Bramber Castle

Location

Last Visited: 2016

Bramber Castle is probably at its most impressive when seen from the village.

The one remaining wall of the combined Gatehouse and Keep still looms over the settlement and, along with the little Norman Church tucked in below it, gives a good idea of how imposing it must have been.

Closer to, things are less impressive. Apart from the Gatehouse, the only visible masonry remains are a few short sections of the curtain wall and the base of a smaller tower.

Entry is currently free. For further information please check English Heritage's official site.

Near the centre of the site, hiding in the trees, is a motte. This may have had a wooden structure on the top, but it was soon abandoned in favour of the stone Gatehouse. The latter was better positioned to control the causeway and bridges that formed what was the lowest crossing point over the River Adur until a wooden bridge was built at Old Shoreham in 1781.

The castle was constructed soon after the Norman Conquest by William De Braose, one of William the Conqueror's feudal barons. Most of the surviving masonry dates from this time. It led an uneventful life, until subsidence on a large scale led to its ruin in the 16th century.

Circumnavigating the castle by the path in the bottom of the ditch, it struck me how similar Bramber was to an Iron Age hill fort . However, unlike at say Old Sarum, no evidence of Iron Age occupation has ever been found here.

Untouched by the Romans and their newfangled rectilinear forts, the Normans still used the same ancient technique: find a pointy-shaped hill and dig a ditch round it. The only real innovation was the motte. That and the use of stone.

Incidentally there is a path around the back of the most substantial section of the curtain wall from where you can get a good look at the impressive height of the earthworks.