Arundel - Feb 2025
| Brief visit to Arundel | |
| During our weekend visit to see Seven Sisters in Sussex, we stayed in Arundel and dropped by Chichester. Here are some photos. In Arundel we ended up parking near Arundel Castle and walking through the town and into Arundel Park. | |
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If famous Arundel Castle hadn't been closed for the season, we would have visited and had
a look around. The closest we got was the castle wall and gate.
According to their website, the first bit of the castle grounds were built in 1068. Then, gradually, King Henry I (1068-1135) and King Henry II (1133-89) added to the castle buildings. Since 1138 various dukes, earls and famous families have had their seat in Arundel Castle: d'Albinis in the 12th century, the Fitzalans in the 13th century, and the Howards (Duke of Norfolk) since the 15th century. As early as 1900 Henry the 15th Duke of Norfolk was an early adopter of modern elements such as electric light, fire fighting equipment, service lifts, central heating, and domestic water. The current Duke of Norfolk's family still live in parts of the house. |
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| Anyway, we only got to see the nice castle gate with a shiny red door next to it. We figured they deserved a photograph. | |
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| The castle walls are made of local stone and flint. We recognized the flint inlays we saw in Seven Sisters. | |
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| In 1939 the town got this coat of arms featuring several swallows. History has it that, the swallow was chosen to signify the town because "Arundel" sounds like the French word for swallow: "hirondelle". Hmm. We wonder if this is fact or fiction. | |
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| The town has a nice mix of old and new buildings to enjoy the look of - while other people were enjoying Sunday brunch. | |
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| We enjoyed the huge cathedral and its stained-glass window. And not just the castle is named after the Howards - so is the cathedral. St. Philip Howard was one of the "Forty Martyrs of England and Wales" after he was found guilty of being Roman Catholic, quitting England without leave, and sharing in Jesuit plots. He died from dysentery in 1585 while being imprisoned in the Tower of London. | |
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Since we couldn't get access to the castle in the off-season,
we went for a walk in Arundel Park. We found a very nice gatehouse
and a lonely-looking Hiorne Tower built in 1797 as an entry into the
competition on who would get to build the main castle. Architect Hiorne
did not win with this entry. Still, it looks amazing being triangular.
Rumour has it that an episode of Doctor Who was filmed here in Arundel Park and Castle - when Sylvester McCoy was the Doctor. We have a blurry photo that seems to match our hiking route through the park + some scary Cybermen. Fun! |
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| In road cuttings we could see how thin the soil layer is before the crumbly sandstone starts. Not much hope for decent crop yields here, Hild surmised (nerd alert). | |
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| Swanbourne Lake had many different birds and in summertime there are boats for hire. | |
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| Swanbourne Lodge Tearoom is housed in an old building from the early 1900s. It was just a little bit too cold to sit down and enjoy a cup of tea or ice cream today. | |
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| We enjoyed a stroll along the River Arun, which runs through and gives its name to the town of Arundel. | |
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Before heading on to our next destination, share a few of oddities:
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Postscript: City visits require comfortable walking shoes and not boots or wellies. Even the park paths were good. |
February 2025