The impressive motte and shell keep of a castle founded in 1138 by Bishop Henry of Blois. Long a residence of the wealthy bishops of Winchester, the accommodation in the keep was updated in the 1520s. The keep was abandoned after Civil War service: but much-altered parts of the medieval bishops’ residence remain in private […]
Pevensey Castle
With a history stretching back over 16 centuries, Pevensey Castle chronicles more graphically than any other fortress the story of Britain’s south coast defences. Beginning in the 4th century as one of the last and strongest of the Roman ‘Saxon Shore’ forts – two-thirds of whose towered walls still stand – it was the landing […]
Camber Castle
The ruins of an unusually unaltered artillery fort, built by Henry VIII to guard the port of Rye. There are monthly guided walks round Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, including the castle. Camber Castle (or Winchelsea Castle) stands in the marshes, on a peninsula two miles N.E. of the town of Winchelsea, and about half a […]
Bramber Castle
The remains of a Norman castle on the banks of the River Adur, founded by William de Braose c. 1075. The earthworks are dominated by a towering wall of the keep-gatehouse. The Domesday Survey mentions a castellum existing here, but no record shows when the stronghold was erected, and the nature of the earthworks formed […]
Walmer Castle
Originally built during the reign of Henry VIII as part of a chain of coastal artillery defences against Catholic attack from Europe,Walmer Castle has evolved over time into an elegant residence. Walmer Castle became the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1708. It is easy to imagine why the Duke […]