A Tudor Weekend Away in West Sussex

In this ‘weekend away’ guide, we travel to the South Downs National Park, adjacent to England’s south coast. The itinerary takes us on a tour of three Tudor places in West Sussex. You’ll discover the striking remains of Cowdray House, a once splendid Tudor property, walk back through 950 years of rural English history at the Weld and Downland Museum and explore the majestic Arundel Castle.

So, let’s get going!

Day One

Cowdray House, West Sussex

Now and again, a tragedy befalls a Tudor house that is so catastrophic that the sorry tale makes you want to weep at the mere thought of what was lost. One such disaster occurred at one of the most significant Tudor houses of its age: Cowdray House in West Sussex. Today, the house lies in ruins, witness to the fatal night of 24 September 1793, when a fire accidentally broke out and spread through the building with unstoppable fury. As the sun rose, the house was devoured, such that all that remained was ‘blackened walls and dismay and ruin’. 

The current house replaced an earlier medieval hunting lodge. Sir Davy Owen (Uncle to Henry VII) commissioned the very earliest part of the building in 1520. However, the existing ruins are primarily the result of the vision of Sir William Fitzwilliam. He died in 1542, leaving the house unfinished. His half-brother, Sir Anthony Brown, who inherited Cowdray after that, completed its construction. The house took around 22 years to build; it was constructed around a single courtyard with an exceptionally splendid gatehouse, Great Hall and privy lodging range, including the so-called ‘Velvet Bedroom’ used by Elizabeth I during her stay at Cowdray in August 1591.

The magnificent east range, whose charred remains are still impressive, contained the aforementioned private apartments and the splendid Bucks Hall. Atop the hall’s roof was an octagonal, two-storey louvre inlaid with decorative windows surmounted by golden weathervanes.

At the low end of this hall, an ornate porch decorated with a vaulted, carved ceiling has survived in a glorious state of preservation. Above the entrance is the coat of arms of Henry VIII. A plethora of emblems of the house of Tudor embellish the inside roof of the porch, including the initials ‘WS’ (William, Lord Southampton) and repeating anchors, thought to refer to Fitzwilliam’s position as Lord High Admiral of Henry VIII’s ‘army at sea’.

Three well-preserved, elevated windows once lighted the Great Hall. You can view the stone tracery of these windows from the courtyard, alongside that of a square oriel window sited at the high end of the hall. The latter must have looked magnificent in its glory days, extending from floor to ceiling. At one time, a plethora of stained glass adorned these windows; the family’s coat of arms, those of England and France, and those belonging to Henry VIII were all displayed.

Beyond Buck’s Hall was the Great Parlour. This room measured about 40ft by 21ft, its walls wainscotted and plastered to display the Cowdray murals. Many priceless treasures were lost to the flames on that fateful night in 1793. How many Holbeins went up in flames is unknown. However, we know much more about the murals as,  fortunately, the Society of Antiquaries commissioned copies to be made of the original paintings before the destruction of the house and its contents.

The murals comprised six large paintings; three were on the south side of the parlour, each depicting scenes from Henry VIII’s successful Siege of Bologne (1544). Three others adorned the north wall, with the middle one of the three positioned above the fireplace. One of these murals showed ‘The Attempt made by the French to invade this Kingdome in the year 1545‘; one showed the battle of the Solent in which the Mary Rose sank (19 July 1545), and finally, the third depicted the coronation procession of King Edward VI from the Tower of London (1547). They all illustrate historical events in which Sir Anthony Browne played a key role. Thus, experts on the murals agree that they were likely commissioned during Sir Anthony’s tenure of the house between 1545 and 1548.

The Mary Rose Cowdray Engraving

The beginning of the end of Cowdray House came at about 11 pm on 24 September 1784. Servants in the house noticed flames emanating from the carpenter’s workshop in the north-west tower. Soon, the building was ablaze. The ferocity of the fire quickly ripped through the adjacent north gallery, resulting in the catastrophic loss of so many of Cowdray’s treasures.

Little could be done by the crowds who flocked from the nearby town to help. By 7 am, ‘that ancient and noble structure, with all its capital paintings, furniture etc., a collection which no traveller of taste ever neglected to view or returned ungratified was gutted and a smouldering ruin’. 

Today, the house stands much as it did after the fire devastated the building. However, it remains a stalwart reminder of an illustrious Tudor past. Unfortunately, due to falling masonry, access to the site is limited, and it is currently impossible to wander inside the ruins, but they are easily visible from the perimeter. However, one area that survives is the Tudor kitchen. Reenactors regularly bring this to life during the many events held at Cowdray across the year. It is worth keeping an eye on the Cowdray House website to find out all the latest.

The great court at Cowdray. Grimm’s Sussex Drawings. 1782. A watercolour view of the west side of the great court at Cowdray in (West) Sussex drawn by S.H. Grimm. Image taken from Grimm’s Sussex Drawings. Originally published/produced in 1782. Source: Add. 5675, f.13. (19). Language: English. Author: Grimm, Samuel Hieronymus.

