Arundel
The fortress remains impressive despite the slighting and rebuilding of
some of the castle buildings after the seventeenth century Civil
War. It is of an unusual twin bailey plan and consists of a
Norman gatehouse with a shell keep on a powerful motte, two baileys
surrounded by masonry defences and Civil War earthworks.
The castle was founded by Roger Montgomery (d.1093) in the immediate
aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England. It was first
mentioned in 1071, although Domesday Book hints it may have existed
before 1066 when it states that in the time of King Edward (d.1066)
Arundel castle used to pay (Castrum Harundel reddebat)
40s from a mill and provide lodging for the lord on 3 occasions a year
at a value of 20s and once similarly at a value of 20s.
Roger's son, Robert Belleme, lost the castle to
a 3 month siege by King Henry I in
1102. The castle then remained in royal hands and was further
fortified by the king, with its custodian, William Pont de l'Arche of Portchester, spending £22 7s 8d on the castle works in 1130 alone. In 1135 the newly crowned King Stephen granted
the castle to his predecessor's widow, Adeliza Louvain
(d.1151). She took the castle to her second husband, Earl William
Aubigny of Arundel (d.1176). The honour of Arundel during the
reign of Henry II (1154-89) had lands in Sussex, Hampshire and
Warwickshire and could call on the service of 88 knights' fees.
In 1139 the Empress Matilda (d.1167) landed in Arundel harbour and was entertained in the castle by her step mother, Adelize (d.1151). Consequently King Stephen
moved rapidly against the castle and to avert a siege of this powerful
castle, as well as forcing the Aubigny's into rebellion, the king
allowed Matilda to progress to Bristol and the safety of her half
brother, Earl Robert of Gloucester (d.1147). In 1156 the new King Henry II
(1154-89) confirmed Earl William to the whole honour of Arundel with
its castle and granted to him the third penny of all the pleas of the
country of Sussex with all liberties just as King Henry I (d.1135) had held in his demesne.
Later, during the
early part of the reign of King Henry II
(1154-89), Adelize's brother, Jocelin Louvain (d.1179) was
castellan. On the death of Earl William Aubigny in 1176, King Henry II
claimed the castle as escheat, William having only been holding the
castle by the courtesy of England, ie. in right of his deceased wife,
Adelize. Work on the castle in the 1170s and 1180s included
building a wall, flooring a tower and improving the king's chamber and
chapel as well as the royal garden. Henry stayed at the castle on
several occasions,
once around 1182, as appears to have Richard I
in 1189. The next year King Richard granted the castle back to
the Aubignys to guarantee their support while he was away on
Crusade. In 1198 Earl William Arundel (d.1221) paid to have his
castle back from the Crown, while in the 1210s it was recorded that the
castle chaplain received 10s a year. In the latter two thirds of
the thirteenth century the castle was regularly used as a prison, it
being recorded in the 1270s that those taken in the honour of Arundel
had to be imprisoned in the castle and not Guildford. Prisoners
were also kept here during the Peasants' Revolt.
In 1243 the Fitz Alans of Clun and Oswestry
inherited the castle and title. The next year it was recorded
that the castle porter received 2s a day, while the 2 watchmen got
3d. They fought against Simon Montfort in the Barons' Wars and in
1265 the John Fitz Alan (d.1267) was ordered to surrender Arundel,
although he appears not to have complied. In 1275 a keeper had
responsibility for the second bailey, indicating that both were
operational at the time. Later in 1279 there was a mention of
Percy's Hall. Presumably this was for the Percy lords of Petworth
who owed the massive service of 22½ knights to the earldom,
while in 1292 Earl Richard Fitz Alan (d.1302) was living in the
castle. In 1326 Earl Edmund Fitz Alan was executed and the castle
seized by the Crown. In 1330 the castle was under the control of
Roger Mortimer of Wigmore (d.1330) who was
acting for the Crown. In 1336 it was still under royal control,
but had been returned to Earl Richard Fitz Alan (d.1376) by the 1340s,
when he was living there. In 1384 the next Earl Richard (d.1397)
had the royal family staying when his younger daughter Elizabeth was
married there to Duke Thomas Mowbray of Norfolk (d.1399). The
Fitz Alans remained in residence and Earl William (d.1544) entertained
Henry VIII (d.1547) there in 1526 and 1538. The fortress was
uninhabited early in the seventeenth century, but served in the Civil
War, being saved from slighting Duke Thomas Howard of Norfolk (d.1732)
then lived there occasionally after the war. From 1832 to 1961
the castle was the main residence of the dukes, while Duke Charles of
Norfolk (d.1815), who was responsible for the 1791 rebuilding, spent
much of his time there. The castle is currently the home of Lord
Arundel, the son of Duke Miles.
