Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of the
same name in Warwickshire, England. It was Easter when we visited it and you
can all have an impression by the pictures of how cold it actually was this
day. Anyways, although very old and initially constructed by Normans and
expanded with time, it is best known as the former home of Robert Dudley, the
great love of Queen Elizabeth I. Dudley created an ornate palace here to
impress his Queen when she visited it in 1575. The Tudor tower even hosts an
interesting exhibition on the relationship between Queen Elizabeth and Dudley.
The castle was built over several centuries. Each part of it shows a different architecture style. It was founded in the 1120s around a powerful Norman great tower, but it grew bigger by King John’s reign (beginning of the 13th century), when he also designed a huge water defence around it (inexistent nowadays). John of Gaunt also changed the castle, turning it into a palace fortress designed in the latest perpendicular style. After that, the Earl of Leicester (Robert Dudley) then expanded it once again, constructing new Tudor buildings and turning the castle into a Renaissance palace.
Kenilworth Castle was partly destroyed by Parliamentary forces in 1649 to prevent it being used as a military stronghold. Today it’s open to the public and it’s listed as an English Heritage. The once lost Elizabethan Garden has been recreated, together with an aviary and a beautiful marble fountain. It’s all a magnificent mixture of different style ruins, stories and mysteries.
Stables
The Elizabethan Garden
The Norman Tower
different perspectives!
Ruins of the Great Hall
Ruins of the State Apartments
from the other side of the moat
Blick of the English country side
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