Arundel Circular Walk

Click the heading below to show/hide the walk route for the selected option(s).

Walk Map

©

Walk Options ( Main | Alt. | Short )

Click on any option to show only the sections making up that route, or the heading above to show all sections.

13. Main Walk (21 km)

9. Main Walk, with shorter ending (18¾ km)
1. Alternative Walk, finishing at Amberley (16½ km)
35. Alternative Walk, omitting Amberley village (11½ km)
2. Short Circular Walk, omitting Houghton Bridge (14¾ km)
61. Short Circular Walk, with shorter ending (12¼ km)

Walk Directions

Click on any section heading to switch between detailed directions and an outline, or the heading above to switch all sections.

1. Arundel Station to Warningcamp (2 km)
• From the station, turn right onto the signposted pedestrian and cycle route. This goes under the A27 and turns left to join it opposite the station approach road. Keep right at the roundabout to head briefly towards the town centre, then turn right onto a short footpath leading to the river. Turn right again onto the riverside path and follow it away from the town for 1 km. Turn right to cross the railway and go along a lane to a road junction in Warningcamp.
1. Arriving from London, cross the footbridge to exit through the main station building and immediately turn right onto the signposted pedestrian and cycle route to the Town Centre. This takes you under the A27 and joins this busy main road further along, opposite the station approach road.
2. Keep right at the roundabout, heading towards the town centre. Where the pavement ends after 100m, however, turn right onto a signposted footpath. This soon comes to the River Arun? where you turn right again onto the riverside path, joining the Monarch's Way? (MW).
3. Go through a metal kissing gate and follow the riverside path for 1 km, gradually curving round to the left with a fine view back to the town's skyline. Eventually the path veers right, away from the river and towards the railway line.
4. Go through a wooden swing gate and keep ahead towards a large white house on the other side of the railway. Cross the tracks carefully at the level crossing and continue along a tarmac lane for 300m to a road junction in the hamlet of Warningcamp.
2. Warningcamp to Burpham (2¾ km)
• Turn left towards Burpham, then take a bridleway on the right along the side of a wooded valley in the Angmering Park Estate. Shortly after this emerges into the open, fork left and take a narrow bridleway up the other side of the valley to the top of Warningcamp Hill. Descend the hill through a wood and join a minor road into Wepham. In the village turn left onto a lane and follow it all the way downhill. Where it turns right after crossing a ford, take a footpath up the bank on the left. Go across a field and past a cricket pavilion to reach Burpham's pub.
1. Turn left at the road junction, towards Wepham and Burpham. In 400m turn right onto a signposted bridleway into the Angmering Park Estate?, going past a double wooden fieldgate onto a wide track through partly-cleared woodland. In 600m go through another fieldgate and continue on a grassy path along a dry valley, curving gently round to the left alongside a line of small trees.
2. At the end of the trees keep ahead where another bridleway merges from the right. In a further 40m, at another three-way signpost, fork left across the bottom of the valley, leaving the MW. Go through a wooden side gate to the right of a metal fieldgate and continue uphill on a narrow path in a belt of trees, heading N.
3. Towards the top of Warningcamp Hill this enclosed path becomes more awkward and it appears that some walkers prefer to walk along the field edge to the right of the trees. Either way, you eventually emerge into an open field with fine views of the Arun valley. Keep ahead across the brow of the hill on a faint grassy path.
4. At the end of the field go through a wooden gate onto a path descending gradually through more partly-cleared woodland, coming out onto the lane you were on earlier. Follow it into the village of Wepham, passing some attractive thatched cottages. Shortly after passing a concrete track on the right signposted as a bridleway, turn left at a road junction.
5. Follow the lane all the way down through the village. At the bottom of the hill there is a raised walkway which you can use to get across a stream at a ford (by the aptly-named Splash Farm). The lane then swings right and you bear left at this bend onto a signposted footpath, up a flight of earth steps cut into the steep bank?.
6. At the top go over a stile and keep ahead across the grass as indicated, aiming to the left of a children's playground. Go over another stile and turn right onto a grassy path heading towards a cricket pavilion, passing the pitch on the left. Go past the left-hand side of the pavilion and down to the early lunch stop on your right, The George at Burpham.
3. Burpham to South Stoke Farm (2¾ km)
• Turn left onto the lane outside the pub and keep ahead on a cul-de-sac down to the original course of the River Arun. Turn right and go through a copse and a meadow to a track coming down from Peppering Farm. Keep left to join the riverside path and follow it across the railway and all the way to South Stoke. Cross the river and go through the hamlet to South Stoke Farm.

