as the maslin loaf.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25This time the raising agent is ale balm,
0:40:25 > 0:40:29the same yeasty foam Ruth used to ferment the ale.
0:40:29 > 0:40:33- Often the brew house and the bakery were next door to each other.- Ah.
0:40:33 > 0:40:37Because the baker would rely on the brewer to provide him
0:40:37 > 0:40:39with the balm to make the bread.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45- It is such a tactile process. - It is such a tactile process.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51After proving, the dough is cut into portions for baking.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57- Do you think this is ready, then? - I think so, Pete.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00I'm looking forward to this. This is going to be a proper treat.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Meanwhile, the brown maslin bread for the ordinary monks
0:41:03 > 0:41:05has been baking for an hour and should be done.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09Phwoar, that is fantastic, that looks so appetising.
0:41:09 > 0:41:13There's a nice dull, hollow sound, that's definitely baked.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18And the baked manchet loaves are ready to be delivered to the Abbot.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21Some fantastic bread. I've managed to stop Tommo eating it on the way.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25It looks brilliant, it looks enough for two of us for one meal. Very generous.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31It's really good.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44Tudors drank ale, because water was often contaminated.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47They also feared washing with water.
0:41:47 > 0:41:52Instead, grease and sweat were removed from the body with just a dry cloth.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54This was an era, after all,
0:41:54 > 0:41:58in which ordinary people like you and me did not bath.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02They were scared that if they water-washed, that it would open up
0:42:02 > 0:42:05their pores, allowing infection in.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08And if you lived in a world where the Black Death and the sweating
0:42:08 > 0:42:12sickness was carrying people off in droves, you too would be pretty
0:42:12 > 0:42:16scared about undertaking something that exposed you to disease.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Hair, too, was cleaned without water.
0:42:20 > 0:42:25You might think that without shampoo, everybody had filthy, disgusting hair.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27You would be wrong.
0:42:27 > 0:42:32This is remarkably effective if used regularly, and that's the point.
0:42:32 > 0:42:37You do have to comb thoroughly twice a day with a very fine-toothed comb.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41I mean, that side's all very well for getting out the knots,
0:42:41 > 0:42:45but it's that side that's going to do the cleaning for me.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48If you were to do absolutely nothing to your hair, if you were
0:42:48 > 0:42:52just to abandon it for three months or so, yeah, the amount of oils
0:42:52 > 0:42:55that was produced would slow down, but it would smell disgusting.
0:42:55 > 0:42:58Because all the dead skin would be trapped, the oils would be
0:42:58 > 0:43:03trapped next to your scalp, it's not a good place to go.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07However, if you don't wash it but you do comb it,
0:43:07 > 0:43:10you've pretty much solved the problem.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18It's early June, Peter and Tom have returned to the farm.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24In two weeks, it will be the summer solstice, the longest day.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Hopefully, the boar has done his job and the sows are pregnant.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39The cereal crops, essential to make bread and ale, are also thriving.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43But all is not well with the peas.
0:43:45 > 0:43:50Something's eating our pea crop. Pretty much everything's had a bite taken out of it.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54- I think we're talking deer here. - Deer? You don't think rabbit?
0:43:54 > 0:43:55Well, probably both.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59Before potatoes reached these shores in the 1580s,
0:43:59 > 0:44:03peas and beans were an important source of carbohydrate and vitamins.
0:44:04 > 0:44:11- Well, what can we do? - I mean, in Tudor times, I think you couldn't really do much.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13This situation really emphasises the fact that,
0:44:13 > 0:44:18I mean, you are at the mercy of nature, you are at the mercy of God.
0:44:18 > 0:44:23And you really have to... There's not much you can do, apart from pray.
0:44:28 > 0:44:34Tudor trades set up religious guilds to pray for prosperity in business.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37The team have established their own guild with St Benedict,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40the patron saint of farming, presiding over them.
0:44:43 > 0:44:47Masses would have been said to pray for special causes,
0:44:47 > 0:44:48like the success of a crop.
0:44:50 > 0:44:52As the service is in Latin,
0:44:52 > 0:44:55most people couldn't follow word by word what was going on.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59But if you attend church one day a week every week of your life,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01you quickly get an idea
0:45:01 > 0:45:03of the sort of shape of the service.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07You know, words you recognise as the cues for when to kneel,
0:45:07 > 0:45:08when to look up.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11And you can follow the service in a sort of vague form,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14even if you don't manage to follow every single word in meaning.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24The most solemn part of Mass is Holy Communion.
