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16 March 2003
Not a blot on the landscape
In the Domesday Book, commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1085, a settlement called 'Hildreschelf' is recorded in Yorkshire in the same location where the massive stately home of Castle Howard stands today. Castle Howard was built in the early 1700s by the third Earl of Carlisle, Charles Howard. Its construction involved huge expense – including the demolition of the entire village of Henderskelf, which got in the way of the views from the planned new mansion. Time Team was called in to see if it could find any trace of the early settlement remaining today.
Not so straightforward
The starting point for the Team's researches was a 1694 vellum map of Henderskelf held in the Castle Howard archives, which lists the owners of each property in the village at the time. Henderskelf boasted both a castle and a church, so in theory at any rate, finding archaeological evidence for their existence seemed straightforward. It turned out not to be so.
What is probably Time Team's fastest-ever find was turned up within a couple of minutes of diggers starting to de-turf some of the immaculate Castle Howard lawns. A large, impressive carved stone turns out not to have been part of the demolished village, however, but part of the 18th-century development of the site. Elsewhere, apparent compacted floor surfaces turn out not to be floors within buildings; and an apparent surface from the old village road turns out to be something different too.
New map, new clues
A number of trenches are dug, both on the lawned areas of Castle Howard and within a former walled garden area – where at least the Team can bring in mechanical diggers to help with excavations. The discovery of a new, more detailed map of Henderskelf, sketched on the back of a building plan, provides new clues for the diggers, but it seems that Charles Howard's demolition job left few traces.
Of the church and the castle, no hard evidence can be found. A great deal of medieval pottery is uncovered, but very few traces of walls or buildings. A search of records suggests that the former homes of a George Campleman and one Ralf Kendel are among the sites uncovered by the Team's trenches, but there is very little left visible today.
Not a blot on the landscape
It becomes clear that Henderskelf had not just been flattened when it was demolished but systematically obliterated and all traces removed. Mick Aston compared it with the sort of wholesale destruction that followed the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII or the closure of many of Britain's railways under the Beeching axe in the 1960s – an indication of the power and influence of the builders of Castle Howard, who were able to remove an entire village simply in order to improve their view.
From Scalextric to archaeology: Time Team's graphics
With so few features being uncovered in the ground, Time Team relied more heavily than usual on maps and records for the Castle Howard programme. This put the graphics team of Neil Emmanuel and Raysan Al-Kubaisi in the spotlight.
2d graphics
'My role is basically twofold,' says two-dimensional graphics artist Neil Emmanuel. 'When we're on shoots, it's my job to produce anything the Team require in two dimensions. That can be dealing with maps, surveys or any data, for that matter, that needs to be processed and printed out. Then, after the shoots, my work involves post-production of images for the final programme. That can be a bit more involved and requires fine-tuning of images and work, putting more detail into the graphics for the final show.'
'We all use PC computers in the graphics team rather than Macs as we've found this easier when integrating our software,' Neil continues. 'I use a mixture of illustrating and painting programmes that all overlap and basically help me to make sure all of the images I use look just right at the end of the day.'
3d imagery
The other half of the graphics team consists of Raysan Al-Kubaisi, who deals with three-dimensional imagery.
'The easiest way to describe the role of 3d graphics is that it helps to bring the archaeology to life with realistic reconstructions,' he says. 'It can often be hard to imagine what something would have looked like from a few foundations in the ground, or a couple of fragments of pottery, but by using 3d graphics we can make the whole thing come alive.
'I work closely with the specialists on the programme to try to make everything as realistic as possible. Obviously, at times some of what we do is conjecture, but we certainly try to make it as accurate as possible.'
'My background is in designing architecture and because of that I like to use architecture software for my work,' says Raysan. 'I basically design a "wire frame" on the screen using AutoCad and then I can render that framework with a package called 3d Studio Max. I can change the angles of the graphic, project light, fly around the image and add textures to make the whole thing appear more real. Normally, about 90% of my work is in post-production after the shoot, but the real fun starts on the live programmes when you're really under pressure and serious time restraints.'
