How we Built Britain The BBC1 series – ‘How we Built Britain’ (shown Summer 2007) looked at the history of the country through our buildings. The first programme featured the East of England region – which abounds in outstanding examples of architecture. From Britain’s greatest collection of cathedrals to the award-winning terminal at Stansted Airport. Discover flint and timber buildings, and stately homes dating from Tudor to Victorian times. Over the next few pages we have listed a selection of key places to visit - check out our web site at www.visiteastofengland.com for opening times and admission prices. Architecture of the Region Building stone is virtually non-existent in the East of England, apart from a few special areas: z Barnack (Cambridgeshire) - the famous limestone here was worked from Roman times to the end of the 15th C. Ely and Peterborough Cathedrals are good examples of the stone in use. z Carstone (West Norfolk) - this dark brown stone forms a ridge between Castle Rising and Heacham. It has been widely used in the area as a building stone, and Downham Market was once known as the "Gingerbread town". z Puddingstone (Hertfordshire) - this unusual stone is made up of rounded Flint villages flint pebbles. A large piece sits opposite the church in the village of Standon. It has been used for building walls. z Sandstone - The Greensand Ridge runs from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire. In some places, ‘glauconite’ (an iron-bearing mineral) colours the stone an amazing green - the origin of the name ‘Greensand’. Today you can see it used in local villages, churches, walls and bridges. z Totternhoe (Bedfordshire) - located at the base of the chalk, this stone has been quarried since the 13th C. It is used as a building and ornamental stone (such as St. Albans Abbey gateway, Hertfordshire). Flint - a hard, steely grey mineral - a form of silica, is the region´s most famous and abundant building stone. Since Neolithic times it has been mined from the chalk, such as at Grimes Graves, nr. Brandon in Norfolk - and used everywhere, in both churches and houses. It was either applied rough with mortar, or spilt (knapped) into shape for decoration - such as in beautiful flushwork (a good example being the Guildhall in Norwich, Norfolk). Most of the area’s fine collection of timber-framed buildings were constructed with the wealth of the medieval wool industry. They were Timber-framed houses www.visiteastofengland.com 1 Produced by East of England Tourism pre-fabricated on the ground, then raised into position, using tie beams and roof rafters to secure in place. The spaces between the wooden frame were then filled, normally with a mixture of clay, dung and chopped straw. Finally the completed panel was limewashed. Over the centuries these Tudor houses have been constantly altered - in the Elizabethan period it became fashionable for them to be covered in plaster, then painted different colours, such as the traditional 'Suffolk Pink'. Some were also decorated by pressing a wooden mould or comb onto the wet plaster. This was known as pargetting (good examples being the Sun Inn at Saffron Walden in Essex, and the Ancient House at Ipswich in Suffolk). Whilst in Georgian times many were given brick facades. In the well-wooded counties of Essex and Hertfordshire, the abundance of local timber was put to good use in weather-boarded houses and belfries for churches. Here the traditional colour was black tar used on the doors, and the windows painted white. Thatch was once the most common form of roofing - until the introduction of slates and tiles in the 19th C. Originally thatching was a job which could be carried out by the ordinary farm worker, but today it is a specialist craft undertaken by a small band of people. In Essex and Suffolk, wheat straw was the most common material used for thatching. But in Norfolk, the waterways of The Broads provided the ultimate thatch material - Norfolk reed lasting for up to 60-80 years. Today long straw and water reed, together with sedge as a ridging material, are the forms Thatching of thatch in most general use. The East of England is famous for its bricks. The Romans were the first to make them. Later many pits were dug to collect the abundant clay deposits - and brickmaking was still a going concern until recently in the Marston Moretaine (Bedfordshire) and Peterborough (Cambridgeshire) areas. Strong links with the Low Countries, such as The Netherlands, also saw features such as Dutch gables and pantiles. Programme 1: A New Dawn (Medieval period) z Wool Towns and Villages - the Middle Ages (1154-1485) saw the start of the great cloth-making industry of the East of England. From the worsted cloth of Norfolk to the famous Suffolk Wool Towns – it's wealth is seen today in beautiful churches and timber-framed houses, which were endowed by the successful merchants. Lavenham (Suffolk) is Britain’s best preserved medieval