ABSTRACT
Bodiam Castle was built by one of the distinguished knights of his time, Sir Edward Dallyngridge, a veteran of the third Edward’s French wars. At first glance the plan of the castle looks extremely simple. The gatehouse at Bodiam does not contain the lord’s private rooms in the same way as the keep-gatehouse of the Edwardian castles, but it is connected with and controlled from the lord’s rooms. Before leaving Bodiam, it is worthwhile to notice the way in which the castle was approached across its broad moat or lake. The proud castle of the Percies at Warkworth was built high upon a green bluff within a loop of the lovely wooded valley of the Coquet, in Northumberland. The castle of Raglan in Monmouthshire is another example of an early Norman layout which was adapted to serve the needs of Bastard Feudalism.
