The castle is now a ruin, but its church - the oldest Norman church in Sussex - is intact, and still in regular use. Situated on a hill above the village, the church was built at the same time as the castle in 1073, by William de Braose. Originally a chapel for the castle, it became the parish church in 1250, but it declined with the village as its harbour on the River Adur silted up. The church was used as a gun emplacement for attacking the castle during the Civil War in 1642, and was ruinous by the mid-18th Century. It was restored in the 19th century and the church now consists only of a small west porch/vestry, nave and the tower, which functions as the chancel. There is one 14th century bell