Best Castle in East Sussex, England - Map and Reviews

Hastings Castle stands as one of England's most dramatically positioned historic ruins, perched high on a sandstone headland at the western end of Hastings seafront in East Sussex. Despite the database entry noting "South West England," this location is firmly within the South East of England — specifically on the East Sussex coast. The castle occupies the top of West Hill, jutting dramatically above the English Channel, and represents the remains of one of the first castles built by William the Conqueror following his victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and draws visitors both for its deep historical significance and its extraordinary views across the sea and the town below. The castle's origins lie directly in the Norman Conquest, making it one of the most historically resonant sites in British history. William ordered its initial construction even before the famous battle was fought, as a forward base for his invading forces. The original structure was a motte-and-bailey castle built in timber, erected in 1066. It was later rebuilt in stone during the 12th century and expanded over the following decades, becoming a royal castle under Henry II and later Henry III, who added significantly to its fortifications. The site also housed an Augustinian collegiate church, the Church of St Mary Within the Castle, the ruins of which remain visible today. By the 14th century, coastal erosion — a persistent and dramatic force on this sandstone headland — had already begun claiming large sections of the castle, and it fell into disuse and ruin. The sea has literally swallowed parts of what was once a considerable fortification. Physically, Hastings Castle today is an evocative and picturesque ruin rather than an intact fortification. The most prominent surviving feature is the partial arch of the twin-towered gateway, which rises against the sky with haunting elegance. Sections of curtain wall cling to the cliff edge, and the exposed stonework speaks to centuries of weathering, erosion, and neglect. The grounds are open and grassy, with the ruins scattered across the hilltop in a way that rewards slow exploration. On a windy day — which is most days on this exposed promontory — the sound of the sea and the gusting air create a genuinely atmospheric experience. Seagulls wheel overhead constantly, and on clear days the views extend far out across the Channel towards France. The surrounding area is rich in character and things to see. Directly below the castle to the east lies the Old Town of Hastings, a densely packed medieval streetscape of timber-framed buildings, narrow lanes, independent shops, and the famous Hastings fishermen's net shops — tall black wooden structures unique to the town. The seafront itself stretches along the shore, with fishing boats still launching from the beach in a tradition that has continued for centuries. West Hill itself can be reached via the West Hill Cliff Railway, a funicular lift dating to 1891, which adds a charming old-fashioned element to the visit. The East Hill Cliff Railway and Hastings Country Park are nearby for those wishing to explore more of the dramatic coastal landscape. The site contains a visitor experience called "The 1066 Story," a small underground attraction built into a surviving dungeon or vaulted chamber beneath the castle grounds. This offers a dramatised retelling of the events of 1066 using models, recorded narration, and period artefacts, giving context to what the ruins represent. It is run by Hastings Borough Council and is particularly aimed at younger visitors or those wanting a more guided introduction to the site's history. The attraction is seasonal and may not always be open, so checking ahead is advisable. Admission is charged for access to the castle grounds and the 1066 Story experience, though the views from the surrounding hilltop area can be enjoyed for free from adjacent public paths. One of the more unusual aspects of Hastings Castle's story is the sheer scale of what the sea has taken. Historical records and archaeological evidence suggest that a substantial portion of the original castle — including sections of wall, towers, and the full extent of the collegiate church — has long since fallen into the sea as the sandstone cliffs eroded. What visitors see today is genuinely only a fragment of the original complex. This ongoing relationship with erosion and coastal change gives the site a melancholy grandeur that purely intact castles cannot match. There is something deeply compelling about standing on the cliff edge beside a medieval arch and understanding that the ground beneath your feet is slowly, inexorably disappearing into the Channel below — just as it has been for seven hundred years.

Pevensey Castle is located in the centre of the village of Pevensey, 5 miles from Eastbourne in the south east of England. The ruins of Pevensey Castle are found within the walls of a Roman Fort, one of the largest remaining examples of its kind. The majority of the walls and towers are still standing at almost their original height in a shape which follows that of the peninsular. The castle site consists of a keep, bailey and twin towered gatehouse all surrounded by a curtain wall. Facilities Open to the public every day from 10am between April and October and during weekends only November to March. The entrance to the fort is free but a small charge payable for entry into the castle. An audio tour is available outlining the story of the castle and an exhibition with artifacts that were found on the site. There is also a tearoom where refreshments are available. The extremely well preserved Roman fort dates back to 290 AD and in the eastern corner the fort Robert of Mortain; half brother to William the Conqueror, built a stone keep and bailey enclosure castle. The site had been abandoned for over 600 years, but only minor repairs were needed to the walls that formed the outer bailey. A twin towered gatehouse and curtain wall were also added before the castle was granted Duke of Lancaster, John of Gaunt. At the beginning of the 1500's the sea had receded considerably and the castle was no longer considered useful. It was left abandoned once more until 1588 when it was strengthened and gun ports added to help defend against the invasion from the Spanish Armada. The castle was next refortified during World War II when a command post and observation platform were added and is now in the care of English Heritage.

