Arundel Castle - Events 2012

Arundel Castle is open from Saturday 31st March to Sunday 4th November 2012
  
Contact Us
Arundel Castle, Arundel
West Sussex BN18 9AB

Information & Bookings Administrator – Marilyn Hume

Visiting, Bookings, Guided Tours, Group Visits, Garden Tours, College & University Visits & Bookings, Historical Events
01903 882173

Please visit www.arundelcastle.org for our latest information

1 April - MG Rally
Classic cars on the Lower Lawns

7/8/9 April - Easter - Normans and Crusaders
The Crusaders Encampment of Raven Tor - an opportunity to see the fighting techniques and crafts of Arundel Castle's earliest history with Combat, Archery, Falconry and Trebuchet demonstrations.

28 & 29 April - Medieval Days
15th Century Medieval characters in the Keep and Gatehouse, with craft, combat and armour demonstrations.

20 May / 8 June / 23 September - Raven Tor Pirates Days
Story Teller, combat and craft demonstrations.

2 August & 7 August - Raven Tor Pirate Days
Story Teller, Have-a-go Fencing, Have-a-go Archery and demonstrations.

2/3/4 June - Bank Holiday - A Castle Under Siege
Set against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, the Castle is besieged by rebels opposed to the King. Medieval artillery, siege encampments, crafts, displays and lots of fighting! With the Raven Tor Living History Group, The Company of St Barbara and The British Plate Armour Society.

6 & 7 June - Corpus Christi

23 & 24 June - Medieval Tournament
Archery, sword-fighting, crafts, cooking, Falconry and story telling.
Knights and men-at-arms from Raven Tor Living History Group will demonstrate armour and weapons in a Tournament of hand-to-hand combat.

14 & 15 July - Pirates and Smugglers
Pirates and Smugglers are camped in the grounds of Arundel Castle.
Will the King's soldiers of The 2nd (Queen's) Regiment of Foot manage to capture them? With weapon demonstrations, drills, crafts and Have-a-go Fencing and Archery.

24-29 July - Jousting & Medieval Tournament
Experience the thrill of the Joust as the Knights of Destrier Pro compete for honour and glory. In addition, a Knight's Tournament is set in an historic Medieval encampment with crafts, Story Teller and Have-a-go activities for the whole family.

18 &19 August - Mustering for War
The household of the Fitzalan Earls of Arundel mustering for the campaigns of the 15th century Wars of the Roses. Includes archery and Falconry displays and displays of military tactics by the Raven Tor Living History Group.

18 - 27 August - The Arundel Festival

23/24/25 August - Shakespeare in the Collector Earl's Garden
Thursday 23 & Saturday 25 – The Taming of the Shrew, Friday 24 - The Tempest.

2 September – The Sussex Ferrari Owners Club
Ferraris on the Lower Lawns.

31 October & 1 November - Normans in the Castle Keep
The Castle during the reign of King Stephen – Norman knights, weapons,

There are nearly 1,000 years of history at this great castle, situated in magnificent grounds overlooking the River Arun in West Sussex and built at the end of the 11th century by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel.

Oberon's Palace in The Collector Earls Garden

The oldest feature is the motte, an artificial mound, over 100 feet high from the dry moat, and constructed in 1068: followed by the gatehouse in 1070. Under his will, King Henry I (1068-1135) settled the Castle and lands in dower on his second wife, Adeliza of Louvain. Three years after his death she married William d'Albini II, who built the stone shell keep on the motte.  King Henry II (1133-89), who built much of the oldest part of the stone Castle, in 1155 confirmed William d'Albini II as Earl of Arundel, with the Honour and Castle of Arundel.

Apart from the occasional reversion to the Crown, Arundel Castle has descended directly from 1138 to the present day, carried by female heiresses from the d'Albinis to the Fitzalans in the 13th century and then from the Fitzalans to the Howards in the 16th century and it has been the seat of the Dukes of Norfolk and their ancestors for over 850 years. From the 15th to the 17th centuries the Howards were at the forefront of English history, from the Wars of the Roses, through the Tudor period to the Civil War. Among the famous members of the Howard family are the 2nd Duke of Norfolk (1443-1524), the victor of Flodden, Lord Howard of Effingham, who with Sir Francis Drake repelled the Armada in 1588, the Earl of Surrey, the Tudor poet and courtier, and the 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1473-1554), uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom became wives of King Henry VIII (1491-1547).