0:45:26 > 0:45:30The priest blesses unleavened bread, the Host.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33Medieval Christians believed that this had now transformed it
0:45:33 > 0:45:38into the body of Christ, a process called "transubstantiation".
0:45:43 > 0:45:46To receive it, you had to be free from sin.
0:45:46 > 0:45:48Most people felt they were unworthy,
0:45:48 > 0:45:52so they took blessed ordinary bread known as "panis benedictus".
0:46:00 > 0:46:03But there was another, more controversial, use of the panis benedictus.
0:46:03 > 0:46:06Records show that some farmers took it from the church
0:46:06 > 0:46:09and sprinkled it on their crop to ensure a decent harvest.
0:46:11 > 0:46:16Accounts at the time thought that this, the panis benedictus,
0:46:16 > 0:46:17had magical powers.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20I mean, it could perhaps heal the sick
0:46:20 > 0:46:23or it could fend off caterpillars from your garden
0:46:23 > 0:46:26or, perhaps, it could rejuvenate
0:46:26 > 0:46:33your deer-eaten, rabbit-nibbled, weather-beaten pea crop.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35Who knows?
0:46:36 > 0:46:40And as that sun sinks in the west, and there's no more we can do
0:46:40 > 0:46:44to protect this for another night, I'll take all the help I can get.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03Peas were an important food crop,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06but sheep were the real money-spinner for the Tudor farmer.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11- Which way?- Oh, that one, that one, that one, that one.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13Yep. That one.
0:47:13 > 0:47:17Woollen cloth accounted for 75% of England's exports.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19Should have had her.
0:47:21 > 0:47:23The farm's flock of Southdown sheep have been sheared,
0:47:23 > 0:47:26and now the boys are giving them a once-over
0:47:26 > 0:47:29to ensure they're healthy, starting with their feet.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32Pack it in.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36Right, what I'm trying to do is, just where the hoof is starting
0:47:36 > 0:47:41to fold over, just trying to get rid of that so it doesn't get infected.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45Sheep are designed pretty much for living on
0:47:45 > 0:47:49quite rocky outcrops and nibbling away at the grass that grows there.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52As soon as you move your sheep into
0:47:52 > 0:47:54a downland environment like this, they're on quite soft land,
0:47:54 > 0:47:59so there's nothing to wear away, effectively, what is their toenails.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03So this is pretty much a sheep pedicure.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06Although if I had a pedicure like this,
0:48:06 > 0:48:08I'd be demanding my money back.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12Right, I think it's time to let her go.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15OK, going out that way, yeah. Ah.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Right, candidate number two.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23Oh, this is going to work well for us.
0:48:24 > 0:48:29The main purpose of breeding sheep in the 1500s was for wool,
0:48:29 > 0:48:31but any sheep past their prime
0:48:31 > 0:48:34would be slaughtered and eaten as mutton.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36I'm going to roast the mutton. A bit of a treat, that,
0:48:36 > 0:48:39rather than boiling it.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41And that trick of boning it out,
0:48:41 > 0:48:43which is a much more efficient way of roasting...
0:48:43 > 0:48:47You can roast with the bones still in, but there are problems with it.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50If you think, yeah, there's the shoulder,
0:48:50 > 0:48:52the bones that I've taken out of the shoulder...
0:48:52 > 0:48:57And you can see that, you know, that constitutes quite a barrier to heat, moving through
0:48:57 > 0:49:03the meat, which makes roasting it evenly a bit of a challenge.
0:49:03 > 0:49:08If you take the bones out and roll it into a joint - much easier.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11And that's why, traditionally, roast meat is a rolled joint.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14So what I need to do is turn this
0:49:14 > 0:49:17into that perfect cylinder of solid meat.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29Will you give me a hand putting this on the spit?