Herstmonceux Castle is set in an estate of parkland and Elizabethan gardens, 12 miles west of Hastings on the south coast of England. The brick built Tudor castle gives the appearance of being built in the middle of a lake but in reality it is a very wide moat. The two storey castle is approached over a brick built bridge with a gatehouse opening out into an internal courtyard. The castle walls have octagonal towers with projecting galleries at each corner, with semi octagonal towers in between. The castle's gatehouse is set between two tall semi octagonal towers with a coat of arms above the entrance. Facilities Today the castle is the home to the Bader International Study Centre; part of the University of Canada, however visitors do have the opportunity to see inside parts of the castle with a guided tour. Tours giving an insight into life within the castle, tales of smugglers and family history are generally given once or twice a day between 11am and 2pm; visitors are requested to check as on some occasions tours may not take place. Visitors are also able to walk though the castle's gardens and woodland, stroll down to the lake and see the 1930's folly. The castle also offers visitors a tea room, gift shop, visitor and science centre, nature trail and children's play area. The castle is also licensed for civil wedding ceremonies; choose from the ballroom suitable for up to 180 guests, the Dacre Room for up to 70 guests or for a small intimate ceremony the Elizabethan Room for 30 guests. All rooms are beautifully decorated and have their own theme. Sir Richard Finnes; treasurer to Henry VI, started the brick built castle in 1441. The castle was not built as a stronghold more a luxury home and was kept within the family until it was sold by the Earl of Sussex in 1700. By the end of the century the castle had been demolished by its owner Robert Hare, leaving just the exterior walls, the other remains being removed to make a residence nearby. It wasn't until 1913 when restoration work was started by Colonel Crowther who transformed the castle back to one of the most significant and oldest brick buildings in England. After its restoration the castle passed through many hands and between 1957 and 1988 the grounds became home to the Royal Greenwich observatory. The observatory then moved to Cambridge but several of the telescopes remain at the castle today in the original buildings now called the Interactive Science Centre. In 1994, after a long restoration process the castle became home to the Bader International study centre which is used by undergraduate law students.

Herstmonceux Castle is one of the finest and oldest brick-built castles in England, a magnificent moated fortress set within the verdant East Sussex countryside. Now home to the Science Centre and the medieval castle grounds managed by the Herstmonceux Castle Estate, it draws visitors drawn both to its spectacular architecture and to its rich, layered history stretching back more than five centuries. The castle is perhaps best known to British astronomers as the former home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory, which relocated here from London after the Second World War to escape light pollution, giving the estate a rare dual identity as both a medieval monument and a landmark in the history of British science. The castle was originally built in the mid-fifteenth century by Sir Roger Fiennes, a veteran of the Hundred Years' War and the treasurer of the household to King Henry VI, who obtained a licence to crenellate in 1441. It was constructed largely of locally made red brick at a time when brick was still a prestigious and relatively novel building material in England, which made Herstmonceux a showpiece of Lancastrian fashionable taste. The Fiennes family held the estate for generations, though the castle later passed through several hands and fell into partial ruin during the eighteenth century when a later owner, George Naylor, stripped its interior to use the materials in the construction of a nearby mansion. It stood as a romantic ruin for over a century before being painstakingly restored in the early twentieth century by the diplomat and MP Claude Lowther, beginning around 1911, and later by Sir Paul Latham, who completed the restoration. This means the castle visitors see today is both genuinely medieval in its outer shell and a carefully restored interior, a combination that gives it a slightly theatrical but deeply atmospheric quality. Physically, Herstmonceux Castle is an arresting sight. The great gatehouse towers over a wide, water-filled moat, its warm red-brick walls reflected in the still surface of the water on calm days. The castle has a roughly rectangular plan with large drum towers at each corner and along the walls, connected by high curtain walls that give the whole structure an imposing military silhouette. The brickwork has aged