Seven Sisters and Medieval Towns

View of the Seven Sisters from Hope Gap

Rita and I on one of the many Seven Sisters Trails

Rita coming out of Belinda's Tea Room in Arundel with a bag of tasty scones

Side view of Stately Arundel Castle

The Norman Keep situated on the highest piece of land within the Castle was built in 1067

Rita checking out some of the Maritime history in Rye

Ypes Tower was built around 1250 to protect Rye against French invaders

Another remarkable day today of hiking and exploring. Rita and I had such a great time walking the South Downs that we decided to go on another hike in the same area. This time we hiked the Hope Gap and it was just as spectacular as Beachy Head. After a 2 hour hike we were ready for our first medieval town experience and headed for Arundel, dominated by its 11th century Norman Castle. The town of Arundel is quite small but has many quaint cafes and antique shops. After hiking all morning we were ready for lunch and found a great tea room with a quiet garden patio. The building was built in 1560 as a barn and converted to a tea room in 1920. After a great lunch of sandwiches and tea we headed for a tour of Arundel Castle. The Castle has been the family home of the Dukes of Norfolk and their ancestors for over 900 years. Many of the original structures still survive, however between 1870 and 1890 the Castle was almost completely rebuilt and is considered to be one of the great works of Victorian England. In fact the Castle was used for the filming of The Young Victoria.

Our next stop was the town of Rye, an important fortified town surrounded by steep cliffs and three rivers with sea access. Originally, at high tide the sea flowed to the edge of town but in the 1600's the sea retreated and so did its importance but it has retained many of its historic buildings. We had a wonderful time walking the cobbled streets and checking out the Old Town before heading back to Brighton.