This section follows the Walk 1–32 route (in reverse).

1. Unless you want to detour to the church of St Mary the Virgin? (along the Marjorie Hay Path across the lane from the pub) turn left onto the lane, heading W. Where it turns sharply right keep ahead on a short cul-de-sac and its continuation, a grassy path going downhill between high wooden fences.
2. At the bottom of the slope fork right onto a narrow footpath through a copse. Go through a metal gate into a long narrow water meadow, with the original course of the River Arun behind the tree boundary on your left. At the far end go past a metal fieldgate and through a small patch of scrubland to meet a farm track.
3. Fork left onto the track and keep left at a three-way footpath signpost to go along the river embankment. In 200m cross the railway tracks carefully and continue along the embankment, now alongside the main course of the river. After it bends right you are heading directly towards the distinctive spire of South Stoke church, 600m away.
4. Before reaching the bridge at South Stoke the river makes a loop out to the right; a short stretch along the embankment here is overgrown but you might be able to divert onto a parallel farm track. On reaching South Stoke Bridge go over a stile and turn left to cross the river.
5. Follow the farm track gently uphill, soon with a churchyard behind the trees on your left. The entrance to St Leonard's church? (which is worth a quick visit) is half-hidden in these trees, just after a left-hand bend. Continue along the lane (now surfaced) past cottages and round a right-hand bend to the entrance to South Stoke Farm, with the imposing South Stoke Barn? on its driveway.

If you are doing the Short Circular Walk, go to §H.

4. South Stoke Farm to Houghton Bridge • Amberley Station (3¾ • 4 km)
• Turn right onto a bridleway going past the farm buildings, then along field edges and through woodland above the west bank of the River Arun. Follow the bridleway past an entrance into Arundel Park and alongside the river. On the outskirts of Houghton fork right onto a footpath to continue alongside the river to Houghton Bridge. Turn right onto the B2139 to come to the Bridge Inn by the junction with Stoke Road.
  • To complete a short Alternative Walk, go under the railway bridge and turn right up the station's approach road.
1. Turn right into the farm's driveway, which is also a public bridleway. After passing the Gothic-style barn (now a wedding venue) veer left up a slope to continue on a raised grassy track between fences, with a large agricultural barn down to your right. At the end go through a metal fieldgate and bear right across a concrete yard to continue on a farm track, with glimpses of the river behind the trees on your right.
2. In 300m go through a fieldgate and turn right as indicated to go around the edge of a large farm field, climbing steadily up its right-hand side. In the top corner go through a side gate to the right of a wooden fieldgate and follow the bridleway down into a wood. Where the track swings round to the left keep right to stay on the bridleway.
3. The woodland path stays fairly close to the river and soon you might be able to glimpse a solid flint wall up to your left, the boundary of Arundel Park. Later the path descends and shortly before reaching the riverbank you pass a high metal kissing gate into the estate (where you leave the Walk 1–32 route).
4. Follow the riverside path along a narrow strip between the boundary wall and the river. After 500m it starts to curve gradually round to the right, now below the wooded cliff of an old chalk quarry. Ignore a footpath up a long flight of steps to stay on the bridleway, with some potentially boggy stretches if the river has overflowed. The bridleway eventually bears left and comes to a three-way signpost where you turn right onto a footpath.
5. The path goes across a small open area into some wet woodland near the riverbank. Initially you might have to negotiate a short muddy stretch but for most of the way there is a long boardwalk over this boggy ground. In 200m the path emerges from the trees. Keep ahead along field edges and then the riverside embankment for a further 500m, with a few stiles and gates along the way.
6. At the end go through a wooden kissing gate and turn right onto the B2139. Take great care as you cross Houghton Bridge? on this busy road, using the refuges to dodge the traffic. The suggested lunch place is the Bridge Inn on the right-hand side of the road, entered via its car park in Stoke Road. The alternative is the café at Riverside South Downs, ahead on your left.

