Jerusalem

We went to see Jez Butterworth’s play Jerusalem in that London yesterday. As has been already noted, it’s a fine production of a wonderfully messy play. Do go and see it if you can (it’s sold out for the current run).

Mark Rylance heads up a company that revels in the revels. The audience (even in our restricted view area) were rapt for the whole three hours. It gives you faith in theatre again.

We decided that Rooster Byron would fit in very well in Hastings. Every third bloke there is a pirate, a shaman, a storyteller and/or a dealer.

The play has set me of on a new line of research for next year’s character at Bodiam. I’ve ordered some books on English folk tales and folklore.

That London was a bit disappointing. There are very few Christmas decorations and the place felt a bit grim. Buck Palace is illuminated, but only up to the levels of an East European railway terminus. Perhaps it’s a theme.

Meeting your heroes

The job at Bodiam Castle may be indifferently paid and involve idiosyncratic hours but it does have many compensations. It is the best office I’ve ever worked in and I do like working with people when they’re intent on enjoying themselves.

This month has been extra special though. I’ve got to meet and work with one of my all time heroes. You might have thought it was impossible for Father Christmas to live up to all the hype, but no: he’s a generous, hard-working colleague with time for everyone and not a cynical bone in his body. Here’s a picture of me and the big guy (that’s him on the left. I’m the one on the right).

Father Christmas

Alfriston and Pevensey Castle.

The village sign

We’re New in Town so we can still play the tourist near to home. Today we headed to Alfriston to see the Clergy House. It’s a small but beautiful medieval building – an example of a Wealden Hall. I am (professionally) very envious of their bread oven and fine collection of baker’s peels. It has nice gardens as well.

The village is lovely, so we stayed for a while. We walked along the river, visited a tea room, bought some bits and pieces at the award-winning Much Ado Bookshop and had lunch at the Ye Olde Smugglers Inne. Most places in South Sussex have a Smugglers Inn – tax evasion having been a popular pastime in these parts for centuries.

Alfriston Clergy House (L) next to the church. Seen from across the mighty Cuckmere River.

Pat spotted a small, simple model boat she liked in an antique shop’s window. The label was discretely turned over so we went in to check out how much it was. If it was, say, £50 I might have considered buying it as a Christmas present. It was £650. Pat revived me and we headed back to the car.

On the way back we visited Pevensey Castle. It’s odd that we haven’t been there already. It’s 5 miles from home and I’m supposed to know about castles and all that old stuff.

By Pevensey_Castle_aerial_view.jpg: Lieven Smits derivative work: Hchc2009 (Pevensey_Castle_aerial_view.jpg), via Wikimedia Commons

The Roman Fortress, built around 290AD,  is impressive in its scale and completeness. It’s supposed to be the site of the 1066 Norman invasion, but some, controversially, disagree.

There’s a charge to see inside the medieval castle within the fortress, but it’s worth a visit. The keep is mystifying in its construction – with seven different towers in a small area. There’s a small exhibition in the North tower which includes artefacts found on site. Much of the interior would have been timber built, but there are plenty of clues in the curtain wall to how the place worked.

We walked around the outside as well – it’s very intimidating from what would have been the shoreline 900 years ago.

After a brief reinforcement at the time of the Armada (1588), the castle ceased to be militarily significant for hundreds of years. Remarkably it was reinforced and garrisoned in 1940 when there was a real threat of a German invasion. Machine guns posts and pill boxes were built into the Roman and medieval walls, disguised with flint to blend in with the original stonework. Two of the towers were lined with brick and had floors added to serve as barracks for the troops. These twentieth century upgrades have been left in place – part of the site’s long and continuing history.

Baker’s peel

I’ve managed to locate and buy a baker’s peel in a local antique shop. I’ll be using it in the story of the paindemain loaf at the castle.

At last, a prop I can really lean on.

Bodiam Castle – Season 1

Bodiam Castle, The Gatehouse

Sunday marked the end of my first ‘season’ as a costumed interpreter at Bodiam Castle. I’ll still be working there through the Winter but much less frequently.

