Arundel Castle

The castle has the same plan as Windsor with a central earthen mound or motte supporting the keep, flanked to north and south by irregular walled enclosures known as baileys. The north bailey is the private garden and has been the castle garden since the Middle Ages. The south bailey contains the house, the oldest part of which was constructed by King Henry II and is the eastern end of the south front (visible from the drive up to the castle) where two fine blocked late-Norman windows survive. Most of the present external appearance of the house is due to the massive restoration carried out by the 15th Duke of Norfolk between 1875 and 1900 to the design of Charles Alban Buckler. Despite this Victorian first impression, the Norman and medieval fortifications also survive in good condition. The oldest feature is the motte, an artificial mound over 100 feet high which was constructed in 1068. The earliest masonry structure is the lowest part of the inner gatehouse and the stretch of curtain wall alongside, both with squared blocks of Pulborough stone. These date from circa 1070. The gateway has its original square portcullis grooves. The curtain wall which surrounds the whole castle survives except in the southwest corner. It was built in stages in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, mainly of local flint. The square projecting towers in the north bailey date from the twelfth century and are similar to those at Framlingham in Suffolk. Bevis Tower and the Barbican were added in the thirteenth century and are contemporary with Caernarvon Castle, having Caernarvon windows with shouldered arches.