Continuing with my super late summer castle-crawl posts, we also managed to fit in Bodiam Castle (which actually looks like a castle!!) and Scotney Castle. My friend and I have started a tradition of visiting National Trust places in threes and we are lucky enough to have a wealth of these properties relatively nearby for us to visit. It is usually worked in a triptych - the first property is visited in time for morning coffee, the second usually involves lunch and the third most definitely involves afternoon tea!!
The castle sits isolated within its moat, the only access now is across the footbridge although, happily, no one will be pouring boiling hot oil over you or shooting arrows from the slitted windows designed for archers to hide behind. Sadly, whilst the outside is still very impressive, the inside is mostly ruined apart from some of the towers which you can still climb up to enjoy spectacular views across the countryside.
The castle was built by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, having inherited the land from his wife after their marriage. He was a 'working' knight, making his fortune whilst fighting in France, and he was granted permission to fortify the grand manor house the family were living in at the time. Instead of working on the existing building, he decided to build himself a completely new castle, from the ground up, somewhere else (like one of those Grand Design projects on the television!). Whilst it had to be practical and have the ability to be defended, it also needed to be a comfy living space and had inner courtyards and comfortable rooms within the outer walls, with towers on each corner and entrance points (a big entrance at the front- which still has the original port cullis in it- and more of a private escape route, or tradesman's entrance maybe at the back).
The moat, whist now a peaceful looking expanse of water filled with the most gigantic fish, was also used as a sort of sewage system for the 30 odd toilets that were inside the castle - so maybe it wasn't quite so lovely as it is now?
It didn't see a lot of action as a castle and the interior was partially dismantled in 1829 with a lot of stone used elsewhere and the ruin being visited by curious Victorians who came over on the nearby railway (which still operates as a steam line).
To be fair, the beautiful Scotney does have a partial claim to castle-dom, as the old building at the bottom of the hill on the water did used to be a fortified castle with four turrets on each corner. It was eventually turned into a stately manor house and as the fortunes of the family grew, it was decided that the house was too outdated and the new Scotney manor built on the top of the hill - the old building being left to romantically ruin as a sort of folly.
One of the reasons I love blogging so much is that I can look back on previous posts about places I've been before and compare it. One post I wrote in April 2016 explains more about the history of Scotney, and I even made myself chuckle re-reading the description of the 'glaring, haughty nosed ancestral portraits', so if you fancy a chuckle and a brief potted history of the place, click here to go to my post of nearly four years ago!
You can see why this building was left at the bottom of the garden. It is certainly makes for a very grand and attractive summer house!!
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