There have been gardens on this site since 1622, when the original manor house was built by James Lewkenor. In 1804, when the current house was built, the gardens were enlarged and park was laid out, and the kitchen garden was moved to its present position and enclosed by walls.

Many of the existing mature beeches, limes, horse chestnuts, planes and cedars date from this period and the present layout owes much to their planting. In 1818, the garden was extended to the west and flint walls were added.

Frederick Bower, who acquired the Estate in 1871, continued to develop the gardens and opened them annually to the public. Twenty years later William James purchased the Estate and made many improvements to the garden, including rebuilding and extending the range of glasshouses in the walled kitchen garden, the construction of the magnificent pergola in the North Lawn, plus a considerable amount of planting and refurbishment, both in the grounds and the arboretum.

On his father’s death in 1912, Edward James inherited the estate. Best known for his patronage of artists including Dalí, Magritte, Tchelitchew, Fini and Carrington, in 1964 he established the Edward James Foundation, a charitable educational trust. Edward died in 1984 and is buried in St. Roche’s Arboretum.

The transformation of the gardens began after the storm of 1987. Since then, Gardens Manager Jim Buckland and Gardens Supervisor Sarah Wain have carried out a bold re-development programme designed to bring the nineteenth century gardens into the twenty-first century.

A C1 AD formal Roman courtyard garden, enclosed within the partly excavated wings of a Roman palace and reconstructed according to field evidence revealed through excavation and planted in accordance with known contemporary planting styles.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The site at Fishbourne was first occupied by the Romans as a military base in the early stages of the invasion of Britain, from AD 43(75. Its abandonment for military purposes was quickly followed by two stages of building for residential use, the second of these occurring between AD 65 and 75 until, in AD 75, the site was cleared and levelled for the construction of the present palace, possibly for the British client king Togidubnus. From AD 100 to 200 it underwent considerable change and development until in the 280s it was destroyed by fire. Subsequent stone robbing, weathering, worm and agricultural activity reduced the contours to an even slope. Although the sporadic discovery of Roman artefacts was recorded from 1805, proper investigation of the site and the identification of a major, late C1 building only took place following the cutting of a trench for a water-main in 1960. A series of major excavations, which brought to light the history and the scale and structure of the Palace, its gardens and surroundings, took place between 1961 and 1968. The Sussex Archaeological Society acquired much of the site and established the present museum which opened to the public in 1968. This remains (1997) in their ownership while the rest of the (unexcavated) site is in multiple public and private ownership.

Steven Wright

Arundel took part in the ‘There but not there’ national commemorative  project by installing 93 silhouettes representing Arundel’s ‘Roll of Honour’.

The project’s aims were simple:

Commemorate those who died in the First World War through installations of silhouettes and Tommies wherever there is a Roll of Honour.

To Educate all generations, particularly today’s younger generation, born nearly 100 years after the outbreak of WW1, to understand what led to the deaths of 888,246 British and Commonwealth service personnel.

Heal today’s veterans who are suffering from the mental and physical wounds of their service by raising substantial funds through sales of our Tommies,

My previous posts explained what happened to the Arundel church building after King Henry VIII parted from the Church of Rome and declared himself Head of The Church of England. Despite Henry’s actions Catholic missionary priests were able to continue their teachings in Arundel:

The reign of King Henry VIII saw traumatic change with the dissolution of the monasteries and religious houses. In 1544 the College was dissolved and in 1558 the old Catholic hierarchy came to an end. It was from this time until 1748 that Arundel was served in secret from Slindon House, in a neighbouring parish, where missionary priests were provided by the Kemp family. From 1748 there commences list of reinstated Catholic chaplains who served the domestic chapel which had been reinstated in  Arundel Castle; they also served the Catholic population of Arundel until 1850, when the Catholic hierarchy was re-established and a rector of the parish appointed once more.*

