Tick Tock
6/9/21
Whizzbots Adventures at Bodiam Castle...
You can use this blog post to check your answers for our Whizzbots Adventures at Bodiam Castle booklet. All answers can be found by exploring the castle, but can also be found here too. The Crack the Code answer can be found at the bottom of the page!
Visiting Bodiam Castle
Bodiam Castle is an amazing castle to visit. Outside you get such a good idea of what a castle would have looked like and inside it is a fascinating ruin, giving away so many clues as to how it would have been used. Perfect for a school trip or visiting with your family if you are learning about castles.
Getting to the castle was fun, I got there on a steam train! The station is about a ten minute walk from the castle and you can see the station from the top of the castles towers. It’s called the Kent and East Sussex Railway.
The Kent and East Sussex Train line is a fun way to get to the castle.
You get your first glimpse of the castle from the train.
The Outside of the Castle
The outside of the castle looks pretty amazing, you can imagine what it would have been like hundreds of years ago. It is still surrounded by a moat, although now that is full of fish and ducks swimming in it. Can you guess what would have been in it before?!
You can see where the original bridge would have been (in the first picture) Why do you think it would have been at an angle to the castle and not straight on like the modern day bridge? The Barbican (in picture two) is now a ruin, but that would have been another form of defence before the main entrance of the castle.
The Gatehouse is the main entrance to the castle. There are still so many defensive features still to be seen. Have a look at the bottom two photos, what defensive features can you spot on the Gatehouse at Bodiam Castle, there is lots to spot.
This is where the old bridge would have crossed the moat.
The Barbican would have been the first defensive feature of the castle.
A gatehouse is the main entrance to every castle. Looking up at Bodiam's gatehouse...what features can you spot?
On Bodiam's gatehouse there are 3 coats of arms. The middle one is Sir Edward's. The left one represents his wife's family, and the right one represents his mother's family. The unicorn above the coats of arms is Sir Edward's crest that used to be on his helmet during battles.
Inside the Castle
The inside of Bodiam Castle is mainly in ruins but there is lots of evidence still to show how the castle would have been used when it was first built.
The inside of the castle was actually taken apart on purpose. Lots of the stone would have been taken away and used in other buildings. Now the National Trust look after the castle. They try to ensure the castle now stays how it is so we can all go and visit it, which is probably quite a hard job considering it is a bit like a giant sandcastle! Bodiam Castle was made of sandstone, a very soft type of stone.
Have a look at the photos below, can you spot where the different floors would have been? Can you also see where the fireplaces were as well as the windows and doorways?
This side of the castle were where the Lord and Lady's apartments were. We know this from the number and type of windows as well as the fireplaces.
Some parts of the castle have survived inside, helping us to imagine what it would have once looked like. These are doorways into the kitchens.
We know this would have been another space that would have been used by the servants because of the lack of features.
This shows the side of the castle the family would have lived on. Can you spot where the Great Hall would have been? There is a big window where it would have been.
A lot can be learnt from the different types of windows around the castle, we can tell where the chapel was and where the Great Hall was because of their grand windows. You can see what side the family would have lived in and where the servants would have stayed from the windows positions, amongst other things!
This is one of the many clues to where the Great Hall was located, a very important room in the castle.
On one side of the castle there are many windows, which tells us what side the family would have lived on. The other side of the castle where there are very few windows would have been where the servants slept.
This window reveals where the chapel would have been in the castle.
The kitchen still has lots of clues to how it was used. You can see two massive fireplaces, one with a bread oven in it too. There are three doorways still standing between the kitchen and Great Hall, marking where access to storage rooms once would have been. The tower in the corner by the kitchen still has a well in, which they would have used for cooking.
The kitchen had two ovens, this one would have had a spit for roasting meat on.
Can you see on this oven when they would have baked bread?
These doorways provided access between the kitchen, the Great Hall and storage rooms.
The well would have supplied water for cooking but not for drinking. Do you know why they wouldn't have drunk water at all?
Bodiam Castle was built for Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, well over 600 years ago. He had permission from the king, Richard II, to crenellate his manor house, which meant he was allowed to add some defensive features to his current house. He didn’t do that! He instead had Bodiam Castle built from scratch!
This would have been incredibly expensive and would have taken an incredibly long time. Hundreds of people would have been involved in building the castle. For example, every stone used to make the castle had to be created by hand by a stonemason. Around the castle you can spot the marks left by a stonemason on some of the bricks. There are some really clear ones on the servants side of the castle and in the kitchen, in the shape of a triangle. Once you see one, you’ll see lots! They did this to mark their stones so they got paid for creating them!
Bodiam Castle was home for Sir Edward and his family. Although in ruins now, many parts of the castle would have been very comfortable indeed! It also would have been home to the soldiers and servants that worked there too. There would have been hundreds of people living there. Walking around the inside you can almost imagine what it would have been like hundreds of years ago.
After Sir Edward Dalyngrigge died the castle was left to his son called Sir John. Sir John Dalyngrigge didn’t have any children so after that the castle was given to other relatives. Many people owned the castle over the years.
Bodiam castle had many defensive features, including a moat, battlements, barbican, gatehouse, portcullis, arrow slits and murder holes…but it was never attacked or under siege.
Some time after 1644, around the time of the English Civil War, the castle’s interior was deliberately destroyed to keep Royalist troops from using it as a stronghold.
Did you crack the code?
1. Last letter of answer 9 – bread
2. Last letter of answer 3 – Gatehouse
3. First letter of answer 2 – fish
4. Last letter of answer 8 – stone
5. Last letter of answer 4 – unicorn
6. First letter of answer 7 – chapel
7. Last letter of answer 12 – sandstone
Hover over the safe to reveal the answer!
Did you crack the code?
1. Last letter of answer 9 – bread
2. Last letter of answer 3 – Gatehouse
3. First letter of answer 2 – fish
4. Last letter of answer 8 – stone
5. Last letter of answer 4 – unicorn
6. First letter of answer 7 – chapel
7. Last letter of answer 12 – sandstone
Hover over the safe to reveal the answer!
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Photos and illustrations in this blog post are Whizzbots and Public Domain Images.