The History and Description of Arundel Castle, Sussex; The Seat of His Grace the Duke of Norfolk with an Abstract of the Lives of the Earls of Arundel from the Conquest to the Present Time to Which Is Annexed Topographical Delineations of the Roman Paveme (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: PART II. The Castle of Anmdel.?Its History.?Situation.? External architecture.?Exhibition of the Interior. ?Remarkable Events. History. THE precise date of the erection of this Castle it is impossible to ascertain, as it is believed that there are no existing records. Its scitewas formerly a Bel- gic camp, as it is evident, from the deep foss, and other defences encircling it, and to those warriors, these and similar works in this neighbourhood and other parts of the kingdom are attributable. The first mention made of the Castle is to be found in the will of King Alfred, wherein he bequeaths it, with the town, to his nephew, Athelm. It is, therefore, supposed that this edifice was built during the reign of Alfred,"or not long before. Tradition says, that one Bevis was the founder of the structure, and this assumes probability, from a tower, called Bevis tower, which is sdll remaining. Concerning the true foundation of this ancient baronial castle many conjectures have been entertained. On account of the bricks inserted in the walls of the Keep, it has been attributed to the Romans, but such a proof is not allowed by the best antiquarians; however, its pretensions to the sera of the Saxon Kings are more explicit. It was during the Heptarchy in a flourishing condition, and belonged to the crown. In a very ancient pedigree of the Earls of Arundel, King Harold is styled Earl of Arundel, and after his death, that honour was granted by William the Conqueror, to Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel,.who rebuilt a greater part of it. On the rebellion of his son, Robert, it was confiscated, and remained in the hands of the crown, till it was settled by Henry I, on Queen Adeliza, as part of her dower. On the death of the king, she made it her place of residence, and here...