Once you have completed your visit to the house, wander back across the causeway that links the house with the town. This main street is pleasant but relatively ‘new’ compared to the old part of town. You will find the most ancient part of town tucked away at the far end of the main street (A286). 

Head for the parish church of St Mary Magdalene up Church Hill, and you will come across a delightful assortment of ancient buildings, including those belonging to the 15th-century inn, The Spread Eagle, visited by Queen Elizabeth I in 1591. It has been suggested that Elizabeth used one of the upper rooms to address the townsfolk in the square below, giving the room its eponymous name: The Elizabeth I bedroom. 

If you wish to read a complete account of the Tudor history of Cowdray and the so-called ‘curse’ which brought about its demise, you can do so via my blog. If you wish to hear more about the Cowdray Murals, tune into my podcast here.

The Weald and Downland Museum, West Sussex

The chance to visit the Weald and Downland Museum in the heart of the South Downs National Park is an opportunity to stroll through 950 years of English rural history. There are few places for lovers of early domestic buildings to indulge unashamedly in their passion, but this open-air museum is one such place. So, if your interest is to explore the lives of ordinary medieval and Tudor folk, then the Weald and Downland Museum needs to be on your bucket list!

The museum was the vision of a small group of enthusiasts led by the founder of the Weald and Downland, the late Dr J.R. Armstrong MBE. The idea was to preserve historical buildings that otherwise were under threat of demolition. To be included in the museum, the buildings had to come from the local region, have no future in their existing location, and finally, there had to be no other similar example already in place.

The resulting three-dimensional, living history museum brings to life the techniques, equipment, furnishings, clothes and art of the period. It was opened in 1970 and covers around 40 acres of land with over 50 historic buildings, whose dates of construction range from 950AD to the 19th century. There are also gardens, farm animals, walks and a mill pond.

One of the great pleasures of any open-air, living history museum is that it invites a multi-sensory experience. Not only can you see fine architectural examples of different types of buildings from the past, but you can touch the buildings, see traditional craft techniques in action and learn them yourself. Then there is the smell of the centuries of living imbued into the fabric of the structures. Oh, the pungent aroma of the old timber-framed Tudor farmstead! Visiting it was like walking right into the past.

Since we are talking about the Tudor farmstead, let me introduce it to you: Bayleaf Farm. Of all the buildings on site, this is the one you will want to linger over if you are a medieval and Tudor architecture fan. It is a fine example of a late medieval hall house. Although not strictly Tudor (it was constructed in the early 15th century), this type of farm building would have been the typical dwelling of a yeoman farmer well into the sixteenth century.

The farmhouse is known as a timber-framed Wealden hall house. As the name suggests, the central, dominant space is the ‘hall’. This room is a miniature version of the great halls seen in large country houses of the time, although much less grand. However, you can still see the same basic footprint; a screen’s passage, a pantry and buttery at the low end, with a doorway sited off the high end. This doorway led through to a single ground-floor room, a medieval version of the lounge! It was where the farmer, his family and close friends might retire for greater privacy.

In the upper chamber, a four-poster bed sits centrally. The windows have vertical sliding shutters that remind you of how cold it must have been in the winter. In the corner is the medieval equivalent of an ensuite bathroom where the jakes (toilet) discharges itself at the back of the house. 

Fitting the criteria required by the museum, Baylaf Farm was donated to the museum in 1968 by the East Surrey Water Company, as the creation of Bough Beech Reservoir threatened its destruction.

On a day when the weather is poor, you might spend a couple of hours wandering around the extensive grounds, dipping in and out of different centuries as you explore the wide variety of buildings on site. However, if you chance upon a glorious summer’s day, you could easily spend half a day there. You will undoubtedly want to top off your visit by nipping into the cafe overlooking the lake, where you might, just as I did, bump into one of the ‘stars’ of The Repair Shop, which is also filmed onsite.

Find out more about what’s on and other essential visitor information via the museum’s website.

Day Two

Arundel Castle, West Sussex

I often get asked: what are your favourite castles to visit in the UK? Well, without a doubt, Arundel Castle is right up there in my top five. If you approach from the east along the A27, you will enjoy the sight of this majestic building perched upon its rocky prominence and imprinted against the West Sussex skyline.

Built around the same time as Windsor, the castle’s outline is familiar, with its towers, turrets and crenulations. Indeed, on several occasions, Arundel has stood in for Windsor Castle in film and TV. 

The oldest structures are the Norman Tower or ‘motte’, built on an artificial mound that rises to around 100ft above the dry moat, followed by the gatehouse, constructed in the late eleventh and early twelfth century. The original outer bailey now forms a pretty central courtyard, where the rest of the castle’s buildings are arranged. 