If you are doing the Alternative Walk (finishing at Amberley), go to §M unless you want to complete a short walk with the directions below.

7. Finishing at Amberley Station (+¼ km)

1. To complete a short Alternative Walk, return to the B2139 from either of the refreshment places and head E, away from the river. Go under the railway bridge and turn right …
5. Houghton Bridge to South Stoke Bridge (2 km)
• Head south on Stoke Road and follow it all the way to North Stoke. At a T-junction take the footpath just off to the left heading south across a field. Continue through an old meander, crossing the Gurkha Bridge and returning to the river. Turn left onto the riverbank and go up to South Stoke bridge.
1. From the Bridge Inn, turn left onto Stoke Road to head S, away from the B2139. Follow this quiet lane all the way to North Stoke, parallel to the railway for the first 600m and then curving away to the right.
2. Eventually the lane goes up a slope and round a left-hand bend to come to a T-junction by an old red telephone box (the ‘North Stoke Information Point’). If you are not making the detour below to see an unusual old church, take the signposted footpath just to the left of the telephone box.

3. Detour to North Stoke Church (+500m)

1. Turn right at the T-junction, signposted to St Mary's Church. The church of St Mary the Virgin? is at the far end, to the left of North Stoke Farmhouse.
2. Return the same way and turn right onto the footpath just beyond the telephone box.
4. Follow the enclosed footpath up a bank and out through a kissing gate into the top of a large field. Keep ahead on a grassy path down through this field to another kissing gate. Go through this onto a path through the undergrowth, crossing a patch of boggy ground on the Gurkha Bridge?.
5. On the other side the path turns right to follow the course of an old meander of the river, eventually going through a wooden kissing gate and back onto the riverbank. Turn left and go up to the farm bridge across the river at South Stoke. Go through a kissing gate and turn right onto the bridge, briefly repeating a short stretch of your outward route.
6. South Stoke Bridge to the Black Rabbit (2½ km)
• On the other side of the bridge turn left onto the riverside path, now on the western bank. Follow this path southwards past Offham Farm's bridge to the Black Rabbit pub, just off Mill Road.
1. On the other side of the bridge go over a stile on the left onto the riverside path; you will be following it all the way to the Black Rabbit pub. At first the river makes a long curve round to the right, then turns half-left. After another left and right bend it heads S alongside a man-made channel?, which straightened out the original loop of the river to Burpham (whose church is visible 1 km away).
2. After crossing a track by Offham Farm's bridge the waterway curves right and rejoins the original river (with views of Arundel Castle 1½ km ahead). The path then veers slightly away from the river and goes through a copse. Continue through a long car park to reach the Black Rabbit pub in its enviable riverside location.

If you are doing the shorter ending, go to §K.

7. The Black Rabbit to Swanbourne Valley via Swanbourne Lodge (2 km)
• Head south-west on Mill Road, between Offham Hanger and the grounds of the Arundel Wetland Centre. At Swanbourne Lodge turn right into Arundel Park and follow the footpath along the northern side of Swanbourne Lake. At the far end continue along the valley floor, merging with a footpath from the other side of the lake.
1. From the top of the pub's short approach road head SW on Mill Road, with the steeply wooded hillside of Offham Hanger on your right. The grounds of the Arundel Wetland Centre? are soon on your left and in 450m you come to the vehicle exit from its car park.
   • If you want to visit the site (or just take a closer look at the Visitor Centre) you can detour through its car park and rejoin Mill Road at the far end.
2. After passing a long roadside parking area you come to a corner of Swanbourne Lake? on the right. Go through a gate into the waterside picnic area by Swanbourne Lodge Café, entering the grounds of Arundel Park.
3. Follow the perimeter path all the way along the northern side of the lake. At the far end go through a wooden kissing gate to continue on a grassy track along the valley floor, curving gently round to the right. In 200m keep ahead at a footpath signpost, merging with a footpath from the other side of the lake.

