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Of all the natural beauty spots that we had put on out list of places to visit, Beachy Head is the one that exceeded expectations. Only the day before we left Brighton with Littlington and Beach Head researched in detail, did I appreciate that many photographers have said that they couldn't pick between Dover and the cliffs of Beach Head.
As for Littlington. What's at Littlington? Nothing as far as Ches and I know. There is supposed to be one of the giant white horses carved into the hillside. As far as Sheila was concerned, she could get us to a car park but that was it. The car park had no signage. There were two paths that lead from the carpark into a tangle of blackberries and weeds. In among this "rubbish" were some nettles. Around 100 meters in, with a couple of nettle brushes starting to sting, we asked ourselves the questions, "Are we likely to ever reach the white horse and will it be worth it?" Answer; " probably not and probably not." Will Beach Head be a better experience?" A: "We bloody well hope so".
Ches's hip had been giving her more and more grief, so I had ordered a set of walking poles to be delivered to Drew and Keiths. In the carpark at Birling Gap, we set one of the poles at the right height for a fairly steep climb up onto the headland. Beach Head was named "Beauchef" in 1274. The Normans may have landed nearby at Hastings in 1066, however by 1317, the Anglo Saxons had corrupted "beau chef" or "beautiful headland" into "Beaucheif", and by 1724 Beachy Head.
Thank god the Eastbourne Council acquired the entire headland in the 1920's and saved it from residential development. The ashes of Friedrich Engles can rest in peace at the foot of the cliffs. As to why he had requested his ashes be scattered here, I know not. So can the bones of "Beachy Head Lady", most likely from Cyprus, who was buried there in about 200-250CE.
Coach loads of German school students arrived and several approached Ches to ask if they might see "Sea Lions". We waited for them to move from the viewing platform up onto the headland and then took our turn to marvel at the white cliffs that stretched back toward Brighton. A heavy sea mist had been blowing in over the coast, however every now and then it parted, and the sun shone on the cliffs. Spectacular.
We walked up onto the headland for an even higher and windier perspective. Ches ventured to the very edge of the cliffs, I not so much. Back down in the carpark, Ches took refuge in the tearoom while I went down the staircase to the pebble beach below and it's stunning views of the cliffs both west and east to the Seven Sisters.
Back in the car and barely another mile along the coast road I again ventured up on the cliffs to photograph the Belle Tout and Beach Head lighthouses. The first is on top of the cliffs. For seventy years the Belle Tout did nothing to stop ships getting wrecked as it wasn't visible through the mist and low clouds. The Beach Head lighthouse was built at the base of the cliffs, in the water in 1902.
At the edge of the cliffs, the German students and numerable Asian couples crouched inches from the edge to take photographs. I didn't. I still managed some excellent photographs without too much anxiety.
How could I have forgotten that this was a two National Trust houses day. I mean, weren't the cliffs enough? The first house was "Bateman". Any guesses? "Just So Stories". "The Jungle Book"
It was the home of Rudyard Kipling from 1902 until his death in 1936. The house was built in 1634. Kipling's widow Caroline bequeathed the house to the National Trust on her death in 1939. The house is a Grade I listed building. If I was unkind, I'd say that she donated it because no one in the family wanted to live in such a dark and gloomy house after she died.
Bateman's is a Jacobean Wealden mansion constructed in 1634. There is debate as to the original builder. Historic England follows the tradition favoured by Kipling of ascribing the construction to a Sussex ironmaster, John Britten. The historian Adam Nicolson reports the tradition in the National Trust's guidebook, but notes that Britten was a dealer in iron, rather than a manufacturer. Nikolaus Pevsner, who we met at Evelyn Waugh's house, attributes the construction to a lawyer, William Langham.
There is definitely molten iron around the entrance … who knows.
It's such a dark and gloomy house that I couldn't imagine living there except in the depths of winter. The gardens here in Summer are wonderful, but why would you remain indoors writing? Actually, his desk faces the window overlooking the garden, I trust he had it open.
Ches didn't bother, however I also walked down through the adjoining woods to the mill. Unlike other mills, it didn't rely upon a constantly flowing river or stream. It had a large dam to hold back sufficient volume of water to give enough power to drive the one water wheel.
The full description follows at the end of this blog.