Description
At the centre of the site is a motte and bailey castle, with a lesser
bailey to the north-east and the main ward to the south-east. This makes it
similar to the larger royal castle at Windsor, Arundel being nearly
1,000' long by 250' wide. The first
castle comprised of the motte, some 250' in basal diameter and 65'
above the courtyards.
The ditches surrounding
the motte are up to 30' deep, but those to the south-east were filled in during
the 1791+ modifications. Judging by the layout of the baileys
they were designed as a single structure, even though the northern
bailey is elliptical and the southern one more rectangular. The
much mutilated surrounding ditches on the west sides of the castle are
up to 30' deep, while the river cliff on the east side negated the need
for protection on that front.
The shell
keep on top of the 100' high motte was some 60' in diameter and has walls 30'
high. Shell keeps are reasonably unusual in being defensive
enceintes with buildings set against the wall, but the whole not roofed
in like a tower. Other examples exist at
Berkeley, Cardiff, Carisbrooke, Clare, Kilpeck, Launceston, Lincoln, Marlborough, Oxford, Restormal, Tamworth, Tonbridge, Totnes,
Tremarton, Tretower, Warwick, Windsor, Wiston and in France at Chateau Sur Epte and Gisors. There are also shell keeps in Ireland at Dungarvan
and Shanid. Arundel shell keep was modified in the reign of Henry
II when works were undertaken here by Roger Remfry, a royal justiciar
and grandson of Henry I. This consisted of a tower built on older
foundations over the well together with a new gatehouse to replace the
old hole in the wall gate which was blocked. Presumably this well
tower was the ‘high tower' of 1376 which was used as a
treasury. Around 1300 this work was heightened with
shoulder-headed fitments. At some date a ribbed vault was added
in the centre of the motte.
To the north-east of the motte is an upper bailey some 1,150 feet across.
This originally had strong earthworks on all sides except the north-east where
the steep slopes seem to have provided sufficient defence. The
lower levels of a stone gatehouse survive at the gap in this northern
earthwork, while the rest of the enceinte is enclosed by a curtain wall
with rectangular towers which mostly project more externally than
internally. As such they could well date to the twelfth
century. At the north-east corner of the ward, external to the current
curtain, is a short length of curved foundation which seems to be the
remains of a circular tower, built in the same style of the keep.
Possibly this is a remnant of a round tower about 30' in
diameter. The rest of the enceinte consists of regularly placed
rectangular towers set in a thin curtain, which was later thickened to
10' thick. The Bevis Tower, at the top of the motte ditch to the north-east seems to have been originally open backed, as were the other towers
in the enceinte. Originally a postern, it was rebuilt in probably
the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries.
To the south-east is the main bailey, which has been much rebuilt. That
this was the main ward is suggested by the great entrance with barbican
into this bailey commanded by the keep, which was also entered from
this side. It is thought that the lower two floors of this
gatehouse are the oldest masonry structures on the site, being
constructed from Pulborough stone. The gate has a Romanesque
arch. The middle stage of the gatehouse and cellars under the south-east
range are claimed to date from the late twelfth century, but the
windows are similar to those found in Goodrich
keep, which appears to be considerably older. Just possibly this
section of the castle was the earlier structure hinted at in the
Domesday Book.
The castle had 2 chapels. One was presumably in the keep and was
mentioned as early as 1183. In 1275 the 2 chapels were dedicated
to St Martin and St George. As St Martin was the dedication of
Sees abbey, which was patronised by the Montgomerys, it is to be
presumed that this was founded as early as 1102 and possibly from the
1060s. The other chapel probably lay in the south-east corner of the south-east
bailey from where it was removed in the late eighteenth century.
For more detailed descriptions of the castle see the CSG
and British
History
Why not join me at Arundel and other British castles this October? Please see the information on tours at Scholarly Sojourns.
Copyright©2016
Paul Martin Remfry