0:49:29 > 0:49:32Okey-doke.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39Push up as much as you can.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48My spit is on the spit... in front of my brand irons,
0:49:48 > 0:49:49where the burning brands are.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53And I've built a fire, which is going to give me a sheet of flame,
0:49:53 > 0:49:55in front of which I'm going to be roasting.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57If you roast over the fire,
0:49:57 > 0:50:02the fat from the meat drips into the fire, encourages
0:50:02 > 0:50:05huge great fat flames to come up and scorch the outside of the meat.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08So you're going to end up - or there's a strong danger of ending up -
0:50:08 > 0:50:11with it black on the outside and raw in the middle.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16Roasting was always considered to be a really luxury method
0:50:16 > 0:50:20of cooking, because it takes so much time, it's so much labour.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22To put this much meat in a pot and boil it, well, you know,
0:50:22 > 0:50:24I could put it on and leave it, couldn't I?
0:50:24 > 0:50:27I could get on with half a dozen other things.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30But if I'm going to roast meat, I actually have to be here,
0:50:30 > 0:50:33casting an eye every now and again, giving a little turn.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37But I also can use that attention, the fact that I need to be here,
0:50:37 > 0:50:41to add in flavour during the cooking, and this is the thing
0:50:41 > 0:50:45that really marks out the good roast meat of old Britain.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51Ruth's basting the meat alternately with its own fat and dredge.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58Dredge was breadcrumbs and flour or oatmeal flavoured with spices.
0:51:00 > 0:51:05What I should be able to do is build up a really deeply flavoured,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08crispy coating around the meat.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16It's a week since the guild Mass for the pea crop, and the boys
0:51:16 > 0:51:20are curious to see whether there's been any improvement.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25I have to say that this pea crop is looking, touch wood, pretty fine.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28- It's looking very healthy. I think the weather's really helped.- Yeah.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30But, also, it seems like some of the animals that were attacking it
0:51:30 > 0:51:33when it was sort of weaker, smaller...
0:51:33 > 0:51:36they've laid off a bit, and we've just got this massive growth.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39A little secret - I took a piece of the panis benedictus from the Mass
0:51:39 > 0:51:43and I sprinkled it in tiny pieces across the entirety of this crop.
0:51:43 > 0:51:46And I have to say, it's worked a treat.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52Yes. Sun and rain, might have been in there as well.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55But good work.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02- Let us be thankful. Amen. - Amen.
0:52:02 > 0:52:04It's 11 in the morning,
0:52:04 > 0:52:08and the farm workers have assembled for the main meal of the day.
0:52:09 > 0:52:13Having risen at dawn, this would keep them going until evening,
0:52:13 > 0:52:15when they would eat just bread and ale.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21I don't want the offal. This mutton is absolutely fantastic.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24- Oh, I love roast meat.- And here we are at the top of the table.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27Head of our household. Good, isn't it?
0:52:27 > 0:52:30And you'll notice that we haven't got any of the mutton on the other tables.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34- Not yet, anyway.- Not yet, anyway. So, it's up to you, really.
0:52:34 > 0:52:37If you think somebody deserves a slice of meat,
0:52:37 > 0:52:40then you send it to them, and it's a really public message.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44Everybody in the room would notice. They'd all know that not only were you giving a reward,
0:52:44 > 0:52:47- but it's a very public reward. - You could also shun someone, couldn't you?
0:52:47 > 0:52:51- You could make a marked statement... - Oh, definitely.- ..in another way -
0:52:51 > 0:52:54- that person, that person, but not the person in the middle.- Yeah.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56That's one of the reasons why this whole meal is so formal.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00This is the sort of central ritual of household. I mean,
0:53:00 > 0:53:02you're making a whole load of social statements.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06And this daily ritual of dining reinforces all those positions.
0:53:06 > 0:53:11I think we need to curry favour with all you guys, to be brutally honest.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14But, in the modern vernacular, I am going to say, ladies first,
0:53:14 > 0:53:19- so Helen...- Yes. - ..if you fancy coming up, please.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21- Yeah. - You could take the whole lot.
0:53:21 > 0:53:23Yeah, take the whole lot!
0:53:23 > 0:53:26Thank you, thank you. We've obviously been very good.
0:53:26 > 0:53:28Working very hard.
