Secrets of the Castle

Archaeologists Tom Pinfold And Peter Ginn Set To Work Learning The Skills Of The Medieval Stonemasons To Construct A Beautiful Spiral Stair Case every Stone Is Marked Out Using The Most Closely Guarded Knowledge Of The Medieval Castle Builders Geometry Meanwhile Historian Ruth Goodman Lays A Rush Floor And Commissions Clay Cooking Pots And An Oak Grain Arc To Store Their Wheat And Barley

A look at the ingenious features medieval castle-builders came up with to withstand attack from an ever more formidable array of siege engines.

Historian Ruth Goodman And Archaeologists Tom Pinfold And Peter Ginn Enter The Surprisingly Colorful World Of Medieval Interior Design The Castles We See Today Are Scarred By Centuries Of Warfare And Weather Erosion Most Of Their Original Roofs Carpentry And Interior Finishes Have Long Since Disappeared In Their Heyday However They Were Lavishly Decorated

Historian Ruth Goodman And Archaeologists Tom Pinfold And Peter Ginn Discover How Every Aspect Of Construction At Guedelon Castle Requires Masons Blacksmiths And Carpenters Coordinate Their Efforts From Making And Sharpening Tools To Processing Wood And Securing Timber Scaffolding On The Castle Walls The Team Delves Into The Secrets Of The Skilled Craftspeople Who Built Medieval Castles

As the team's time at Guedelon Castle in France draws to an end historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Tom Pinfold and Peter Ginn look at the castle's place in the wider medieval world. Thirteenth-century Europe was a busy, developing, connected place, where work, trade, pilgrimages and crusadesgave people the opportunity to travel across the continent and beyond.