My cycling season reviews can fixate on times and numbers. This is less easy to do with interpretation. I did, however, give over 160 presentations and 14 school tours in my 83 days at the castle.

I have enjoyed the historical and social research. This has been formal (books, research visits etc.) and informal (conversations with visitors and colleagues). Developing a new expertise is always fun. I’ve been tested a few times, but I’m happy to learn from people.

Getting back into being a performer was a trial but, in the end, I’ve enjoyed working with an audience again. I always tell my student writers that it’s important to understand the relationship between performer and audience.  I’m learning that lesson again myself.

Writing the presentations has been hard work. It’s not enough to download information for people. The piece has to have structure. It has to engage with the reason (many reasons) that people are there. It has to make a link between the audience member, the building, its social functions and its history. I wish I’d discovered Tilden’s principles earlier, particularly point 4.

‘Writing’ isn’t conventional scriptwriting of course. It’s a more dynamic process. The presentation can be very different depending on the constitution of the audience, size of the audience, weather, other activities in the castle, etc.. I did write something on paper at the beginning, but I didn’t learn my lines. I learnt structure, principles and escape routes.

The next few months…? Catching up with other areas of my life, driving KHOROSS forward, my other jobs, writing etc.. I’ll also be developing a new ‘character’ to run in parallel with Benet Whitbread the Baker for next season.

Performance 101

Today I clocked up my 101st presentation to the public at the castle (I can do up to 5 a day). Each performance lasts 15 minutes, so that over 25 hours of telling people stuff.

Most of the presentations have been the story of the Pandemain loaf (a.k.a. The Baker Talk). It’s evolved into a nice piece with a good story arc. It’s had some positive feedback as well.

I’m not a natural performer. I wish I’d paid more attention when I was told how to project (and protect) my voice. I’ve got more confident with the material though. It does sometimes feel repetitive but often the final show of the day is the best – you get on top of the story and can be more playful with it.

I’m now developing a new piece and next season I will need a couple more. It’s like real work – except that I’m dressed up and in a castle.

Guy in the middle distance

Some nice photos by Tom Davies. I happen to be in them (GITMD) but I like them because of the contexts. Thanks, Tom.

West Parade from the beach at dusk. I'm the silhouette with the MD

Back to the camera giving the baker talk

This was taken at Bodiam Castle’s medieval weekend. That’s me presenting the Baker Talk to a small audience in front of the West Range. I’m afraid that the hat has since been eaten by a dog.

Hastings in the mist

A trip to Hastings today – 12 minutes on the train. A strange low cloud was blowing about above the town making it quite other worldly.

Hastings Castle almost engulfed in cloud

The East Hill lift

We decided not to use the East Hill lift today. Pat says the Country Park at the summit is a gem.

A closer view of the lift

The Stade

The Stade is the home to Europe’s largest beach launched fishing fleet.

Next to the fishing museum

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The museum

We enjoyed the fishermen’s museum. There’s also a shipwreck museum, but we left that until next time

A picture of Biddy - a man who used to paddle round in a tub - in his tub!

A walk around Bodiam Castle

I caught the bus to work the other day. This gave me the chance to approach the castle from the public side. I thought ‘what this most photographed of English castles needs is another set of pictures’. So I did it.

Welcome to Bodiam

The mighty Rother

The official justification for the building of the castle was the defence of coast. The River Rother (above) would have been wider then. The sea was closer in 1385 – when Sir Edward Dalyngrigge received his Licence to Crenelate from Richard II – and sea-going vessels could sail up to the wharf here. Winchelsea and Rye had been attacked in previous years.

The castle comes into view as you climb up from the mill pond.

The path takes you around the site of the old mill pond (Lord Curzon, who owned the castle between 1917 and his death in 1925, thought that it was the old tilting field where jousts were held). The squat brick structure is a Second World War pill box. It was built to defend Bodiam Bridge against a German invasion. The Northern parapet of the bridge was removed to give the soldiers a clear line of fire.

