Medieval and Middle Ages History Timelines

3D / VR

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Explore Bodiam Castle

odiam Castle's construction was begun in 1386 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge who was granted a licence to crenellate his mansion at Bodiam. Instead of just improving the current building, Dalyngrigge took the opportunity to build a completely new castle from scratch on a new site near by. Dalyngrigge won his spurs fighting in France with Sir Robert Knowles and amassed a large amount of wealth along the way. Bodiam was built in the valley of the Rother, a river which at the time could have been used by large ships to travel inland. The shape of the castle was probably based on designs Dalyngrigge saw in France and could be based on the castle of Villandraut in Aquitaine. The castle is surrounded by a wide moat and is rectangular in shape. At each of the four corners are tall drum towers and half way along the east and west sides are high rectangular towers.

Desktop/Laptop version

Explore Bodiam Castle

Exlore the approach and path around the wide shallow moat to the castle entrance. Once inside, explore the courtyard and meet Sir Edward Dalyngrigge and his wife Elizabeth.

For best results when exploring the reconstruction press 'L' to go full screen. Press 'Shift' to run.

Images from this reconstruction

Mobile/Tablet Version

This is a detailed reconstruction and should work on a high-end mobile and tablet devices. It is built using the the Unity 3D game engine.

This may take a while to load and the screen will go blank, but please be patient.

Video of Reconstruction

The castle is surrounded by a wide moat and is rectangular in shape. At each of the four corners are tall drum towers and half way along the east and west sides are high rectangular towers. On the north side is the main gatehouse and access to the castle across the moat is via two small islands, one octagonal and one square. Originally access to the castle across the moat was via a right-angle shaped wooden bridge that would have left attackers exposed to arrow-fire as they crossed, but this has been removed and access today is provided by a bridge directly infront of the gatehouse. On the southern side of the castle is a smaller gatehouse with a postern gate. This smaller entrance would have been protected by a drawbridge.

More Reconstructions

Transport yourself back up to a thousand years and explore historical buildings as they may have appeared in the past. Built using the popular game development tool Unity 3D, these reconstructions will run in the most of the popular web browsers on your desktop or laptop computer.

Etal, the Border Castle