Yesterday I had a long day in Arundel, the picturesque little town on the South Downs in West Sussex, which you can reach on the train by travelling from Victoria on the main line to Bognor Regis. This trip was organised by the London Photographic Meetup Group, definitely worth joining if you’re interested in photography and wanting to improve your technique – the people I went down there with today were very friendly too.
We were fortunate enough to be there on the weekend when the medieval jousting tournament, organised by Destrier Pro, was in full swing in the grounds of Arundel Castle and, on passing through the main gates, we almost immediately came upon their large tented encampment, set below the castle’s battlements. As well as the tournament itself there were also displays of medieval fighting techniques and the re-enactors were eager to share their knowledge of arms and armour with visitors – in fact, after chatting to the lightly armoured longbowmen with their 6’+ tall bows for a while, I had the opportunity to heft a few swords and also, after some encouragement, tried on about a quarter of a suit of armour! In the end I was wearing a cuirass (a plate protecting the chest and back), a vambrace (which protects the forearm) and gauntlet on one arm, and a sallet helm with a bevor to protect the neck and chin. Worn together they were incredibly heavy and hot but you have to pity the knights who were jousting out on the field – in their plate and chain they were each wearing about 80 to 100 lbs of metal in all!
Arundel Castle is the main home of the Duke of Norfolk, who is currently Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the 18th Duke. He is nown as the ‘Premier Duke’ of England, and to this day his position carries a lot of ceremonial duties in service of the Royal Family and the state. The current Duke’s father, for example, led the Queen’s coronation procession into Westminster Abbey in 195 and the Duke remains responsible for the organisation of each State Opening of Parliament. Unusually for senior members of the peerage, the Duke is not a member of the present Royal Family but traces his ancestry directly back to King Edward I, and another quirk of history is that his family has always been Roman Catholic rather than being allied with the Anglican Church.
The castle itself is a marvel and sits majestically up on a hill overlooking the town and valley beyond – visitors can wander freely around most of the grounds and visit the keep, battlements and state rooms where a lot of the treasures gathered by the family over the centuries are on display. As photography isn’t allowed inside the building I decided to concentrate my efforts outside today, as I particularly wanted to see the large ornamental gardens which have recently been updated by the Duke, including the ostentatious ‘Collecter Earl’s Garden‘ which was opened by the Prince of Wales in 2008 and is a rather over-the-top tribute to the 14th Earl of Arundel, Thomas Howard. Overlooked by the Catholic Cathedral, the gardens also contain many other water features, gazebos, follies and there are also working vegetable plots, greenhouses and even a wild-flower meadow. It’s also worth poking your head around the door of the FitzAlan Chapel, which has been the burial place of the Dukes in recent centuries, and contains very good examples of ‘misericords’, the small benches used by monks in centuries past during their long periods of prayer.
Once you’ve taken in everything the castle and grounds have to offer the town itself is worth looking around. There are lots of watering holes and classy restaurants, and there are plenty of opportunities to shop, particularly if you’re looking for antiques. I had a lovely half an hour upstairs in one of the arcades looking around inside Arundel Photographica, which is run by a passionate photographer and collector. Although he doesn’t stock anything digital there’s everything a film photographer could want – you’ll even find an extensive collection of box brownie cameras dating back to the early twentieth century.
Do you know I think I’ve fallen in love with Arundel – it makes a lovely day out from London – it even has cows…
From Arundel July 2010 |