Arundel, Sussex Genealogy

England   Sussex



Parish History
Arundel St Nicholas is an Ancient Parish in the Diocese of Chichester.

The parish church has an attached Roman Catholic chapel which was provided by the Duke of Norfolk. It is a rare example of a church building that is currently divided into two places of worship; the eastern half being the Catholic Fitzalan Chapel and this, the western half being the Anglican Church of St Nicholas. The whole Perpendicular Gothic building was originally built in 1380.

The parish comprises 1834 acres, of which 30 are common or waste land. The Living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 0. 10.; net income, £199; patron, the Earl of Albemarle. The church, situated at the upper end of the town, was greatly damaged by the forces of Sir William Waller, who occupied it during the siege of the castle; but the whole was restored by the late duke. It is a large and ancient cruciform structure, with a low well-built central tower, surmounted by an obtuse leaden spire painted white; the style is chiefly later English, and the interior is very neatly fitted up. At the east end is the Norfolk chapel, consisting of a nave and north aisle divided by three fine arches, and lighted by windows of elegant design: this is the burial place of the noble family of Howard, and it contains some interesting monuments. There is a place of worship for Independents. The Benedictine monastery of St. Nicholas, to which William D'Albini, the second earl, annexed the then vacant rectory of Arundel, was founded by Robert de Montgomery; the establishment flourished for two centuries, but was so greatly impoverished by Edward III., that it was neglected till the reign of Richard II., when the Earl of Arundel dissolved it, and founded in its place the College of the Holy Trinity, for a master, twelve chaplains, two deacons, two sub-deacons, and four choristers. This college continued to flourish till the Dissolution, when its revenues were estimated at £168. 0. 7.: part of the original building was converted by Charles, Duke of Norfolk, into a Roman Catholic chapel and a residence for his chaplain. The earl founded also the hospital of the Holy Trinity for a master and poor brethren, the revenue of which at the Dissolution was valued at £93. 18. 6¾.: on the rebuilding of the bridge over the Arun, in 1724, a considerable portion of the edifice was removed to furnish materials for that structure. The learned Chillingworth, who had joined the royal army, was taken prisoner during the siege of the castle by the parliamentarians, and confined in the episcopal palace of Chichester, where he died.

From A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 73-77. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50760 Date accessed: 04 May 2011.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
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Census records
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Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Sussex Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
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Web sites
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