village. z Churches - the East of England is famous for its superb collection of churches. There are fine examples throughout the region, such as Felmersham (Bedfordshire), Isleham (Cambridgeshire), Thaxted (Essex), Stanstead Abbots Hedingham Castle (Hertfordshire), Cawston (Norfolk) and Blythburgh (Suffolk). The shortage and provision of large local stone was probably one of the reasons that a structure special to the region evolved - the round church tower. Flint is mainly small and varies in shape making it unsuitable to make corners. The answer was to mix the uncut flint with mortar to create thick, rounded walls. The county of Norfolk is home of Britain's largest collection (120), with 9th C. St. Andrew's Church at East Lexham (nr. Swaffham) being the oldest. Check out www.visiteastofengland.com for our ‘Pick of the Churches’. z Castle Acre Priory (nr. Swaffham, Norfolk) – built in the 12th C. this Cluniac priory is in the beautiful Romanesque style. www.englishheritage.org.uk z Castle Rising Castle (nr. King’s Lynn, Norfolk) - one of the largest, best preserved and most lavishly decorated keeps in England, surrounded by 20 acres of mighty earthworks. The castle was begun in 1138 by William d’Albini. www.english-heritage.org.uk z Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Alban, St. Albans (Hertfordshire) – originally the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery, the building was built in 1077 on the hillside resting place of St. Alban, Britain's first Christian martyr. www.stalbanscathedral.org.uk www.visiteastofengland.com 2 Produced by East of England Tourism z Colchester Castle Museum (Essex) – the largest castle keep ever built by the Normans (around 1076). It was constructed on the Roman temple of Claudius. www.colchestermuseums.org.uk z Cressing Temple Barns (nr. Braintree, Essex) – the site of a Knights Templar settlement dating from 1137. It is made up of a group of remarkable farm buildings - including two magnificent 13th C. timber-framed barns. www.cressingtemple.org.uk z Ely Cathedral (Cambridgeshire) - built on the hilltop site of a 7th C. religious community founded by St. Etheldreda. Building dates from 1081. 14th C. Octagon/Lady Chapel. www.cathedral.ely.anglican.org z Framlingham Castle (Suffolk) – splendid example of a 12th C. castle with impressive wall-walk and fine gatehouse. www.english-heritage.org.uk z Hedingham Castle, Castle Hedingham (Essex) - finest Norman castle keep in England, built in 1140 by the De Veres, Earls of Oxford. Magnificent banqueting hall spanned by a remarkable 28 foot arch, one of the largest Norman arches in England. www.hedinghamcastle.co.uk z Kings College Chapel, Cambridge (Cambridgeshire) – the crowning glory of this famous University city. Founded by Henry VI in 1441 - inside is the world's largest fan vaulted ceiling and outstanding stained glass. www.kings.cam.ac.uk z Moyses Hall Museum, Bury St. Edmunds (Suffolk) – rare and important example of domestic Norman architecture, built in 1180. www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk z Norwich Castle (Norfolk) – built by the Normans as a Royal Palace 900 years ago. The castle is set on an artificial mound, and regarded as the best example of Norman architecture after the Tower of London. www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk z Norwich Cathedral (Norfolk) - this spectacular building was started in 1096. Norfolk flints form its core, but the pale cream limestone for the exterior was imported from Caen in France. The cathedral has the country's second tallest spire, alongside the largest monastic cloisters. www.cathedral.org.uk z Oxburgh Hall, Oxborough (nr. Swaffham, Norfolk) – a 15th C. moated redbrick fortified manor-house with 80ft high gatehouse. www.nationaltrust.org.uk z Peterborough Cathedral (Cambridgeshire) - Norman cathedral, built on the site of a Benedictine abbey (founded 655) between 1118 and 1238. Noted for its magnificent Early English (13th C.) three arched west front. www.peterborough-cathedral.org.uk z Priory Church of St. Peter, Dunstable (Bedfordshire) – the surviving part of an Augustinian priory founded in 1131. Scene of the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon. z St. George’s Guildhall, King’s Lynn (Norfolk) – built between 1410-1420, this is the largest surviving building of its kind in England. www.nationaltrust.org.uk z St. Wendreda’s Church, March (Cambridgeshire) - Britain's most outstanding double hammerbeam roof with 120 carved angels (their wings widespread). z Waltham Abbey Church (Essex) - a Norman church (erected in the first quarter of the 12th C.). Reputed site of King Harold’s tomb. www.walthamabbeychurch.co.uk www.visiteastofengland.com 3 Produced by East of England Tourism Programme 2: Living it Up (Tudor, Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) z Audley End House (nr. Saffron Walden, Essex) – palatial Jacobean house remodelled in the 18-19th C.