It is the duty of any museum to tell a story. It maybe about a type of pottery, industry or a history. Arundel museum does this well. It helps that is has an interesting story to tell. The castle dominates the town and as a result it's history.
This isn't to say that it concentrates on it's medieval hay day. There is interesting features on the towns decline and revival, and development during the 1970s. The different time periods are neatly laid out and you get a real sense of going through it's history.
Museums should tell you stuff that you weren't aware of such as the time Arundel was a port. It is hard to imagine these days with the size of cargo ships. The river Arun really was the life blood of the town.
There is of course space given to the earls of Arundel and the dukes of Norfolk. For someone like my self these are interesting and with the museum open all year round these people come to life outside of the castle walls.
The museum itself is situated nicely between castle and the river. It stands next to the last remains of a priory run by the Blackfriars. The museum is small much like the town that is serves. It does every you need it too and helps you go about Arundel thinking about it's past and wanting to find out more.
Museums shouldn't just be about this is the definitive story now leave me alone. This is a museum that does that and sets out Arundel as a place to explore and reflect upon which is exactly what I did next.
