Approaching Arundel either by road or rail, it's hard to miss the Cathedral of Our Lady and St Philip Howard. The effect is difficult to convey in a photograph: it doesn't dominate the surrounding buildings so much as seem to grow organically out of them. The cathedral celebrates the feast of Corpus Christi each year with a famous carpet of flowers. Visitors come by the coachload from miles around to see the carpet and partake of the official refreshments at a nearby church hall.
Although the carpet of flowers is famous, it's only a part of the celebration of Corpus Christi. The feast itself celebrates the central sacrament of the Catholic faith: the Eucharist. During the thirteenth century there was a demand for a special feast day in honour of “the most blessed sacrament of the altar” and, following a vision by three nuns in Liege, the feast began to be celebrated there in 1247. It gradually spread and in 1264, Pope Urban IV instituted its celebration by the whole church. This order was confirmed by the Council of Vienne in 1311, and the solemn procession that now forms the core of the celebration was added in 1317.
It became the custom to strew flowers in front of the Eucharist in the procession and in some areas of Italy this was elaborated into a carpet of flowers running the whole length of the procession. In 1877, the then Duke of Norfolk, Duke Henry , having seen the carpet of flowers in the village of Sutri outside Rome, introduced the tradition to Arundel. The flowers came from his nearby estate and were laid by his workers. Apart from a brief gap during the First World War, the celebration has continued ever since.
Over the years the designs for the carpet have become more complex. The flowers now come from local nurseries and are laid by local people. The carpet is on view on the eve of Corpus Christi and on the day of the feast. I joined the throngs of tourists who appreciated the flowers and photographed the carpet. Most then leave to rejoin their coaches, but gradually during the afternoon the nave of the cathedral fills up with people waiting for the feast day Mass.
There being some time before the start of the service, I slipped away for a walk around town, returning to sample the hospitality of the St Mary's Gate pub, enjoying a glass of wine and some sandwiches from their special Corpus Christi menu. This was an oasis of calm as local people started to arrive to watch the procession (although the sound chips in the fruit machine added a surreal touch to the organ music being relayed from the cathedral over speakers strung along the street). By now, the atmosphere bore comparison with the Hanswijk at Mechelen. Although the two events are quite different, there's the same combination of matter-of-factness and the little things that make the day special for the local people and for the pilgrims.
At the end of the mass, the Sacrament is carried out along the Carpet of Flowers – this is the reason that the carpet is laid in the first place. Then a procession forms up with various religious groups who escort the Eucharist along the road to the castle and through the grounds to an inner courtyard where the benediction is said. As the procession enters the castle large number of local people and pilgrims join in and the purpose of the speakers strung along the route becomes more obvious. The procession is very long and choir broadcast over the public address serves to keep everyone roughly in time.
At the benediction itself, I shared a hymn sheet with a Spaniard who, if I understood him correctly, was one of a group from near to Santiago de Compostella: I am perhaps the only person to find that slightly ironic, but that's the nature of pilgrimage. The procession then returned to the cathedral for a second benediction. Sadly, it was time to go. Although many towns the size of Arundel would envy the train service here, there are long gaps and the last train home leaves quite early. Perhaps next year I'll stay over.