Knepp Castle

The name is thought to come from the Old English word cnæp, referring to the mound on which the castle stands.{{sfn|Hudson|1986a|pp=111-112}}

Knepp was a motte castle, probably founded by William de Braose,{{NHLE |num=1010765 |desc=Knepp Castle |accessdate=25 July 2021}}{{Cite web |title=West Sussex HER: The ruin of Knepp Castle |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MWS3526&resourceID=1032 |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Heritage Gateway}} in the Rape of Bramber. In 1208 King John confiscated a later William de Braose's land, including Knepp.{{sfn|Hudson|1980|pp=1-7}}{{sfn|Hudson|1986a|pp=111-112}} While John's motivation is uncertain, he came to view William de Braose as a threat;{{sfn|Turner|2004}} in historian Sidney Painter's view the treatment of the Braose family was "the greatest mistake John made during his reign ... it made his cruelty known to all his barons", and contributed to the discontent of the barons who later revolted against John's rule.{{sfn|Painter|2019|pp=249-250}}

File:King John hunting - Statutes of England (14th C), f.116 - BL Cotton MS Claudius D II.jpg on a stag hunt. While the manuscript drawing does not depict Knepp, the park at Knepp was used for hunting in John's reign.]]

The first surviving record of the castle is dated to 1210. Royal records document spending at the castle in the 1210s on general repairs, building a chimney, and repairing a pond or moat.{{sfn|Hudson|1986a|pp=111-112}} John was present at Knepp Castle on 6 April 1211, as evidenced by a charter confirmed on that date.{{sfn|Sharpe|1852|p=144}} Queen Isabella also stayed at the castle for eleven days in either 1214 or 1215.{{sfn|Burrell|1850|p=6}}

In 1215, John was at war with the barons of England. Shortly after losing control of London, John wrote to Roland Bloett on 18 May instructing him to remove whatever he could carry from Knepp and send it to Bramber Castle, and then "totally destroy" Knepp Castle.{{sfn|Turner|1870|pp=18-19}}{{sfn|Hudson|1986a|pp=111-112}} This was followed by a second order to destroy (slight) the castle, given by John on 13 June 1216; on this occasion he ordered Roland Bloett to "cause the castle of Cnappe [Knepp], without delay, to be burnt and destroyed".{{sfn|Burrell|1850|p=11}}

File:Knepp Castle 2.jpg

In addition to John the castle had a succession of royal visitors, including Henry III in 1218, Edward II in 1324 and Richard II in 1384. Simon de Montfort seized Knepp Castle from William de Braose, and later returned it.{{Sfn|Rigollet|2021|p=345}} Subsequently, it fell into decline and deteriorated.

File:Knepp Castle - geograph.org.uk - 238677.jpg

A skirmish may have taken place near Knepp Castle during the English Civil War, referred to as the 'Battle of Knepp' by Sir Charles Burrell. 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. According to Michell a parliamentarian force defeated a royalist force on 19 July 1648. Michell also reported that a cannonball had been found near the castle, but did not state when or give a precise location.{{sfn|Gilbert|1964|pp=112-113}} Historian Richard Symonds suggests that the event caused considerable damage to the castle and contributed to its abandonment,{{sfn|Symonds|2012|p=17}} though the Victoria County History of Sussex notes that it is unclear when the castle was destroyed. The bulk of the castle had been pulled down by the 1720s.{{sfn|Hudson|1986a|pp=111-112}}

Ownership of the castle was linked to the manor of Knepp. In 1788 the manor was purchased by Sir Charles Raymond, and descended through the Burrell family.{{sfn|Hudson|1986b|pp=112-117}} Antiquarian Francis Grose visited the ruins in 1775, and wrote "so completely has been the work of demolition in the instance of this castle, that a reasonable conjecture cannot be hazarded from a view of the ruins themselves, as they then appeared, of its original form and extent".Quoted in {{harvnb|Turner|1870|p=14}} About 55 years later the Rev. Edmund Cartwright observed that the ruins had further deteriorated, with stone from the castle taken to be used in roadmaking.{{sfn|Cartwright|1830|p=294|loc="A considerable portion of the outworks remained till within the last fifty years, but which affording greater temptation to the road-maker than the stone quarry, have been carried away."}}This was also noted in {{harvnb|Horsfield|1835|p=247, note 1}}: "[the castle's] scite and extent were clearly defined ... by a stone wall ... which was pulled down, and the materials converted chiefly to the purposes of Horsham and Steyning turnpike road, when first made" 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,{{NHLE |num=1354214 |desc=Knepp Castle and stables adjoining to north west |grade=II* |accessdate=28 July 2011}} and currently{{when|date=February 2024}} the home of Sir Charles Burrell, 10th Baronet.

