Chichester Castle

Chichester Castle once stood in the north-east corner of the West Sussex city of Chichester, close to the city walls. Built shortly after the Norman Conquest on orders from Roger de Montgomery, it was one of eleven fortified sites established in Sussex before 1100. The castle served as the administrative centre for the Rape of Chichester, a Norman-era division of the county split from the larger Rape of Arundel. Because it was inserted into an existing settlement, timber buildings were cleared to make space for the new fortress. Constructed from timber, the castle was never rebuilt in stone, unlike many of its contemporaries. The castle changed hands several times in its early years. After being built by the Earl of Shrewsbury, it passed to the Earls of Sussex between 1154 and 1176 before reverting to the Crown. By the early 13th century it functioned as both a court and a jail, one of the first urban castles to serve this purpose alongside Oxford Castle. During the First Barons’ War in 1216, King John ordered its destruction, but the castle was captured by Prince Louis of France instead. The English recaptured it in 1217, and Henry III soon after ordered it demolished. Today only the earthen motte remains, visible in Priory Park and protected as a Scheduled Monument. The site was once part of the northern edge of Noviomagus Reginorum, the Roman town that preceded Chichester. Archaeologists excavated the ruins between late May and early June 2025, uncovering further traces of the fortress’s past. The motte stands as the last physical reminder of a castle that played a key role in Sussex’s medieval administration and conflict.