In the late 11thc. Bramber was an easily defensible port on the River
Adur, with a natural mound on which the Normans erected a castle. The castle
became the administrative centre for Bramber Rape. Now a ruin, it is in the
hands of the National Trust.
Around 1073 William de Braose built a collegiate church just outside the
castle at Bramber. It lay in the parish of Steyning, which was owned by Fecamp,
and had no parochial rights of its own. It was given to the abbey of St Florent
de Saumur before 1086. By 1096, possibly on account of conflict with Fecamp,
the college had been dissolved and its endowments transferred to Sele Priory at
Beeding. The church was described as a chapel in the 12thc., but had become a
parish church byc.1250.
The fortunes of the church followed that of the town, as the harbour
silted up. The transepts were demolished in the 14th and 15thc. In 1526 the
parish was united with Botolphs. The church was used as a gun emplacement for
attacking the castle in 1642, and by the mid-18thc. the chancel and tower were ruinous. The chancel was demolished and the tower rebuiltc.1785.
The church was restored inc.1840, but a more major restoration took
place in 1871. The W porch and vestry were built in 1931.