Continue the directions at §J.

8. South Stoke Farm to the Black Rabbit (1¾ km)
• Take the bridleway opposite South Stoke Farm to the hamlet of Offham. Turn left briefly onto a lane, then turn right at a junction. Go down Mill Road to the Black Rabbit pub in its riverside location.
1. Turn left onto the bridleway opposite the entrance to South Stoke Farm, a track between hedges going gently downhill. At the bottom it turns right and comes close to the riverside embankment before gradually moving away from it. The bridleway continues on a broad grassy strip below a wooded hillside for 300m, passing an old chalk quarry near the end.
2. Make your way past a ditch and keep to the left-hand side across a meadow. On the far side go through a fieldgate (or over the adjacent stile) onto a potentially muddy path through scrubland alongside water meadows. The path eventually swings right to skirt around an isolated cottage called Foxes Oven? and goes up to a lane in the hamlet of Offham.
3. Turn left onto the lane, then in 60m turn right to go gently downhill on a sunken lane (Mill Road). At the bottom it merges with the short approach road to the Black Rabbit pub, on the left in its enviable riverside location.
   • Even if you are not stopping at the pub you might like to pop down to its riverside terrace for the view across the wetlands towards Arundel.

If you are doing the shorter ending, go to §K.

9. The Black Rabbit to Swanbourne Valley via Swanbourne Bridge (2¼ km)
• Veer left off Mill Road to head south on the riverside embankment, alongside the grounds of the Arundel Wetland Centre. Where the river bends left turn right onto a footpath alongside a mill-stream to Swanbourne Bridge. Go across Mill Road into Arundel Park and follow the footpath along the southern …
1. From the pub return along its short approach road and veer left through its small car park onto the long straight riverside path, heading S. From this potentially muddy raised path there are soon glimpses of the Arundel Wetland Centre? over its rear boundary fence. In 700m turn right onto a signposted footpath, immediately before a sluice gate over a mill-stream.
2. The footpath goes alongside the tree-lined mill-stream for 500m and comes to Swanbourne Bridge. Ignore the footbridge in front of it and follow the footpath round to the right across a side channel, then up a few steps onto Mill Road.
3. Cross the road and take the signposted footpath opposite across a small patch of grass, passing some estate outbuildings off to the left on the site of the old mill. Continue into the grounds of Arundel Park on a broad path between wooden fences, crossing the outflow from Swanbourne Lake?.
4. Follow the perimeter path all the way along the southern side of the lake, with the steeply wooded Mill Hanger on your left. At the far end go over a stile and keep ahead on a faint grassy path along the valley floor.
5. The path curves gently round to the right and gradually approaches a slightly raised track, the continuation of a footpath from the other side of the lake. In 200m the two paths merge at a footpath signpost.
10. Swanbourne Valley to Arundel High Street (2¼ km)
• At a major path junction turn sharp left (almost doubling back) onto a footpath climbing steadily up the side of the valley above Mill Hanger, initially heading south and then curving round to the left. Follow the footpath as it turns right to go past Hiorne Tower, then turns left onto an estate road which leaves Arundel Park at Park Lodge. Go out to London Road and turn left into the town, passing Arundel Cathedral and the parish church. Go down the steep High Street into the town centre, with a choice of refreshment places.
1. Continue past the footpath signpost for a further 150m along the valley floor. At a major path junction turn sharp left (almost doubling back) onto a chalky track climbing steadily up the side of the valley.

   The remainder of the walk is essentially the same as the start of Walk 1–32 (in reverse).

