Bodiam Castle and Longthorpe Tower: elemental readings of later medieval building design
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 29/05/2016

The interpretation of Bodiam Castle (East Sussex) has been hotly contested. Was Bodiam designed as a functioning defensive structure or was it an old soldier’s conceit, a dream house and nothing more? Much of this debate stems from consideration of Bodiam’s position in the landscape, the role of the moat, consideration of the fields of fire afforded by its gunports and arrow loops, levels of fenestration, and analysis of the internal arrangement of, and lines of movement through, its rooms and services. Here medieval rather than contemporary landscape theory is applied for the first time to the reading of Bodiam. Since the basis of good medieval landscape design lay in the application of elemental theory, foregrounding elemental (and humoral) theory brings critical insights that help us to understand Bodiam’s design and the thought processes of its architect. Longthorpe Tower (Peterborough) contains some of the best surviving late medieval wall paintings to be found in a secular context. The scheme depicts key ideas of medieval natural philosophy. The elements are subtly integrated into the scenes, providing an unique opportunity to examine how they were used as part of interior décor at the beginning of the fourteenth century.

Richard JONES (University of Leicester)