The NT tearoom was a disaster. Tepid green pea and mint soup that didn't taste like anything. My chilli was tepid but OK. It was enough to forge ahead to Bodiam Castle.
Who would have thought that the day could continue to give. For Ches, this was one of her fondest memories. She adored Bodiam Castle.
If you don't get to the full description at the end of this blog, at least note that the style and well maintained exterior of the castle was why it was chosen as the Swap Castle for "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
Few of the articles I read explained how significant the site was back in the day. The rivers along this south stretch of England used to be navigable well inland. On our last trip, we discovered that Exeter used to have a port and in fact was used as the port for the filming for "The Onedin Line" because the port has survived.
Both Smallhythe (Ellen Terry's house) and Bodiam Castle were located at boatbuilding ports way up the river. They silted up hundreds of years ago and the rivers even changed their courses.
I just discovered that while both National Trust properties are on the River Rother in East Sussex, neither mention the relevance of the river to Smallhythe or Bodiam. All they say is that the river dock was nearby. If you actually google River Rother, you'll find that the Romans sailed/rowed up the river to source iron ore, that it was used to transport the stone to build both Smallhythe and Bodiam. It was still used in the 1800s to transport manure etc.
Hopefully my photo albums will give you an idea of how impressive Bodiam Castle is.
So good was Bodiam that it was well after six before we arrived at our accommodation in Biddenden.
Bateman's
By the early twentieth century, the house had descended to the status of a farmhouse, and was in a poor state of repair. The Kiplings first saw it in 1900, on returning to England from America, following the death of their daughter Josephine in 1899 and a disastrous falling-out between them and Carrie Kipling's brother, Beatty Balestier. Enchanted by the house, they were too slow in making an offer and it was let for two years. In 1902, they were able to purchase it, with 33 acres of land,from a wealthy stockbroker, Alexander Carron Scrimgeour.
In 1900, Kipling was the most famous author in England, and was earning £5,000 per year; the cost of Bateman's, £9,300, was thus entirely affordable. Kipling wrote some of his finest works at the house including: "If—", "The Glory of the Garden", and Puck of Pook's Hill, named after the hill visible from the house. The house's setting and the wider local area features in many of his stories. Kipling's poem "The Land" is inspired by the Bateman's estate.
Kipling's only son, John, was killed at the Battle of Loos on 29 September 1915. Kipling died on 18 January 1936, of peritonitis. Carrie died three years later, in 1939. Under the terms of her will the house passed to the National Trust.
Architecture and description
The house is built of sandstone to a double-pile plan, and is of two storeys with gables above. The eastern, entrance, front may once have been symmetrical with a northern wing matching the southern one. Historic England's listing states that the wing was constructed but later torn down,[3] while Pevsner suggests that it may never have been built. The windows are mullioned and the roof has an "impressive row of six diamond-shaped red brick chimney stacks".
The interior is retained as it was in the time of the Kiplings. The study is almost as Kipling left it, although without the "pungent aroma" of his forty-a-day Turkish cigarette habit. The house contains a significant collection relating to Kipling, amounting to nearly 5,000 individual pieces, including his Nobel Prize, his Rolls-Royce Phantom I, many oriental items he purchased while living in India or touring in the East and paintings he collected by Edward Poynter, Edward Burne-Jones and James Whistler.
The garden was created by Kipling from 1907, using the prize money from his award of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The house is a Grade I listed building, the highest grade reserved for buildings of "exceptional interest".
There is a water mill on the estate, powered by water from the River Dudwell. The earliest reference to a mill relates to its construction between 1246 and 1248, and first mentioned with the name 'Park' in 1618. The present mill was built between 1751 and 1753, and extended in the 1830s. It became part of the Bateman's estate in the late 19th-century. By Kipling's time, the mill was no longer in operation and he installed an electric turbine in it to provide power for the house. The mill was restored by the Trust in 1975,[2] and again between 2017 and 2020. The mill is itself Grade II listed.
BODIAM CASTLE SUSSEX ENGLAND
Originally built in 1385, Bodiam Castle has spent centuries as one of the best loved and best known castles in England. Perhaps it is the design of the building, with an iconic moat and beautiful lush green scenery, or simply the amazing history of the building, which makes it so popular?
The castle was built by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, who is known to have once been a knight of Edward III. With his knowledge of battles, he designed the castle with the intention of defending the beautiful area of East Sussex, from a possible invasion by the French, during The Hundred Years' War.
