Amberley Castle and Village

Recently I went on a visit to the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu (see previous post) I stayed down south and made a visit to Amberley Castle where I spent the night. Also had a pleasant walk into the local village of Amberley.

Amberley is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England.
Amberley is situated at the foot of the South Downs. Its neighbours are Storrington, West Chiltington and Arundel. The village is noted for its many thatched cottages. The house named "The Thatched House" is one of the village's few non-thatched houses.
One of the attractions in Amberley is Amberley Working Museum.
Amberley has its own railway station on the Arun Valley Line, with regular services to Bognor Regis, Portsmouth and London.
To the north of the village is the tidal plain of the River Arun, known as Amberley Wild Brooks. This wetland area is a Site of Special Scientific Interest which floods in winter and is known for its wildfowl. Good views can be had from the Sportsman Pub at the east end of the village, known as crossgates. The Black Horse in the centre of the village often has Morris Dancing in Summer. Amberley also has a castle, which is now a Hotel. The 'castle' is in fact a fortified manor House next to which is a Norman Church, the Parish Church of St Michael.

The Pepper Papers (1899–1978) give an insight into Amberley's history as a producer of Lime, with 1904 correspondence between Peppers and companies interested in shipping Amberley chalk to North America. In 1929-35, a campaign tried to prevent the despoilation of Amberley by the erection of pylons and overhead power cables, looking at the financing of the alternative scheme of laying low tension underground cables. Frank Pepper had regular correspondence with Arthur Rackham who had lived nearby, and John Galsworthy from Bury, West Sussex regarding the campaign to save Bury Coombe. Letters between 1926 and 1959 document claims to a public right of way over a footpath through the Amberley Castle grounds.

Here are a few photos of the castle (hotel) and of the local village.