Kenilworth Castle

Last week B wanted a lift to a pub to meet friends for lunch so D and I dropped him off and carried on to Kenilworth Castle.  As expected it was busy there but at least we managed to park fairly easily. 

I will give the history of Kenilworth Castle for any new readers but if you have read my blogs on the castle before I would skip this bit.

• The first castle at Kenilworth was built in the 1120's by Geoffrey de Clinton (The Royal Chamberlain) who had been given the land by Henry I.  He built the Great Tower (or Norman Keep) and also founded Kenilworth Priory nearby.
• In the early C13th King John added an outer circuit wall and built a dam to retain a large lake. The castle was now well defended and withstood a siege in 1266.
• John of Gaunt, son of Edward III, built the Great Hall and its apartments.
• C15th Lancastrian kings visited to hunt and Henry V built a retreat at the end of the lake called "The Pleasance in the Marsh".
• In 1563 Elizabeth I gave the castle to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.  He turned the castle into a place where he could entertain her building apartments and a privy garden for her use.
• After the Civil War the fortifications were removed and in 1650 Colonel Hawkesworth, a Parliamentarian Officer, turned Leicester's Gatehouse into a private residence.
• In 1958 Lord Kenilworth gave the castle to the people of Kenilworth and it has been managed by English Heritage since 1984.

I think this is part of a Folktale Creature Trail for children.

Great Tower or Norman Keep

Queen Elizabeth's apartments

Lord Leicester's Gatehouse

We spent most of our time walking around the Queen's Privy Garden. Originally this was a private garden for Elizabeth I  created by Robert Dudley.  This was recreated by English Heritage in 2009.  The designed was based on descriptions by Robert Longham who sneaked into the garden in the C16th.  Archaeological surveys and historical research were also used to help plan the garden.

The Aviary

 

 

The Swan Tower in the north west corner of the outer curtain wall  may once have been part of C13th defence. It was perhaps altered in the C14th  and then converted for use as a small banqueting house for the C16th privy garden.

Plants in Walls - Mystery plant growing on top of the curtain wall.

Lunn's Tower

We then went for lunch. Again we were hoping for a toasted sandwich but again they hadn't got any!  D had the last cheese scone which meant I had a fruit one!

We popped in the gift shop and I bought an English Heritage book with old fashioned traditional recipes.  Then on our way to picking up B we stopped off at the farm shop. It was good to get out for a few hours.  

Reference EH Guide Book to Kenilworth Castle

All photos taken by me and D with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).

End of July Visit to Herefordshire - Part 2: Berrington Hall Gardens

 

On the Friday afternoon we decided to go to Berrington Hall and visit the walled garden. We struggled to park for ages as unusually it was really busy there. I had forgotten it was the school holidays!

There are some lovely old trees in the parkland which was designed by Capability Brown.

There were some lovely plants and seedheads for sale by the visitor centre. I was really tempted by some of the former but in view of the problems we are having with pots at the caravan and lack of rain I managed to resist!

This is part of the new flower garden which was created last year. 

Sadly, quite a few of the plants in the new and the walled gardens were really suffering from lack of water.

Another view of the new garden.

The Berrington estate was sold by the Cornewall family in 1775 to a Thomas Harley, son of the third Earl of Oxford.

The hall was built between 1778 and 1781.  Thomas Harley's family had had connections with Herefordshire for many years.  He had made his fortune in London as a banker and government contractor.  In 1776 he was declared MP for Herefordshire.

Thomas Harley had no male heir but in 1781 his second daughter married the son of Lord Admiral Rodney and after Harley's death the estate passed into the hands of the Rodney family for 95 years.  The estate was sold, to pay gambling debts, to Frederick Cawley from Lancashire.  The estate came into the hands of the National Trust in 1957.

The walled garden was originally the kitchen garden for the hall but fell out of use in World War 2 as it was too expensive to maintain. The National Trust has replanted some of the garden with orchards using pre C20th varieties of apples.  

A lovely herb garden surrounded this greenhouse.

We sat for a while on a bench under the shade of a mulberry tree and watched blackbirds and song thrushes feasting on the fruits. We also saw a great tit and a juvenile robin just gaining its red breast.

 

 Due to lack of rain the gardens  were not  really looking at their best which was disappointing as usually at this time of year they are full of flowers.  We found a similar situation when we visited last September for exactly the same reason.

 

There were several wild carrot plants which was lovely to see as it is one of my favourite wild flowers. 

More plants suffering from the drought :(

The orchards had a good crop of apples.

This is a photo of the actual dress which I saw in the "Fit for a King" exhibition in the hall in 2022.

Ivy leafed toadflax

I checked this huge Common Ragwort plant but couldn't find any Cinnabar Moth caterpillars.

I thought at first this was an owl nest box but now I am wondering if it is meant for house sparrows? Does anyone have any ideas?

Then we went into the Curved Wall Garden created by Capability Brown in 1783 which is one of only two in existence.  It was believed at the time that curved walls were good for growing fruits and vegetables as they provided more heat than straight ones.

Then back into kitchen garden.

By now it was beginning to get rather too hot so we went and had an icecream and I had a quick look round the second hand bookshop. I didn't stay long as it was crowded with people.

Reference: Berrington Hall Guide Book and various information boards.

All photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera. (I don't particularly rate my photos but if anyone wishes to use one of mine or my son's I would be grateful for an email first - thanks).