Tuesday, May 26 – Today is our last full day in England. Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Iceland for a couple of days before heading home. We had decided that driving back much of the way towards the airport would make our travel day less stressful, so we planned to stop in the West Sussex village of Arundel where we could visit a beautifully restored castle.
Unlike yesterday’s visit to the ruins of Corfe Castle, Arundel has been returned to its glory. Like many other castles in England, it dates back to the time of William the Conqueror. His cousin, Roger de Montgomery was granted the lands for his support to William. The original Castle was nothing more than a stone keep atop a hill with wooden fortification, but it has been remodeled and added on to over the centuries. It has been the home to the Earl of Arundel and Duke of Norfolk for centuries.
The 16th Duke had intended to donate the Castle to the National Trust, but upon his death in 1975, his son, the 17th Duke decided instead to create an independent non-profit dedicated to its preservation. The castle and grounds are now open to the public.
Before heading up to the castle, we checked into our B&B for the night. For the first time in our trip, we do not have an ensuite, but our dedicated bathroom is just down the hall. The hosts provide robes and slippers, so this shouldn’t be too big of an inconvenience.
More of an inconvenience is the weather, which continues to set records. Yesterday in London, the all-time temperature record for the month of May was smashed by 2 full degrees centegrade (3.6 fareheight). It’s a bit cooler here, but nobody has air conditioning, so everyone looks sweltered.
We spent about an hour touring the inside of the castle and another 90 minutes roaming the gardens. The gardens include both formal manicured gardens with fountains and gravel-lined paths and also a water garden when you can walk between ponds and see the waterfowl and dragonflies.
An interesting bit of history about the castle, in 1846 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited the castle for three days. They gave Duke a two-year head’s up and he used the time to update the castle, including the installation of a six-room suite for the royal couple. I took a photo below of the Queen’s bedroom.
As I write this, we’re hiding out in our room with the heavy blackout draps drawn and the fan blowing on us. We’re waiting for the temperature to dip back into the 70’s before we seek out somewhere for our last dinner in England.
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