Bodiam Castle
Bodiam, High Weald
Image: National TrustA moated 14th-century castle in the Rother valley that looks exactly like a child's drawing of a castle. Inside the walls it is an open ruin, so you can climb the towers and explore the courtyard, then walk the grounds and parkland around the moat.
Highlights
- Original moat and gatehouse
- Rare surviving wooden portcullis
- Spiral stairs up the towers
- Riverside tea-room and second-hand bookshop
Good to know
- Dogs on short leads are welcome in the grounds and the tea-rooms, but not inside the castle or shop
- The towers involve steep, narrow spiral stairs
Getting there
Bodiam Castle, Bodiam, near Robertsbridge, East Sussex, TN32 5UAParking: Car park £5 per car for non-members, free for National Trust members.
Get directionsChecked on 15 October 2026 against nationaltrust.org.uk. Details change, so please confirm with the venue before you travel. How we check
Nearby
Image: Great DixterGreat Dixter House and Gardens
A medieval timber-framed house near Northiam surrounded by a bold, experimental garden with a long season. The nursery, started by Christopher Lloyd in 1954, sells plants raised from the garden.
Photo: Peter Jeffery, CC BY-SA 2.0Pashley Manor Gardens
Pashley Manor Gardens covers 11 acres on the Sussex and Kent border near Ticehurst, laid out around a Grade I listed house. Expect deep herbaceous borders, a walled garden, a kitchen garden, a rose walk and seasonal displays of tulips, roses and dahlias, with sculpture and art shown through the summer. The café terrace looks over the garden.
Image: English Heritage1066 Battle of Hastings, Abbey and Battlefield
The place where the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066, with the abbey William the Conqueror built on the spot where Harold is said to have fallen. Walk the battlefield with an audio tour, climb the gatehouse for views and finish at the playground by the café.