0:53:38 > 0:53:41It's midsummer's eve. Tomorrow will be the longest day,
0:53:41 > 0:53:45and the sun will be at its highest point in the sky.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53For thousands of years,
0:53:53 > 0:53:56this has been regarded as a special and mystical time.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03Peter, Ruth and Tom have come to a nearby hill to celebrate.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07They are joined by people from their parish and folklore expert, Professor Ronald Hutton.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13The sun rises and sets at different points on the horizon
0:54:13 > 0:54:16through the year, which is why days get shorter and longer.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19But it slows down at midwinter and midsummer -
0:54:19 > 0:54:21and for a few magical days,
0:54:21 > 0:54:25it appears to rise and set at the same points on the horizon.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29So the laws of nature and the divine are suspended.
0:54:29 > 0:54:34Human beings can become magical. The fairy folk can wander among us.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36Potential is limitless.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39Tonight, the last night of the solstice, midsummer's eve,
0:54:39 > 0:54:43you, Tom, can find a fairy mistress.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47Tonight, Ruth, you could find your divine opposite number.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49And you, Peter, and I can enjoy a drink.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Fire was at the heart of midsummer celebrations,
0:54:57 > 0:55:02- and jumping through flames was believed to bring good luck. - Ruth, would you do me the honour...
0:55:02 > 0:55:05- Ooh!- ..of leaping the midsummer fire with me?
0:55:05 > 0:55:08- All right, I'll try. - The rest of you get back a bit.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10- Oh, my goodness. - One, two, three.
0:55:12 > 0:55:13ALL: Hooray!
0:55:13 > 0:55:18It was believed that at midsummer, evil spirits roamed free
0:55:18 > 0:55:19and fire would ward them off.
0:55:21 > 0:55:26In truth, it wasn't evil spirits in the air - it was disease.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28ALL: Hooray!
0:55:28 > 0:55:31Back where we are now, the Tudor period, this is the time
0:55:31 > 0:55:35when fleas breed, and fleas brought bubonic plague.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39This is the time when mosquitoes breed, and they brought malaria.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42Lice brought typhus. The corn is growing,
0:55:42 > 0:55:45it can now be flattened by storms or catch disease.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48And it's the time when the sea is calm, the rivers are low,
0:55:48 > 0:55:53the roads are dry, which means that armies and brigands can move easily.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55We are in danger of being plundered.
0:55:55 > 0:56:00We're looking at stark, lethal danger, and fire will keep us safe.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04There was one fire that was especially effective
0:56:04 > 0:56:08at warding off evil - the bonfire.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11A fire made entirely of bones is a bone fire,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14from which we get the word bonfire. They smell dreadful,
0:56:14 > 0:56:17and the pungent smoke drives away evil spirits.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25So, Peter's convinced, after a few ales, he's actually seen a dragon.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Certainly scare away evil, traditionally.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32And as for seeing a dragon on some ale, can you hear it?
0:56:32 > 0:56:34It's a roaring night -
0:56:34 > 0:56:37out there in the winds, we hear the voice of the dragons.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46As well as warding off evil, fire was also used to predict
0:56:46 > 0:56:50the farmer's fortune with a burning wheel.
0:56:50 > 0:56:53There's moisture in the air, and the ground's damp -
0:56:53 > 0:56:55do you think this will make it to the bottom of the hill still alight?
0:56:55 > 0:56:58I have no idea, no-one's done this for decades.
0:56:58 > 0:57:02But if you want a wonderful summer, get that darn wheel down that hillside.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06- We need all the luck we can get. - Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
0:57:09 > 0:57:12A cartwheel, wrapped in straw was set alight and rolled down a hill.
0:57:12 > 0:57:15If it reached the bottom still burning,
0:57:15 > 0:57:19a good harvest was assured. If not, the crops would fail.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23LAUGHTER
0:57:27 > 0:57:30Pick it up and throw it!
0:57:43 > 0:57:45Bloody wheel!
0:57:45 > 0:57:47Full marks for trying.
0:57:47 > 0:57:50That is what is known as a roaring success.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54I think you need a smart lawyer to convince any deity
0:57:54 > 0:57:58that was rolling a wheel, but, for sheer ingenuity,
0:57:58 > 0:58:00you are the pride of our species.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12Next time on Tudor Monastery Farm...
0:58:12 > 0:58:15how monasteries made money beyond farming.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19From mining lead...
0:58:19 > 0:58:21This is hard.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23..fishing...
0:58:23 > 0:58:24And if it does, I can't!
0:58:24 > 0:58:29..and running inns for weary travellers.
0:58:40 > 0:58:42Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd