Beautiful Bodiam Castle Trivia Quiz

Answer: 14th century

The origins of Bodiam as a settlement can be traced back to Iron Age times, when iron ore was processed along the River Rother - which runs to the south of the castle. During the occupation of the Romans, Bodiam grew as a settlement, taking advantage of the River Rother and its access to the sea via deep water channels.

When the Romans left Britain in the early 5th Century AD, Saxons settled in the area, leading to the founding of Bodiam as a village. After the Norman Conquests, the Manor of Bodiam was created when the land was given to the eldest son of Hugh Count of Eu who took the name de Bodeham - the Saxon name for Bodiam.

The title of Lord of the Manor passed to the Wardeux family via marriage, and it was from this family that Sir Edward Dalyngrigge attained the title via his marriage to Elizabeth Wardeux.

Dalyngrigge had become a rich and powerful knight, fighting in the Hundred Years' War with France. When the south coast of England was attacked by the French, Dalyngrigge was among a number of knights tasked with building up defences in the area that Bodaim is located.

In 1385, Dalyngrigge was given a license to crenellate his manor as part of building the defences along the River Rother. Rather than fortify his existing moated manor to the north or where the Bodiam Castle stands, Dalyngrigge used his wealth to build Bodiam Castle.

Although the date on which Bodiam Castle was completed is unknown, the design of the castle suggests it was built quickly and was completed before Dalyngrigge passed away in 1395.

Answer: Keep

Traditionally, castles built from the times of the Norman Conquests usually had a keep as the last line of defence against a besieging army. In addition, a keep would also serve as the residence of the person who owned the castle, containing kitchens and living quarters. However, the inside of a castle's keep is usually dark, damp and cold - even in Summer - and not a very hospitable place to live.

However, Dalyngrigge had designed his castle to be a comfortable home for himself and his wife. Accommodation was arranged around the inside of the outer walls, forming a courtyard in the centre. On one side, Dalyngrigge lived with his wife and household, whilst the other side was home to the castle retainers and guards.

Since Bodiam Castle was quickly built and lacked a keep, some scholars have debated whether or not Bodiam Castle was more of a heavily fortified manor house, rather than a defensive castle in the traditional sense.

Answer: To give the servants light to work in.

Despite being a castle, Bodiam Castle has a number of large windows built into the castle's outer walls.

In the eastern side of the castle, there are three large windows, along with a few smaller ones that were set into the castle walls. On the southern side of the castle, there is a further large window overlooking the moat towards the River Rother.

These windows let in light Dalyngrigge and his wife's private apartments, along with a small chapel located on the eastern side of the castle. Meanwhile, the window in the south wall let in light to the Great Hall where Dalyngrigge dined and entertained guests.

Despite there being windows built into the structures that were set against the castle walls, these overlooked the court yard. These large windows set into the castle for Dalyngrigge are a further sign that he intended that Bodiam Castle to be more of a comfortable home whilst at the same time display his wealth.

Answer: Yes

Bodiam Castle has two kitchens, the larger one serving the Lord of the Manor, whilst a smaller kitchen served the servants who run the castle.

The main kitchen had two large fireplaces, one of which was generally used to cook meat and fish, whilst the other was for general cooking and baking. In the wall of one of the fireplaces was a large hole for baking bread.

Bread had been a staple part of the diet for several millennia before and some centuries after Dalyngrigge had built Bodiam Castle, noted as one of the world's oldest artificial foods.

Since bread contained a high starch content, large quantities of bread was baked with the finest going to those of higher standing.

The main kitchen also contained a pantry - for dried foods - along with a buttery. Contrary to what some may think, a buttery was used for storing butts of ale and wine and not for making butter.

Answer: They were murder holes to kill attacking forces.

As part of the castle defenses, there are a number of holes set into the ceiling of the main gate house and postern tower known as murder holes.

Should an attacking force breach the main gate and the postern tower gate, arrows and crossbow bolts could be fired through the holes. Spears could also be pushed through these holes as well onto an attacking soldier.

However, boiling water, oil and sand could also be poured through these holes on an unsuspecting attacker. Whilst armour and chain mail would give some protection to an attacker from projectiles, boiling water, along with sand and oil would seep through the gaps of the armour by causing horrific burns.

Answer: Garderobe

There are a number of toilets in Bodiam Castle which emptied into the moat. The original use for a garderobe was to store clothes and valuables that could be locked away. However, by extension it became a term used to describe a toilet. Despite being used as a toilet, sometimes clothes were still stored in the same place as it was believed the smell kept fleas from infesting garments.

