Earthworks and masonry remains of a probable 13th century hunting lodge, ruined in the 16th century. The topography of the site means that it could not have been moated, but the thickness of the walls suggest that the building may have been fortified.
This ruin consists now of the small remains of a quadrangular building, situated in a deep vale, four miles from Cowdray, where once existed a large range of forest land, in the depths of which at the end of the last century, it was barely discoverable. A writer of that date says : “There is no mention of the castle in any author, and it is only known to such as hunt the martin cat.”
It was in all probability, like Cnap or Knepp Castle and Hartfield, built originally as a hunting-seat of the manor, in this case by the Bohuns, lords of the Manor of Eseborne, wherein the castle was situated. In Gough’s time there remained only portion of the wall of the principal tower, having arched openings in the style of 1240-1280, partly surrounded by a moat.
In 1541 it belonged to the King, but it was given by Edward VI. to Sir Anthony Browne, and it has since passed to the Cowdray estate.
The remains now are but trifling, as some years ago the stones of the ruin were employed for repairing the roads, as has frequently been the case with many an interesting relic of past ages. (Castles Of England, Sir James D. Mackenzie, 1896)