We visited Bodiam on Easter Sunday, and it was buzzing! Be aware that the only toilets (that you can use anyway) are at the entrance where the café is.
There is a walkway all around the outside of this beautiful 14th century moated castle, built by an English knight who had made his fortune from war in France.
You are given a wristband to wear on entering which gets you into the castle itself; we’re guessing this means the grounds are completely free – perfect for a picnic 🙂
Once inside you can climb 2 of the towers, lots more spiral stairs! The first tower has a separate staircase up to that coming down, which is, of course, very useful!
In this 1st tower there are colonies of bats that you can clearly hear squeaking away. You also come across the first of the castles 86 garderobes! (Yes, I still have an obsession with the toilets of yesteryear – I don’t think it’s going to disappear at any point now..)
On which note do you know why they’re called garderobes? It’s because people in medieval times used to hang their precious clothes above the toilet as the moths couldn’t bear the smell – hence – guard the robes….
There’s a massive well in the basement of one of the towers which served the nearby kitchen, buttery and pantry.
There is a very interesting 15 minute long video telling you all about the history of the castle – we watched the whole thing!
The fish in the moat were huge and fighting with the ducks for any food being thrown in 🙂
The entrance holds the oldest original portcullis in England – and also a rendering of a unicorn above the gateway.
There’s also a pillbox in the grounds from the 2nd world war.
Again an excellent attraction with lots of information for the visitor (this is a National Trust property). I definitely learnt a lot during this visit.
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