Last week D and I visited Kenilworth Castle. B wanted a lift to and from the pub to meet friends for lunch and it was easier to spend a few hours at Kenilworth Castle which is close to the pub than drive all the way home and back again! The castle was busy and it appeared to be the week of school trips :( By 2.15 though after we had eaten lunch the grounds were much quieter.
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 (Norman Keep) and founded Kenilworth Priory.
In the early C13th King John added an outer circuit wall and built a dam to retain a large lake. The castle was now strongly 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 Queen Elizabeth I gave the castle to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. He turned the castle into a palace fit to entertain her building apartments for her use and creating a privy garden for her.
After the Civil War fortifications were removed and in 1650 Leicester's Gatehouse was used as a residence by Colonel Hawkesworth, a Parliamentarian officer.
In 1958 Lord Kenilworth gave the castle to the people of Kenilworth and it has been managed by English Heritage since 1984.
Mortimer's Tower was built by King John around 1210 and it may have later acquired its name from Roger Mortimer, one of the Marcher Lords, who held a tournament at the castle in 1282.
The stables were built in Tudor times and today house a tearoom and a very interesting exhibition.
The Great Tower or Keep
Leicester's Building which contained the apartments built for Queen Elizabeth I on her visits.
Leicester's Gatehouse built in 1571/2 by Robert Dudley.
The Queen's Privy Garden was a private garden created for Elizabeth I by Robert Dudley in 1575.
The garden was recreated by English Heritage in 2009. The design was based on a description by Robert Langham in the C16th who had somehow managed to sneak into the garden. Archaeological surveys and historical research were also carried out and used to help plan the garden.
The fountain is the centre piece of the Elizabethan garden. The new fountain, like the original, is made of white Carrara marble from Tuscany, Italy. The central column has two Athlants (Atlas figures) which support a sphere that discharges jets of water. The octagonal base has panels carved with scenes from the "Metamorphoses" - (Ovid's narrative poem).
The Aviary
Lunn's Tower
We had lunch sitting outside the Stables. Timothy enjoyed his cake :)
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).
Reference : English Heritage Guidebook to Kenilworth Castle and English Heritage website pages.
16 comments:
Yes, always be on the look out for school trips on the last week of summer term! But a fascinating place to visit all the same with so many layers of history. I enjoyed the virtual trip with you Many thanks.
John "By Stargoose and Hanglands" - Thanks so much - glad you enjoyed the tour :) I try to avoid places like Kenilworth Castle in the school holidays but had completely forgotten about school trips the week before the summer one starts!
The way Covid is surging again, you're well advised to eat outside! My cousins have all got it after attending a family function.
I love the Box knot hedge. Lovely to see Timothy enjoying the weather {which you have, we do not, still cold here in the west}
thanks for the visit.... I've only been once!
timothy looks very content :)
It looks like you had a lovely day at Kenilworth which is looking good in the sunshine. We visited Peak Wildlife Park last week and there were three bus loads of children, I too had forgotten about last week at school trips out. They were all well organised though, Glad Timothy enjoyed his cake:)
That stable block is gorgeous! A really interesting post - I like reading about the history. I've heard of the castle, of course, but never been there, so had no idea what state it was in. Nice to have lovely gardens to walk around in too and, of course, cake. :-)
That's the difference between British historical sites and French ones - cafes/restaurants. If you are lucky in France you might get a crepe or hot dog (French style), not very nice really. Most have nothing and of course a lot close for lunch anyway! Even worse in Spain, we went to visit something after lunch out only to find the place didn't re-open until 4.30pm - typical Spanish times for shops etc to open after about 3 hours of siesta time!
Rustic Pumpkin - Thanks so much and I am so sorry to hear about your cousins. I do hope they aren't too poorly with it. Caution is obviously still needed!
To be honest I wish it was cooler here - it has gone very warm again and last week was SO hot and humid.
The Quacks of Life - Thanks Pete. It is lovely there and well worth you visiting again if you holiday in the area at some point. Timothy was indeed happy to be out and about :)
Rosie - Thanks so much. Sorry you were caught out too with the school trips but glad they were well organised. Timothy was very happy to be out and about again especially when cake was involved :)
Millymollymandy - Thanks so much. I am so glad you enjoyed the post and the history of the castle. It is a rather interesting place to wander round and the recreated Elizabethan garden is lovely.
I didn't realise French historical sites didn't really have tearooms as such. What a pain about the Spanish site not re-opening until 4.30! I will have to remember about siestas if I ever go to Spain :)
We have loved our visits to Kenilworth Castle. The newly restored garden had just been, well, newly restored on our last visit. Timothy seems to have enjoyed his excursion to the full. I remember David and me reading an Echo Poem in a semi-covered, almost cave-like, shelter. And yes, we were thrilled to have the Slow Worm visit us. Alas, no sign today; too much noise round about us, I fear ...
Caroline Gill - Thanks Caroline. Kenilworth castle is indeed lovely and therestored garden the icing on the cake. A super place to listen to an Echo Poem. Hope the slowworm comes back when it is quieter :)
may go in October :)
The Quacks of Life - Hope you can visit Pete :)
Lovely photos, it has been a while since my last visit.
Timothy's cake looks delicious :-)
CherryPie - Thank you. Timothy always has to have cake! :)
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