Peaceful Pictures Of Bodiam Castle

Bodiam Castle is a spectacle of breathtaking beauty. It seems to float atop the water-filled moat which surrounds it and separates the sandy brown structure from the broad expanse of enveloping greenery. Located in East Sussex on the border with Kent, along a minor roadway just off the A21 Tunbridge Wells-Hastings Road, Bodiam Castle is only one of a myriad of treasures to be explored in southern England.



With Bodiam being only 14 miles upstream from Winchelsea on the river Rother, the town was very vulnerable to raiding parties. By the end of the 14th century the threat to Bodiam had diminished, so the castle took on the role of a comfortable family home for the Dalyngrygges. Despite its formidable appearance the only action that the castle saw was during the Civil War (1642-51) when the interior was gutted.


Bodiam castle - Barbican

The castle was left to deteriorate for centuries until a local Squire, John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, forked out £3,000 to save it from destruction in 1828. Not a great deal happened until it was later purchased by Lord Curzon in 1916, who set about on an extensively restoring the castle. Lord Curzon bequeathed the castle to the National Trust and it's open to the public between 10am - 6pm, (March until October) and 10am - 4pm weekends from November to February.


Bodiam castle - Gangplank

Bodiam is a small village, mostly located near the 12th Century church of St Giles on the Sandhurst road. The only inn in the village was also built in the 14th Century to provide food and lodgings for the visitors to the castle, which it continues to provide to the present day.


Bodiam castle - Carpark

The Bodiam area was a main hop growing area, and in the early parts of this century, a large number of Londoners would come down via the railway to the Guiness hop farms to pick the crop. The village used to be on the Robertsbridge to Headcorn railway line, which was axed during the 1960's by Dr Beeching. However the steam enthusiasts from the Kent and East Sussex Railway based in Rolvenden, have restored the line from Tenterden to Bodiam.