Amberley Castle History
1100: Henry I
1091-1123: Bishop Ralph Luffa
1103: Luffa builds hunting lodge at Amberley
1124-1147: Bishop Seffrid I
1135: Stephen
1140: Seffrid I builds first stone hall at Amberley
1180-1204: Bishop Seffrid II
1199: John
c1200: Seffrid II builds Amberley’s east wing
1272: Edward I
1305-1337: Bishop John of Langton builds Great Hall at Amberley Castle
1377: Richard II
1370-1385: Bishop Reede builds new Great Hall; makes major domestic improvements
1377: Reede given permission to crenellate Amberley
1413: Henry V
1415: Earliest reference to a prison at Amberley Castle
1485: Henry VII
1508-1536: Bishop Sherborne embellishes Amberley Castle; employs Lambert Bernard as court painter
1509: Henry VIII
c1525: Lambert Bernard paints Amberley Panels
1526: Henry VIII visits Bishop Sherbourne
1536-40: Dissolution of the monasteries
1538: Church leases Amberley to tenant for first time
1558: Elizabeth I
1588: Amberley Castle leased to the Crown
1624: Charles I
1648: James Butler buys Amberley from commissioners of sequestered estates
1660: Charles II
1660: Estate reverts to Bishopric
1661: Butlers acquires lease
1683: Sir John Briscoe acquires lease: hunting scene painted in Queen’s room
1760: George III
1737: Engraving of the castle by Samuel and Nathaniel Buck
1788: Grimm drawings of the castle
1837: Victoria
1893: Duke of Norfolk purchases Amberley Castle, ending ecclesiastical ownership
1901: Edward VII
1908: Duke of Norfolk makes repairs to Amberley
1910: George V
1920: Walter Peckham visits Amberley and draws ground plan
1925: Thomas and Evelyn Emmet purchase Amberley Castle
1936: George VI
1945: Princess Elizabeth visits the castle
1952: Elizabeth II
1982: Hollis Baker purchases
1987: Peter Kirsch purchases
1988: Joy and Martin Cummings purchase the Castle
2007: Amberley Castle becomes part of the von Essen collection
2011: Amberley Castle is purchased by Brownsword Hotels, the next stage in its’ history begins
