Bodiam

Description

Bodiam Castle, East Sussex

In 1385, Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a veteran of the wars with France, received permission from King Henry IV to build a castle on his Manor at Bodiam.

But as stunning as it is, rising majestically from the upper reaches of the Romney Marshes beside the river Rother, it is fairly generally agreed that Bodiam was never a serious fortification but a grand house designed with architectural features of defence, such as battlements and arrow slits, simply to impress important visitors. When you peer into one of the very deep and narrow ‘arrow and gun loops’ through a wall maybe 3ft thick, it is almost impossible to pick out other tourists in the grounds below, let alone pick off marauding invaders.