Motte and bailey. Excavations in 1912 found it consisted mainly of sandstone rubble and burnt earth with some 14th and 17th century potsherds. Documentary sources suggest a date for the motte of circa 1307.
There is a field N. of the village of Hartfield called “the Castle Field,” the unevenness of whose surface, together with the existence of a large mound standing in the centre, clearly shows that a small castle once stood on this spot, the foundations of which might still be discovered beneath the surface.
It was a hunting seat of the Barons of Pevensey, and there seems to have been a similar seat or lodge belonging to them at Maresfield. This was a favourite sporting district of the early kings, and a deed exists of Edward II. dated from the place. Nothing else is known as to the house, which was clearly fortified. (Castles Of England, Sir James D. Mackenzie, 1896)
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