BODIAM CASTLE

Sussex

Bodiam Castle is sometimes held in scorn by Castle scholars because of its (admittedly) thin walls.  However, they are perhaps missing the point.  This is THE CASTLE.  If you ask a child to draw a Castle it is very likely indeed that what they might draw will look something like Bodiam.

It was built by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge who was issued a licence to crenellate his existing manor house in 1385.  Sir Edward took the licence in rather liberal terms by demolishing his old house (on the hill opposite) completely and building Bodiam Castle from scratch.  The moat was fed from the nearby River Rother, which is at about its highest navigable point here.  Without a doubt the Castle would have been some use as a defence had the French ever got around to invading.

Whatever one may say about the thinness of the walls, the design of Bodiam is up-to-the-minute Castle architecture and includes provision for those new-fangled 'gun' things...Bodiam is one of the earliest Castles to include "keyhole" gun ports.

Despite all of this Bodiam owes its immaculate condition to the fact that the only action ever to occur here was during the Wars of the Roses when a group of Lancastrians briefly took refuge here in 1483.  They were ousted almost without a shot being fired.

The remains were beautifully saved and restored by Lord Curzon from 1916, and the Castle today is owned by the National Trust and is open to the public throughout the year.

If you only want to visit one Castle, but want it to be the most archetypical English Castle available, then visit Bodiam.

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2001