Arundel Castle (W Sussex)

“Our story begins in 1067 and continues to the present day. Many of the original features such as the Norman Keep, medieval Gatehouse and Barbican survive.” So says the Arundel Estate’s website, noting that Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk, who owns Arundel, is from a family with a long history. What the website doesn’t go into any detail about is the long history of also killing wildlife. The Arundel Estate is currently described as one of the “foremost shoots in the country” by GunsOnPegs, whose blurb says that shooters get to have lunch in the castle with full butler service. The breathless writers at Purdey’s (the gun manufacturer) say that “Arundel is classic shooting”…going on to proclaim ecstatically that killing birds at Arundel “truly is a Holy Grail-level experience.” Starry-eyed reporting of men with guns was taken to a shameful level when Vintage Magazine gushed excitedly in December 2012 that “The Percy boys (Ralph and James) came down from Northumberland recently to join a team of Fitzalan-Howards, and the resulting bag was an astonishing 291 greys, 305 redlegs, 42 pheasant and 3 pigeon! An observer said that the Percy boys were a joy to behold, as they shot with near clinical efficiency, and modest too.” 641 dead birds but congrats ‘boys’ on not bragging about it. We could go on but would point visitors to the link below, which looks at how the Duke has tried repeatedly to stop campaigners like Doug Maw from revealing the vast numbers of traps and snares used at Arundel…