Arundel ( ) is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

Arun District Arun is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It contains the towns of Arundel, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and takes its name from the River Arun, which runs through the centre of the district."Arun" in ''The New Encyclo ...

of the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, 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 ...

and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much larger

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

in its number of

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

s in West Sussex. The

River Arun The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small strea ...

runs through the eastern side of the town. Arundel was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835. From 1836 to 1889 the town had its own Borough police force with a strength of three. In 1974 it became part of the

Arun district Arun is a local government district in West Sussex, England. It contains the towns of Arundel, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, and takes its name from the River Arun, which runs through the centre of the district."Arun" in ''The New Encyclo ...

, 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 settlers in the mid-5th c ...

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

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

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

Governance

An electoral ward of the same name exists. This ward stretches north to

Houghton Houghton may refer to: Places Australia * Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide * Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland * Houghton Island (Queensland) Canada *Houghton Township, ...

with a total population at the 2011 census of 4,298. Arundel Town Council is based at Arundel Town Hall.

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 Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort, and pleasure harbour, and the most populous civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south sout ...

swing bridge in 1908. Arundel Castle was built by the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

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 In etymology, back-formation is the process or result of creating a new word via inflection, typically by removing or substituting actual or supposed affixes from a lexical item, in a way that expands the number of lexemes associated with the ...

. 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 A single carriageway (British English) or Undivided highway (American English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road has a s ...

bypass. Plans for a more extensive, HQDC bypass were debated intensely between 1980 and 2010 and a junction was built for it at Crossbush. In Spring 2018,

Highways England National Highways, formerly the Highways Agency and later Highways England, is a government-owned company charged with operating, maintaining and improving motorways and major A roads in England. It also sets highways standards used by all f ...

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 is on the

Arun Valley Line The Arun Valley line, also known as the Mid Sussex line, is part of the Southern- and Thameslink-operated railway services. For the initial part of the route trains follow the Brighton Main Line, and at a junction south of Three Bridges the r ...

. The

Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West Su ...

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 The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 16 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Susse ...

runs. The town itself lies outside the boundaries of the

South Downs National Park The South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on 31 March 2010. The park, covering an area of in southern England, stretches for from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east through the counties of Hamp ...

Society

Arundel is home to Arundel Castle, seat of the

Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...

; and to

Arundel Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Our Lady and St Philip Howard is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Arundel, West Sussex, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to ...

, seat of the (Catholic)

Bishop of Arundel and Brighton The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in the Province of Southwark, England. The bishop's official residence is Bishop's House, The Upper Drive, Hove, East Sussex. The most rec ...

. On 6 July 2004, Arundel was granted

Fairtrade Town The Fair Trade Towns campaign is the result of a grass-roots citizens movement that started in the UK in 2001 (see below). It allows citizens to get together in order to self-proclaim their town (or other local geographical area) as a region that ...

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

Cub Scouts Cub Scouts, Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with Scouting for young children usually between 7 and 12, depending on the organization to which they belong. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a 'P ...

and Scouts.

Sport and leisure

Arundel has a non-League football club Arundel F.C. 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 for a number of games each season.

Notable people

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

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

Nigel Cumberland Nigel Cumberland is a British author, leadership coach and mentor, and a founder of The Silk Road Partnership. He is the author of nine self-development and leadership books, (note some are dups/combinations/re-issues) some of which have been se ...

, 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 and painter *

Judy Geeson Judith Amanda Geeson (born 10 September 1948) is an English film, stage, and television actress. She began her career primarily working on British television series, with a leading role on '' The Newcomers'' from 1965 to 1967, before making he ...

, actress. * St Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel, part of the court of Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

and a martyr for the Catholic faith. *

Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon (24 July 1826 – 6 February 1874) was a teacher and artist known for her talents during the 1860s in Ontario, Canada. In 1966, her most comprehensive work, ''An Illustrated Comic Alphabet'', was published by librarian ...

, teacher and artist, was born in nearby

and lived at Arundel as a child. * C. E. M. Joad, Philosopher and broadcaster, wrote many books at South Stoke Farm near Arundel. *

George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational church, Congregational Minister (Christianity), minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature a ...

, 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