Bramber (Brymburgh) castle holds the same position of the valley that Lewes castle does for the Ouse and Arundel for the Arun. There are no records as to the beginnings of Bramber's importance in the story of Sussex, but the defensive position was doubtless made use of in prehistoric times and was probably a fortified post in Saxon days.
The original motte is still there and dates from 1070s.

Ye Castle Hotel in Bramber Village

The Norman castle, which may have been built on earlier Saxon works, was built by William de Braose, first overlord of the Rape of Bramber, bestowed on him by William the Conqueror. Bramber, like Arundel, was practically on the sea. At high tide, water filled the Adur valley just short of the castle walls.At it's peak, the castle was probably considered impregnable and there are no recorded military "incidents" in it's history. A skirmish in the village between the Royalists and Parliamentarians is all that even the Civil War provides.

 

A letter from John Coulton to Samuel Jeake of Rye, dated January 8th, 1643-4, describes the event as thus;

"The enemy attempted Bramber bridge, but our brave Carleton and Evernden with his Dragoons and our Coll's horse welcomed them with drakes and musketts, sending some 8 or 9 men to hell ( I feare) and one trooper to Arundel Castle prisoner, and one of Capt. Evernden's Dragoons to heaven."

 

The Norman church, built by William de Braose, was badly damaged by the Roundheads during the civil war.

 

Bramber's ancient importance was emphasized by the fact that it returned two members to Parliament as a borough. Wilberforce, the slavery abolitionist, was Member of Parliament for Bramber for several years. The story related of him is to good not to bear repetition. Passing through the village in his carriage one day, he stopped to enquire where he was. "In Bramber," he was told. "Bramber," he mused, "Bramber.... I seem to have heard that name before..... Why, of course," he added with sudden recollection, "that's the place I'm member for."

 

 

Its two seats were abolished by the Reform Act of 1832. For many years Bramber remained a Borough of the worst type. George Spencer writing to Algernon Sidney after the Bramber election in 1679, says;

"You would have laughed to see how pleased I seemed to be in kissing of old women; and drinking wine with handfuls of sugar, and great glasses of burnt brandy; three things much against the stomach."

In 1768, eighteen votes were polled for one candidate and sixteen for his rival. One of the tenants, in a cottage valued at about three shillings a week, refused £1,000 for his vote. Bramber remained a pocket borough until the reform bill.

 

Today, Bramber is a charming little Sussex village of one long street from the castle down to the banks of the Adur. There is not much left of the castle. Built in a strategic position on a steep and detached chalk hill, the slopes which would have been carefully cleared of growth, are now densely wooded.

 

A 70ft high section of the gate-tower still stands overlooking the church and the village. Some sections of the wall remain along with the layout of the living quarters/guard house, where you can see the stone work around the base of the door, built around the early 1100s and reworked 200 years later. The moat runs around the castle perimeter but is now just a pleasant walk around the whole of the castle grounds which tower above.

 

 

 

 

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