Arundel civil parish occupies exceeding its built-up clusters which are in two halves, old towards the north and new to the south, past a main road.[2]

Arundel town is a major bridging point over the River Arun as it was the lowest road bridge until the opening of the Littlehampton swing bridge in 1908. Arundel Castle was built by the Normans to protect that vulnerable fairly wooded plain to the north of the valley through the South Downs. The town later grew up on the slope below the castle to the south.[7] The river was previously called the Tarrant and was renamed after the town by antiquarians in a back-formation.

Arundel includes meadows to the south but is clustered north of the A27 road, which narrowly avoids the town centre by a short and congested single carriageway bypass. Plans for a more extensive, HQDC bypass were debated intensely between 1980 and 2010 and built a junction for it at Crossbush. Arundel railway station is on the Arun Valley Line. The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath passes through the town and crosses the river here, while just under five miles north and north-west of the town the route of the South Downs Way runs.

Since 1 April 2011 the town has been within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park.

source: wikipedia