Knepp Castle

[1] Knepp was a motte castle, probably founded in the 12th century by William de Braose,[2] in the Rape of Bramber.

The event was related by James Charles Michell, a member of the Sussex gentry, in the early 19th century as a piece of oral history handed down from his father.

[15][16] In the early 19th century the remnants were reinforced and fenced in by Sir Charles Burrell to protect them from further deterioration.

The name 'Knepp Castle' is also applied to the castellated Gothic Revival mansion built nearby in the early 19th century by Sir Charles Merrik Burrell, to the designs of John Nash,[17] and currently[when?]

In 1951, the castle was designated a scheduled monument, a scheme intended to protect nationally important archaeological sites.

[18][2] The wall on top of the motte was given additional protection in 1959 when it was designated a Grade II listed building.

[20] The castle stands on an oval mound, modelled from a natural feature, surrounded by a ditch and ramparts.

The ditch, fed from a nearby pond, formed a moat which still contained water at the beginning of the 18th century.

Thirteenth and fourteenth century documents record a chapel, and domestic structures including a hall and stables at the castle.

[1] The land around the castle is now the site of Knepp Wildland, the first large-scale rewilding project in England, created from 1,400 hectares or 3,500 acres of former arable and dairy farmland owned by Sir Charles Burrell, 10th Baronet.

A tall stone wall surrounded by grass with trees in the background.
The fragmentary remains of Knepp Castle as they stand today
A tall stone wall surrounded by grass with trees in the background. There are two figures in the foreground, one on horseback and the other gesturing towards the ruin, and they are accompanied by a dog.
The castle in the late 18th century, as published in Francis Grose's The antiquities of England and Wales , in a similar condition to today.
An illuminated picture of King John riding a white horse and accompanied by four hounds. The king is chasing a stag, and several rabbits can be seen at the bottom of the picture.
A 14th-century depiction of King John on a stag hunt . While the manuscript drawing does not depict Knepp, the park at Knepp was used for hunting in John's reign.
A ruined tower with two arched openings, one at ground level and one immediately above. The tower is surrounded by a low fence, with trees in the background.
An early 19th-century engraving showing the fence around the castle and the lightning rod.
A battlemented stone building with two people, a dog, and a car in front.
The 19th-century mansion also known as Knepp Castle.
A line drawing oriented with north at the top. The castle mound is in the centre, with a road running north to south to the east of the castle, and the River Adur running east to west to the south.
A plan of the castle published in the Victoria County History of Sussex in 1905 [ 21 ]
Two cows standing in a field next to a path.
Longhorn cattle at Knepp Wildland