The gatehouse displays oak doors, portcullises, murder holes, gun loops, and projecting machicolations. The gun loops make Bodiam an early English example of castle builders accommodating weapons that arrived with fourteenth-century gunpowder. Its machicolations translate older wooden hoardings into permanent masonry positions from which defenders could drop objects on people below. These features show genuine technological awareness even though the wider defensive system remains open to criticism.
Notable Point · 13:24-14:14
Gunpowder and machicolations at Bodiam's gatehouse
Bodiam combines traditional gate defenses with early English provision for guns and stone machicolations.