The borough consisted of the former market town of Bramber on the River Adur, which by the 19th century had decayed to the size of a small village.
Bramber was barely distinguishable from neighbouring Steyning, with which it shared a main street, and for a century and a half after 1295 they formed a single borough collectively returning MPs.
From the reign of Edward IV, however, they returned two MPs each, even though one part of Bramber was in the centre of Steyning so that a single property could in theory give rise to a vote in both boroughs.
In 1768 the Duke of Rutland gained control, but Gough later regained power over one of the two seats and it was inherited by his descendants (who held the title Lord Calthorpe).
However, the nearby borough of New Shoreham had already been expanded to include the whole of the Rape of Bramber as an antidote to its corruption, and survived the Reform Act with both its MPs intact.