Arundel

When AC was in Europe for two weeks this past March, he managed to send Sam a postcard nearly every day. One of them was titled “Castles of Sussex” and featured mini pictures of six castles. At the bottom of the postcard where the names of the castles were listed, AC had circled the two that we had visited last fall, Lewes and Pevensey.

Because we are castle geeks and because we like crossing things off a list, we determined to visit at least one more castle on the postcard this trip– Arundel.

Like Pevensey and Lewes, Arundel is Norman, springing up a couple of years after William conquered the island. Unlike Pevensey and Lewes, it is habitable and inhabited–the home of the current Duke of Norfolk.

We took three trains to get there. That’s right, three. But total travel time each way was about an hour and a half and was quite pleasant, except for about 20 minutes of uncertainty in Littlehampton station.

We arrived in Arundel rather late in the day, leaving us only an hour to tour the castle, which turned out to be perfect. There were no crowds and most of the time we had the castle rooms to ourselves.

Our favorite part was the oldest: the castle keep. 131 winding steps to the top. Sam managed them admirably, often racing ahead of me. From within the walls of the keep we ogled the dungeon and the well and the garderobe (an old type of potty, we told Sam). From the very top we had gorgeous views of the Sussex countryside.

We peered through the arrow loops and watched for approaching enemies. Sam asked a lot of questions. Then she started to literally climb the castle keep walls.

Down the 131 winding steps we went, AC boldly in front, Sam trooping merrily along behind him, me wishing I still had that umbilical cord and calling anxiously to Sam, “Be careful!” Sam calling back, “I’m fine, Mommy!”

We finished our tour in the newer sections of the castle, or as AC called them, “the aristocratic parts.” He doesn’t fancy those as much. He prefers his castles abandoned or in ruins. I rather enjoyed seeing the living spaces–the posh dining room set for luncheon, the deep dark mahogany library, and the rooms that Victoria and Albert stayed in the ONE time they visited Arundel in 1846. The 13th Duke of Norfolk took the opportunity to remodel part of the castle just for them. The rooms that V&A stayed in have remained preserved exactly as they were 163 years ago.

I love seeing that sort of thing.

Rooms frozen in time, treacherous twisting stairs, and medieval toilets: Arundel had something for the castle geek in all of us. Though Sam loved the journey just as much as the destination. On the way back (once again, three trains) she sang “The Train Song” (Phil Rosenthal’s folk version) loudly and unabashedly in the crowded train car. When we got up to disembark and hop on the next train, the woman across from us said, “Tha’ was jus luvely. Luvely singing. Thank you.”