Bodiam Castle
Bodiam Castle | |
---|---|
The National Trust | |
Condition | Ruins |
Site history | |
Built by | Sir Edward Dalyngrigge |
Materials | Sandscript stone |
Demolished | Post English Civil War |
Battles/wars | English Civil War |
Events | |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Official name | Bodiam Castle |
Designated | 3 August 1961 |
Reference no. | 1044134 |
Bodiam Castle (/ˈboʊdiəm/) is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years' War. Of quadrangular plan, Bodiam Castle has no keep, having its various chambers built around the outer defensive walls and inner courts. Its corners and entrance are marked by towers, and topped by crenellations. Its structure, details and situation in an artificial watery landscape indicate that display was an important aspect of the castle's design as well as defence. It was the home of the Dalyngrigge family and the centre of the manor of Bodiam.
Possession of Bodiam Castle passed through several generations of Dalyngrigges, until their line became extinct, when the castle passed by marriage to the Lewknor family. During the Wars of the Roses, Sir Thomas Lewknor supported the House of Lancaster, and when Richard III of the House of York became king in 1483, a force was despatched to besiege Bodiam Castle. It is unrecorded whether the siege went ahead, but it is thought that Bodiam was surrendered without much resistance. The castle was confiscated, but returned to the Lewknors when Henry VII of the House of Lancaster became king in 1485. Descendants of the Lewknors owned the castle until at least the 16th century.
By the start of the
Background
Edward Dalyngrigge was a younger son and thus deprived of his father's estates through the practice of
The
Construction and use
Know that of our special grace we have granted and given licence on behalf of ourselves and our heirs, so far as in us lies, to our beloved and faithful Edward Dalyngrigge Knight, that he may strengthen with a wall of stone and lime, and crenellate and may construct and make into a Castle his manor house of Bodiam, near the sea, in the County of Sussex, for the defence of the adjacent country, and the resistance to our enemies ... In witness of which etc. The King at Westminster 20 October.
— Excerpt from the licence to crenellate allowing Edward Dalyngrigge to build a castle from thePatent Rolls of 1385–89[11]
Dalyngrigge's licence from Richard II permitted him to refortify his existing manor house, but instead he chose a fresh site to build a castle on. Construction was completed in one phase, and most of the castle is in the same architectural style. Archaeologist David Thackray has deduced from this that Bodiam Castle was built quickly, probably because of the threat from the French.[12] Stone castles were usually time-consuming and expensive to build, often costing thousands of pounds.[13] Dalyngrigge was Captain of the port of Brest in France from 1386 to 1387, and as a result was probably absent for the first years of the castle's construction.[10] It replaced the old manor house as Dalyngrigge's main residence and the administrative centre of the manor.[14] It is not recorded when Bodiam Castle was completed, but Thackray suggests that it was before 1392; Dalyngrigge did not have long to spend in the completed castle, as he was dead by 1395.[10]
Danlyngrigge's estates, including the castle, were inherited by his son, John Dalyngrigge. Like his father, John enjoyed the favour of the king and was described as the "King's Knight"; in 1400 he was granted an annual allowance of 100
Sir Thomas Lewknor, son of Sir Roger, was a supporter of the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses, which began in 1455. When Richard of the House of York ascended to the throne as Richard III in 1483, Lewknor was accused of treason and of raising men-at-arms in southeast England. In November 1483, Lewknor's uncle and Thomas Howard, the Earl of Surrey, were given permission to levy men and besiege Bodiam Castle, where Lewknor was based. It is not recorded whether the siege went ahead, and Thackray suggests that Lewknor surrendered without much resistance. His property was confiscated, and Nicholas Rigby was made constable of the castle. On Henry VII's accession to the English throne the attainder was revoked, and Bodiam Castle was returned to Lewknor. However, not all the surrounding land was returned to the family until 1542. Possession of Bodiam Castle passed through several generations of the Lewknor family. Although the inheritance of the castle can be traced through the 16th and 17th centuries, there is little to indicate how it was used in this period, or if the family spent much time in it.[18]
Following the death of Sir Roger Lewknor in 1543, his estates were divided among his descendants, and the castle and manor were split.[19] John Levett of Salehurst purchased the castle in 1588.[20] In 1623, most of the estates of Bodiam were bought by Sir Nicholas Tufton, later Earl of Thanet. His son, John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet, inherited Nicholas's property on his father's death in 1631; it was John Tufton who reunited possession of castle and manor when he bought Bodiam Castle in 1639. John Tufton was a supporter of the Royalist cause during the English Civil War, and led an attack on Lewes, and was involved in a Royalist defeat at Haywards Heath. Parliament confiscated some of his lands in 1643, and more in 1644, as well as fining him £9,000 (£1,600,000 today).[21][22] To help pay his fine, Tufton sold Bodiam Castle for £6,000 (£1,100,000 today)[21] in March 1644 to Nathaniel Powell, a Parliamentarian.[22]