2. There is a wood on your right and (for the most part) fine views back down the valley to Swanbourne Lake. In 500m go over a stile to the left of a wooden fieldgate and immediately turn right as indicated. Go up a short flight of steps cut into the chalky slope in a belt of trees. At the top cross over a dirt track used for exercising horses and keep ahead across the grass towards Hiorne Tower?.
3. The right of way continues past the left-hand side of the tower to a footpath signpost where it turns left onto an estate road, but some well-used grassy paths cut off this corner and make a pleasant alternative. All routes converge on the estate road and in 500m you go through the right-hand of two gates to leave Arundel Park at Park Lodge.
4. In 200m you cross a driveway leading to the Norfolk Estate Office. Continue across a small patch of grass alongside a stone wall and turn left onto London Road. The ornate Roman Catholic Cathedral? soon comes into view, behind St Mary's Gate Inn. A little further along, on the left-hand side of the road, the unusual parish church of St Nicholas? is also worth visiting.
5. At the end of London Road keep left at a T-junction by one of the imposing Arundel Castle? gatehouses. Go down the town's steep High Street? into the main square, with its prominent hotels and inns as well as several smaller refreshment places.
6. The Motte & Bailey Café and Cockburn's Tea Rooms are on the right-hand side of the square, with Belinda's Tea Rooms a short distance along one of the side streets off to the right, Tarrant Street. The left-hand arm of the High Street goes past Ye Olde Tea Rooms and the Moathouse Café on its way to the Town Bridge.

Complete the directions at §L.

11. The Black Rabbit to Arundel High Street direct (2 km)
• … take a permissive path between the lane and the reserve, cross the mill-stream on Swanbourne Footbridge and continue on either of the footways beside the tree-lined Mill Road into Arundel. Unless you want to head directly to the station, loop around the town square for a choice of refreshment places.
  
1. …
2. After passing a long roadside parking area, and just before reaching Swanbourne Lake, turn left onto a permissive path into the trees. This swings right to go between the south-western corner of the Wetland Centre and the lane. In 200m you come to a T-junction in front of a tree-lined mill-stream and zig-zag right and left to cross it on Swanbourne Footbridge.
   • If the permissive path is closed, simply walk along the lane past the end of the lake and cross the mill-stream on the footbridge to the left of the road bridge.
3. Continue along either of the tree-lined footways beside Mill Road, soon with the imposing walls of Arundel Castle? visible up to your right. After the road curves round you pass its main visitor entrance, with Arundel Museum? and the ruined walls of Blackfriars?. Mill Road ends at a mini-roundabout by the Town Bridge, with the High Street on the right.
4. The Moathouse Café and Ye Olde Tea Rooms are at the bottom of the High Street, and further along there are more cafés, tearooms, pubs and hotels dotted around the main square. Other places such as Belinda's Tea Rooms can be found along Tarrant Street, which leads off the High Street by the Motte & Bailey Café.
12. Arundel High Street to Arundel Station (1 km)
• Make your way down to the town bridge, cross the river and follow Queen Street to the A27. Take the signposted pedestrian and cycle route on its left-hand side, which swings round under the road to the station entrance.
  
1. To complete the walk, make your way to the road bridge over the River Arun. Cross the river and continue along Queen Street, passing the White Hart pub. Stay on the left-hand side where the road (now The Causeway) joins the A27 at a large roundabout.
2. For the best route to the station do not cross the busy main road at the pedestrian lights but take the signposted pedestrian and cycle route, a little further ahead on the left-hand side of the road. This tarmac path goes up to the railway line and swings round under the A27 to the station entrance. Trains to London leave from Platform 1 on the near side.
   
13. Houghton Bridge to Amberley village (3¼ km)
• Return to the B2139 and head towards the railway bridge, but turn left onto the footpath just before it. Follow it to the River Arun and continue along the riverside path for 1½ km. Opposite Bury church, turn right and head east across the water meadows. Go across the railway line and continue through Amberley village on Church Street and Hog Lane to the Black Horse pub.

The route to Amberley village is the ending of Walk 1–32 (in reverse).

