erstmonceux Castle's construction started in around 1440 by Sir Roger Fiennes, the treasurer to Henry V. Sir Roger chose the new fashion of building in brick, something he had seen while campaigning abroad. The castle has four sides with four octagonal towers at the corners. Three sides of the castle (north, west and east) have an extra tower at the centre of the wall, while on the south side there are two towers with a double-towered gateway entrance between them. The towers of the gateway start octagonally at the first storey, but then become circular and are topped by a heavily crenelated cornice. Two small turrets continue above the wall of the parapet. The castle fell into a state of decay and became a picturesque ruin in the late 18th century when the moat was drained and the walls became covered with ivy, but since then the castle has had its interior rebuilt and is now a centre for study. The castle is supposed to be haunted by a nine-foot tall drummer and an iron chest was found that when struck made the sound of a drum. It was supposed to have contained gold.