• The Great Hall.
  • The Great Hall of Bodiam, compared to other Great Halls of the time was not that large. It measured just 24ft wide by approximately 40ft long. However, it had a high ceiling that reached to the top of the curtain wall and would have been grand with fine furniture and decoration.(photo)
    The people of Bodiam would have entered the hall through an impressive archway, that opened from the courtyard. The arch itself would have been decorated and stood out from the other archways around the courtyard.
    Through the arch you would have entered a passage, known as the screens passage. This small corridor gave access to the Kitchen, Buttery and Pantry, where the food, to be served in the Great Hall, would have been prepared. Although only part of the screens passage survives today, other examples can be found in many Oxford and Cambridge Colleges and was, indeed, a very popular feature of medieval houses.
    The screen itself would have been panelled in wood and above would have been a gallery, although there is little surviving evidence of either of these.
    The large window at the east end, providing stone window seats, suggests that the floor at this end would have been raised. Here there would have been a dais for the High Table and the Dalyngrigge family, and it is from here that Sir Edward would have entertained his guests. To the South East would have been a staircase providing access to the Lord's chambers and the first floor of the east range.