It presents a singularly beautiful and romantic spectacle at the present time, the towers and enceinte being entire, while a wealth of foliage and the wide waters of the surrounding moat afford a _coup d'oeil_ seldom equalled and probably not excelled in England. The licence to crenellate dates from 1386; the building was erected in the middle of a lake connected with the river, thus forming a broad and deep moat. A causeway, defended by an ingenious system of bridges and small gateways, leads across the latter, and terminates in a small barbican, now partly dismantled; the entrance is between two tall square towers which present beautiful examples of machicolation upon their summits. Upon the opposite, or south face, is the postern leading to the moat and defended by a massive square tower, being one of nine in all surrounding the enclosure. The interior is now simply an empty shell, all the domestic buildings having been destroyed by Sir William Waller in 1643, after the siege of Arundel, although the Chapel and the chief apartments are capable of being located. We have therefore simply the outer walls remaining of a particularly fine castle of the Perpendicular period. The entrance consists of a vaulted passage with many openings for the discharge of missiles upon assailants while they were endeavouring to overcome the three portcullises and the massive wooden gate defending it. In addition to ordinary loopholes there are round holes for the discharge of harquebuses. The castle underwent a siege by the Earl of Surrey in the reign of Richard III. in consequence of a descendant of Sir Thomas Lewkenor, into whose hands it had passed, proving obnoxious to the King. _Shirburn Castle_ is also of the same type and very similar to Bodiam; it dates from the year 1377 and was erected by Warine de Lisle who had gained wealth and distinction under Edward III. It stands in the Chiltern Hills near Stokenchurch and is a large square pile surrounded by a broad moat. [Illustration: WRESSLE CASTLE, YORKSHIRE.] _Wressle Castle, Yorkshire._--The Castle of Wressle lies to the south-east of York, near the junction of the Derwent with the Ouse, the navigation of which it was probably designed to protect. Sir Thomas Percy, the brother of the first Earl of Northumberland, is reputed to have been the founder. It fell to the Crown, and Henry IV. granted it to his son John, Earl of Bedford, and after his demise to Sir Thomas Percy, son of Henry, the second Earl of Northumberland. The Percies seem to have maintained their Court in the Castle with a magnificence befitting their illustrious race, and during their occupation the Castle saw the most glorious portion of its history.