The Arun District has three main towns; Arundel, Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. The old town and former river port of Arundel was established on the south western side of the river valley etched through the South Downs by the forerunner of the River Arun. The Arun is the second fastest flowing river in England (after the River Severn, Bristol) and is tidal beyond Houghton Bridge, Amberley. The Romans named the river ‘Trisantona’ ~ ‘The Great Wanderer’ and the course of the river has been periodically channelled across the coastal plain to enter the English Channel at the working port of Littlehampton. The communities of the Arun District have progressively settled across the coastal plain. Protection from river and coastal flooding are a significant part of the local government’s strategic planning.

The first reference to ‘Harundell’ was recorded in AD877 when King Alfred bequeathed the fortified redoubt (built against the invading Danes) to his nephew Aethelm.   Roger de Montgomery - elevated to the title of ‘Earl of Chichester and Arundel’ by his cousin William the Conqueror after the Norman victory at the ‘Battle of Hastings’ - founded Arundel Castle on Christmas Day, 1067.   The enlarged and present medieval styled Castle was the creation of Henry the 15^th Duke of Norfolk and construction was completed in 1903.   Arundel Castle with its estate of 40 acres has become the second largest English Castle (Windsor Castle being the largest) and is one of the great baronial ancestral homes of England.   On his coming of age on the 7^th June 1870 Henry founded a Catholic Church designed and built in the ‘French Gothic’ style. In 1965, it became a Cathedral under the new diocese of ‘Arundel and Brighton’ and was rededicated as the ‘Cathedral Church of Our Lady and St. Philip Howard’.   Philip, the 13^th Earl of Arundel was canonised in 1970.  These two buildings dominate Arundel’s skyline and dictated the town’s growth and configuration.   The High Street, said to be the steepest in England, follows the line and direction of the Castle wall.

Littlehampton also has Anglo-Saxon origins; ‘Hampton’ was probably a Roman settlement (as ‘ham’ and ‘ton’ denotes) founded on the east bank of the River Arun. With a high tidal range and shifting sand-bars the coast has caused many ships to founder attempting access to the river mooring. The Dukes of Norfolk owned much of Littlehampton from 1610 until the 1930s. In 1672, the port and main quay were extended as a ‘Royal Dockyard’ and as a victualing point for Henry VIII’s warships. Upstream Arundel continued as an active river port until the 1820s and sailing ships were towed up river by a paddle-driven steamer tug – the ‘Jumna’. Littlehampton officially became a town in 1853 (motto: ‘PROGRESS’) and the advent of the railway a decade later opened the town to summer tourism and soon became a popular holiday destination. A cross-channel ferry operated from Littlehampton until 1882 when the ferry service was moved to the deeper draught port of Newhaven. Littlehampton was also a favourite town with artists and writers, such as JMW Turner, PB Shelley, ST Coleridge and Lord Byron – who reputedly swam often in the River Arun. The Parliamentary Boundary Changes of 1997 removed Littlehampton from the ‘Arundel and Shoreham’ constituency and adjoined it instead with Bognor Regis.

The Last National Census (2001) recorded the population of the Arun District as 140,787* composed of 47% male and 53% female gender.   The mid-2004 estimate is 144,300* residents.   Those ‘economically active’ numbered 61,627 (1999 figures*); 32% of Arun’s ‘economically active’ commute outside the Arun area for employment while 68% live and work within (1991 census*).

The main employment in the Arun District is predominantly linked to tourism, the rural economy (viz: agriculture and horticulture – the District has the largest cultivation under glass in Europe), the public sector, small engineering, distribution trades and business services.   The commuters are employed mainly in financial, business and public services.  Unemployment levels are 2%*