KENILWORTH CASTLE
England’s Largest of Castle Ruins
Largely destroyed in the English Civil War, Kenilworth is one Britain’s magnificent relics of a historic past. The imposing Norman keep with its distinct square tower of red brick had dominated the castle and midlands countryside since the conquest and its walls have housed some of Great Britain’s greatest historical figures. The original Norman keep was built by Geoffrey de Clinton, granted the lands by Henry I in 1120. Henry II acquired the fortress from de Clinton's heirs and 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 and a royal residence. 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 its the double moat water defenses fending off siege towers and even an assault by barge.
Edward II was imprisoned here by Henry of Lancaster after the king's defeat by the army raised by his wife Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer in 1326 (see Traitor's
Gate To Mortimer's Hole) before his transfer to Berkeley Castle and his legendary gruesome murder (see Edward II Cell Berkeley Castle). 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.
The castle was granted to Robert Dudley by Elizabeth I, the "Virgin Queen" as a gift and he built the Leicester Gatehouse and Elizabethan gardens (see Warwick
Castle)in her honor. The Leicester Gate, closed since the last occupants departed in the 1930s has been painstakingly restored 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 its 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 Dudley.
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 Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire (see Blenheim Palace The Royals) and about
2 from London. © Bargain
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Kenilworth
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SEE ALSO:
ETTINGTON
PARK - HAUNTING
600
YEARS OF
HOSPITALITY AND HISTORY