beautifully over the centuries, deepening to rich ochres and rusts, softened by lichen and moss at the base. Despite its fortified appearance, the castle was always as much a comfortable residence as a military stronghold — its large windows, visible even from the outside, betray the domestic ambitions of its builder. Walking across the wooden bridge over the moat and approaching the gatehouse, there is a genuine sense of medieval grandeur that photographs rarely fully capture. The surrounding landscape is quintessentially English. The castle sits within approximately 500 acres of grounds that include formal Elizabethan-style walled gardens, woodland walks, a lake, and open parkland. The surrounding area is part of the gentle rolling countryside of the Low Weald, with the South Downs visible on clear days not far to the south. The village of Herstmonceux itself is a quiet, scattered settlement nearby, and the market town of Hailsham lies a few miles to the west. The coastal town of Eastbourne is around eight miles to the south, and the historic town of Battle, famous for the Battle of Hastings site, is accessible within about a twenty-minute drive. The Science Centre on the estate occupies the former observatory buildings and domes that the Royal Greenwich Observatory used from the 1950s until it transferred its operations to Cambridge in 1990. Seven telescope domes remain on the hill above the castle grounds, an incongruous and fascinating sight alongside the medieval towers. The Science Centre includes interactive exhibits aimed particularly at families and school groups, and astronomy evenings and events are held throughout the year, making the estate something of a meeting point between the medieval and the cosmic. It is a genuinely unusual combination found nowhere else in England. Visiting Herstmonceux is a rewarding experience at almost any time of year, though the grounds and gardens are at their most beautiful from late spring through early autumn, when the walled garden is in full bloom and the parkland is lush and green. The castle grounds and Science Centre are typically open from late March or early April through October, with the castle interior itself accessible through guided tours rather than free roaming, so checking the current schedule in advance is advisable. The site is popular with families, school groups, and history enthusiasts, and on weekends in summer it can become quite busy. There is a car park on site and the estate is signposted from the A271 between Hailsham and Battle. Public transport is limited in this rural corner of East Sussex, so most visitors arrive by car. Dogs are welcome in parts of the grounds. One of the lesser-known stories associated with Herstmonceux involves a local legend of a giant drummer whose ghostly percussion was said to warn of approaching danger or death. The tale, embellished over the centuries, suggests that a former lord of the castle employed a particularly enormous retainer to beat a great drum, and his ghost is said to walk the grounds still. Whether apocryphal or not, such stories sit well with the castle's genuinely atmospheric and slightly otherworldly character, particularly in the quiet of an autumn evening when mist rises from the moat and the old brick glows faintly in the fading light.

Situated 8 miles from Brighton, Lewes Castle sits on a chalk mound at the highest point of the town overlooking the valley of the River Ouse on the edge of the South Downs Much of the castle site has been lost due the developing town, but parts of the oval bailey, two mottes, barbican and keep survive. Facilities The castle is open daily is open daily from 10 am until 5.30pm Tuesday to Saturday and from 11am Sunday and Monday (closed Monday's in January) The castle site and the adjacent Barbican House are run by the Sussex Archaeological Society, together they offer visitors interactive models, a visitor pavilion at the foot of the castle with photographs and information on the history of the castle and town and a new walkway to the top of the castle with seats along the way so visitors can stop and admire the view. The original wooden keep was rebuilt in stone by William, Earl of Surrey in 1087. The design was unusual because it had two mottes; one of only two castles with this feature remaining in the country. Around 150 years later two semi octagonal towers and a range of other buildings including a gate tower were added to the original shell keep. The Earl of Surrey, John de Warenne was responsible for adding the barbican and on his death in 1347 the castle was left to decay. The castle became a source of building material for local houses. By the 17th century what remained of the domestic buildings were demolished and during the 18th century the keep converted to a summer house. Since 1846 the castle has been owned by Sussex Past another name for the Sussex Archaeological Society.

