Trip to Bodiam Castle

Tweet

Yesterday I took a long planned visit to Bodiam Castle, in East Sussex. I let the train take most of the strain of travelling, but took along my trusty Brompton folding bike for the last few miles. When planning the bike leg I dismissed a few hills along the route, big mistake! For the return to the rail station, I used a longer route and saved a few metres of steep climbing. The castle, built in the late 14th Century during the Hundred Years War, is in good condition, with plenty of spiral stairs. More climbing! The first picture shows the causeway across the moat to the main gate. The patch of green in the moat is where the barbican (fortified gatehouse) used to stand. The middle picture is the view from the castle wall looking down on the barbican. Originally the causeway came in from the left, where you can still see the supporting stone work on the bank. Any attackers would be carrying shields on their left sides, so were exposed to arrows from the walls. The last picture, taken in the middle of the great hall where the Lord held his feasting, shows the triple doorway to the pantry and buttery. Above this doorway was a gallery where minstrels would play, music being an important part of the feasting. Some more picture of Bodiam Castle at https://www.flickr.com/photos/136389881@N07/albums/72157667967582108