The old chapel of the College throughout all these vicissitudes remained in Catholic hands; it is now called the Fitzalan Chapel and is where Requiem Masses are still offered for the founder of the Cathedral and all those buried in its vaults. It forms the chancel of the old parish church and, despite the sorrows of the Reformation, it is an enduring witness to Catholic continuity. Although divided from the now Anglican Church by a 14th-century grille and latterly a glass screen, this in no way implies a division in faith, but rather a protection of the privacy of what has always been a private chapel. It was from this chapel in 1971 that the mortal remains of St Philip Howard were brought to be enshrined in the cathedral which now proudly claims him as patron.*

This great church owes its existence to the generosity and foresight of Henry, 15th Duke of Norfolk, the Earl Marshal, who commissioned the building in 1869. The architect was Joseph Aloysius Hansom.

The church opened on the 1st July 1873 as the Catholic Parish Church of Arundel. It was originally dedicated to St. Philip Neri but when the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton was created in 1935 the church became the Cathedral of our Lady and St. Philip. In 1971 the remains of the martyred 13th Earl of Arundel, St. Philip Howard (1557-1595) were enshrined in the Cathedral and the dedication was changed to the present one of Our Lady and St. Philip Howard.**

* From the Arundel Cathedral guidebook

** From a welcome message on entry to the Cathedral

Following on from my previous post where the 12th Earl surrendered the collegiate chapel to King Henry VIII, subsequential purchasing it back and being required to provide an annual rent to the King :

The nave [of the church] continued as the parish church of Arundel. As the effects of the Reformation took hold the church was rapidly transformed from a temple to a school-room. Altars dedicated to the saints, statues, stained glass and wall paintings were all removed, smashed or painted over, and over time row upon row of pews filled the church.

During the Civil War (16-1651) the Roundheads hoisted cannon onto the church roof to bombard the Royalists holed up in the adjacent castle. They also used the church as their barracks and the Fitzalan Chapel to stable their horses.*

In the 19th century the Church of England rediscovered its catholic identity and a sense of the beauty of holiness once more entered our churches. In St Nicholas’ this led to the introduction of the high altar and reredos, choir stalls and stained glass windows. *

*From a Church of St Nicholas Arundel leaflet

In 1380 the 4th Earl of Arundel, Richard Fitzalan, founded a secular College of Canons, that is to say, a community of clergy to maintain daily worship and pray for the souls of the founder’s family. This initiated the building of the church you see today. From the beginning the church was divided into two parts, with the nave accommodating the people of the parish and the chancel as the collegiate chapel and chantry. An iron grille, which you can still see today, separated the two parts of the church.*

This arrangement was common in many churches in England. What sets Arundel apart is that on 12th December 1544, just before Henry VIII ordered the abolition of the chantries, the 12th Earl shrewdly surrendered the College to the king, who a few days later sold it back to the Earl for 1,000 marks and an annual rent. The collegiate chapel, therefore, was taken out of the hands of the Church and became the private property of the Earl and his descendants. The Chapel, now know as the Fitzalan Chapel, can only be accessed through the castle. *

In 1879 an action heard before Lord Chief Justice Coleridge determined that the Fitzalan Chapel did not form part of the parish church but was an independant ecclesiastical structure. The chapel has therefore remained Catholic, an unusual, if not unique, anomaly in England. It is dedicated to the Holy Trinity, Blessed Virgin Mary and All Saints. The parish church is dedicated to St Nicholas.**

The chapel is still used as the burial place of the Dukes of Norfolk and several masses are said here every year for the repose of their souls in accordance with the intention of the founder in the 14th century. The major artistic interest of the Fitzalan Chapel lies in the tombs of the Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk which form one of the finest assemblages of their kind in England.**

*From a Church of St Nicholas Arundel leaflet

**From an Arundel Castle leaflet on the Fitzalan Chapel

The Rose Garden occupies the site of a medieval bowling green. It is enclosed by yew hedges and laid out with formal beds of Rosa Rugosa Alba, Rosa Winchester Cathedral, Rosa Alfred Carriere and Rosa Isaac Perrier. *

*From the Arundel Castle guidebook