The Southern range

The South range is the first to come into view. A bridge would have crossed the moat here to the Postern Gate. Curzon discovered the stone foundations of the bridge (including a drawbridge) when he drained the moat in 1919.  To the right of the central postern tower is the large window of the Great Hall.

The postern tower

A closer view of the postern tower. It is topped by some impressive machicolations. Between the two windows are a jousting helm and three shields. The two outer shields are blank but the central, tilted shield shows the arms of Sit Robert Knolles. Knolles was Dalyngrigge’s military mentor and a key figure in the Hundred Years War. Above the shield is a carved ram’s head jousting helm – also associated with Knolles. Knolles is reputed to have been feared by the French. Perhaps the inclusion of his insignia is a tribute to the man and a discouragement to potential French raiders.

The postern had its own portcullis and still has a set of ‘murder holes’. A climb to the top of the tower rewards you with great views of the river valley across to the Kent and East Sussex railway.

The East range

The East range contains the finest residential apartments (the Lord’s and Lady’s apartments). The large window to the right is the Chapel’s East window.

The East and North ranges

As you cross the moat’s overflow the North range, with its massive gatehouse, comes into view. The gatehouse is topped with more machicolations. The remains of the barbican can be seen to the right. There would have been a drawbridge of some sort between the barbican and the castle.

The barbican and octagon

A closer view of the barbican and octagon. The barbican was a two storey mini-fort with its own portcullis. The link to the octagonal island would have been a drawbridge. The octagon had a crenelated wall and a garderobe.

The North range

Another view of the Northern range. The gatehouse portcullis has been carbon dated and is over 600 years old – it’s the original. Above the gate are the coats of arms of the Wardeux (Dalyngrigge’s wife Elizabeth’s family), Dalyngrigge and Radynden. The Dalyngrigges had a habit of marrying well and an ancestor had married into the prestigious Radynden line. Above the shields is a jousting helm mounted with a unicorn – Dalyngrigge’s chosen mark.

The octagon viewed from from the original bridge abutment

The current bridge runs straight from the octagon to the bank. The original ran from this abutment across in front of the battlements. The original wooden foundations were revealed by Curzon in the 1919 draining. In theory the indirect line would have given archers a broadside shot at any attackers who would be slowing to take the right angle turn. There was a drawbridge at the abutment end of the bridge. The abutment itself was crenelated which seems strange from a defensive point of view.

The West range

The West range has far fewer windows than the East. Possibly because the higher ground to the West made it more vulnerable to attack. Or possibly because this is where most of the servants were lodged. The South West tower (right) is attached to the kitchen and contains the well and a dovecote.

The West range from the South

The circuit is complete. As you look back at the castle you see the bungalow that Curzon built for his museum and a custodian. Behind the bungalow is a vineyard and above that an earth platform (not part of the NT castle grounds). This used to be called the Gun Garden but is now described as a pleasance – a place to view the beautiful castle. It was thought that this had been created in the late 16th or early 17th century but archaeological excavation suggests a medieval origin – perhaps created at the same time as the castle. It seems that Bodiam Castle was conceived of as a place to view and admire from the very start.

Lewes Castle

We spent yesterday on our first ever visit to Lewes. It rained.

The town is very proud of its history with more plaques and information boards per square kilometre than any other town in Britain*. Thomas Paine is an old boy (taxman and tobacconist).

Lewes Castle is run by the Sussex Archaeological Society. It’s a much-altered early Norman castle with (unusually) two mottes. The one is topped with a shell keep which you can climb. There are fine views over the town and surrounding countryside. The barbican (below) was added in the early 14th century.

The barbican, Lewes Castle. That's me before the concussion.

You can climb to the top, but mind your bonce as you come down if you don’t want a two day headache. I’m just saying.

The attached Barbican House museum is well worth a visit (it’s included in the ticket price). It contains a wide selection of artefacts from Neolithic times onwards. I was impressed with their medieval collections.

*unverified