The eastern part of the church is early Perpendicular in style. It houses a remarkable number of Fitzalan family monuments dating from the 15th to the 20th century. It must be one of the most comprehensive sculptural records of family history in the whole country.
Not known
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Grade I (England and Wales)
1600
The east end of the church, comprising the chancel, sacristy and Lady Chapel to the north, was built from 1380 onwards. It belonged to the College of the Holy Trinity. and was, from the start, screened off by an iron grille from the parish’s place of worship in the nave and tower. However, it has only been used as a family mausoleum by the Fitzalans and Fitzalan-Howards, successively Earls of Arundel and Dukes of Norfolk, since the Reformation. The Roman Catholicism of the family caused tensions with the parish and these came to a head in 1874 when the 15th Duke built a brick wall across the west end of the chancel. This was eventually removed in 1979, but the mausoleum remains screened off from the rest of the church by a medieval iron grille and modern glazing, and is only accessible from the castle grounds.
Good (2003)
BoE: Sussex (1965) 86-9;
VCH: Sussex (1997), 6, 1, 89-95.
None
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Church of St Nicholas
Arundel
West Sussex
BN18 9AT
England