A Castle Near Brighton.

Hey People!

What a fantastic time! I’m overwhelmed with hospitality from friends Mark And Shelley. A few short local trips around the area have proved to be historically amazing, and if you add the sunshine and good company, this trip has been epic so far. Ok, let’s get started…

Bodiam Castle (National Trust). 

Originally and historically, Bodiam Castle 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.
Friends Mark and Shelley were assisting it’s defence today, free of charge.

Situated on a lower portion of a long slight incline, water would flow downhill to create the moat (click here for moat vid) , then evacuate with a specific irrigation/filter allowance. The technology allows a certain amount of water to support freshwater fish to live! Amazing.

To cross into the Castle, there is a perfectly kept drawbridge under water. The National Trust has created a permanent wooden bridge for public access, but the preservation of the castle itself is intact.

 

 

Here are a few close up pictures: Front entrance with the inscribed ‘coat of arms’ above the entrance. The crest on the right over the main doorway belongs to Prince Charles’ 20-times-removed grandmother….

Also at the entrance, there are several “one way” guard stations. They were specifically created to be dark inside so that one could only see out from within.  There was enough light to walk inside, but when up close, I could get a good visual of most of the entrance.

A few “windows” were situated high for the entrance of natural light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After wondering around a while, I needed to inquire about a building that was strategically situated about 200 metres in front of the Castle. It looked like some sort of bunker building. Well, my thoughts were accurate. It was a machine gun anti-tank bunker used in WW2. I took a couple of pics of Gun Turrets and (what looked like) a type of phone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on the picture below for a summary of the bunker usage.

 

 

 

 

That was a cool tour. The people in construction of that period had one heck of a job. I’d sure be keen on what the conditions of labour was like for such an epic building. Years? How many people involved? Etc?..

I’ll need to turn to Wiki for more in depth story of this amazing structure.

Tomorrow, I’ll be walking the Brighton Pier before my second performance. Take care all.