Picturesque ruins
After the Civil War, Powell was made
In 1722 Sir Thomas Webster bought the castle. For over a century, Bodiam Castle and its associated manor descended through the
The third
Lord Curzon decided that "so rare a treasure [as Bodiam Castle] should neither be lost to our country nor desecrated by irreverent hands".[27] Curzon made enquiries about buying the castle, but Cubitt did not wish to sell. However, after Cubitt's death, Curzon was able to make a deal with Cubitt's son, and he bought Bodiam Castle and its lands in 1916.[28] Curzon began a programme of investigation at Bodiam in 1919, and with architect William Weir restored parts of the castle. The moat, on average about 5 ft (1.5 m) deep but 7 ft (2.1 m) deep in the southeast corner, was drained and 3 ft (0.9 m) of mud and silt removed; during excavations the original footings of the bridges to the castle were discovered. Nearby hedges and fences were removed to provide an unobscured view of the castle. There were excavations in the interior, and a well was discovered in the basement of the southwest tower. Vegetation was cleared, stonework repaired, and the original floor level re-established throughout the castle. A cottage was built to provide a museum to display the finds from the excavations and a home for a caretaker. Bodiam Castle was given to the National Trust in 1925.[29]
The National Trust continued the restoration work, and added new roofs to the towers and gatehouse. Excavations were resumed in 1970, and the moat was once again drained.[30] Bodiam Castle was used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) in an establishing shot identifying it as "Swamp Castle" in the "Tale of Sir Lancelot" sequence.[31] It had previously been used for the filming of Camelot, an episode of The Goodies broadcast in 1973.[32] It was later the filming location for the Doctor Who serial The King's Demons, broadcast in 1983,[33] and was used again in the revived series for the 2014 episode Robot of Sherwood.[34]
The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England carried out a survey of the earthworks surrounding Bodiam Castle in 1990.
Architecture
Location and landscape
The castle's location was ostensibly chosen to protect England's south coast from raids by the French. A landscape survey by the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments concluded that if this were the case, then Bodiam Castle was unusually sited, as it is far from the medieval coastline.[36]
The area surrounding Bodiam Castle was landscaped when the castle was built, to increase its aesthetic appeal.[45] Archaeologists Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham have described Bodiam as one of the best examples of landscaping to emphasise a castle.[46] The water features were originally extensive, but only the moat survives, along with the earthworks left over from its construction. Roughly rectangular, the moat is supplied by several springs, some of them within it,[45] which made it difficult to drain during the excavations of the 1930s.[30] A moat can prevent attackers from gaining access to the base of a castle's walls, but in the case of Bodiam it also had the effect of making the castle appear larger and more impressive by isolating it in its landscape. The moat is now regarded more as an ornamental feature than a defence. The approach to the castle through the moat and satellite ponds was indirect, giving visitors time to view the castle in its intended splendour.[47] Military historian Cathcart King describes the approach as formidable, and considers it the equal of the 13th-century castles of Edward I in Wales, such as Caerphilly Castle.[48]
The castle sits roughly in the middle of the moat. The postern gate at the rear would have been connected to the moat's south bank by a drawbridge and a long timber bridge. The main entrance on the north side of the castle is today connected to the north bank by a wooden bridge, but the original route would have included two bridges: one from the main entrance to an island in the moat, and another connecting the island to the west bank. For the most part the bridge was static, apart from the section closest to the west bank, which would have been a drawbridge.[49] The island in the moat is called the Octagon, and excavations on it have uncovered a garderobe (toilet), suggesting that there may have been a guard on the island, although it is unclear to what extent it was fortified. The Octagon was connected to a barbican by a bridge, probably a drawbridge.[50] The castle's 28 toilets drained directly into the moat, which in the words of archaeologist Matthew Johnson would have been effectively an "open sewer".[51]
Exterior and entrance