Lewes Castle is a ruined Norman fortification perched dramatically on a chalk ridge above the East Sussex market town of Lewes, and it stands as one of the most visually striking medieval survivals in southern England. Managed by the Sussex Archaeological Society, the castle is open to the public and forms part of a heritage complex that includes the adjacent Barbican House Museum, making it a richly rewarding destination for anyone interested in history, architecture, or simply commanding views across the South Downs. It is one of only a handful of English castles built with two mottes — the raised earthen mounds that once supported towers — rather than the usual single motte, a rarity that immediately marks it out as architecturally exceptional. The castle's origins lie in the immediate aftermath of the Norman Conquest of 1066. William de Warenne, one of William the Conqueror's most trusted lieutenants, was granted vast estates in Sussex as a reward for his role at the Battle of Hastings, which was fought just a few miles to the east. De Warenne began constructing the castle in the 1070s, and his family continued to develop and expand it over the following two centuries. The de Warenne family were among the most powerful magnates in medieval England, and Lewes was their principal seat; they also founded the Cluniac Priory of St Pancras at the foot of the hill, whose ruins still survive on the southern edge of the town. The castle passed through various hands after the de Warenne line died out in 1347, and it gradually fell into disuse and decay, though it remained a prominent landmark and was never entirely forgotten. The most significant event associated with the town rather than the castle itself is the Battle of Lewes in 1264, a pivotal moment in English constitutional history. Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, defeated King Henry III and captured him and his son Prince Edward in battle fought on the Downs above the town. The resulting Mise of Lewes and the subsequent summoning of what is often called the first representative Parliament established principles that would eventually underpin English democracy. While the battle was not fought at the castle itself, the castle served as the backdrop to the political drama of that era, and its presence looms over the story of Lewes in that turbulent period. In person, the castle has a romantic, slightly melancholy grandeur. The surviving shell keep atop the larger of the two mottes is built of knapped flint and Caen stone, materials typical of Norman construction in Sussex, and its walls carry centuries of weathering that give them a textured, almost organic quality. Climbing the steep path to the keep rewards visitors with sweeping panoramic views in all directions: the town of Lewes spreads below with its mixture of Georgian façades, medieval churches, and narrow twittens (the local word for alleyways); the River Ouse glints in the valley; and on clear days the sea at Newhaven is visible to the south while the rolling green expanse of the South Downs extends to the north and west. The Barbican Gate, which guards the castle's main entrance from the town, is a particularly well-preserved piece of fourteenth-century military architecture, with its flanking towers and original portcullis groove still clearly visible. The surrounding town of Lewes is itself one of the most characterful small towns in England, full of independent shops, antique dealers, and historic pubs. The High Street climbs steeply through the town, lined with buildings spanning five or six centuries. The ruins of Lewes Priory, founded by the de Warennes in the 1070s as the first Cluniac monastery in England, are a short walk away and freely accessible. Anne of Cleves House, another property managed by the Sussex Archaeological Society, is also nearby and contains a museum of local life and the Wealden iron industry. The town is famous throughout Britain for its extraordinary Guy Fawkes Night celebrations on 5 November, when multiple bonfire societies parade through the streets with flaming torches, burning effigies, and spectacular fireworks, drawing tens of thousands of visitors in what is the largest such event in the country. Lewes is well served by public transport, sitting on the main London Victoria to Eastbourne and Hastings rail line, with frequent services making it around an hour from London. The castle is a short walk uphill from Lewes railway station, and the town centre is compact and easily navigable on foot. There is a small admission charge to enter the keep and the Barbican House Museum, and the museum itself contains an absorbing collection of archaeological finds from across Sussex, including Roman, Iron Age, and medieval material. The castle grounds are open during standard museum hours, typically from Tuesday through Sunday with Monday closures, though visitors should check current opening times. The best times to visit are spring and early autumn, when the light is good for photography and the chalk downland vegetation is at its most attractive, and when the summer holiday crowds have not yet arrived or have thinned. One of the castle's most fascinating details is the question of why it was built with two mottes. The western motte, known as Brack Mount, is lower than the main keep motte and its purpose has puzzled historians; it may have supported a separate tower for additional defence or for accommodation, or it may reflect a phased construction history. No definitive answer has been established, and it remains one of the minor mysteries of Norman castle studies. Another intriguing aspect of the site is that parts of the medieval town wall, which once enclosed Lewes and connected with the castle defences, can still be traced in places, including a section that runs near the castle's eastern side. The castle also offers a small but charming walled garden within its grounds, a peaceful spot that contrasts pleasantly with the drama of the views from above.

