Arundel

Arundel
Town overlooked by castle
Arundel
Arundel shown within West Sussex
Area	12.13 km2 (4.68 sq mi) [1]
Population	3,475 (Civil Parish.2011)[2]
• Density	286/km2 (740/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ018070
• London	49 miles (79 km) NNE
Civil parish	Arundel
District	Arun
Shire county	West Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ARUNDEL
Postcode district	BN18
Dialling code	01903
Police	Sussex
Fire	West Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Arundel and South Downs

Arundel (/ˈærəndəl/ or locally /ˈɑːndəl/) is a market town and civil parish in a steep vale of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. It lies 49 miles (79 km) SSW of London, 18 miles (29 km) WNW of the English Channel city of Brighton, and 10 miles (16 km) east of the county city of Chichester. Larger nearby towns include Worthing, Littlehampton and Bognor Regis.

The much-conserved town with large green buffers has the remains of a medieval castle sited in the grounds to the north of the imposing nineteenth century folly built in the style of a medieval castle, along with a Roman Catholic cathedral. Although smaller in population than most other parishes, Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larger Chichester in its number of listed buildings in West Sussex. The River Arun runs through the eastern side of the town.

Arundel was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835. From 1836-1889 the town had its own Borough police force with a strength of three.^[3] In 1974 it became part of the Arun district, and now is a civil parish with a town council.

Name

Arundel's old market place

The name was spelled Arundell. The modern spelling dates to the 18th century.^[4]

The etymology of the name is usually derived from the name of River Arun, a British hydronym, combined with Anglo-Saxon dell.^[5]

A popular etymology, reflected in the municipal coat of arms, connects the Norman French word for "swallow", aronde.^[6]

Governance

An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward stretches north to Houghton with a total population as taken at the 2011 census of 4,298.^[7]

Geography

Arundel's old town main street

Arundel civil parish occupies an area somewhat larger than its built-up clusters, with the old town towards the north and the new to the south, separated by a main road.^[8]

The River Arun at Arundel.

Arundel town is a major bridging point over the River Arun as it was the lowest road bridge until the opening of the Littlehampton swing bridge in 1908. Arundel Castle was built by the Normans to protect that vulnerable fairly wooded plain to the north of the valley through the South Downs. The town later grew up on the slope below the castle to the south.^[9] The river was previously called the Tarrant and was renamed after the town by antiquarians in a back-formation.

Arundel includes meadows to the south but is clustered north of the A27 road, which narrowly avoids the town centre by a short and congested single carriageway bypass. Plans for a more extensive, HQDC bypass were debated intensely between 1980 and 2010 and built a junction for it at Crossbush. Arundel railway station is on the Arun Valley Line. The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath passes through the town and crosses the river here, while just under five miles north and north-west of the town the route of the South Downs Way runs.

The town itself lies outside the boundaries of the South Downs National Park.

Society

Arundel is home to Arundel Castle, seat of the Duke of Norfolk; and to Arundel Cathedral, seat of the (Catholic) Bishop of Arundel and Brighton.

On 6 July 2004, Arundel was granted Fairtrade Town status.^[10]

People born in Arundel are known locally as Mullets, due to the presence of mullet in the River Arun.^[11]

Arundel is home to one of the oldest Scout Groups in the world. 1st Arundel (Earl of Arundel's Own) Scout Group was formed in 1908 only a few weeks after Scouting began.^[12] Based in an HQ in Green Lane Close, it has active sections of Beaver Scouts, Cub Scouts and Scouts.

Sport and leisure

Arundel has a non-League football club Arundel F.C. who play at Mill Road.

The town also has its own cricket ground at the castle, often cited as being one of the country's most picturesque.^[13] It hosts Sussex County Cricket Club for a number of games each season.

Notable people

• Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel, part of the court of Queen Elizabeth I and a martyr for the Catholic faith. He was taken to the Tower of London with his dog in 1585 and died in 1595. His bones can be found in an altar at Arundel Cathedral.
• George Constable, local brewer and amateur artist, whose work is now in the Tate. ^[14] He was a friend of John Constable.
• Successive Dukes of Norfolk and Earls Marshal of England
• Derek Davis, potter and painter
• Judy Geeson, actress
• Cara Horgan, actress

Saint Nicholas Churchyard in Arundel

• Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon was born in nearby Littlehampton and lived at Arundel as a child. She is buried with her father and former town mayor Edward Howard Howard-Gibbon at Saint Nicholas Churchyard in Arundel
• C.E.M. Joad, Philosopher and broadcaster, wrote many books at South Stoke Farm near Arundel
• George MacDonald, pastor of Trinity Congregational Church, 1850
• Francis Meynell, publisher
• John Cowper Powys, the novelist, moved to nearby Burpham in 1902. His son was born in the village and lived there with his mother whilst John Cowper Powys lectured in America.^[15]

See also

• Amberley Working Museum
• Arundel Museum
• Earls of Arundel
• Fitzalan Chapel
• List of places of worship in Arun
• Portsmouth and Arundel Canal
• South Marsh Mill, Arundel
• An Arundel Tomb, a poem by Philip Larkin

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arundel.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Arundel (England).

• Town Council
• Arundel in the Domesday Book