poliphilo

Arundel has one of the loveliest skylines in Britain, but move in close and it all gets a bit oppressively ducal. On one side of the town is the dukes' castle and on the other the catholic cathedral which the dukes built so they could pursue their religious practices in properly ducal style and which they dedicated to a sainted ancestor who fell foul of Elizabeth I. The castle is authentically medieval but has been rebuilt by a Victorian duke in a style that anticipates Walt Disney while the cathedral is thoroughly Victorian and slavishly French. In the middle of the town is the parish church which has been divided in two- with the dukes claiming the bit containing their family tombs as private property and sealing it off behind a locked screen.

I couldn't live in Arundel. Apart from not being able to afford it I'd be continually looking up at the ducal piles and grinding my teeth.