Herstmonceux Castle: East Sussex, England

Number  23 - Herstmonceux Castle

Gosh, what a lot there was to see at Herstmonceux. We went in October 2012 and absolutely loved it. The journey there was a bit of a palava, it should have taken about 20 minutes but literally took about 2 hours as the road was closed and we were sent on lots of diversions. Anyway, we got there and parked up. 

It's impressive, especially the moat, me and Chloe do love a good moat. 

The castle also has massive grounds, about 600 acres of land in total and you could really while away the hours relaxing and wandering about. 

We didn't go into the main castle as it's a functional study centre, but seeing it from the outside is still very impressive. I think you can get tours of the inside but we decided not to bother.

There were some really fun woodland trails where you walk through bushes and trees covering little hollow caves. One was called the Magical walk which I particularly loved as i'm a big Harry Potter fan.

There were lots of quirky things to see and do, including a rather groovy bed made of grass.

In one of the clearings there was a circle of different sized tree trunks. They all had runes carved into them. I think the owners call it 'Woodhenge'. There were instructions about what to do to find your rune, I think you had to stand in the circle, spin round and then point at one. Whichever was closest, was your rune and it said something about you. Mine looked like the letter 'r', but I can't remember what that meant.

 

There was a huge sun dial. We were busy looking at it when a man asked us if we could tell the time with it, and Chloe just reeled off the exact time. So talented! Though, am not sure she could replicate. 

There was a lovely herb garden with some African ornaments that I really liked. All the herbs had wooden spoons with carvings on them, they described what the herb was and how to look after it. I might try to hand make something like this for Chloe for Christmas, I think she'd love it.

Cost: £6 (a real bargain for the size of the grounds)

Hints and tips: there is a tea room but when we visited there wasn't much choice. It may have been that in October they don't have many visitors. There is a planetarium on site which I'd imagine would be very interesting and lots of activities for children. Worth paying it a visit if you have the time.

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!

Pevensey Castle: East Sussex, England

Number 3 - Pevensey Castle

We visited Pevensey castle in September 2010. 

To be honest, from the outside it doesn't look like much. I'd spent quite a bit of time there as a child and just thought it was an old crumbling wall and a huge field. But what I didn't know, was there was an actual castle bit in the middle of this area and that had a few pretty jazzy things.

For one, there was a pyramid of, what I can only assume were boulders, all joined together. I tried lifting them without any success.

The castle was about in the 4th century, so amazing any of it is still standing to be honest. It was the last and strongest Roman fort and was where William the Conqueror and his army landed in 1066.

You could climb up the walls and stand on the wooden platform which had a great view of the outer castle walls.

We were given an audio guide when we went in. It gave lots of interesting information especially as we descended the spiral staircase to the dungeon. 

 

They had actors doing little pieces as if they were alive way back when, as we entered the dungeon the prisoner on the audio recording started telling us what it was like down there. His monologue finished, with 'help me, heeeeeelp meeeee', we power walked up those stairs pretty sharpish.

 

It's not got the structure or beauty of somewhere like Bodium, or the number of activities, but we still had a lovely time. 

The weather was a bit windy on our visit but you could have a nice relaxed picnic if the sun was out. We went in, over a wooden drawbridge, and decided to go all out and get the audio devices that tell you the history of the castle.

Cost: £5 approx

Hints and tips: There weren't any places to eat or anything but it is in the village of Pevensey which has some nice pubs and restaurants.

If you want to find out why we're visiting all these castles, check out my first blog.