Bodiam


Bodiam is a small village and civil parish in the Rother District of East Sussex, England. It lies in the valley of the River Rother, near to the villages of Sandhurst and Ewhurst Green.
There is a 12th-century church, which contains a brass of a knight with the arms of the de Bodeham family, one of the first lords of the manor. Originally it was a port and crossing point from Battle to North Kent. During the medieval period a great moated castle Bodiam Castle, was built which is now a popular visitor attraction. There is a small range of houses, a pub, and a restaurant.
Although famous for its castle, Bodiam was also in a main hop-growing area in the last century and was famous for growing hops for Guinness. Reginald B. Levett of Court Lodge Farm would sell part of his land to Guinness to grow hops. A railway was built to provide transport for the hoppers, the Kent and East Sussex Railway, which is now another tourist attraction. The MP of the local UK Parliament constituency is is Huw Merrriman.

Education

It has two schools: Bodiam Primary School, a state school, and Claremont Senior School, an independent. Bodiam Manor School went bankrupt in 2006; consequently Claremont Senior School took over at the start of September 2011.

Notable people

Bodiam was the birthplace in 1881 of Miss A. E. Levett, a leading medieval scholar and vice-principal of St. Hilda's College, Oxford. Levett was one of the first female professors of history in England, having been awarded a chair in history at Westfield College, University of London in 1929.