It will be seen that all the inhabited portions of Arundel Castle are of comparatively recent date; they are fitted up with much judgment and taste, but by no means gorgeously. In one of the lesser chambers are hung some modern drawings of great merit and value, by Prout, Hunt, Copley Fielding, David Cox, and other artists of the best days of the British school.[30] The KEEP is the great attraction of the castle and domain of Arundel. Though now but a picturesque ruin, it has been prominent in all the internal contests of the kingdom, from the days of Alfred the Great to the reign of the third William. To this relic of a remote age the public are freely admitted; and a courteous custodier is always at hand to detail its history, and conduct through its winding and tortuous paths from base to summit. Dating from a time certainly anterior to the Conquest, before the application of “villainous saltpetre,” it must have been impregnable—commanding the adjacent country on all sides, and rendering the Arun a mere tributary to the will of its lords; it had a large share in controlling the destinies of the kingdom during the several civil wars to which it had been subjected. It remains one of the most picturesque of the ruins that in England recall the memories of battles lost and won, of glories continually claimed and resigned by rival competitors, and of heroes whose mortal parts have been dust from ages so remote that their records are read only in “the dim twilight of tradition.” The historian, Tierney, states that the Keep probably comprised the principal feature of the Saxon stronghold. It is of a circular formation, and of immense strength. The height from the bottom of the fosse, on the external side, was 70 feet; on the internal, 69; which, with walls and battlements, produced an elevation altogether of 96 feet on the east; 103 on the west. The walls varied from 8 to 10 feet, strengthened by ribs and buttresses. The inner space, which is circular, afforded accommodation to the garrison; in extent it varied from 59 to 67 feet in diameter. In the interior were several chambers, converging towards a subterraneous room in the centre. Differing from other Keeps, it contained no openings or loopholes from which the enemy could be annoyed, and it was only from the ramparts and battlements that the garrison could repel the assaults of the assailant. No traces can be seen of the original Saxon entrance. Connected with the Keep is, of course, the Well-tower. Bevis’s Tower, the Barbican, is seen immediately underneath, while, at a short distance, is “the Chapel of St. Mary, over the gate.”