Description

TQ 72 NE BODIAM EWHURST ROAD

6/12 Bodiam Castle

3.8.61
I

This building is an example of the latest period of military architecture of the
Middle Ages. It was built by Sir Edward Dalingridge in the years following 1385,
when he was given a licence to crenellate. The castle is built of sandstone ashlar
quarried at Wadhurst. It takes the form of a hollow court-yard set in a wide moat.
It is of 2 storeys with a castellated parapet over. At the four corners are round
towers of 3 storeys similarly embattled-and with vices containing the stairways.
In the centre of the south, east and west sides are projecting square towers
similarly embattled, the south one with machicolation below the parapet. This
tower contained the postern gate which had a drawbridge across the moat. In the
centre of the north side are two similarly projecting square towers with a recessed
portion between and on each side, and-machicolation over the whole. Four centred
archway with portcullis. This was the main entrance of the- castle and drawbridge
across the moat. Loop windows, some with pointed heads. The hall and kitchen
were on the south side of the internal court-yard, the living rooms on the east
side, but most of the buildings behind the outer walls are now ruinous. The castle
passed by marriage to the Lewknor family in 1470. It was partly dismantled during
the Civil War. It was bought by Lord Curzon in 1917, restored in 1919 and
bequeathed by him to the National Trust in 1925. Ancient Monument.

Listing NGR: TQ7855425645

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Bodiam Castle at Wikipedia
• Bodiam Castle official website
• Wikidata Q639208

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments