Royalty, the church and a river

I remember hearing about it years ago and thinking it was a joke, largely because the name sounded made up to me, like a place or a character from Frozen or Lord of the Rings. Then I discovered that it was a real place after stumbling upon photos and naturally I had to come and discover it for myself. Just an hour and a half from London, the picturesque old town of Arundel is to be found, in the heart of the South Downs. It houses a historical and cultural heritage that I highly recommend visiting. Dominated by its Norman castle and the River Arun, Arundel has a fascinating history in store for us, as well as a beautiful mix of craft, jewellery, antique and decoration shops that are irresistible.

Arundel Castle was built in the late 11th century and has been the official residence of the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk for over 900 years, one of the oldest inhabited houses in England. However, between the 1870s and 1890s, the castle was completely rebuilt, and its Gothic architecture is considered one of the great works of English Victorianism. Against this beautiful backdrop of the castle, the Wetland Centre is home to rare and beautiful wildlife. It is a series of wetlands that can be explored by boat on the river where colonies of swans, ducks and geese live carefree.

St Nicholas' Church is the other wonder of Arundel, dating back to the 14th century, as is the Cathedral of Our Lady, a rather modern cathedral, having been built between 1869 and 1973 by the fifth Duke of Norfolk. In 1970 it became the cathedral of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton.

For today’s exploration I thought I’d wear a vintage white Royal Navy officers’ uniform jacket. This beautiful piece from the 50s has a red detail in the lapel which easily elevates any look despite the simplicity of the design. I have styled it with a white tank top and pleated, bottle-green trousers. The stripy socks coordinate with the bottoms and for footwear I picked brown moc-toe leather shoes very on trend at the moment. The check print coat adds more content and texture to the look bringing in green, orange, white and navy. The colour-block, cross-body satchel, matching the navy gloves goes well in contrast with the yellow, cashmere scarf.