1. Return to the B2139 and head towards the railway bridge. Just before reaching it turn left onto a signposted footpath, a gravel track which leads to a grassy path past a cluster of park homes.
2. At the end climb onto a low embankment to continue alongside the river, initially heading NW. You now follow this riverside path for 1½ km, keeping the river on your left and passing the substantial footbridge carrying the South Downs Way.
3. Opposite Bury church on the other side of the river, turn right at a footpath signpost. Follow a clear grassy path heading E and then NE across the water meadows for 450m (detouring around any boggy areas as necessary). Continue along a tree-lined grassy path leading to the railway line.
4. Cross the tracks carefully and keep left, avoiding a farm track up to the right. In 200m the path goes below the imposing rear wall of Amberley Castle? and leads to a lane going up a short slope past St Michael's church?, which is worth a visit.
5. Continue through the picturesque village of Amberley on Church Street, with its many thatched cottages. In 100m you pass a ‘No Through Road’ on the left. In a further 75m you come to a junction with another street on the left and a signposted footpath (“To The Playpark”) on the right; this is one of the return routes to Amberley station.
6. For the full extension turn left into the side street (Hog Lane). Follow it for 250m, uphill and round to the right. At the road junction in front of the Black Horse pub / restaurant, turn right. The return route starts down this street, with the Amberley Village Tea Room on the left-hand side just past the junction with Church Street.
14. Amberley village to Amberley Station (2 • 1¾ km)
• Return to Amberley station via School Road, Mill Lane, High Titten and the B2139.
  • For an easier route you can take the footpath from the bottom of Hog Lane to the B2139 and go all the way along the main road.

There is a choice of routes out of the village: staying on the Walk 1–32 route with a climb onto the edge of the downs (with fine views across the Arun valley), or a shorter and easier route along the B2139 in [?].

1. Downs route (2 km)

1. Keep ahead at the junction with Church Street to head S on School Road for 250m. Cross the B2139 carefully to continue on Mill Lane opposite. After climbing steadily for 400m turn sharp right at a road junction, finally leaving the Walk 1–32 route.
2. As you descend on this lane (High Titten) there are glimpses of the Amberley Museum buildings in the chalk quarry down to your left. At the bottom cross the B2139 carefully and turn left. Go along its pavement for 400m, round a right-hand bend.
3. Just before reaching the railway bridge, turn left up the approach road for the Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre?, with the station on the right. Cross the footbridge to Platform 1 for trains to London.

2. Road route (1¾ km)

1. Turn right at the junction with Church Street to head W, back through the village. In 150m turn left onto the footpath opposite Hog Lane: at first between high walls, then past some new housing and a recreation ground, the Playpark.
2. At the end turn right onto the B2139 and go along its pavement for over 1 km. After the Downs route joins from High Titten the road goes round a right-hand bend.
3. Just before reaching the railway bridge, turn left …

