Wollaton Hall and Park

[Verse 1] White stone catches the hard noon sun Lime on the hands of everyone Ropes bite timber, wheels sink deep Men call the measures, no one sleeps [Pre-Chorus] Up from the mud, block by block A new face climbs above the rock [Chorus] Raise it high on the hill of clay Make the bright walls answer the day A hundred hands and a lord’s design Set in the weather, stone by stone [Verse 2] Chisel answers chisel, quick and sharp Mallets knock time through the timber yard The pulley groans, the scaffold sways Dust turns gold in the crowded haze [Chorus] Raise it high on the hill of clay Make the bright walls answer the day A hundred hands and a lord’s design Set in the weather, stone by stone [Instrumental: percussion falls away; spacious old-park strings and a solitary recorder-like melody] [Verse 3] Past the last shout, under oak shade The deer keep to their older ways No eye is raised to the rising hall The roots remember before it all [Bridge] Long before the lime was stirred The leaves had held the wind unheard Long after the carved stone has worn The park will keep the quiet dawn [Final Chorus] Raise it high on the hill of clay While green lives on beyond the day A hundred hands, one proud design And older trees that keep their time [Outro] The mallets fade, the branches sway The deer move on through the ancient day