Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a

medieval castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

and Roman Catholic cathedral. 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 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The legisl ...

. From 1836 to 1889 the town had its own Borough police force with a strength of three. In

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

it became part of the Arun district, and is now a civil parish with a town council.

Name

The name comes from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

''Harhunedell'', meaning "valley of horehound", and was first recorded in the Domesday Book.

Folk etymology Folk etymology (also known as popular etymology, analogical reformation, reanalysis, morphological reanalysis or etymological reinterpretation) is a change in a word or phrase resulting from the replacement of an unfamiliar form by a more famili ...

, however, connects the name with the Old French word ''arondelle'', meaning "swallow", and swallows appear on the town's arms.

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

of the same name exists. This ward stretches north to Houghton with a total population at the 2011 census of 4,298. Arundel Town Council is based at

Arundel Town Hall Arundel Town Hall is a municipal building in Maltravers Street in Arundel, West Sussex, England. The building, which is the meeting place of Arundel Town Council, is a Grade II listed building. History The first town hall in Arundel was located ...

Geography

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. 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 Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established during the reign of Edward the Confessor and completed by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War a ...

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. The river was previously called the Tarrant and was renamed after the town by

antiquarians An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic si ...

in a back-formation. Arundel includes meadows to the south but is clustered north of the

A27 road The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish (near Salisbury) in the county of Wiltshire, follows the south coast of Hampshire and West Sussex, and terminates at Pevensey (near Eastbourne and Bexhi ...

, which narrowly avoids the town centre by a short and congested single carriageway

bypass Bypass may refer to: * Bypass (road), a road that avoids a built-up area (not to be confused with passing lane) * Flood bypass of a river Science and technology Medicine * Bypass surgery, a class of surgeries including for example: ** Heart bypas ...

. Plans for a more extensive,

HQDC A High-quality dual carriageway (HQDC) is a road category in Ireland. It is defined as an all-purpose dual carriageway road type built to near motorway standards, but without motorway classification or motorway restrictions. High-quality dual car ...

bypass were debated intensely between 1980 and 2010 and a junction was built for it at Crossbush. In Spring 2018, Highways England published their preferred route for the new bypass. During 2018-19 there is a further period of consultation when views on a more detailed design for the four-mile dual carriageway will be sought.

Arundel railway station Arundel railway station serves the market town of Arundel in West Sussex. The station is on the eastern side of the town, about from the High Street, across the River Arun. It is down the line from via . The station is situated on the A27 ...

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

, 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. People born in Arundel are known locally as Mullets, due to the presence of mullet in the River Arun. 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 Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

began. Based in an HQ in Green Lane Close, it has active sections of

Beaver Scouts Beavers is a program associated with some Scouting organizations generally for children aged 6 to 8 who are too young for the Cub program. Beavers programs had their origins in the Northern Ireland organization ''The Little Brothers'', founded in ...

, Cub Scouts and Scouts.

Sport and leisure

Arundel has a

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club

Arundel F.C. Arundel Football Club is a association football, football club based in Arundel, West Sussex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Road. History The club was established in 1889. They were founder members of the West Sus ...

which plays 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. It hosts

Sussex County Cricket Club Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Sussex. Its limited overs team is called the Sussex Sharks. The c ...

for a number of games each season.

Notable people

The Church of St Nicholas at Arundel, West Sussex - geograph

Christopher Alexander Christopher Wolfgang John Alexander (4 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an Austrian-born British-American architect and design theorist. He was an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His theories about the nature o ...

, architect. * Mary Chater, composer, Music Advisor to the Girl Guides and Justice of the Peace for Arundel from 1945 to 1961. * Nigel Cumberland, author. *

Derek Davis Derek Davis (26 April 1948 – 13 May 2015) was an Irish broadcaster. On television, he co-hosted '' Live at 3'', presented '' Davis at Large'' and '' Out of the Blue'' and won ''Celebrity Bainisteoir''. Early life Davis was born in Bangor, ...

potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

* Judy Geeson, actress. * St Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel, part of the court of Queen Elizabeth I and a martyr for the Catholic faith. * Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon, teacher and artist, was born in nearby Littlehampton and lived at Arundel as a child. *

C. E. M. Joad Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad (12 August 1891 – 9 April 1953) was an English philosopher and broadcasting personality. He appeared on ''The Brains Trust'', a BBC Radio wartime discussion programme. He popularised philosophy and became a celebri ...

Philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

and broadcaster, wrote many books at South Stoke Farm near Arundel. * George MacDonald, pastor of Trinity Congregational Church, 1850. *

Liam Treadwell Liam Treadwell (3 January 198623 June 2020) was an English National Hunt jockey, who won over 300 races between 2009 and 2019. He won the 2009 Grand National on Mon Mome at odds of 100/1, and also won the United House Gold Cup, Byrne Group P ...

, jockey.

References

External links

Town Council
* {{authority control Market towns in West Sussex Arun District Towns with cathedrals in the United Kingdom Towns in West Sussex