Fitzalan Chapel
The Fitzalan Chapel is one of England's most remarkable and atmospheric medieval chapels, situated within the grounds of Arundel Castle in the historic market town of Arundel, West Sussex. It occupies a uniquely extraordinary position in English ecclesiastical history, existing simultaneously as two places of worship divided by a single wall — the eastern portion belonging to the Roman Catholic Duke of Norfolk and his family, and the western nave forming part of the Anglican parish church of St Nicholas. This division, a physical embodiment of England's Reformation conflicts, makes it unlike virtually any other building in the country. The chapel is a place of genuine pilgrimage for those interested in medieval history, English aristocracy, and the long religious conflicts that shaped the nation.
The chapel dates to the late fourteenth century, founded around 1380 by Richard FitzAlan, the 11th Earl of Arundel, as a collegiate church. It was established to provide prayers for the souls of the FitzAlan family and their successors, the Howards, who became Dukes of Norfolk and remain the owners of Arundel Castle to this day. The Howards are England's premier Catholic ducal family, and the chapel has remained their private mausoleum and place of worship through centuries of religious upheaval, persecution, and social change. During the English Reformation, the crown seized the nave as parish property, but the chancel — the Fitzalan Chapel proper — remained in private Catholic hands, a remarkable survival that speaks to both the legal ingenuity and the stubborn resilience of its owners.
Inside, the chapel is breathtaking in its concentration of medieval and later funerary monuments. The space is filled with the elaborate tombs and effigies of successive Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk, spanning from the medieval period through to the twentieth century. Some of the alabaster effigies are extraordinarily fine examples of medieval craftsmanship, with knights and their ladies recumbent in stone, hands clasped in prayer, their faces still bearing traces of remarkable detail after six centuries. The light inside is cool and slightly diffuse, filtered through stained glass, and the air carries that characteristic weight of old stone and candle wax that settles over truly ancient places of continuous worship. Silence and a sense of accumulated time are the chapel's defining qualities.
The physical setting of the chapel enhances its drama considerably. Arundel Castle rises immediately above and around it, one of the grandest and best-preserved castle complexes in England, with its towers and battlements creating a skyline that has changed little in centuries. The town of Arundel itself is a compact and handsome place set into the South Downs, with the River Arun flowing nearby and the broad flat coastal plain stretching south toward the English Channel. The surrounding landscape of the South Downs National Park offers excellent walking, and the Arun valley is particularly beautiful in soft morning and evening light.
Visiting the Fitzalan Chapel typically involves entering through Arundel Castle, as the chapel forms part of the castle's grounds and visitor attraction. The castle is open to the public during the summer months, generally from April through to October, with specific opening days and times varying by season. Admission to the castle grounds includes access to the chapel. Visitors should be aware that because the chapel remains an active place of Catholic worship for the ducal family, there may occasionally be restrictions during private services or religious occasions. The town of Arundel is easily reached by train from London Victoria or Brighton, with Arundel station a short walk from the castle entrance. There is also car parking available in the town.
One of the lesser-known and more affecting details of the Fitzalan Chapel concerns the tomb of Thomas Howard, the 4th Duke of Norfolk, who was executed in 1572 for his involvement in schemes connected to Mary Queen of Scots. His monument within the chapel serves as a quiet reminder that the Howards paid an enormous price for their faith and their political ambitions across the Tudor period. Several members of the family are venerated as Catholic martyrs. Philip Howard, the 13th Earl of Arundel, died in the Tower of London in 1595 after years of imprisonment for his recusant faith, and was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. A church dedicated to him stands in the town itself, adding another layer of Catholic heritage to this unusually devout corner of England.
The peculiar legal and architectural division between the Catholic chancel and the Anglican nave is made visible by a locked iron grille, which separates the two portions of the building. Standing at this grille, a visitor can look from the Anglican side into the Catholic chapel, observing the monuments and the atmosphere of a space that has maintained its faith continuously for over six hundred years. This boundary represents not just a property line but the physical scar of the English Reformation, a wound in ecclesiastical history made tangible in stone and ironwork. Few places in England offer so immediate and so quiet a lesson in the complexities of national religious history.