HICHESTER CASTLE. A HISTORY OF SUSSEX The steep slopes of the ground away from the castle, principally on its eastern, southern and south-western sides, are largely natural, but they have been emphasized by artificial work, and the castle is now entirely surrounded by steep slopes and fosses. The ditch, or moat of the great mount, forms the outer castle ditch on one part of the western side. Inside the castle, unfortunately, a part of the moat has been filled up and converted into a lawn. There is no reason to suppose that this moat was ever filled with water ; it seems always to have been dry, Chichester. — In addition to the de- fensive works surrounding the city, which are of Roman construction, a camp of the Class E type seems to have been built at the north-east corner within the walls. There are remains of a mount, but the building of the now destroyed Grey Friars Monastery, and other changes, have had the effect probably of obliterat- ing the earthworks. The position of the castle just within the city wall is in accordance with the plan frequently adopted, and reminds one very forcibly of the arrangement at Canterbury. Bramber, which stands in the valley of the Adur, is of a somewhat oval shape and surrounded by a fosse of great depth. Although there are wet ditches near the camp it does not seem probable that the great fosse round the castle was ever filled with water ; indeed, the levels would not permit of it. The great ditch was probably always dry, and suggests a prehistoric origin. It is just possible that the Normans found an ancient earthwork already existing here, and converted it to their use, throwing up a large mound in the centre, as shown in the plan and section. The top of the mound forms an excellent look-out point commanding the river-valley, which is rather narrow at this point, Mr, G. T, Clark points out in his book on castles' that ' in the construc- tion of the fortress (Bramber), advantage was taken of a knoll of the lower or grey chalk, roughly oval in figure, and about 1 20 ft, above the river. This was levelled on the top and scarped round the sides so as to form a more or less rounded area, 560 ft. north and south, by 280 ft. east and west. The scarp descended above i 80 ft, at an angle of 45 ft, or a slope of one to one, into a ditch about 20 ft. wide at ' Mediaval Military Architecture in England, i. 268, Bramber Castle.
