Arundel Castle

Performance Spaces

Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

Legend
map legend

Base layers

Data layers

Other Images

17th c. view
18th c. view
19th c. courtyard view
Arundel Castle
Castle gatehouse
Norman windows
Site plan
View from the keep
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Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

Site Name: Arundel Castle
Location: Arundel
County: Sussex
Location Type: Town - in town at determined location
http://www.arundelcastle.org/

Performance Spaces

Great hall

Overview

Located in a strategic position overlooking the River Arun on the southern edge of the South Downs, Arundel Castle still dominates the town as it must have done in the Middle Ages.

The Norman gatehouse, 12th c. Caen stone shell keep, and late 13th c. Bevis Tower remain as well as the vaulted undercroft and some fabric from Henry II's domestic range in the S bailey. The interiors are mostly Victorian. The 14th c. great hall was located in the W range in the S bailey but it was destroyed in the mid-17th c.

Performance History

A probable performance venue. A steady succession of Fitz Alan family members patronized entertainers who performed elsewhere from the 14th to the 16th c. Two later members of the Howard family are also known to have patronized entertainers.

Current Status

Still owned by the Howard Dukes of Norfolk and cared for by a trust. Open to the public at specified times.

History of the Venue

ca. 1067 Roger de Montgomery, later 1st Earl of Shropshire or Shrewsbury, built a motte with a stone keep, moat and 2 baileys to the N and E.

late 11th/early 12th c. Curtain wall built.

1102 Henry I captured the castle.

1138 Granted as dower to Henry I's widow, Adeliza, on her marriage to William d'Aubigny (or de Albini), 1st Earl of Lincoln, 1st Earl of Sussex and 4th Earl of Arundel.

ca. 1138 Shell keep built.

1176 Castle reverted to the Crown upon the death of William d'Aubigny. Henry II did some further building, including a chapel and domestic range with great hall on the S side of the S bailey.

1190 William d'Aubigny, 2nd Earl of Sussex (and later 5th Earl of Arundel), recovered the Honour of Arundel.

1243 Inherited by John Fitz Alan of Clun from his mother, Isabel d'Aubigny, sister and coheir of Hugh, 8th Earl of Arundel.

ca. 1290 Richard Fitz Alan, 11th Earl of Arundel, completed the curtain wall and Bevis Tower, adding the Well Tower and a new barbican. Norman gatehouse also heightened.

early 14th c. New W range in the S bailey including a 2-storey great hall with steeply pitched roof built by Richard Fitz Alan, 14th Earl.

1397 15th Earl beheaded. Castle and honour of Arundel granted to John Holand, 1st Duke of Exeter.

1400 Holand beheaded. Estate and honours restored to Thomas Fitz Alan, 17th Earl of Arundel.

mid-16th c. 4th brick range built in the S bailey by the 12th Earl to complete the quadrangle. Long gallery added on the upper floor of the E range; family rooms remodelled in S wing.

1580 Inherited by Philip Howard, 25th Earl of Arundel and eldest son of Mary Fitz Alan, the 24th Earl of Arundel's heiress, and Thomas Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk.

1584 Philip Howard attainted and his estate seized by the Crown.

1604 Restored to Thomas Howard, 26th Earl of Arundel and 18th Earl of Norfolk, but the castle was not often inhabited during this period.

1643--4 Captured during the Civil War and subsequently occupied by parliamentary troops. Great hall and other buildings in the W and S ranges destroyed. Some damage to the residential quarters subsequently repaired.

1653 W defences blown up after the troops withdrew.

1660 Howards reinstated as Dukes of Norfolk by Charles II.

ca. 1718 Brick front added to the courtyard side of the S wing by the 13th Duke. Rooms inside Henry II's building remodelled to serve as a drawing room and dining room. Long gallery in E wing became the entrance hall approached from the courtyard. W wing left as a shell with lean-tos inside serving as stables and a coach house on the site of the great hall. 16th c. brick range on the N side of the quadrangle demolished to provide a view of the ruined keep and motte (Robinson, Arundel Castle 19).

18th c. Used only occasionally as a residence. Principal family residence was at Worksop in Nottinghamshire.

1791--1815 Most of the medieval and Tudor residential buildings replaced. The surviving porch of the 14th c. great hall was demolished in 1806. Restoration and neo-Gothic additions by Robert Abraham for Charles Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk, including a baron's hall and library. New gatehouse and SE tower built.

ca. 1850 New entrance gateway and lodge built.

1877--1903 E wing extended, S and W wings rebuilt by by C.A. Buckler for the 20th Duke of Norfolk; late 18th and mid-19th c. Gothic additions mostly stripped away. Medieval remains carefully restored.

late 20th c. Further extensive repair and restoration work done.

Record Source

REED Devon 31--2, 36, 82--3, 125, 219--20; Dorset/Cornwall 240; Herefordshire/Worcestershire 398, 400, 405; Shropshire 1.127, 129, 132--3, 135, 137, 159, 164, 167, 174--6, 179, 180, 182, 184, 187, 189, 354; Somerset including Bath 1.41; Sussex 14--18, 44--5, 49, 51--63, 65--7, 70, 72--3, 78, 81--6, 88, 90--1, 95, 98, 183--6; York 1.69

Patrons who owned this venue

Name Dates Titles
Arundel, John d' 1385-1421 Baron , 18th Earl of
Fitz Alan, Richard 1313-1376 14th Earl of , 9th Earl of
Fitz Alan, Richard 1346-1397 15th Earl of , 10th Earl of , Knight of the
Fitz Alan, Thomas 1381-1415 17th Earl of , 11th Earl of , Knight of the
Fitz Alan, Thomas 1450-1524 Lord , 22nd Earl of
Fitz Alan, William 1417-1487 21st Earl of
Fitz Alan, William 1476-1544 Baron , 23rd Earl of , Knight of the
Howard, Henry Frederick 1608-1652 Baron , 1st Baron , 27th Earl of , 17th Earl of , Earl of
Howard, Philip 1557-1595 Earl of , 25th Earl of
Howard, Thomas 1585-1646 Baron , 26th Earl of , 16th Earl of , Knight of the
Percy, Anne 1485-1552 Lady , Countess of
Portugal, Beatrice of 0-1439 Countess of

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

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