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Secrets of Great British Castles
2015 - 2016 6.6 (13 votes) 2 Seasons
Official Website
Genres
Documentary
Networks
5

Secrets of Great British Castles

Overview

Historian Dan Jones explores the millennium of history behind six of Great Britain's most famous castles: Warwick, Dover, Caernarfon, the Tower of London, Carrickfergus, and Stirling.

Top Cast

Dan Jones
Dan Jones

Himself - Presenter

Seasons

Season 1 poster
Season 1 (2015)

No overview available.

6 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Dover Castle
2015-04-03

Dan goes behind the battlements of Dover Castle, where he descends into an underground lair to discover how a vast network of tunnels has been used to defend both the castle and the country for centuries.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 2: The Tower of London
2015-04-10

Built by William the Conqueror, the Tower of London has been a military fortress, a palace, a royal mint, a prison, a zoo and a place of execution, a silent witness to some of the most momentous events in our history. Dan Jones reveals some of its secrets and tells the stories of the traitors, rebels and royalty who met their end inside its imposing walls.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 3: Warwick Castle
2015-04-17

Today Warwick Castle is a popular tourist attraction, but for centuries its walls echoed with the sounds of betrayal, bloodshed, murder and financial ruin. Dan Jones reveals the turbulent history which took place within the well-preserved walls of this imposing castle and the tales of the earls of Warwick who lived there.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 4: Caernarfon
2015-04-24

Historian Dan Jones explores the turbulent history of one of Britain's most famous castles, Caernarfon. Dan is in the heart of Snowdonia exploring a stronghold built not only as an impenetrable fortress but also as a lavish royal palace fit for a fairytale - Caernarfon Castle.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 5: Stirling Castle
2015-05-01

Perched high on a volcanic crag overlooking the River Forth, Stirling has long been one of the most strategically important castles in Britain. Guarding the gateway to the Highlands, its battle-scarred walls have witnessed savagery and chivalry, intrigue, alchemy, adultery and murder. With the aid of location filming, aerial shots and dramatic reconstructions, Dan Jones examines the history of this stronghold and relates the stories of some of the powerful characters who have owned it over the centuries.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 6: Carrickfergus
2015-05-08

Dan Jones explores the history of Carrickfergus Castle in Co Antrim, one of the most ancient castles in Northern Ireland and a stronghold key to understanding the tempestuous relationship between Britain and Ireland. Dan travels to Rathlin island, where he reveals how hundreds of women and children were massacred in the name of Elizabeth I, and visits the tomb of former governor Arthur Chichester, who began a new colonization strategy using scorched earth tactics and laid waste to much of the land surrounding the town.

Runtime: 45 min
Season 2 poster
Season 2 (2016)

No overview available.

6 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Edinburgh Castle
2016-10-28

Edinburgh's handsome hilltop bastion is Scotland's most popular paid tourist attraction, but it also packs some formidable defences.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 2: Cardiff Castle
2016-11-04

Dan Jones explores the history of the Welsh capital's landmark, Cardiff Castle, and discovers more about the various incarnations over the centuries.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 3: York Castle
2016-11-18

In medieval England, the North was ruled from York. Dan Jones explores the history of its castle, from the Viking Jorvik and the Normans, through the dark days of the anti-Jewish pogrom and the imprisonment of the Knights Templar, to one of its most colourful inmates - the legendary highwayman Dick Turpin.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 4: Leeds Castle
2016-11-25

Dan Jones explores the 900-year history of the beautiful Leeds Castle in Kent, from its origins as a royal Saxon family's manor and Norman stronghold to the private property of six medieval queens, a Tudor palace, a Jacobean country house, a Georgian mansion and an elegant 20th-century retreat for the rich and famous.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 5: Lancaster Castle
2016-12-02

Dan Jones visits Lancaster Castle to explore its grisly history of crime and punishment, including the infamous Lancashire Witches trials and the martyrdom of the Jesuit priest Saint Edmund Arrowsmith.

Runtime: 45 min
Episode 6: Arundel Castle
2016-12-09

Dan Jones visits the heart of the English countryside to explore Arundel Castle and the dramatic history of the Earls of Arundel.

Runtime: 45 min

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