Bramber Castle

a good walk with kids and dog

Just before you reach Bramber on the A283 you’ll pass a little roundabout on which is a small sign reading Bramber Castle. Take heed of this sign and follow its directions: you will not be dissatisfied. Built in 1070 by William de Braose, it was once a Saxon castle but is now just remains. A 75-​foot wall stands at the entrance as the largest remnant of what would have been a rather impressive fort. Around the perimeter are segments of the original outer wall that’s still fringed with a dry moat. In the centre of the compound is a motte or man-​made mound that’s now commonly used as a haunt for many brave kids and bbq-​makers. While this is lovely and scenic there’s a dark secret that hangs over the surrounding moat. Through the shrubbery on the West side of the clearing dangles a solitary rope. Suspended from a branch nearly 30-​feet up it is perhaps the biggest amateur rope swing you’ll ever see. Those brave enough to jump on fly out over the moat and back in proper Tarzan fashion. This alone is worth the trip.

Bramber Castle is a ruined relic of the Norman era in the small village of Bramber, near Steyning. Built by William de Braose around 1070, little else is known of the castle’s past, although there is mention of it in the Civil War records and periodically through history. Little remains of the original castle now, but for a towering monolith that formed part of the original gatehouse. The hillock in the centre upon which the much more modest fort was built is now empty of all but trees, providing a natural wooded play area for children and a great barbecue site at the top. The castle is surrounded by the original moat, which was built as a dry moat (to slow down invaders with such methods as pots of boiling tar). It now provides a shaded, cool walk around the perimeter of the castle, although at wetter times of the year you will need waterproof shoes for the patches of bog. The flat grassland that surrounds the central mound makes a pleasant walk too, and yields the occasional peek of the original stone walls. If you want a longer walk, you could take the route from the castle through the fields and over the river Adur at the old railway bridge to Upper Beeding.

Although I agree with George123 that it is like a large playing field as there are no signs, my children love playing here amongst all of the ruins. (Do be careful if they are young though). A good place to visit on a Sunday afternoon to blow away all of the cobwebs — and FREE.

This place is a bit of a let down. There seems to be no effort to make it obvious where/​what parts of the ruins were. They have a lame sign at the entrance but little else. It just seems like an enclosed play field.

Built to defend an important port on the River Adur, Bramber Castle was constructed as a motte and bailey castle around 1073 by William De Braose, who fought alongside William the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings in 1066.
Apart from a period of confiscation during the reign of King John, it remained in the ownership of the De Braose family until themale line died out in 1324. Thereafter, it passed via the Mowbray and Howard families into the estate of the Dukes of Norfolk, who held it until it until 1926. It was given to the National Trust in 1946.
Very little survives of the original castle, thanks to a gradual decline over the years, damage during the Civil War in 1642 and looting of the stones as a quarry for building by the locals. The most prominent feature is the tall and unsteady-​looking fragment of the Gatehouse tower, still standing to almost its full original height.
In the centre of the grounds is the impressive original motte, its earthen mound rising some 30ft (10m). A short distance away is a section of the curtain wall which survives up to 10ft (3m) in places. Around the perimeter are also the remains of the castle’s impressive moat. (NB be careful with small children, as there are some sheer drops in places).
Although the ruins are rather fragmentary, the grounds are beautifully kept by the National Trust, and make a wonderful place for a picnic, as well as affording excellent views of the surrounding countryside.