These are the chapter house stairs in Wells Cathedral. Someday I’d love to do a supercut of every time these show up on screen. Apparently a lot of filmmakers think they’re perfect for their hero to race up or down while escaping the castle, or to have a swordfight on. They’ve appeared in every other Robin Hood movie or TV series, and anything else where they want a medieval castle feel and some derring-do.

I first noticed them in 1984, when Robin of Sherwood ran up them, took a sharp right through a doorway, and met Maid Marion for the first time. I saw them most recently in Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves - and sat up and went “Aww!”, because they might be 700 years old, but they’re also old friends by this point.