Originally a motte and bailey castle inhabited by Roger de Montgomery, the first Earl of Arundel and cousin of William the Conqueror. Across the following centuries the families that resided there carried out extensive expansion and renovation work. During the English Civil War the castle was besieged with 10,000 royalists within and the following decade much of the castle was destroyed on the orders of Parliament. Wenceslaus Hollar's view of Arundel from 1644 therefore preserves an important moment in Arundel's history. Viewed from the east the western side of the castle is seen on its sloping hilltop, the town below filled with buildings with a vast expanse of fields before them, separated by a large river.