Camber Castle is a ruined artillery fort standing in splendid isolation on the flat marshland of the East Sussex coast, near the village of Camber and the town of Rye. It is one of the finest surviving examples of a Device Fort, a chain of coastal defences commissioned by Henry VIII in the 1530s and 1540s in response to the threat of invasion from Catholic Europe following his break with Rome. Unlike many castles of its era, Camber was never significantly adapted or rebuilt in later centuries, which means the structure that visitors see today preserves the essential form of its Tudor origins with remarkable integrity. English Heritage, which manages the site, opens it to the public on a limited seasonal basis, making a visit something of a special occasion and lending the experience an air of discovery that is increasingly rare in heritage tourism. The history of the site actually predates the major Henrician construction. A small tower was first erected here around 1512 under the orders of Henry VIII himself, representing an early effort to protect the harbour of Rye, then a strategically vital port and a member of the ancient confederation of the Cinque Ports. The harbour had significant commercial and military importance, and the coast was considered vulnerable. Between 1539 and 1544, the original tower was dramatically expanded into a full artillery fort, incorporating a large central tower surrounded by four semicircular bastions and an outer curtain wall with further rounded bastions — a design intended to house heavy cannon capable of repelling a naval attack. The fort was built to a concentric plan, with overlapping fields of fire, reflecting the most advanced military thinking of the period. Within decades of its completion, however, the shingle and sand that had kept the harbour accessible began to silt up irreversibly, gradually cutting the castle off from the sea it was designed to defend. By 1637, Camber Castle was deemed entirely redundant and was officially abandoned, having never fired a shot in anger during a genuine engagement. Walking to Camber Castle is itself an experience that sets the tone for the visit. There is no road access; the only way to reach it is on foot across roughly a mile and a half of flat coastal grazing marsh, following a path that begins near the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve car park or along the beach from Camber. The path crosses open fields where sheep graze and where skylarks rise singing in spring and summer. The castle appears on the horizon as a low, chunky silhouette, its pale grey ragstone walls catching the light differently depending on the time of day and weather. As you approach, the sheer mass of the rounded bastions becomes increasingly impressive — the walls are enormously thick, designed to absorb cannon fire, and they give the whole structure a squat, powerful presence quite unlike the tall towers of a medieval castle. The sound of the wind is almost constant, and on clear days the view back toward the red-roofed town of Rye perched on its hill is one of the finest in the county. The physical character of the castle interior is one of raw, atmospheric ruin. The roofs are long gone and the interior spaces are open to the sky, but the walls survive to considerable height, and the layout of the various bastions and the central tower is clear and easy to read. The stonework is a mixture of local materials including ragstone and brick, and the surfaces are mottled with lichen and moss in shades of grey, orange, and green. Deep window embrasures where cannon were once mounted give a sense of the military purpose of every space. The ground underfoot is uneven and can be damp, and visitors are very much exploring a genuine ruin rather than a sanitised heritage attraction, which adds enormously to the sense of authenticity. On still days, the silence inside the thick walls is striking after the wind outside. The surrounding landscape is equally compelling. Camber Castle sits within the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, one of the most important shingle and wetland habitats in southern England. The reserve is home to breeding colonies of terns, as well as little egrets, marsh harriers, and a remarkable variety of wading birds and wildfowl depending on the season. The shingle ridges, saltmarsh channels, and open water bodies that surround the castle create a wild, elemental setting. To the south, the English Channel is visible on clear days, and the distant outline of the Sussex and Kent coast stretches in both directions. The village of Camber, famous for its wide sandy beach, lies within easy reach, and the medieval town of Rye — one of the best-preserved small towns in England, with its cobbled streets, half-timbered buildings, and ancient church — is only about two miles away and well worth combining with a visit. Practically speaking, English Heritage opens Camber Castle on summer weekends and bank holidays, typically from July to September, with guided tours led by knowledgeable volunteers. Outside these times, the exterior and the approach walk can be enjoyed freely, but access to the interior is not possible without a tour. Visitors should wear sturdy, waterproof footwear as the path can be muddy and the ground around the castle is uneven. There are no facilities at the castle itself — no café, no toilets, no shop — so it is worth preparing accordingly. The nearest parking is at the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve car park off Harbour Road. Dogs are welcome on the approach walk and in the nature reserve. The walk itself is flat and not strenuous, though pushchairs may find the terrain challenging in wet conditions. One of the most fascinating aspects of Camber Castle's story is the geological process that rendered it obsolete. The accumulation of shingle and sand that silted the harbour — the very process that stranded the castle inland — is the same process that has been actively reshaping this coastline for thousands of years. Dungeness, the vast shingle headland to the northeast, is one of the largest expanses of shingle in Europe and continues to grow measurably each year. Rye itself, once an island surrounded by the sea, now sits well inland of the current shoreline, and Winchelsea, another nearby ancient town, was completely destroyed by the sea in the thirteenth century and rebuilt on higher ground. Camber Castle is therefore not just a monument to Tudor military architecture but a remarkable marker of geological time — a reminder of how profoundly and rapidly this particular stretch of the English coast has changed within the span of recorded history. Standing inside its walls with the marsh stretching to every horizon, it is easy to feel the strange compression of centuries.

