Knepp Castle

The medieval Knepp Castle (sometimes referred to as 'Old Knepp Castle', to distinguish it from the nearby 19th-century mansion) is to the west of the village of West Grinstead, in the parish of Shipley, West Sussex, England near the River Adur and the A24 (grid reference TQ163209). The castle was probably founded by the Braose family in the 12th century. King John confiscated the castle along with the Braose lands in 1208. Knepp was used as a hunting lodge, and John visited the castle several times. He ordered its destruction in both 1215 and 1216 during the First Barons' War.

Knepp Castle continued to be used into the 14th century and hosted reigning monarchs on several occasions. The castle eventually fell out of use, and by the early 18th century was mostly destroyed. Later that century, stone from the castle was used to build a nearby road. The land around the castle is now the site of Knepp Wildland.

Text adapted from “Knepp Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Knepp Castle ranks #2,968 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #204 of the 329 mapped in England. Founded c. 1850, it is older than 8% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 562 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,847 times in the last 60 days, more than 64% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Brighton and Hove, 21 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