The motte and the dungeons

Transcript

You've reached the motte, the castle mound. William's first mound from 1066 is buried inside this bigger one, and after 1172 a stone keep stood on top.

Cut into the rock just to the north-west are tunnels known as the dungeons. Historic England says they were Norman storage chambers. In the 1890s they were dug out by Charles Dawson, the amateur antiquarian later linked to the Piltdown Man find.

Now look south. The castle once reached further that way, but the sea wore away the cliff and the south side fell. By the 1400s the castle had been abandoned. The Pelham family bought it in 1591, and over time earth piled up around the ruins. In the 1820s the Earl of Chichester, a Pelham, had them cleared. The town council bought the site in 1951.

That's the end of the tour. Please stay well back from the cliff edge as you look around. Thanks for listening.