Barbican: Amberley Castle Star Trails

December 10th, 2021, was extraordinary—I had the rare privilege of staying at Amberley Castle itself, a 900-year-old medieval fortress in West Sussex that's now a luxury hotel. After dinner, I ventured out into the castle grounds with my camera, knowing the clear winter skies would be perfect for star trail photography over this historic barbican gatehouse.

Amberley Castle's history dates back to 1103 when Bishop Luffa of Chichester built it as a manor house. It was fortified with a curtain wall in the 14th century during the reign of Edward II, creating the imposing defensive structure you see today. The castle sits on a rise overlooking the Arun Valley and the South Downs, a strategic position that made it valuable for centuries. The portcullis gate—this illuminated barbican entrance—has welcomed and defended against visitors for over 700 years.

The conditions were ideal that night—bone-chilling December cold but crystal-clear skies with Polaris visible directly above the castle entrance. I set up my Canon R5 with the 16-35mm lens at 18mm, composing to show the path leading through the gatehouse with the star trails wheeling above. I captured 184 frames of 30 seconds each over 95 minutes at ISO 500, standing in the freezing air as frost formed on the medieval stones around me.

The warm artificial lighting on the castle walls created this beautiful contrast against the cold blue tones of the night sky. Stacking 184 exposures revealed these circular star trails centered on the North Star—the same stars medieval soldiers would have watched from these battlements. The winding path draws your eye through the barbican gate, inviting you to step through this 700-year-old entrance beneath the wheeling cosmos.

Standing there in the castle grounds at midnight, camera clicking away every 30 seconds, I felt connected to centuries of history—bishops, soldiers, and visitors who all stood on these same stones beneath the same stars, though they never saw Earth's rotation visualized like this.

When you look at this photograph, I want you to feel that convergence of history and astronomy—standing before Amberley Castle's medieval barbican in the West Sussex countryside, watching 95 minutes of Earth's rotation trace star trails above a fortress that has stood for nine centuries on the South Downs.