In 1951, the castle was designated a scheduled monument, a scheme intended to protect nationally important archaeological sites. The protected area covers the whole of the mound and a section of path leading west from the castle.{{Cite web |title=Scheduled Monuments |url=http://historicengland.org.uk/listing/what-is-designation/scheduled-monuments/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=Historic England |language=en}} The wall on top of the motte was given additional protection in 1959 when it was designated a Grade II listed building.{{NHLE |num=1180576 |desc=The ruins of the medieval Knepp Castle, Shipley |grade=II |accessdate=30 September 2022}} Damage to the mound was reported to the Worthing Museum in 1962.{{sfn|Barton|1964|p=28}}

The Society for Medieval Archaeology funded geophysical surveys at the castle in 2021 and 2022, with the aim of finding out more about the layout of the castle and searching for evidence of burning which could relate to King John's orders to burn Knepp. While there was no evidence of burning was found, the surveys did find possible buried archaeology.{{sfn|Nevell|Chaussée|2023}}

File:Victoria_County_History_of_Sussex,_vol_1,_page_472,_plan_of_Knepp_Castle.png

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.{{sfn|Hudson|1986a|pp=111-112}}

The above-ground remains of the castle consist of a single wall 11 metres high, 9.5 metres long, and 2.5 metres thick, with a doorway and another opening above it. This wall apparently formed the north end of the west wall of a tower or keep.{{sfn|Hudson|1986a|pp=111-112}} The wall is faced with Horsham Stone,{{sfn|Hudson|1986a|pp=111-112}} a type of sandstone found in the region.

Thirteenth and fourteenth century documents record a chapel, and domestic structures including a hall and stables at the castle.{{sfn|Williamson|Hudson|Musson|Nairn|2019|p=700}} The arrangement of the buildings and whether they were standalone structures is not recorded in the contemporary documents.{{sfn|Hudson|1986a|pp=111-112}}

{{main|Knepp Wildland}}

File:Longhorn_cattle_freeranging_at_Knepp_Wildland.jpg]]

The land around the castle is now the site of Knepp Wildland, the first large-scale rewilding project in England, created from {{convert|1400|ha|acre|disp=or|abbr=off}} of former arable and dairy farmland owned by Sir Charles Burrell, 10th Baronet.{{sfn|Battle|2018}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin|indent=yes}}

