Arundel is situated close to the mid point of the South Downs. Within minutes you can be in some of England's most beautiful countryside.

Arundel castle was established at the time of the Norman conquest. It has been home to the Dukes of Norfolk since the 1500s. The castle is extremely well maintained and has been restored through the ages. Whilst it is still a private home, you may visit it between April and October. (please check for exact opening hours).

The narrow streets of the town house many antique shops, craft shops, tea rooms and restaurants.

The Port of Arundel, which was still operating at the beginning of the 20th Century was mentioned in the Norman Doomsday Survey. Amongst the tall ships moored on both sides of the river, smugglers would try to land their contraband of tea, tobacco & brandy at night. The Wey-Arun canal, that linked the Rivers Wey & Arun allowed goods to be shipped on barges to and from London. The canal is presently closed and in many places overgrown, although restoration work is currently underway.

The Arundel Tourist Information Centre in the High Street is well worth a visit if you wish to learn more of Arundel. Audio guides of the town are available to hire.

  View a short documentary on Arundel by click here

A short article on Arundel Castle follows:

"The building of Arundel, a motte and double bailey castle like Windsor, was started by Roger de Montgomery in the 1070s. Roger was one of William the Conqueror's most trusted lieutenants, and he received the western half of Sussex as well as large estates in Shropshire and North Wales. He raised the motte and built the inner gatehouse, but most of the other remaining medieval parts of the Castle were built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The shell keep with its magnificent (now closed up) Norman doorway was the work of William, the 1st Earl of Arundel of the Albini family in 1138, and his successors built the Well Tower and St Martin's Tower on the motte and lined the lower quadrangle with domestic buildings which have all now disappeared, although large parts of the outer castle walls remain.
In the mid-thirteenth century the Castle and the Earldom of Arundel passed by descent to the Fitzalan family from Shropshire, and for three hundred years it was their principal home although little remains of their work on it except the Barbican, the Caernarvon windows in the Well-Tower and Bevis Tower in the Upper Bailey. In 1580 the last Fitzalan Earl died and the Castle passed (by marriage of his daughter Mary to the 4th Duke) to the Dukes of Norfolk.
After the damage caused by the Civil War siege in 1643/4 and the slighting in 1653, the Castle was not lived in by the family until the late eighteenth century when the 11th Duke rebuilt it in Regency Gothick style.  The design was his, and the work was done by craftsmen from his Cumberland estate whom he had specially trained in London; the library, built entirely from Honduras mahogany and carved by Jonathan Ritson and his son, remains as a fitting survivor of his work, but the rest was swept away in the even more comprehensive rebuilding done by Henry, 15th Duke, between 1875 and 1904. This was designed by C A Buckler in a more severe, early English style and presents in all its details a wonderful example of Victorian craftsmanship. The private chapel with its fine stone carving and stained glass windows, the Barons' Hall with its impressive hammerbeam roof and heraldic decorations, and the Grand Staircase with its newel posts crowned by heraldic beasts are among Duke Henry's finest interiors. In recent years, much restoration and redecoration has been undertaken in the family rooms and bedrooms, and the contents enhanced with furniture and pictures formerly at Norfolk House in London."

Thanks go to The Arun District Council Investment & Tourism Unit (01903 713453) and The Arundel Tourist Information Centre (01903 882268) for help with the information supplied.

Arundel is easily reached by the A27 and is situated between the City of Chichester and Worthing (see the map).
The town benefits from having an convenient rail link to both London (Victoria) and Gatwick Airport. Gatwick airport is less than an hour away by car.