Bodiam Castle

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Bodiam Castle
Bodiam Castle from the northeast

Bodiam Castle from the northeast

Creation time : 1385-1392
Castle type : Niederungsburg
Conservation status: ruin
Standing position : Noble
Construction: Sandstone
Place: East Sussex
Geographical location 51 ° 0 ′ 9 ″  N , 0 ° 32 ′ 33 ″  E Coordinates: 51 ° 0 ′ 9 ″  N , 0 ° 32 ′ 33 ″  E
Bodiam Castle (England)
Bodiam Castle

Bodiam Castle [ˌbəʊdiəm ˈkɑːsɫ̩] is a well-preserved ruined castle in East Sussex , England .

history

Originally from an old Sussex family, Sir Edward Dalyngrigge , who worked for Edward III. had fought in France , had come into possession of the estate in 1378 through his marriage to Elizabeth, the heiress of Wardedieu (Wardeux), whose family had owned the estate of Bodiam since the 1330s. It essentially consisted of a manor house in the valley north of the church of Bodiam, the foundation walls of which were found during archaeological excavations in the 1960s and 1970s, and a second building that was located north above today's castle. As a knight in the county of Sussex ( Knight in the Shire of Sussex ) was Dalyngrigge Member been ten parliaments 1379-1388 and undoubtedly one of the more influential personalities around at that time. In 1380 he became a member of the Commission for the Investigation of the state of the kingdom and possessions, income and expenditure of the royal house budget ( Commission considering the state of the realm and the possessions, expenses and Revenues of the royal household ). In the same year he was appointed to appraise Winchelsea and to investigate how the city could be better fortified against France. In addition to the threat of an invasion, there were also dangers in the interior of the country. In 1381 peasants from Kent, Essex, Sussex and Bedfordshire rose in revolt , destroyed numerous manor houses on their march on London, overran the Tower of London and beheaded the Archbishop Sudbury . Even if the uprising could be put down very quickly by Richard II's followers , the resistance flared up again and again in the following years. In 1383 Sir Edward Dalyngrigge received royal authorization to hold a weekly market on his Bodiam property. In 1385 Richard II received the royal license to fortify his country estate:

“Know that of our special grace we have granted and given license 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, construct and make into a Castle his manor house Bodyham, near the sea, in the county of Sussex, for defense of the adjacent country, and, resistance to our enemies. "

( German translation: "Know that by our special grace we have given permission and approval in our and our heirs' names, as far as it is within us, our beloved and loyal knight Eduard Dalyngrigge, that he should have a wall of stone and lime , and reinforce battlements, and build and turn his mansion Bodyham into a castle, near the sea, in the country of Sussex, to defend the neighboring country and to resist our enemies ... " )

But he had a new moated castle built near his wooden mansion not far from the Rother River. At the same time there was also another license to direct a watercourse from Dalyngreggesbay north in Saleshurst to Bodiam in order to operate a water mill there. Dalyngrigge was probably not able to supervise the first construction work himself, as he was port captain of the French city of Brest between 1386 and 1387 . Work on the castle was finished around 1392, but Sir Edward Dalyngrigge died a few years later in 1395.

Around 1473, after the Dalyngrigge line died out, the property fell to the Lewknor family through the marriage of Philippa Dalyngrigges. During the Wars of the Roses supported Sir Thomas Lewknor the House of Lancaster . Richard III ( House of York ) ordered the siege of the castle by Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk in 1483 , due to a lack of records, the archaeologist David Thackray assumes that the castle was surrendered without resistance and confiscated by the king. A royal constable managed the castle. In 1485 King Henry VII gave the castle back to the Lewknor family, who held it until the 16th century. The other lands followed until 1542 in the family property. In 1588 John Levett of Salehurst bought Bodiam Castle, in 1623 it was bought by Nicolas Tufton, 1st Earl of Thanet . His son John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet, inherited the property in 1631, was able to reunite the castle and the rest of the property in 1639, but had to give the castle to him in 1644 because of a heavy fine to Parliament of £ 9,000 (today's value: £ 1,300,000) MPs Nathaniel Powell, 1661 by Charles II. for Baronet was raised dispose. In 1675 Elizabeth Clitherow, daughter-in-law of Nathaniel Powell, the 2nd Baronet, inherited the castle, which remained in their family until 1722.

