Guy's Cliffe, Warwick - House, Guy's cave, Chapel of St Mary Magdalene and Walled Garden

Last weekend was Heritage Weekend when many places that are not normally open to the public have open days. I had three ideas - Aston Parish Church was open as was Polesworth Abbey and also Guy's Cliffe. Eventually D and I decided to visit the latter.


Guy's Cliffe has a long and fascinating history. It is a large sandstone cliff above the River Avon surrounded by woodland and the site has been the forcus of romantic myths and legends for centuries. It has been occupied since Saxon times and gets its name from the legendary Guy of Warwick.

In 600 AD Saint Dubricius founded an oratory dedicated to St Mary Magdalen - he later became the first Bishop of Warwick.

Stories of Guy of Warwick are a mix of legend, folklore and tradition. He was a Saxon believed to have been born in Warwick. He was from a modest background but gained a reputation for excelling in martial arts. Guy fell in love with Felicia, the daughter of Rohund, Earl of Warwick. However, because she was of far higher status he had to prove himself worthy of her hand. He travelled widely in England and abroad and tales are told of his bravery killing brigands, slaying dragons and a huge dun cow! He finally returned and married Felicia. Later he travelled to the Crusades where he fought many battles. On returning to England he even came to the rescue of King Athelstan who was a prisoner of the Danes in Winchester and Guy fought and killed the man picked to be the Danish champion thus saving the king. Overcome by his violent past and feeling full of remorse he returned to Warwick but instead of living with his wife he retired to live the life of a hermit in a cave at Guy's Cliffe. He died at the age of 70 and Felicia when she discovered his body was so upset that she leapt from a nearby cliff and they are said to be buried somewhere at the hermitage although no remains have ever been found. There is no recorded evidence that Guy ever existed and we shall presumably never know but without doubt the site was certainly used by hermits from early days. The first recorded hermit was an un-named Christian in around 929 AD.

Henry V visited Warwick and so liked the beauty of Guy's Cliffe that he planned to found a chantry there with two priests. But he died the following year before he could fulfill his promise and his friend Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, carried out his wishes and the chapel at the site was re-built. The chapel and hermitage continued until the Dissolution of the Monasteries when the land was confiscated and given to Sir Andrew Flammock who built a tudor house.

Various owners held the estate over the next few hundred years and then in 1751 the property was purchased by Samuel Greatheed, MP for Coventry, who built the current
ruined house. In the years 1915-1918 the house was used by the Red Cross as a hospital and between 1939-45 it was used as a Boys' Home for Evacuees. In 1946 the estate was broken up and sold. A property company bought the house and grounds intending to turn them into a hotel but this idea never reached fruition. In 1955 the property was bought by Aldwyn F Porter and in 1975 leased to the free masons. In 1992 a major fire occurred during the filming of a Sherlock Holmes episode.

Blakelow Hill is a few miles away which was the location of the murder of Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, in 1312.

Guy's Cliffe does have a reputation for being haunted with strange lights seen, dragging noises and footsteps heard.

Stables

The place was very busy so photography was rather a challenge!

A few photos of the house ruins first.

The Chapel of St Mary Magdalene - now used by Freemasons for ceremonies.

The chapel was built in 1430 by Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick and it was endowed with two priests. One of the earliest was John Rouse a medieval historian.

This statue carved of rock is reputed to depict Guy of Warwick. The statue is allegedly life size and Guy was said to have been very tall - about 8 feet. It was the highlight of my visit although sadly obscured by rows of chairs!!!

This room in the undercroft leads to a dungeon.

Guy's Cliffe and

Guy's cave.

The caves would have suited hermits as they are very dry and maintain an even temperature.

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There is apparently a spring which supplied the hermits with water. I spotted this feature when we arrived and it looked like a well of some sort although I couldn't see any water. Could it be Guy's Well?

To be honest it was that busy that D and I didn't stop very long. We went back to the car which was parked by a lovely flower bed

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to eat our sandwiches and share a flask of tea. No "pop" for Timothy that day!!


After lunch we visited Guy's Cliffe Walled Garden which thankfully was not quite so busy.

The Walled Garden was originally part of the kitchen garden for Guy's Cliffe House from the 1770's until the late 1940's. In recent decades the garden had become totally overgrown but volunteers started to clear the site in 2014. The aim of the volunteer project is to restore the walls and glasshouses and to turn the site into a working Georgian'Victorian kitchen garden. It has been listed as Grade II by English Heritage.

The Water Bowser - a water cart and a relic from the original garden.

This lovely chair had been made from coppiced hazel.

There were quite a few butterflies about such as Comma and Small Tortoiseshell.

Timothy about to buy a Turk's Turban squash which we plan to turn into soup this weekend :)

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*D Photos taken by my son with the Canon SX50HS bridge camera
Rest of photos taken by me with the Panasonic Lumix FZ330 bridge camera


Reference: Booklets on The Chapel of St Mary Magdalene
and History of Guy's Cliffe