8/15 (Saturday) – Arundel Castle and London

Today was a beautiful sunny day for our ferry ride back to the “mainland” and our drive to London. 

On the way we stopped at Arundel Castle, the 700 year old home of the Dukes of Norfolk and still in use by the family today.  Oh, where to start?  This castle is absolutely awesome.

The site included parts of the original old keep,

old walls,...

and the moat.

 

From the castle walls there were spectacular views of the countryside and town around the castle.

And the beautiful newer castle (only about 300 years old). 

Occasionally we could catch glimpses into a couple of private courtyards.  One had a pool and a tennis court.

No photos were allowed inside the castle which was too bad because some of the rooms were spectacular (oh to be a Duke or Duchess).  Mary’s favorites were the “new” family chapel and the dining room, which was the original old family chapel.  At one point Paul forgot about the no photos and got one shot off of the top of the portcullis (the heavy gate that is dropped to close the entrance to the castle).

There were various small gardens tucked around the castle.

There was a nearby chapel where many of the family is buried and a nearby Catholic Church build by one of the dukes (the Duke of Norfolk is the highest ranking Catholic peer in England).

There were lovely gardens to explore (we are in England, of course there were gardens) with fountains, walls and statuary...

...

and lots of flower beds.

By late afternoon we were back in London where we checked our car in and headed back to Earl's Court to check back into the Mayflower Hotel for the last couple of days of our stay.