Whilst some garderobes emptied into the moat, others would empty into a pit. These were emptied by men and young children digging out the excrement to be taken away. This was in an unpleasant job, done during the night as not to disturb anyone. In addition, those who performed this task were generally avoided due to them smelling of excrement.

However, by Tudor times, those who performed this task were well-paid and the excrement used for such things as fertilizer and later a source of saltpeter for gunpowder. Urine on the other hand could be collected and was used for a number of purposes such as tanning and textile making. Also urine could be utilized as a source of saltpeter as gunpowder production grew.

Answer: Ale

Despite having a well, the water from the well was mainly used for cooking purposes as it was in part sourced by water from the moat, which itself contained excrement that came from the garderobes around the castle.

Ale - an alcoholic drink which is a type of beer - was drunk by everyone in the castle as it was deemed safer to drink, although at the time no one knew why. It was only later when the work of Girolamo Fracastoro became more popular - and used by others such as John Snow - was it understood that of boiling water for brewing sterilized the water, killing germs in it that led to disease.

The type of ale consumed by Dalyngrigge and others living in the castle would be brewed in various strengths, often reusing ingredients to make progressively weaker ale.

The first batch of ale brewed would have been reserved for Dalyngrigge and important guests. The second batch would be normally drunk at meal times and was a lesser strength. Finally the last batch - also known as Small Beer - was an everyday drink, low in alcohol content which was drunk by everyone.

The basis for making medieval ale was to combine grain, yeast and water - hops only being a later addition to beer. In addition, honey, herbs and spices (known as gruit) could also be added to the ingredients.

Answer: It was slighted during the English Civil War

Only once did Bodiam Castle ever came under siege and that was during the reign of Richard III. Sir Thomas Lewknor - who owned the castle supported the claim of the future Henry VII to the throne. Richard's forces - under the command of Lewknor's uncle and Thomas Howard - raised forces to take the castle but the defenders surrendered. After the end of the War of the Roses, Sir Thomas Lewknor was given the castle back.

By the time of the First English Civil War, the castle was owned by John Tufton, the 2nd Earl of Thanet. Tufton was a supporter of the Royalists, and upon their defeat sold the castle to Nathaniel Powell, a parliamentarian supporter.

Although the exact date of the dismantling of Bodiam Castle is not known, it was slighted to prevent it being used again. In truth, by the time this took place much of the castle and its interior have become dilapidated. As well as stone being robbed from the interior, an outer tower and barbican were also dismantled which connected the main gatehouse - via bridges - to the banks of the moat.

During the 18th century, Bodiam Castle began to attract visitors, drawn to the castle's picturesque ruins. By the early 20th century, Bodiam Castle had passed into the hands of the National Trust, who now run the castle and the surrounding lands.

Answer: Yes

Surrounded by a large moat, the only access to the castle was via bridges to the main gatehouse and postern tower. The original bridge to the main gate house run from the west bank of the moat leading to an octagonal tower before turning at a right angle through the outer barbican to the main gatehouse.

Although deep and feed by natural springs, the south bank of the moat was held in place by an embankment that overlooked a millpond. Any determined attacker could have breached this bank, draining the moat.

Given that some of the larger windows in the castle walls could then be reached by an attacker crossing a drained moat, it suggests the castle may not have been easily defended by a determined attack. It is for this reason that it was most likely that was why the castle was surrendered during the War of the Roses.

Today the picturesque moat is a home to a large number of duck, whilst fish including koi swim in the moat. These are not the only inhabitants of the castle. Along with a colony of bats, honeybees have taken up residence in the castle buttery.

Answer: World War Two

It was built as a defense against invasion. Britain faced a very different invasion during World War Two. With the fall of France, Belgium, Holland and the low countries to Germany, the British set about building defences at strategic points such as river crossings.

Originally conceived during the First World War, pillboxes were a quick and easy way to build a defensive structure if not deter an attacking force, or at least delay them enough for reinforcements to be sent.

With the imminent threat of invasion during World War Two, a large number of pillboxes were built. Whilst some were only armed with machine guns, others like the one at Bodiam Castle were also armed with an anti-tank gun. Since the castle was located close to a bridge that crossed the River Rother, the pill box was built to help defend that bridge.

Although generally built of reinforced concrete the pillbox at Bodiam Castle also had a brick outer face. Inside the pill box, there is a hand cranked device that plays an audio guide as to why the pillbox was built as part of Britain's defences during World War Two.