ia. why was the lusitania allowed to enter the irish sea without the detailed warning that could have been provided to captain william thomas turner but was not? this has led to interesting speculation. was the ship set up for attack by churchill or someone in the admiralty? it's interesting. i found no smoking memo. i believe i would have found a smoking memo. there was nothing from churchill to jackie fisher, let's let the lusitania go into the irish sea because we wanted to get sunk. nothing like that exists. >> sunday night on c-span's " q&a." american artifex takes you to historic places to learn what

artifacts reveal. located in surry virginia, bacon's castle is the oldest built dwelling in the u.s. occupied by nathaniel bacon's supporters. built in 1665, we learned about the structure and some of the virginians who called it home. >> my name is jennifer hurst-wender. i am the director of museum operations. this is bacon's castle in surry virginia. it is one of preservation virginia's historic sites. we are the oldest built dwelling in north america. the house boasts a rare architectural style. there are only three examples of this style of architecture in the western hemisphere. the other two are in barbados.

this is the only one in the united states. we are in the tower. this room would have been directly above where you would have entered into bacon's castle in 1665 until the 1864 aedddition was built and it was moved. it is a fantastic view of why this house is in this style of architecture. you can see these flemish cables. -- gables. you can see the triple stack chimney. they are on a diagonal. they are on each side of the house. on this side of the house, we have one on the garrett, one on the first floor, and one on the second floor. on the opposite

night, we have it on the second floor, the first floor, and also the kitchens fireplace. -- kitchen's fireplace. this is where you are given a chance to get an up close and personal look at the architectural style. 2015 is an anniversary of it being built. it was built in 1665. we are able to secure the preservation efforts in order to hopefully keep it around for another 350 years. >> you can watch this and other american artifacts programs anytime by visiting our website c-span.org/history. >> up next, a discussion on naval navigation during the war of 1812. at the outset, the british royal navy was far more sophisticated than t