Arundel Castle
Few castles can match Arundel. Perched high overlooking the Sussex coast, it is a veritable treasure house of paintings, furniture, books and tapestries. For most of its early centuries it was the source and sanctuary of many a rebel. And this intrigue adds to its fascinating history.
Arundel Castle was founded in 1067 by the Earl Montgomery. His son rebelled against King Henry I, who then took the castle and granted it to his wife Adele, making it England’s first queen’s castle. Henry’s daughter Matilda claimed the throne here after civil war broke out on Henry’s death. In the Elizabethan period it passed to the Catholic Howard family. Amazing survivors of religious turmoil, they retained both their hereditary position as the masters of royal ceremony, and this, their ancestral home.
Between 1840-1900, there was a major remodelling of the interior, in particular, the Victoria Room, where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert once stayed (recently a location for the Young Victoria movie), the Private Chapel – inspired by Salisbury Cathedral, and the Baron’s Hall. The Regency period library contains the largest collection of books on Catholic history. Also worth visiting is the gardens, especially the New Earl’s Garden which has a strong Jacobean influence.