Arundel

On our way to Tintagel we stopped over for the night near Arundel. Arundel Castle is the best preserved in the country and is still the residence of the Duke of Norfolk.

Our hotel was very nice. It had comfy rooms and was attached to a restaurant which meant that we got free cooked breakfasts in the morning. Not that Chris ate any. Starving orphans in Malaysia, Chris...

Anyway, we got to the hotel fairly early so we had some time to look around. There was a park on the top of the hill next to our hotel with a view of the surrounding area. We couldn't see Arundel but we could see for miles.

We got to Arundel at around 10:30. The logistics of this day were a bit of a nightmare. We had to get to Tintagel before it closed at 6:00 and it was a 5 hour drive there. Arundel itself didn't open 'till 10 so we figured we could see the place in a couple of hours and then head off by noon or so. Alas while the castle grounds opened at 10 the keep didn't open 'till 11 and the castle rooms until 12. Also, the Duke had a party the previous night and he and his guests were occupying the bedrooms which meant that they would not be part of the tour. So no matter how fast we were we could never get out before 12:30 at the earliest.

The first stop in the grounds was Fitzalan Chapel. Chris had been there before on a school trip and when he was there he remembered why. Apparently the founder of his school used to be a priest here. The Oratory was founded by John Henry Newman who seems to be on his way to becoming sanctified. Anyways, the school trip was years ago and even Chris couldn't remember much about it.

The inside of the Chapel is astonishingly well preserved. Filling the interior are a number of tombs with the carved likenesses of their occupants on top.

The artwork was very impressive for the Middle Ages and while some of them are missing their extremities for the most part they are remarkably intact.

Access to the castle itself is by one of three entrances. Two are for the Duke and family while the smaller one to the right is for visitors.

The keep is the oldest part of the castle. It dates back to the Norman period when Arundel was first built to protect the waterfront from pirates.

During the Civil War this was where the commander had his office. There was a big siege of Arundel at this time and the Royalist forces were forced to surrender due to lack of water.

The steps up to the keep are a more recent medieval creation.

The keep is a cramped, unpleasant building. Norman castles were not designed with creature comforts in mind. It is amazing that the subsequent builders didn't tear down or add to the keep. The modifications since the Medieval period seem to be few.\It is essentially a circular wall with the main courtyard in the middle used for training, the room underneath used for storing food and prisoners, and all the remaining rooms in the walls.

The castle was expanded greatly later on in the medieval era when the castle became the property of the Dukes of Norfolk. Originally it had belonged to the Earl of Arundel but when it ran out of male heirs it passed to the Dukes through a daughter. This section of the castle is locked off and all the windows and battlements facing this side are blocked off to allow the Duke some privacy. This is his private section of the castle and there are no visitors allowed.

As soon as it turned 12 we were waiting to get into the rooms. The entire castle seemed full of Indians and there were a few dozen of them ahead of us in line. Maybe they were part of a tour group. We almost had an emergency when Diana couldn't find her ticket but it turned out that it had gotten mixed in with an old brochure. I don't know why Chris thinks I'm the disorganized one. The castle chapel was quite large and impressive. We were not allowed down but we could see it from above.

Photography was forbidden. Nonetheless I did manage to snap some pictures. This is the main room. It has very lavish decorations (though not near so many dragons as the Royal Pavilion) and is post-Medieval in nature. All of the interiors are Early Modern or Modern Era in design. The castle was lived in and the Medieval interiors have long since been covered over and lost.

This room is the Library. It is huge and very comfortable. Most of the books are old and there must be a newer library in the castle somewhere. As with most major sites in England the tour went in one path and could not be deviated from. Chris found a picture of his school's founder and was happy.

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50°51'24.19"N, 0°33'16.97"W