Arundel

When my dad and Uncle Paul visited a few months ago, they told us that they saw a beautiful castle, Arundel, on the train while they were on their way to Portsmouth. Then a few days later I was reading People magazine and saw the cast of Snow White and the Huntsman posing in front of the same castle. The movie wasn’t filmed there, but The Young Victoria was. So my interest was piqued and this past weekend, we took a family trip to the South Downs coast to check it out!

The castle overlooks the riverside village

Arundel Castle has been the home of the Dukes of Norfolk for 500 years. The Third Duke of Norfolk was Thomas Howard, the uncle of two of Henry VIII’s ill-fated wives – Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. He was even imprisoned himself and only escaped execution because the king died and Bloody Mary needed his help securing her throne, as he was a very prominent Catholic.

Today, the Duke holds the position of Earl Marshal and is therefore responsible for organizing state occasions like the Opening of Parliament and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Arundel is only about an hour from Karen’s house, so we headed out on Saturday afternoon and got there in time to see the Medieval Joust and Tournament.  I haven’t been to a Renaissance Fair since I was a little girl, but this felt just like one, except it was even better because it was held on a real castle’s grounds.

The jousting knights must’ve been so hot 
wearing that heavy armor and those blinding helmets.

These guys really went at each other during the tournament!  

Earlier in the day, there was even some blood!

We did an interior castle tour, which featured the family’s private chapel (which was larger than the chapel David and I got married in), the bedrooms, armory, baron’s hall, and library.  I wonder how the family still lives there with visitors like us walking through all of the time.  It's strange to not be allowed inside parts of your own house, but then again, with a house that big, I’m sure there's plenty of space to hang out elsewhere!

The grounds of the castle were really beautiful.  First we walked through the Fitzalan Chapel, and then made our way to the Castle Gardens and Glasshouses.

Arundel Cathedral from the gardens

What nice pictures of Jeff and me outside Fitzalan chapel...

Ah!  Never mind...  

(I warned him I would put this on the blog if he posed like that)

We stopped for dinner at a pub in a small village called Petworth on the way home, where we could watch the Olympics.  With all of the London 2012 visitors and extra traffic around the city, it was nice to escape the chaos with an afternoon in the country.