A quadrangular castle, Bodiam is roughly square-shaped. This type of castle, with a central courtyard and buildings against the curtain wall, was characteristic of castle architecture in the 14th century. Bodiam Castle has been described by military historian Cathcart King as the most complete surviving example of a quadrangular castle.[52] There are circular towers at each of the four corners, with square central towers in the south, east, and west walls. The main entrance is a twin-towered gatehouse in the north face of the castle. There is a second entrance from the south; the postern gate is through a square tower in the middle of the south wall.[53] The towers are three storeys high, taller than the curtain walls and the buildings in the castle which are two storeys high.[54]
Between the Octagon and the main gatehouse in the north wall was a barbican, of which little survives – just a piece of the west wall – although the structure was originally two stories high. The surviving fabric includes a slot for a portcullis for the barbican's north gate, although there are no hinges for gates. The base of a garderobe demonstrates that the second story would have provided space for habitation, probably a guard room. Drawings from the late 18th century show the ground floor of the barbican still standing and includes detail such as vaulting inside the passageway.[50]
The gatehouse in the castle's north wall is three storeys high; now reached by a static bridge, it was originally connected to the barbican by a drawbridge. The top of the gatehouse is machicolated, and the approach is overlooked by gun-loops in the gatehouse towers.[55] The gatehouse is the only part of the castle which has gun-loops, and the curtain wall and towers are studded with windows for domestic use rather than military.[48] There are guardrooms on the ground floor and a basement beneath them.[55] The passage would originally have had three wooden portcullises.[48] Above the entrance passage is an arch in the gateway, although it leads nowhere. The ceiling of the passage through the gatehouse into the castle is vaulted and pierced with murder holes.[55] Murder holes were most likely used to drop objects on attackers, similar to machicolations, or to pour water to extinguish fires.[56]
Just above the gate, there are three coats of arms carved in relief into the arch; from left to right they are the arms of the Wardeux, Dalyngrigge, and Radynden families. The Wardeux shield was for his wife Elizabeth, and the Radynden shield was for his mother Alice (one of the three daughters of John de Radynden). Above the arms is a helm bearing a unicorn head crest. Three coats of arms also decorate the postern gate; the central arms is that of Sir Robert Knolles, who Edward Dalyngrigge had fought for in the Hundred Years' War, but those flanking it are blank.[57][58]
Interior
Although the exterior of Bodiam Castle has largely survived, the interior is ruinous. The domestic buildings within the castle lined the curtain walls. However, remains are substantial enough to recreate a plan of the castle.
Along the east wall is a chapel, a hall, and an
Arranged along the west curtain wall was an extra hall and a kitchen; it is not certain what these were used for, although it is probable that these were intended to provide for the household's retainers. The "retainers' hall" had no windows on its west side and would have been relatively dark compared to the great hall. Also, whereas the great hall had a large fireplace, the "retainers' hall" had none. The hall was adjacent to the kitchen, to which it was directly connected, with no screens passage in between. Above the "retainers' hall", which was confined to the ground floor, was a room with no fireplace and of unclear purpose.[64]
East of the main gatehouse was a two-storey building with a basement. The basement was probably used for storage while the above two floors provided accommodation.[60] The purpose of the buildings along the west end of the north range is uncertain. The sparse arrangement, with little provision for lighting, has led to suggestions that it was used as stables, however there are no drains which are usually associated with stables. The tower in the northwest corner of the castle had a garderobe and fireplace on each of the three above-ground floors, and there was a basement underneath.[65]
See also
- Bodiam, Eastern Cape, a South African town named after the Castle
- Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
- Kenilworth Castle – an elaborate castle well known for its water defences
- List of castles in England
References
Footnotes
- ^ Johnson 2002, pp. 22–23, 28.
- ^ Thackray 2004, p. 11.
- ^ a b Thackray 2004, p. 12.
- ^ Thackray 2004, p. 7.
- ^ Thackray 2004, p. 9.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 9, 11.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 9–10.
- ^ a b Thackray 2004, p. 10.
- ^ Letters 2005
- ^ a b c Thackray 2004, p. 13.
- ^ Quoted in Thackray 2004, p. 59.
- ^ Thackray 2004, p. 14.
- ^ McNeill 1992, pp. 41–43.
- ^ Thackray 2004, p. 17.
- ^ The devolution of Sir John's estates is traced in 'The Borough of Brighton', in L.F. Salzman (ed.), A History of the County of Sussex, Vol. 7: The Rape of Lewes (VCH, London 1940), pp. 244–63, pp. 257–58, at notes 305–320 Archived 13 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine (British History Online).
- ^ D. Richardson, ed. K. Everingham, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition (Salt Lake City 2011), III, pp. 18–19: with sources there cited.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 21–22.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 21–24.
- ^ Thackray 2004, p. 22.
- ^ Curzon 1926, pp. 37–39.
