Hastings Caste: East Sussex, England

Number 9 - Hastings Castle


We visited Hastings castle in October 2011. Venturing through an olde worldy arcade to buy our tickets, we then rode a cable car to the top of the cliff. 

 

It was quite a fun way to access the castle, and once we got up there I was really impressed by what we found. The castle was a beautiful ruin, overlooking the sea. 

 

In 1287 there were serious storms that battered the cliffs and some of them eroded, which resulted in large sections of the castle falling into the sea. The castle was left to ruin when Henry VIII was made King as he thought all catholic institutions should be destroyed. Bloody Henry VIII caused loads of trouble didn't he?

We liked the archways, many of which were still in tact. And being so close to sea it was easy to understand how this castle was positioned to defend people from enemies approaching by boat. 

We wandered down to where we think the dungeons would have been. 

Following our trip to Pevensey, we did a bit of method acting to imagine what it could have been like.

We also walked along bits of the castle wall and explored all the nooks and crannies.

If you've not been before, Hastings is worth a visit. It has a nice old town with good restaurants and a sweet little seafront promenade. The town centre itself has had a lot of money spent on it so worth a wander. Plus it's close to Rye which is beautiful as well.

Cost: £7 approx

Hints and tips: It's on a cliff edge, so can get quite windy, worth wrapping up warm.

Want to know what possessed us to visit Hastings castle? Read more about our castle challenge.

Lewes Castle: East Sussex, England

Number 8 - Lewes castle

Lewes was a real gem. It's based in the middle of Lewes town centre, kind of behind the high street. If you've not been to lewes before, it's worth a visit. Lovely little vintage and antique shops, independent boutiques and sweet cafes and restaurants. 

When we got to the castle you could see straight way it was going to be good. Lots of turrets, walkways and gorgeous gardens. You could even buy weeds.... though why you'd want to do that, I don't know. 

As an added bonus, there was a musician rehearsing for a concert which was happening that night in the gardens, so we got to listen to some beautiful guitar music as we wandered round.

 

Lewes castle is run by Sussex Past, it's a 1000 year old Norman castle and we visited it on a lovely day in July 2011. It's in pretty good nic considering how old it is. 

Once in the main part of the castle, it snaked round to a mound which took you higher and higher. At the top another separate bit of the castle appeared. It's much bigger than it first looks and there is lots to see and admire.

To be honest, the main highlight of the trip came when we happened upon a dressing up and props room with gowns, furs, and a fake catapult. 

 

It was a dream come true, and yes, we tried as much on as possible before any little kiddywinks interrupted us.

Cost: £7 approx

Hints and tips: There isn't a car park so you'll need to park in Lewes, take some loose change with you.

If you want to know more about why we're doing this, read my first blog!

Bolebroke Castle: Kent, England

Number 7 - Bolebroke Castle

What a lovely time was had at Bolebroke Castle in July 2011. 

We were camping at a rather brilliant camp site near Ashdown Forest where we had marshmallows over the fire and were able to fish, which Chloe's other half really enjoys.

We discovered Bolebroke was relatively close so decided to pay it a visit. We parked nearby and walked up the lane.

It looked more like a house than a castle, and I think they do B&B, though I can't comment on how good this is as we didn't stay there. The building itself seemed to have lots of varying elements which looked like they had been built at different points over time. Apparently Henry VIII used to stay there, he got around didn't he?!

The castle had a mini railway which we decided to have a little go on. We were the only ones there so were treated like guests of honour. It took us on a journey all round the grounds, passed a huge lake, and was pretty darn fun!

We didn't go inside the castle as we didn't need any grub, and it seemed to be a working restaurant. But it had beautiful grounds and was lovely from the outside.

Being Winnie the Pooh territory, we also went to place where the characters played Pooh sticks in the A.A. Milne's stories, which was rather delightful. 

Cost: We didn't actually go inside the castle itself, so the only payout was on the mini railway.

Hints and tips: I think you'd need to do something at the castle, whether that is eat or go on the mini train, in order to justify being there. You couldn't just wander round without doing that I don't think.

Bramber castle: West Sussex, England

Number 6 - Bramber Castle


Oh Bramber, it was a bit of a 'nothing' castle. But we have to do them all on this challenge so it needed to be done. There's nothing wrong with a ruin, I love a ruin normally, but this was very minimal.

We visited Bramber in April 2011. We'd spent the first part of the day at a dress shop in the lovely little village of Steyning trying to find Chloe a bridesmaid dress for my wedding. We had cheese toasties in this adorable little tea room - the village is definitely worth paying a visit. We'd done a bit of advanced research, in case we could combine our trip with a castle visit, and we found Bramber was located pretty close by.

Bramber is managed by the English Heritage, but I use the term 'managed' loosely as I doubt they have to do much other than mow the grass. Essentially all it was, was one wall of the tower, nothing else was really left apart from a few bricks and boulders scattered around. There was a huge mound which I think would have been man made so people could see the army approaching.

It was a Norman castle on the banks of the river Adur. I guess if the weather was nice we could have taken some grub but it was a bit murky so we just skidaddled off once we'd done a quick walk round.

Cost: Free, which was a relief as we were done after about 2 minutes.

Hint and tips: Unless you're on a castle challenge I am not sure I would bother. Though the location is in a nice setting for other local towns and villages.