Kenilworth Castle - Explore what remains.

Описание: Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, England - Explore what remains.

Kenilworth Castle in Warwichshire is one of the great historical sites of the United Kingdom. A royal castle for most of its history and was once one of the country’s most formidable medieval fortresses.

First built in the 1120’s by the royal chamberlain, Geoffrey de Clinton, who built most of the Norman keep.

In 1266 Simon de Montfort held Kenilworth against the king through a six-month siege – the longest in English medieval history.

In the early 13th century King John added the outer stone walls and a dam to create a great lake.

In the 14th century John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III, developed the castle into a palace, building the great hall and lavish apartments.

The castle was a favoured residence of the Lancastrian kings in the later Middle Ages, with Henry V building a retreat at the far end of the lake.

In 1563 Elizabeth I granted the castle to her favourite, Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester who transformed Kenilworth into a magnificent palace. Famously he entertained the queen here for 19 days of festivities in 1575.

Although the castle’s fortifications were dismantled in 1650 after the English Civil War, many buildings remain unaltered since Elizabeth I’s reign, and the spectacular ruins reveal much of Kenilworth’s medieval and Tudor past.

Later, the ruins became famous due to Walter Scott’s 1821 novel Kenilworth, which romanticised the story of Robert Dudley, his wife Amy Robsart, and Elizabeth I.

You can still explore the medieval keep, climb up Tudor towers and wander through a unique Elizabethan garden.

Come and see while I explore what remains.