Blue-screen technology
Some of the most popular developments in Time Team graphics include the integrating of Victor's drawings and 'Star Wars' blue-screen technology (where backgrounds can be added behind the subject) into the process. How did all that come about?
'The use of Victor's drawings and blue screens, like when we put Jenni Butterworth into a virtual medieval priory, came about because we wanted to integrate all of the imagery that we were getting,' says Raysan. 'This is a great way to bring life into the graphics. You have to plan camera angles carefully to get it right, but we have a lot of fun along the way.'
Hornby and Scalextric
Asked if they enjoyed creating and playing with scaled-down environments as children, it transpired that Neil was a Hornby railway man whereas Raysan preferred Scalextric.
Time Team sparks.
One of the faces you don't see on the TV, but vital to the filming of the programme, is production electrician Garry Owen. One of the problems he faces is when the Team wants to film indoors.
'I've been working with Time Team for years,' says Garry. 'Apart from fixing things that go wrong, one of the main parts of my job is lighting. For example, if they want to film indoors you can't use normal lights because they have the wrong colour temperature. They look too warm. If the shot follows the subject from outside into the room it looks bad, so we use heavy tungsten lights that create the right blue-light temperature. You basically have to simulate daylight indoors.
'I also have to rig special filters over any windows so that when they are filming from inside there are no contrast problems with daylight flooding in from outside to ruin the shot. It's all about creating the right environment.'
Further reading.
The Lost Villages of England by Maurice Beresford (Sutton Publishing 1998) £14.99
Still the 'classic' on deserted villages in England, by one of the leading figures in the post-second world war research into DMVs (deserted medieval villages).
The Making of the English Landscape by William Hoskins (Penguin 1991) £10.99
Another 'classic', by the second professor who led the postwar research into DMVs.
Deserted Villages by T Rowley and J Wood (Shire, 1995) paperback £4.99
Explains why sites have been deserted, what a site might look like today and procedures for recording them. Also lists some good examples of sites to visit.
The English Heritage Book of Wharram Percy, Deserted Medieval Village by M Beresford and J G Hurst (Batsford/English Heritage, 1990)
Villages in the Landscape by Trevor Rowley (Orion 1994) paperback £6.99
Examines the role of villages in England from prehistory to the present day. Includes tips for finding out more about past villages and helpful guidelines for practical fieldwork.
Everyday Life in Medieval England by Christopher Dyer (Hambledon, 1994) hardback £35
The villages may have become deserted and buried, but this book brings their inhabitants back to life. Topics range from freshwater fishing to rural violence, and the author examines deep social processes as well as everyday living.
Other websites.
This website contains links to other websites which are not under the control of and are not maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.
Castle Howard
www.castlehoward.co.uk
Official website of Castle Howard, one of Britain's most famous stately homes and still the residence of the Howard family. Clear, extensive and well-illustrated, the website includes a good history of the building, although there is little about the village and villagers who were brushed aside to make way for it.
Wharram Percy: The Lost Medieval Village
http://loki.stockton.edu/~ken/wharram/begin.htm
This website tells the story of a deserted Yorkshire village, which was the subject of archaeological digs every summer for 40 years. It was once thought that medieval villages were 'deserted' due to the effects of the Black Death in 1349. Research at Wharram Percy (and a few other villages), however, has shown that there are more than 3,000 such villages in England and that most of them were depopulated as a result of economic forces in the 15th century. The Wharram Project, which began in 1950, has shown that many of these sites were inhabited for centuries before the middle ages. The evidence gathered at Wharram Percy has added immensely to our knowledge of English medieval peasant life.
Lost village sites of Nottinghamshire
www.diplomate.freeserve.co.uk/dmv.htm
Based upon the pioneering work by Maurice Beresford published in The Lost Villages of England, this listing (by grid reference) of lost, abandoned or displaced settlements gives an indication of just how many can be found in a single county. There are many other websites that focus on other areas or individual sites.