England · Restored
Amberley Castle
Amberley Castle is a fortified medieval manor in the village of Amberley, West Sussex, long held by the bishops of Chichester. Fortified in 1377, the site retains its high curtain walls, a prominent gatehouse and surviving towers and is now a Grade I listed building, adapted for use as a country-house hotel.
Its prime
1377
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1377
The shape it held in its prime.
A rhomboid-plan stone enclosure with high crenellated curtain walls and corner towers set around a central inner ward; a massive central gatehouse is flanked by two cylindrical towers forming the main approach. A straight causeway or bridged approach crosses a wide defensive ditch to the gateway. An attached two-storey east wing with a pitched roof and small roof-turret adjoins one curtain. Masonry is coursed stone, wall tops lined with battlements and arrow-slits; the site appears compact and tightly enclosed.
Its story
The story of Amberley Castle.
Cædwalla of Wessex endowed the site to the See of Selsey in AD 683, and after the Norman conquest it passed with the bishopric to Chichester. Bishop Ralph de Luffa built a timber-framed lodge in 1103, replaced from 1140 by Bishop Seffrid I's stone hall; Bishop John Langton's Great Hall of 1305–1337 made the manor known as the Bishop of Chichester's Summer Palace.
In 1377, fearing French raids on the south coast at the start of the Hundred Years War, Bishop William Reade obtained permission to fortify, giving the manor its rhomboid stonework enclosure with high curtain walls, corner towers, hall and gateway. Sold to a Mr Butler, it was restored to the Bishop of Chichester after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.
Robert Curzon, 15th Lord Zouche, bought the castle in 1872 as a hunting lodge, selling in 1893 to Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk — the 'Builder Duke' — who renovated it. It passed to the Emmet family in 1926, and through later owners to Joy and Martin Cummings in 1988, who converted it into a country house hotel; it now operates in the Brownsword Hotels group.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1377.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Amberley Castle — including 4 interiors: gatehouse passage, great hall (interior), east wing chamber (interior) and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more photos, more angles and more rooms of the immersive experience.
Create History
Recreate Amberley Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1377 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate Castle to Explore →Whose castle
Clans who held Amberley Castle.
The families that held Amberley Castle for a decade or more across its history — follow a name to its clan.
Curzon
Bought by Robert Curzon, 15th Lord Zouche, in 1872 and used as a hunting lodge until he sold it in 1893.
Fitzalan-Howard
Held 1893–1926 by Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk, the 'Builder Duke', who renovated the castle.
Emmet
The castle passed to the Emmet family in 1926 and stayed with them until 1982.