Sir Edward Dalyngrigge was the youngest son within his family and this meant that he was the last in line to inherit anything from the estate. However, he married into a family that owned land, and it was during 1378 that he found himself owning the manor of Bodiam. During is knighthood, which spanned from 1379 to 1388 he found himself with enough money to build himself a home, which was the beginnings of Bodiam Castle.
Originally, Sir Edward decided to build himself a manor home, a place that was stately and impressive and was even home to weekly market and annual fair, held in the grounds.
It was 2 years later, when the people of England found themselves in a state of panic due to fleets of ship, that Sir Edward was allowed to take the steps towards fortifying his manor home and protecting his estate and his family.
Rather than using the building that he already called home, Sir Edward decided that he wanted to build an entirely new building instead. This was Bodiam Castle.
It became a large project, with the entire castle being built at the same time. This meant that the entire design and style of the castle is the same, which is not something that you often see in other examples.
At the same time as the castle was built, the gardens were landscaped and they featured a variety of different waterways around them.
Not only was Bodiam Castle built to protect its inhabitants, but it was also made to be an inviting home too. The design of the castle is something that still intrigues people in this modern time. It is a quadrangular design and features chambers on the outer walls as well as towers on each of the entrance points and the corners. These towers were important as lookouts for any potential attacks that would require a quick response.
It also features inner courts, which allowed for space for those living and working within the castle.
One of the most attractive parts of the castle had to be the moat, however, whilst this moat looked beautiful, it acted as a sewage system for some 30 different toilets that were found throughout the castle, perhaps not smelling as great as it looked!
Bodiam Castle was passed down through the Dalyngrigges family, until the line became extinct at there was no-one else from the family alive to live there. This is when it changed hands (via marriage) to the Lewknor family. Whilst it was taken away from them during the War of Roses, 2 years later it was returned to the family, who owned the castle until the 16th Century.
During the start of the English Civil War in 1641, the castle was owned by Lord Thanet, a descendant of the Lewknor family. He was a keen supporter of the cause of the Royalists, and he took the decision to sell the castle in order to pay for fines that were brought against him by the Parliament.
The castle was bought and dismantled (the interior rooms), being left in ruin (albeit a beautiful ruin) until it was purchased in 1829 by John Fuller.
John Fuller took on the project to restore the castle partially, until it was sold to George Cubitt and then to Lord Curzon, both of which decided to further the restoration work and try to create a testament to the former glory of this fascinating building.
The castle became a Grade I listed building and has been owned by The National Trust since 1925, donated to them by Lord Curzon on his death bed, with the decision taken to open up the ruins to the public.
As Bodiam Castle was built to protect the South Coast from the French, it come as no surprise that it is fortified and perfect for any battle. However, if you consider the location of the castle, then it does seem strange that it was designed to protect a coast that it is quite far away from.
Not only was the castle made to protect, but it was also designed to look great too. Particularly if you look at the surrounding landscape. Much like some of the other aspects of the castle, it seems that some of the exterior isn't quite as grand as it once was, however, enough remains that you can still get a great idea of how it would have once looked.
It also features a number of prime examples of architecture from the 14th Century, with a twin towered gatehouse entrance and plenty of towers creating a beautiful skyline for anyone who visits.Whilst Bodiam Castle is still a fascinating example of a medieval castle, it doesn't hold quite the same impact as it once did. Unfortunately, this is because the interior of the castle has fallen into ruin.
Thankfully, those who are interested in the basic structure of the castle will find that the basic dimensions of the castle, in particular functional rooms such as the cellar and kitchen can still be identified.
So much so, that you can even create a floor plan of the layout of the castle, just using the remains to figure out how it would have once looked.
Not only this, but there is also a grand hall, a chapel and an antechamber, as well as the accommodation for the family that called Bodiam Castle their home. This meant that the castle was split into areas that were solely for the family and their high status visitors, as well as some areas that were for the use of the staff and the servants.
Rooms that would have been found within the castle include a Chapel, Household Apartments, Pantry, Kitchen, Lord's Hall, Buttery, Chamber, North-West Tower (including a prison)
There would have also have been a Great Hall, which would have been the social hub of the castle, where the Lord would have entertained his guests.
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