A-Z Challenge 2012 - A
Amberley’s Lustful Bishop
Amberley Castle
is located in West Sussex, England.
It was built as a 12th century manor house by Bishop Luffa. It was fortified
in 1377 when Bishop Reede received a license to crenellate it from Richard II.
It then had a stonework enclosure with high curtain walls, towers, a hall and a
massive gatehouse. The Bishops of Chichester used Amberley as a fortress.
The castle passed to the Crown and became a
royalist stronghold in the English Civil War. Charles II took shelter there
after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in 1651 prior to heading for exile.
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| Amberley Castle |
However you will find no mention in the hotel’s
literature of the castle’s one time servant girl. Made pregnant by a lustful
Bishop, poor Emily, deserted in her hour of need, died in childbirth. Her ghost
is said to haunt the kitchens and to return to the top of the battlements from
where she had leapt to her death.
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| Amberley Castle Walls |
Attributions:
- Amberley Castle, East Sussex; author Jonathan Day; Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0
- Amberley Castle walls; author Colin Day; Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license 2.0