- ^ a b c d UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ a b Thackray 2004, p. 24.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Thackray 2004, p. 25.
- ^ a b Thackray 2004, p. 26.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 26–27.
- ^ a b Thackray 2004, p. 27.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 27–29.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 29–30.
- ^ a b Thackray 2004, p. 30.
- ^ "Bodiam Castle, East Sussex", The Guardian, 2 June 2007, archived from the original on 5 October 2014, retrieved 29 December 2009
- ^ "The Goodies On Location: Camelot". The Goodies On Location. Archived from the original on 9 December 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
- ^ Mulkern, Patrick. "The King's Demons ★★★". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 29 May 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ^ "Doctor Who filming locations, National Trust". National Trust. Archived from the original on 8 September 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ Taylor 1990, p. 155.
- ^ a b Liddiard 2005, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Saul 1995
- ^ Historic England, "Bodiam Castle (414651)", Research records (formerly PastScape), retrieved 3 January 2010
- ^ "Scheduled Monuments", Pastscape, English Heritage, archived from the original on 24 September 2014, retrieved 27 July 2011
- ^ Historic England, "Bodiam Castle (1044134)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 3 January 2010
- ^ "Frequently asked questions", Images of England, English Heritage, archived from the original on 11 November 2007, retrieved 3 January 2010
- National Trust, archivedfrom the original on 1 January 2010, retrieved 2 January 2010
- ^ "ALVA – Association of Leading Visitor Attractions". www.alva.org.uk. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ^ Coulson 1992, p. 51.
- ^ a b Thackray 2004, p. 55.
- ^ Creighton & Higham 2003, p. 23.
- ^ Liddiard 2005, pp. 8–10.
- ^ a b c Cathcart King 1988, p. 150.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 33–34.
- ^ a b Thackray 2004, p. 35.
- ^ Johnson 2002, pp. 20, 22.
- ^ Cathcart King 1988, p. 149.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 32–33.
- ^ Allen Brown 2004, p. 99.
- ^ a b c Thackray 2004, pp. 36–37.
- ^ McNeill 1992, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 31, 36.
- ^ Woodger 2020
- ^ Thackray 2004, p. 39.
- ^ a b Thackray 2004, p. 40.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 44–45.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 48–49.
- ^ Thackray 2004, p. 42.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 51–52.
- ^ Thackray 2004, pp. 52–54.
Bibliography
- Allen Brown, R (2004) [1954], Allen Brown's English Castles, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, ISBN 1-84383-069-8
- Cathcart King, David James (1988), The Castle in England and Wales: an Interpretative History, London: Croom Helm, ISBN 0-918400-08-2
- Coulson, Charles (1992), "Some analysis of the Castle of Bodiam, East Sussex", Medieval Knighthood, IV, The Boydell Press: 51–108
- Creighton, Oliver; Higham, Robert (2003), Medieval Castles, Shire Archaeology, ISBN 0-7478-0546-6
- Curzon, George (1926), George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, Cape
- Johnson, Matthew (2002), Behind the Castle Gate: From Medieval to Renaissance, London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-25887-1
- Letters, Dr Samantha (2005), Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516, List & Index Society, archived from the original on 8 August 2014, retrieved 30 December 2009
- Liddiard, Robert (2005), Castles in Context: Power, Symbolism and Landscape, 1066 to 1500, Macclesfield: Windgather Press Ltd, ISBN 0-9545575-2-2
- McNeill, Tom (1992), English Heritage Book of Castles, London: English Heritage and B. T. Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-7025-9
- Saul, Nigel (January 1995), "Bodiam Castle", History Today
- Taylor, C (1990), "Bodiam Castle" (PDF), Medieval Archaeology, 34: 155–157, archived (PDF) from the original on 23 January 2021, retrieved 28 April 2015
- Thackray, David (2004) [1991], Bodiam Castle, ISBN 978-1-84359-090-3
- Woodger, L.S (2020), "DALLINGRIDGE, Sir Edward (c.1346–1393), of Bodiam castle, Suss.", History of Parliament, The History of Parliament Trust 1964–2013, retrieved 15 November 2022
Further reading
- Everson, Paul (1996). "Bodiam Castle, East Sussex: castle and its designed landscape". Château Gaillard: Études de castellologie médiévale. 17: 70–84. ISBN 9782902685158. Archivedfrom the original on 21 May 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
- Spencer, Dan (2014). "Edward Dallingridge: Builder of Bodiam Castle" (PDF). Ex Historia. 6: 81–98. (PDF) from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
External links
- Information at the National Trust
- Official website of Bodiam Castle