This guide will help you discover what remains of the medieval castle, and how it came to be preserved. 5 Welcome to 4 6 Bodiam Castle 3 7 2 1 Ticket Way in office entrance odiam Castle was built It was a luxury home and an Bto impress. It stands free expression of their status. from outbuildings and is Over time the interior fell Tea Car Room Park magnified by its reflection in into ruin. Remarkably the Toilets and baby-changing Second-hand Dog Waste the moat. The castle dates to walls, towers and setting facilities Café Shop Book Shop Bin around 1385, the age survived. From the of Chaucer, wars with France, 18th-century it became General information the Black Death, royal known for its appeal as an Are dogs allowed? disputes and social change. ancient monument. Where should I take extra Where can I picnic? Dogs are welcome on short care? The castle was built for Sir You are welcome to picnic in leads in the grounds. Please be aware of the moat Edward Dallingridge and his the grounds. and river, which have steep wife Elizabeth Wardedieu. Can I feed the ducks and fish? banks and deep water. Help to keep them healthy by not feeding them human food. All these features may once 6 have been painted. 4 Medieval bridge The Chapel Bodiam Castle Dallingridge would have The Chapel is the most The Great Hall is just behind crossed the moat where you notable feature of the east the wall. The big south are standing now. The stones wing. The large window Follow this route around the exterior and grounds facing window indicates the on the bank mark the site of would have held stained of the castle with points of interest along the way. prestige of the space. Above the original bridge, which glass. We are not sure when it a walkway to the south- at the Octagon would have Bodiam Castle stopped being east tower. The walls are made a sharp right turn. This a home, but estimate it was 1 Millpond 2 Pillbox crenellated: protected with made the bridge easier to between the 15th and 17th As you step into the medieval The Second World War the square indentations so defend and the walls look centuries. Today much of the world, get a feel for your pillbox was part of a line of typical of medieval castles. more imposing. interior is lost. There is no Once all the walls would have evidence of a siege. Instead surroundings. Although a defences along the River On the tower is Dallingridge’s had this feature. The medieval bridge was it seems the castle slowly fell quiet part of Sussex today, Rother. It was built in 1940 to coat of arms. His tournament lost centuries ago. In 1919 into disrepair. The stones it was a busy working slow down an advance from helm features a unicorn, Turn left past the kitchen the then owner Lord Curzon may have been removed to landscape. Behind you is the the south. The Canadian in the medieval period a and as you walk note the discovered the foundations: be used elsewhere. River Rother, connecting Army and later the Home symbol of Christ. His shield is symmetry of the castle. The ‘Little by little the main Bodiam to Rye Harbour. The Guard were armed with an flanked by that of Wardedieu, curtain wall is 2.2m thick at timbers were exposed to 7 A survivor road to your left roughly anti-tank gun and machine for his wife Elizabeth, and the base and rises to 13.15m. view, lying in the mud as they follows the path of the guns, aimed at the bridge. Radynden for his mother During the 18th-century, The castle is built from had fallen.’ Since the 18th Roman road from Rochester Some feel the pillbox disrupts Alice. Dallingridge was an Britain’s ruins became Wealden sandstone. century access has been from to Hastings. Bodiam the romance of the setting. experienced soldier, a knight fashionable again. People the north bank, as it is today. was built on a crossroad, Others value its wartime who had fought in the wars wanted to record and protect historically an important significance and the rare with France. Bodiam Castle such sites. Bodiam began to On your left the remains of place for trade and control. proximity to a castle. was an expression of his attract visitors and artists. two medieval fish ponds. power and status. The last private owner was Although they no longer With the river and the Lord Curzon, the former 3 Postern Tower have water, you can see their historic site of the wharf Today it houses a different Viceroy of India and Marquis behind you, to your right is shape. You are looking at the back family of sorts. The of Kedleston. He left Bodiam a rectangular shaped lawn, of the castle. Originally there Gatehouse hosts the Castle to the National Trust once a millpond. It still often was a bridge to the Postern, 5 The Gatehouse largest maternity roost of in 1925. floods in winter. or secondary, gate. Look for Visitors would have passed Daubenton bats in England, the three heraldic shields the Barbican, the small as well as Natterer bats. They Bodiam Castle [email protected] on the tower. The middle defensive structure, before leave when their young are BodiamCastleNT shield and the ram’s head reaching the Gatehouse. Look strong enough to fly. In the above bear the arms of Sir out for the portcullis. Tests moat which is approximately Robert Knollys, with whom reveal that it is original, and 8ft deep, you may see carp. Images: National Trust/Gesine Garz/Alasdair Ogilvie/ Dallingridge served in France. one of only a few of that date Matthew Antrobus/Elizabeth Vessey. Please recycle this leaflet after use. © National Trust 2021. The National surviving in Britain. Trust is a registered charity no. 205846..