We drove on, in brightening weather, to Bodiam Castle, still in Kent. If you were to call central casting and order up an archetypical medieval castle, they would send Bodiam. It was built rather late for such a thing, 1385-88, and for that reason, many think it was a "show" castle rather than a serious attempt at defense. It was built by a knight/adventurer, Edward Dallingridge, who spent much of his time in France, during the Hundred Years' War, plundering. But the French were plundering back at this time, and Sir Edward may well have had defense in mind. It is a ruin, but a pretty good one, only the interior structures really destroyed in the Civil War. Evidently, the Parliamentarians in southern England were not quite as bent on destruction as elsewhere. They hardly touched Knole. We spent the night at a Forestry Commission carpark.
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Bodiam Castle
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Gate tower and portcullis
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Murder holes; if you somehow got into the tower, the first portcullis, another
would fall, and then they would pour stones, boiling oil, and other vile hings on you |
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Interior
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Spray paint has really taken the fun out of graffitti
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1940 pillbox; just in case Operation Sea Lion might include some sightseeing
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