Note 4.1

New Evidence Relating to Bramber Bridge by E W Holden FSA appears in Sussex Archaeological Collections, Volume 113 (1975), published by the Sussex Archaeological Society, Lewes. Beech and oak piles used to construct a causeway from Bramber Castle to a riverside quay were uncovered by archaeologists in 1974 when a sewer trench was dug just east of Saint Mary's House in The Street, Bramber. These and other archaeological finds are consistent with documentary evidence which has survived from as early as 1086. Saint Mary's House in Bramber claims to possess timbers from William de Braose's bridge, which was later rebuilt in stone. These timbers have been carbon dated to the Conquest period. A later five-arched stone bridge was large enough to bear a chapel dedicated to Saint Mary on the central pier. This bridge may have been built by William de Braose III but the earliest documentary evidence appears in a charter of his grandson dated 1230, when the stone bridge was given to the Priory of Sele by John de Braose.

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