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KENILWORTH CASTLE
England’s Largest of Castle Ruins -

Largely destroyed in the English Civil War, Kenilworth was one Britain’s grandest relics of a historic past. English Heritage has spent two years restoring the Leicester’s Gatehouse, built by Queen Elizabeth love and nemesis Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. The imposing Norman Keep with its distinct square tower had dominated the castle and midlands countryside since the conquest and it’s walls had housed some of Great Britain’s greatest historical figures. King John expanded the castle defenses in 1210, building curtain walls and defensive towers of the outer court, and creating a massive lake moat, turning Kenilworth into an island fortress.

In 1266 rebels under the leadership of Henry of Hastings used the castle as a refuge during a year long siege of Kenilworth Castle with it’s water defenses, the double moat fending off siege towers and even an assault by barge. Edward II was imprisoned here after his defeat by his wife Queen Isabella and Roger de Mortimer in 1326 (see Traitor's Gate To Mortimer's Hole). In 1394, John of Gaunt added the marvelous great hall and private apartments of the inner court, turning the military fortress into a royal palace, enjoyed by Henry V, who built a summerhouse and water-garden called The Pleasaunce.

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The castle was granted to Robert Dudley by the Virgin Queen as a gift and he built the Leicester Gatehouse and Elizabethan gardens (see WARWICK CASTLE - Medieval Ghosts and Love Birds). The gate house had been closed since the last occupants departed in the 1930’s but have been painstakingly restored to that time with a collection of exhibitions . On the top floor can be discovered the tale of love and transgression of Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Robert Dudley in all it’s Tudor soap opera glory in “Queen and Castle: Robert Dudley’s Kenilworth” with rare portraits of Elizabeth and Dudley. Another exhibition showing the castle’s long and colorful history can be found in the restored stables built by Dudly. Two of the rooms on the ground floor will also be available for weddings and private events.

Excellent countryside views can be had along the Millennium Trail from the castle to the Pleasaunce. There are Christmas events at Kenilworth in December and a Tearoom in summer. Located just outside Conventry in Warwickshire, Kenilworth is about about 15 minutes from Warwick by car, 25 minutes from Stratford-Upon-Avon (see Shakespeare in Stratford), 40 minutes from Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire and 40 minutes from Birmingham Airport and Heathrow about two hours by car. Along with these other historic destinations Kenilworth is a Great British Heritage site and included in the Great British Heritage Pass (see British Heritage Pass - One Price Entry). © Bargain Travel Europe

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Kenilworth

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SEE ALSO:

ETTINGTON PARK
Sleep To The Manor Born

600 YEARS OF HOSPITALITY AND HISTORY
The Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick

OXFORD
England’s Ye old College Town

MUNCASTER CASTLE
Bed & Breakfast in Haunted Cumbrian Castle

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