The small village of Bodiam's history dates back to Roman times when a settlement and port were established as ships came to trade for Sussex iron. The Roman Road from Hastings to Rochester crossed at this point. Following the Romans’ departure the area was occupied by the Anglo Saxons who, it is believed, gave the place its original name of 'Bodan Hamm'.
But it was the medieval period which made the greatest impact on the area. For undoubtedly the most outstanding and much visited feature of Bodiam is its moated ruined castle. It was built in the reign of Richard II between 1385 and 1390 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge as a precaution against French attack.
Only twice did the castle feature in serious conflict when in 1484 it was captured by Richard III and in 1645 during the Civil War, after which Cromwell decreed that the castle should be made untenable and ordered the interior to be destroyed.
Over the years the castle fell further into decay until in the early 19th century the Georgian squire and member of parliament John (Mad Jack) Fuller of Brightling purchased it for a sum of £3,000. He carried out necessary repairs and saved it from complete demolition. In 1917 the castle was acquired by Lord Curzon, who continued the restoration work and brought the building back to its former glory. On his death in 1925 he bequeathed it to the National Trust, in whose capable hands it remains.
The nearby Castle Inn was formerly known as The Red Lion until it was rebuilt in 1885 and renamed. Its story is closely linked to the castle and probably came into being in the 15th century when merchants and tradesmen came on business to the castle. The inn provided the only accommodation for visitors to the village and also catered to the canal traffic which once reached the nearby bridge until the end of the last century.
The parish church of St Giles lies in a picturesque setting half a mile to the north of the castle and is a much restored 14th century building. Inside can be found a brass of a knight and the arms of the de Bodeham family. A former rector of the church was once aide-de-camp to the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, and one of the six bells in the tower is named after him.
Bodiam was the birthplace of Miss A E Levett in 1881. She was to become one of the first female professors of history in England in 1929. The famous artist J M W Turner was also a visitor to Bodiam, and painted the castle and the bridge over the Rother.
In 1946 almost 1,200 acres of land in and around Bodiam were leased to the Guinness family brewers and hops were grown. An estimated 2,000 people travelled yearly from London and further afield to pick the hops. By 1976 the introduction of mechanical methods meant that hand picking the hops was no longer practised.
The railway which brought many of the pickers to Bodiam was closed in 1961. However, today it has been restored and the Kent and East Sussex Railway from Tenterden to Bodiam is a popular tourist
attraction and makes an ideal route to the castle.
At Bodiam station can be seen the railway carriage which transported the body of Edith Cavell from Dover to London. Edith Cavell was a nurse working in Belgium during the First World War. She was accused and found guilty of helping British, Belgian and French soldiers to escape to Holland and was executed by the Germans in Brussels on 12 October 1915. Her body was brought back to London after the war and a state funeral was held in her honour.
