English Heritage - Bramber Castle — Attraction in Horsham

@PinnedonPlaces - IG Pinned on Places - Youtube Built around the ages of 1073 this early Norman motte and bailey castle was built by William de Braose, a baron who accompanied William the conqueror and fought at Hastings, de Braose was rewarded land to how Bramber came about. who , it actually remained in the ownership of the de Braose family for over 250 years. It was subject to siege by parliament during the civil war to which parliamentary troops had set up cannons in the transepts of a nearby church, so that it would fire down on the castle. Today, what you will be able to see if the ruins of the gatehouse, a tall slender pillar right at the entrance of the site and a single window aswell as some floor joist holes that you can make out when looking up the pillar. Beyond the gatehouse you are able to discover existing foundations of what is believed to have been living quarters and a guardhouse, it’s small but the dressed stone make an entrance and the majority of the walls surrounding it only exist now. Other parts of Bramber are the original castle motte wall, roughly to a height of 30ft in places, and as you wander around you will be able to make out the rest of the wall surrounding the site. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about Bramber, if you like what you see then why not head on over to our YouTube channel? We have a number of walking tours around the UK area and are continuing to post up new content aswell as on our Instagram page where you will be able to watch our latest explorations. We would really appreciate your support to subscribing to our channel and giving us a follow, it helps us give you more content, and helps us do what we love doing. Thank you and we’ll see you soon! @PinnedonPlaces - IG Pinned on...

There is practically nothing left of the castle itself apart from the tall piece of structure that is all that remains of what was once the castle keep/gatehouse c. 1100 or thereabouts, and some foundations and parts of the old curtain wall. The origional castle which would have stood on the motte in the middle of the bailey was apparently built just after the Norman conquest but soon left to fall into disrepair in favour of the new keep.

What is interesting is the enduring atmosphere that seems to prevail each time I visit. Maybe its the wind that whispers through the trees now inhabiting the motte, or maybe its just the awesomeness of the moat as you pass by the church. Either way you can't help feeling the sadness of one particular lady of the castles fate, (Matilda de Braose, wife of the 3rd Lord of Bramber), or the rage that King John must have felt when he came to claim his prize - a prize which he only won through murder and greed and lost when he was eventually brought to heel by his barons and the Magna Carta.

Interestingly enough the only other reference to John's vengeful past, and one that is closely linked to the downfall of the de Braoses, is a reference to "a claimant to the English throne" on one of the visitor plaques which I would like to give a name to, and that was a young Arthur of Brittainy who was said to have been murdered by John in France and his body dumped in the River Seine. One cannot dismiss him by simply saying he was a 'claimant' as in truth had John not murdered him history might have taken...

Most people who visit Bramber castle say it's underwhelming because there's not much of the castle remaining apart from the stark ruined walls of part of the tower. But I find it a strangely haunting place and have returned to it numerous times, as the situation itself has amazing views across the Adur valley and onward behind the South Downs,and with a little imagination when walking around the remaining boundary walls and down into the dried up moat bed, you can picture it in its heyday when the de Braose family occupied it. Peaceful as it is there now, you can also imagine the terror wreaked on them during its demise.....read the history of it on the series of helpful plaques dotted around the place.A great place for a picnic on a...