Unfortunately, the English Civil War inflicted significant damage on the castle. As a result, repairs were undertaken over successive centuries. The most extensive of these was completed in the late nineteenth century by the 15th Duke of Norfolk. This deterioration and damage to the building inflicted over the centuries resulted in a virtual rebuild in the high Gothic style, which was so fashionable in Victorian England. The Duke also upgraded the fabric of the building, with Arundel Castle becoming the first English stately home to have electricity installed throughout! The buildings you see today are primarily the result of his endeavours.

But who are the Dukes of Norfolk, and how did they come to hold the title? The story of the current line of the Howards dates back to 1483 when Richard III conferred the title ‘Duke of Norfolk’ upon John Howard for his support of Richard’s usurpation of the throne following the death of Edward IV. Thus, John became the 1st Duke of Norfolk; however, it was not the first, but the third, iteration of the title. Since then, the line has passed unbroken to the current 18th Duke. 

During the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the family’s power base was centred first at Framlingham Castle and then at Kenninghall, both in Norfolk. Arundel Castle only came to the family through marriage when Thomas, the 4th Duke of Norfolk, married Mary FitzAlan, in 1555. She was a young and wealthy heiress – and, incidentally, the great grand-daughter of Mary Tudor, Queen of France and sister to Henry VIII.

Of course, the Howards were at the centre of politics and court life through the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries. The 2nd Duke led the victorious English army at Flodden against the Scots; the universally disliked 3rd Duke was the Uncle to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, while the 4th Duke was executed for his involvement in the Ridolfi plot to marry Mary, Queen of Scots and overthrow Queen Elizabeth I. One thing the Howards were never short of was pride and ruthless ambition.

I recommend spending a generous half-day exploring the castle and the adjacent town. There is the opportunity to visit the Norman keep and wander through countless state and private rooms stuffed full of precious artefacts. Many superlatives come to mind when describing the magnificence of the castle’s great hall, chapel and library – my favourite room. But this is no dusty museum! The castle is warm and inviting; it is clear that it is still a much-loved family home, which is maintained in immaculate condition.

However, what stands out for me is the fabulous collection of oil paintings of the Tudor Howard family. All the Dukes are lined up next to one another in the gallery just beyond the Great Hall.  Alongside them is a glorious full-sized portrait of Mary FitzAlan, the heiress to whom the Howards owe so much. Tragically, she died shortly after giving birth to a son and heir in 1557, when she was around 16-17. 

You will also want to keep an eye open for the many Tudor miniatures on display, particularly in the library. All the usual ‘suspects’ are there. However, I’ll wager that there will be portraits of some you might never have seen before. It is a sheer delight for Tudor lovers to enjoy!

Once you have finished in the castle, you will want to roam the grounds. The FitzAlan Chapel contains several interesting tombs, although none is Tudor; you need to visit Framlingham to see the best of those. There is also the walled garden. 

I was there in May when the castle had its tulip festival. Clearly, from the crowds making a beeline to the garden, this is quite a draw! I wondered what the fuss was about, but I didn’t have to wait long. Beyond the high walls lies a breathtaking sight; a garden overflowing with over 60,000 tulips, perfectly coiffured into coordinated displays of colour. It is a welcome assault on the senses. The Cathedral of Our Lady and St. Philip Howard towering over the garden in the background make for the perfect photo opportunity!

The castle sits directly adjacent to the small town of the same name. It is quaint, with several cafes and restaurants to rest and replenish yourself after a few hours of concentrated time-travelling. The High Street climbs up a steep hill, which you must conquer if you wish to visit the cathedral mentioned above and the nave of St Nicolas Church. You might note that the east end of this church makes up the FitzAlan chapel, as discussed above.

On a practical note, close to the castle entrance is a pay-and-display car park, should you visit by car. As is often the way,  an early arrival makes you more likely to secure a spot. A steep pull winds its way up from the ticket office to the castle and gardens. Thankfully, motorised vehicles shuttle visitors who have limited mobility up and down between the two. There is a cafe onsite within the castle.

For more visitor information, check out the Arundel Castle website.

Places to Stay in West Sussex

The Spread Eagle Hotel, Midhurst

If you want a wonderfully historic place to stay, then there could be no better place than The Spread Eagle in Midhurst. It has been an inn since its inception in 1430. To add a little context, this was the year before Joan of Arc was burnt at the stake in Rouen; the Hundred Years War between England and France was still ongoing, and the Wars of the Roses would not start for another 25 years! 

The place has all the old-world charm you could hope for. If you want to add a layer of historical icing on the cake of your stay, why not book into the Elizabeth I bedroom? You can lay your head down knowing that you are sleeping in the very room occupied by Elizabeth I when she visited the inn in 1591. 

Amberley Castle
If your budget allows and you want to splash out on some luxury, consider booking into Amberley Castle, a 5-star luxury hotel. The Bishops of Chichester constructed and embellished the castle as a fortified manor house between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. Although it has been drastically modified over the centuries, Amberley retains a great deal of history that any time traveller can enjoy!