Scotney Castle in the Kent Weald is one of the most romantically picturesque country house gardens in England, a mid-nineteenth-century landscape garden designed by Edward Hussey around the ruins of his medieval moated castle that created one of the finest examples of the Picturesque aesthetic in British gardening, using the old castle as a deliberate eyecatcher and focal point in a composition of exceptional beauty. The National Trust manages the estate and the combination of the old castle ruin, the new house above it and the garden they were designed to complement makes Scotney one of the most rewarding and most distinctive garden visits in the southeast. The garden was created between 1837 and 1843 when Edward Hussey demolished much of the old house within the moated castle enclosure in order to provide picturesque ruins as the centrepiece of his new landscape garden. The decision to demolish a perfectly functional building to create ruins illustrates the strength of the Picturesque aesthetic in the early Victorian period, and the resulting composition of tower, moat, reflected water and richly planted garden slopes fulfilled Hussey's vision completely. The garden slopes above the castle are planted with an exceptional collection of rhododendrons, azaleas and other acid-loving shrubs that provide spectacular colour in spring. The new house built above the garden by Hussey is a handsome Victorian mansion by the architect Anthony Salvin that provides the domestic anchor for the designed landscape below. The estate extends through woodlands and farmland in the characteristic Weald landscape of Kent and the walking through the estate provides pleasant countryside of great charm. The castle ruins reflected in the still moat water on a fine day provide one of the most photographed garden compositions in England.

Camber Castle is located in Rye, East Sussex. The castle was an artillery fort built by Henry VIII to guard the port of Rye. The remains include an earlier central tower surrounded by four outer towers which used to be gun platforms. It is open to the public at weekends from July to September. There are also monthly guided walks round Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, including the castle. The first building on the site was a circular tower built by Sir Edward Guldeford between 1512 and 1514. The tower was built on a shingle bank, and defended the harbour at the port of Rye. In 1538, when there a threat of invasion from France and Spain, Henry VIII build a line of forts along the south coast. One of these was at Camber, where a new fort was built around the existing tower between 1539 and 1544. Four D-shaped gun platforms and a large semicircular gatehouse were built round the original tower, linked by an octagonal wall. Silting resulted in the shore line receding, and by the end of the 16th century the castle was largely obsolete and was abandoned in 1637. Camber Castle was taken over by the state in 1967 and is now owned by English Heritage.

Bodiam Castle in the East Sussex Weald is one of the most complete and most romantic medieval castle ruins in England, a late fourteenth-century moated fortress whose four corner towers, battlemented walls and wide surrounding moat create a composition so perfectly preserved and so visually satisfying that it has become one of the defining images of the English castle in the popular imagination. The castle was built between 1385 and 1388 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a veteran of the Hundred Years War who obtained a licence to crenellate from Richard II on the grounds that the castle would defend against French invasion up the River Rother, though historians have debated whether this was the true purpose or a useful justification for building a status symbol of great personal ambition. The castle is widely considered to be designed as much for display and aristocratic prestige as for genuine military effectiveness, its regular plan, large windows and symmetrical towers reflecting the aesthetic preferences of a successful knight who wished to project an image of authority and culture as much as military power. Dalyngrigge had fought in France and would have been familiar with the French castle architecture of the period, and the design of Bodiam shows an awareness of Continental military fashions filtered through the requirements of an English country gentleman who wanted a beautiful house as well as a defensible one. The moat, wide and still and perfectly reflecting the castle walls and towers on calm days, is one of Bodiam's most celebrated features and gives the site its characteristic photograph. The National Trust, which has managed the castle since 1925, maintains the moat and the castle fabric and provides interpretive displays in the interior that explain the castle's history and architecture. The interior is largely roofless and ruined but the wall walks and towers can be climbed, providing good views over the Rother valley and the castle's setting in the Weald. The surrounding countryside of the High Weald, with its ancient oak woodland, hop gardens and weather-boarded farmhouses, provides good walking and a beautiful landscape context for the castle visit.