• {{Cite journal |last=Barton |first=Kenneth James |date=1964 |title=Worthing Museum Archaeological Report for 1962 |journal=Sussex Archaeological Collections |language=en |volume=102 |pages=28-32 |doi=10.5284/1085604 |doi-access=free}}
• {{cite web |last=Battle |first=Laura |url=https://www.ft.com/content/77068fa4-bfe5-11e8-95b1-d36dfef1b89a|title=Rewilding revives a country estate|work=Financial Times|date=28 September 2018}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Burrell |first=Charles |date=1850 |title=Documents Relating to Knepp Castle. Collected by the Rev. John Sharpe, late curate of Shipley |journal=Sussex Archaeological Collections |language=en |volume=3 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.5284/1085090 |doi-access=free}}
• {{Cite book|last=Cartwright|first=Edmund|title=The Parochial Topography of the Rape of Bramber, in the Western Division of the County of Sussex. vol ii part the second|publisher=J. B. Nichols and Son|year=1830|location=London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFoMAQAAMAAJ}}
• {{Cite book |last=Clinch |first=George |chapter=Ancient earthworks |title=The Victoria history of the county of Sussex, Volume One |url=https://archive.org/details/victoriahistoryosus01page/page/472/mode/1up |year=1905 |location=London}}
• {{cite journal |last=Gilbert |first=Richard |title=The Battle of Knepp |journal=Sussex Notes and Queries |year=1964 |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=112–114 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_sussex-notes-and-queries_1964-11_16_4/mode/2up}}
• {{cite book |last=Horsfield |first=Thomas Walker |title=The History, Antiquities, and Topography of the County of Sussex. Volume the Second |year=1835 |publisher=Sussex Press |location=Lewes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kuREAQAAMAAJ}}
• {{cite book|first=T P |last=Hudson |date=1980 |editor=T P Hudson|chapter=Bramber Rape |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol6/pt1/pp1-7 |title=A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 1, Bramber Rape (Southern Part) |pages=1–7 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research}}
• {{cite book|first1=T P |last1=Hudson |date=1986a|editor=T P Hudson|chapter=Shipley: Knepp Castle|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18339|title=A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 2: Bramber Rape (North-Western Part) including Horsham |pages=111–112 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research}}
• {{cite book|first1=T P |last1=Hudson |date=1986b |editor=T P Hudson|chapter=Shipley: Manors and other estates |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/sussex/vol6/pt2/pp112-117 |title=A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 6 Part 2: Bramber Rape (North-Western Part) including Horsham |pages=112–117 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research}}
• {{citation |last1=Nevell |first1=Richard |last2=Chaussée |first2=Scott |title=Geophysical surveys at Knepp Castle, Sussex: a 'slighted' site? |year=2023 |journal=Medieval Archaeology |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=490–496}}
• {{Cite book |last=Painter |first=Sidney |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/71692 |title=The Reign of King John |date=2019 |orig-year=1949 |edition=reprint |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-1-4214-3516-9 |location=Baltimore}} {{open access}}
• {{Cite book |last=Rigollet |first=Amelie |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1246142530 |title=Mobilites Du Lignage Anglo-Normand De Briouze MI -XIE Siecle-1326. |series=Histoires de famille. La parenté au Moyen Age |date=2021 |volume=22 |publisher=Brepols Publishers |isbn=978-2-503-59248-0 |location=[S.l.] |language=fr |doi=10.1484/M.HIFA-EB.5.121749 |s2cid=246160737 |oclc=1246142530}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Sharpe |first=John |date=1852 |title=Documents relating to Knepp Castle, additional to those in Vol III |journal=Sussex Archaeological Collections |volume=5 |pages=143–146 |doi=10.5284/1085123 |doi-access=free}}
• {{citation |last=Symonds |first=Richard |title=Knepp Castle Timeline |year=2012 |publisher=Horsham District Archaeology Group |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/595ca91bebbd1a1d0aaab285/t/596cd655cd0f68fd358a299b/1500304984386/KNEPP+CASTLE+TIMELINE.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208063700/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/595ca91bebbd1a1d0aaab285/t/596cd655cd0f68fd358a299b/1500304984386/KNEPP+CASTLE+TIMELINE.pdf |archive-date=8 December 2022}}
• {{cite journal |last=Turner |first=Edward |title=Steyning and West Grinstead Churches, and the Ancient Castle of Knepp |year=1870 |journal=Sussex Archaeological Collections |volume=22 |pages=1–21 |doi=10.5284/1085409 |doi-access=free}}
• {{Cite ODNB |last=Turner |first=Ralph V. |title=Briouze [Braose], William de |date=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3283 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |place=Oxford |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/3283 |access-date=2022-10-01 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.}}
• {{citation |last1=Williamson|first1=Elizabeth |last2=Hudson |first2=Tim |last3=Musson |first3=Jeremy |last4=Nairn |first4=Ian |title=Sussex: West |series=Buildings of England |year=2019 |location=New Haven and London |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-22521-1}}

{{refend}}

{{scholia}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://www.kneppestate.co.uk/knepp-castle-ruin Knepp Castle Estate]
• [http://gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/3597.html Bibliography on the Gatehouse Gazetteer]
• [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/knepp-castle-west-sussex-717baf55ea5b49de9e94237ead142183 3D model on Sketchfab]

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Category:Castles in West Sussex

Category:Ruins in West Sussex

Category:Grade II listed buildings in West Sussex

Category:Grade II listed castles

Category:Archaeological sites in West Sussex

Category:Scheduled monuments in West Sussex