Was Arundel Castle the Most Formidable Fortress in England?

Right at the nucleus of Arundel Castle is its stone keep, situated at the fortification's highest point. This was where the defenders would come and make their final stand if the castle was ever besieged.

It was built on top of the Norman motte following William the Conqueror's conquest of southern England in 1066 and was originally constructed of timber. Yet in c.1140 the wooden keep was demolished and replaced with a stronger, stone one.

Recently Dan visited the formidable bastion to understand why this fortress was considered almost-impregnable.

#ArundelCastle #DanSnow #HistoryHit

[ric]

My local castle. As a kid you take it for granted, but everytime I pass through Arundel now, I'm amazed how epic it looks, alonside the giant cathedral and ancient town centre

[JimmySailor]

Got the opportunity to visit Arundel in 2019 and it was awesome. Not shown here is the more modern wing of the castle which has such a rich and interesting history laid on layer by layer. Also beautiful grounds to walk through.

The little town is great as well, very cool shops and food.

[coldhands]

I want to go to Europe SO badly... As an American the thousands of years of history is mind blowing. There's a saying that Americans think 100 years is a long time and Europeans think 100 miles is a long distance.

[brittakriep]

I am german, and come from a region with many castle ruins, northern end of Swabian Alb plateau. Most castles had been very small, for being build by knights . There are few castles of compareable size. This had been castles of impotant high noblemen, transformed into fortresses after mid 15th century.

[richardstone]

I have always envisaged/imagined Arundel Castle as Gormenghast. Imagine my surprise when some years ago I found out that Mervyn Peak had rented a cottage overlooking the castle prior to WW2.

[Matt_Alaric]

I'm giving my imagination a great workout trying to picture the coastal views Dan keeps talking about while the cameraman refuses to look...

[Mx]

Wow that is absolutely beautiful country. Wow. Just beautiful

[EverGreen]

So well preserved and maintained. Amazing glance into that time in history

[resnonverba]

A beautiful castle and well worth a visit along with a walk around the village. Some quite nice driving roads around there too.

[sidthesquid]

Love that this came through my feed. In mid-90s I lived in Chepstow, Wales for four months - I became enchanted with the castles in the area. But this one is truly amazing.

[arby]

The studio who made Kingdom Come: Deliverance need to recreate this castle and the landscape as it was. Would be so cool to explore and get a feel for what it would have been like.

[myronjohnson]

WOW ! That is awesome castle. Thanks for sharing 👍

[larsrons]

Local mason: "How strong do you want your castle?"
Norman Lord: "Yes!"

[jordanr]

Man, I wish 20th Century Battlefields had been more than one season. Dan and Peter are awesome.

[webz]

I went to arundel town pretty much every year as a wee kid right up to mid teens (a friend of my nan owned a cottage in the town, went to this castle loads always enjoyed it

[hurleycapetown]

The stories these castles could tell, I have been to a few and they are all amazing even the smell is amazing.

[gushlergushler]

I think the videos would really benefit from more aerial drone shots.
Love them at any rate.

[vipertwenty]

Boiling water falling from a height loses its heat very rapidly - it won't be boiling when it hits its targets below. More effective, easily available and cheap is red hot sand. They weren't trying to be nice.

[tomcotton]

I nearly fell off my chair when Dan Snow popped up at the beginning of a history documentary and wasn't telling me download some app or whatever it is he's developed...

[SussexYank]

Thanks for this video! Arundel Castle is not far from where I'm living now, but circumstances have prevented my being able to visit this castle, at least the interior of it, to this point. It is nice to see a little of what it looks like on the inside. My plan is to make a bit of a documentary about it sometime this year.