Bodiam Castle

The quintessential fairy tale castle rears above the banks of the River Rother.

Towering battlements, a defensive moat, spiral staircases and gun-ports, myth and legend is made of it and Bodiam Castle has it, in bucket-fulls. Built for Sir Edward Dalyngrygge, veteran of King Edward III's battles with France, the commanding exterior of the 14th century castle still stands intact: a potent emblam of medieval conflict in the peaceful Sussex countryside.

At first glance Bodiam Castle seems the epitome of a medieval castle, built with defence in mind. However, on closer inspection it is clear that Bodiam is one of a handful of castles built when the nobility also wanted luxury, ease and an outward display of wealth from their fortified homes. Sadly, the interior of Bodiam Castle was damaged in the Civil War but enough remains to give a sense of castle life and this evolutionary stage in British social history.

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