Page:Medieval Military Architecture in England (volume 1).djvu/219

 Arundel Castle, Sussex. 203 of Sussex. They were buried at Wymondham, their own founda- tion. Earl Hugh, the eighth from the Conquest, died childless in 1243. Isabel, his sister, carried on tlie succession, and married John Fit z- Alan, whose son, on his uncle's death, succeeded. This John, head of the great house of Fitz-Alan, Lords of Clun and Oswaldestre, became the ninth earl, and died 1240. He was the first of fourteen earls of the name who held the castle for twelve generations. Of these, the elder line died out in the person of Thomas, fifteenth earl, who died childless in 1415 ; but the succes- sion was continued by his cousin, Henry Fitz-Alan Lord Maltravers, who died 1580, leaving an heiress, Mary, who married Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, The later Fitz-Alans lived much at Arundel, with which place they became closely identified. Duchess Mary died 1557^ and her husband in 1572. Their son, Philip, became twenty-second earl, since when there have been in all ten generations of Howards who have held the title of Arundel, the present Duke of Norfolk being the thirty-fifth Norman earl, and the thirty-second by descent from Queen Adeliza and William d'Albini. The castle of Arundel has not played any very important part in English history. Its most famous event is the siege of 1643, ^^'hen it was besieged by Sir William AValler, who first attacked and took the town, then defended by walls, and finally battered the castle from the tower of the church, where he posted his guns. The siege lasted from the 20th December, 1643, to the 6th of January following, when the place surrendered, and with it the celebrated Chillingworth, who died shortly after. The domestic buildings were then ruined, and seem so to have remained until the last century. The town was walled round by Richard Fitz-Alan, who had a licence for that work in 1295. There were two gates, one below and on the river, the other called St. Mary's, at the top of the town. The town wall seems to have abutted upon the castle, which thus formed a part of its defence. The present duke has built just outside the castle, and not far from the parish church, a large church dedicated to San Filippo Neri, a very noble structure, and fitted up with great simplicity and excellent taste. Unfortunately, it is so placed as to detract mate- rially from the general aspect of the castle from the plain below. Placed a little lower down, it would have left the castle as the pre- dominant figure, permitted the fine old parish church to hold its due place, and have supported and elevated, instead of somewhat oppressing, the whole group.