However, recent research suggests that the castle was built more for demonstration than actual combat. This is indicated by the fact that the battlements are too low to protect the men behind them from projectiles and that the moat can probably be drained by a few besiegers within a few hours, as it is only separated from a steep slope at one point by a thin strip of earth.

owner

View from the southeast
Long-range effect from the southwest
  • 1385–1395: Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, builder of the castle
  • 1395-1408: John Dalyngrigge
  • 1408–1443: Alice Dalyngrigge (widow of John Dalyngrigge)
  • 1443-1470: Richard Dalyngrigge
  • 1470–1478: Philippa Dalyngrigge (sister of Ri. Dalyngrigge)
  • 1478-1483: Thomas Lewknor of Trotton
  • 1483–1485: Nicholas Rigby, royal constable of the castle
  • 1485–1543: Roger Lewknor, Sheriff of Sussex (property reunited in 1542)
  • 1543–1588: inheritance of the descendants of Roger Lewknor
  • 1588–1623: John Levett of Salehurst
  • 1623-1631: Nicolas Tufton, 1st Earl of Thanet
  • 1631–1644: John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet (property reunited in 1639)
  • 1644–1674: Nathaniel Powell, 1st Baronet (1661)
  • 1674–1675: Nathaniel Powell, 2nd Baronet
  • 1675-17 ??: Elizabeth Clitherow (daughter-in-law of Nath. Powell, 2nd baronet)
  • 17 ?? - 1722: Christopher Clitherow
  • 1722–1727: Thomas Webster, 1st Baronet of Battle Abbey
  • 1727–1761: Whistler Webster, 2nd Baronet
  • 1761-1780: Godfrey Webster, 3rd Baronet
  • 1780-1800: Godfrey Webster, 4th Baronet
  • 1800-1820: Godfrey Vassal Webster, 5th Baronet
  • 1820–1829: Godfrey Vassal Webster, 6th Baronet
  • 1829–1849: John Fuller of Rosehill
  • 1849–1916: George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe
  • 1916–1925: George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston

investment

The largely destroyed interior of the castle

Bodiam Castle is surrounded by a wide moat. On the north side there is the rectangular gate tower with the main entrance, bridge and guard quarters on both sides. Four mighty round towers with a diameter of 9.4 meters mark the corner points of the almost square castle complex of 50 meters by 60 meters (north-south). In the middle of the west and east wing there is a rectangular tower. The castle chapel is located in the northern part of the east wing . On the south side there is a central tower (postern tower) with a second exit, to the right of it the large hall . The farm buildings such as the kitchen, food and drink chambers are also housed there in the south wing. At the request of the client, the castle was very comfortably furnished for all residents, and not just for the time; there were 33 fireplaces or chimneys, 10 spiral staircases and 28 toilet bays. The west wing was intended for the own household of the permanent representative of the lord of the castle ( Burgvogt ). A well is set in the south-west tower , the north-west tower housed the castle prison. The interior of the castle was largely destroyed during the English Civil War.

The castle was restored by George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston , and became part of the National Trust in 1925 .

Others

Bodiam Castle can be seen in the film The Knights of the Coconut by Monty Python . In the TV miniseries "Northanger Abbey" (BBC, 1986) based on Jane Austen , the building serves as the backdrop for the Tilney family's eponymous home and lets the main character Katherine Morland imagine true horror stories à la Ann Radcliffe (e.g. "The Mysteries of Udolpho ").

Individual evidence

  1. David Thackray: Bodiam Castle. The National Trust, London 1991, ISBN 1-84359-090-5
  2. George Curzon: George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston . Cape, 1926, pp. 34-39
  3. ^ A b Lise Hull: The Great Castles of Britain & Ireland . New Holland Publishers, London 2005; ISBN 1-84330-898-3 ; P. 56 ff
  4. ^ Robert Liddiard: Castles in context: power, symbolism and landscape, 1066 to 1500 . Windgather Press, 2005, ISBN 978-0-9545575-2-2 , pp. 178 pages ( Google Books ).

literature

  • George Curzon : George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston . Cape 1926.
  • Lise Hull: The Great Castles of Britain & Ireland . New Holland Publishers, London 2005; ISBN 1-84330-898-3 .
  • David Thackray: Bodiam Castle. The National Trust, London 1991; ISBN 1-84359-090-5 .

Web links

Commons : Bodiam Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files