A visit to Bodiam Castle

click on photos to enlarge to full screen

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If you drop in regularly I need not tell you that I live in a region of England that’s thick with castles! The stretch of coastline on which I live is just a short distance from France and the rest of mainline Europe and most of these castles were built as defences from invading forces. My local beaches have been landing places for many hundreds of years from the Romans, through William the Conqueror to today’s invaders – illegal immigrants who are looking for a better life (and free health care) in the UK.

A few months back I did a piece on my nearest castle at Pevensey which was built as a shore fort by the Romans in the 290 AD. Today I met my son, daughter in law and my two grandchildren at the newest of our local castles, Bodiam. This is a relative ‘new-build’ compared to many of the others in the area having been constructed as recently as 1385.

It was built by soldier of fortune Edward Dalyngrigge to show off his power and wealth as well as to defend the surrounding countryside. Bodiam Castle was a grand and comfortable house as well as a fortress, and its setting was a working estate with farmland and even a flour mill.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures which I took a few hours ago. Click on them to enlarge.

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