Visitors to Arundel will note near the bridge some ancient ruins. According to the historian, Tierney, they are the remains of the Maison Dieu, that owed its origin to the same munificence as the collegiate chapel and church. It formed a quadrangle, which was occupied by the chapel, refectory, and its offices, and the various chambers. There was a cloister round the court-yard. Quoting the statutes, “the establishment,” says Mr. Tierney, “was to consist of twenty poor men, either unmarried or widowers, who, from age, sickness or infirmity, were unable to provide for their own sustenance. They were to be selected from among the most deserving of the surrounding neighbourhood, giving the preference only to the servants or tenants of the founder and his heirs; they were to be men of moral lives and edifying conversation, and were required, as a qualification for their admission, to know the ‘Pater Noster,’ the ‘Ave-Maria,’ and the ‘Credo,’ in Latin.”
Tombs of Thomas Fitzalan and Lady Beatrix, Arundel Church.
These buildings were dismantled at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, and no doubt suffered much at the time of the siege and sack of Arundel, during the Civil War, by the Parliamentarians under the command of Sir William Waller; in 1724 a large quantity of the materials was used in the building of the bridge, that portion only being rescued which is now seen, and which has been preserved by the Duke of Norfolk because of the interest attached to the once sacred structure.
Arundel, with its many attractions, is barely two hours distant from London, and within half an hour of populous Brighton; yet visits of strangers to the old town and venerable castle are comparatively few.
PENSHURST.
