Visit to Kenilworth Castle

 

Recently B needed his usual lift to and from the pub to meet ex work colleagues for lunch so while he was there I took D and E to Kenilworth Castle.

History of the Castle - if you've read my other posts on Kenilworth Castle 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 (Norman Keep) and also 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 I  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 and a privy garden for her use.
• After the Civil War fortifications were removed and in 1650 Leicester's Gatehouse was turned into 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 ~1210 and it may later have taken its name from Roger Mortimer, one of the Marcher Lords, who held a Tournament here in 1282.

I saw plenty of ivy flowers as we walked to the castle and there were quite a few bees on them.

The Great Tower or Norman Keep

Lunn's Tower

It was raining when we arrived so we took shelter in the Stables and had an early lunch.  The Stables were built in Tudor times and now house a tearoom and exhibition.

Pesto, sundried tomato and mozarella pannini for lunch which was very tasty.  I was very good and refused to be tempted by the cake!

It was still raining slightly after lunch so we had a look around the exhibition which is excellent.  These are trebuchet balls which were fired from a trebuchet during a medieval siege of the castle.  They were found in 1960 during an archaeological investigation. A trebuchet, often used to bombard a building in sieges, was like a giant catapult that had a rotating arm and sling which were used to fire missiles.

A model of how Kenilworth Castle may have looked in 1575-80.

Kenilworth Castle as it is today.

This fragment came from a masonry frieze.  The letters RA may once have been part of a larger inscription.

A capital from a small pilaster column perhaps from the edge of a fireplace. It is carved with acanthus leaves in a classical style.

Although the nose and ears have been broken this may represent a lion.

Thankfully, by now the rain had stopped and we had a look around some of the rest of the Castle.

Leicester's Gatehouse built in 1571/2 by Robert Dudley.

The Great Tower

The Queen's Privy Garden was a private garden created for Queen 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 managed to sneak into the garden.  Archaeological surveys and historical research were also carried out to help plan the garden.

We walked around the outside of part of the castle.

Queen Elizabeth I's appartments.

Before leaving we had a look around the shop and bought a few items for (dare I mention it so early!) Christmas.  I bought a couple of presents, some Christmas cards and a few bottles of Lyme Bay wine - quite expensive but worth it! I particularly like the Ginger Wine - ideal for a cold winter's night.

I watched a Common Carder bee on this trough of plants.

There have been a few reports of ghosts being seen at Kenilworth Castle such as  the silhouette of a  cot that rocks itself, a ghostly child running across a stable roof and then disappearing, ghostly chickens pecking around the stables and a mysterious "white lady"  wandering around.

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.