Walk Notes

1. The River Arun is one of the fastest-flowing rivers in England and is tidal on this stretch. It was first embanked in the 16^thC and a canal linking it to the River Wey briefly provided a trading link between London and the South Coast in the 19^thC before being superseded by the railway.
2. The Monarch's Way is supposedly the escape route taken by the future King Charles Ⅱ after his defeat by Parliamentary troops at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. It is the longest inland trail in England, running for 990 km from the battlefield to Shoreham-by-Sea.
3. The Angmering Park Estate is a large private estate managed for forestry, farming and shooting, with a Stud and Racing Stables at its centre. It was the eastern half of the original Norfolk Estate.
4. The steep bank surrounding Burpham's recreation field was built in Saxon times to protect the village against Viking raids up the River Arun. Burpham was a port in medieval times but the river has since been diverted onto the other side of the railway line.
5. St Mary the Virgin, Burpham dates from Saxon times. It has a restored 12^thC Norman arch into its south transept and a 13^thC vaulted chancel. The author Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast) lived in the village and is buried in the churchyard.
6. St Leonard, South Stoke dates from the 11^thC. The unusual spire was added in a 19^thC restoration.
7. South Stoke Barn dates from 1860, one of several elaborate agricultural buildings on the Duke of Norfolk's estate. An attached water tower supplied the village before its connection to the mains in 1960. It was built as a granary but has been adapted for concerts and plays, and is now predominantly a wedding venue.
8. Although it looks medieval, Houghton Bridge was actually constructed in 1875.
9. St Mary the Virgin, North Stoke dates from the 11^thC. It is no longer used for regular services, but is maintained by the Churches Conservation Trust. Knowledge of its original dedication to St Mary was lost for centuries and only rediscovered in 2007.
10. The Gurkha Bridge over the meander at North Stoke was repaired and restored by the Queen's Gurkha Engineers in 2009.
11. The man-made channel at Offham Farm was cut by the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway in 1863. By enabling river traffic to bypass Burpham it removed the need to build two expensive swing bridges on the Arun Valley line.
12. The Arundel Wetland Centre is one of nine reserves in the UK set up by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, founded by Sir Peter Scott in 1946. Each WWT site has several pens containing a worldwide collection of ducks, geese and swans, together with hides for viewing native species on lakes and other wildfowl habitats.
13. Swanbourne Lake was enlarged and landscaped in the 1780s from an existing mill pond. In 1844 the mill was demolished to make way for a pump house and dairy, which supplied water and farm produce to the castle until the mid-20^thC.
14. Foxes Oven was the home of the prime suspect in the notorious ‘1948 Arundel Park murder’. The police investigation was flawed and the victim's relatives had to make a private application for his arrest and prosecution, but the evidence was circumstantial and the case was discharged.
15. The triangular Hiorne Tower is an 18^thC folly built by the architect Francis Hiorne, who was trying to persuade the Duke of Norfolk that he had the skills to renovate Arundel Castle.
16. Arundel Cathedral was built in 1873 as a Roman Catholic church in French Gothic style (a tall spire had to be abandoned when engineers realised that the ground would not support its weight). It was raised to the status of a cathedral in 1965 when the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton was created.
17. St Nicholas, Arundel dates from 1380. In the Reformation the chancel was seized by the Duke of Arundel and an iron grille still separates the Roman Catholic Fitzalan Chapel (determined in 1879 to be part of Arundel Castle) from the Protestant parish church. Since 1977 it has occasionally been opened for joint acts of worship.
18. Arundel Castle was founded in the 11^thC but most of the original Norman castle was left in ruins after being besieged twice in the English Civil War. The restored building was presumably one of the inspirations for the imposing castle at the centre of Mervyn Peake's Gothic trilogy Gormenghast.
19. Arundel High Street used to extend further up the hill to the parish church, but in the 1850s the Duke of Norfolk had all the shops in the top part demolished and built a new wall around the castle grounds.
20. Arundel Museum aims “to tell the story of this historic town” from prehistoric times to the present day. After surviving in temporary premises for many years it eventually secured funding for a new building opposite the main visitor entrance to the castle, which opened in 2013.
21. The stone walls of Blackfriars are the remains of a 13^thC Dominican Friary dissolved by Henry Ⅷ in 1538. They were wrongly shown on older maps as the Holy Trinity hospital (or Maison Dieu), which was in another part of the town.
22. The South Downs Way runs for 161 km along the length of the South Downs, from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Sussex.
23. Amberley Castle was built as a palace for the Bishops of Chichester soon after the Norman invasion. It was owned by a prominent Royalist in the Civil War and partly destroyed by Parliamentary forces. It is now a luxury hotel.
24. St Michael, Amberley is Norman, with the nave and chancel arch dating from about 1100. There are medieval wall paintings to the right of the arch. The church was enlarged in 1230 and much altered in a Victorian restoration.
25. The Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre is “dedicated to preserving the industrial heritage of the South East”, with over 40 exhibits and a team of craftsmen demonstrating traditional skills.

» Last updated: July 27, 2024

Return to Top | Walk Map | Walk Options | Walk Directions.