Kenilworth Castle

After several days on sick dog watch, and with Arthur Hound seemingly fully recovered, I was distinctly stir-crazy this morning.  CH suggested that after breakfast (colomba - delicious, and very moreish) we should drive over to Kenilworth to visit the castle; we last went with the Offspring over 15 years ago, so it seemed reasonable to take another look at it today.

Kenilworth Castle was originally built by the Normans in the C12th, and in the C14th it was one of many castles owned by John of Gaunt, but its heyday was under the Tudor dynasty in the C16th. After having been a royal palace for many years it was given to the Dudley family, but then confiscated again after John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, briefly managed to place his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England following the death of Edward VI. Jane Grey, her husband Guildford Dudley and his father were all executed by Mary I for this error of judgement, but the remaining Dudley children surprisingly survived. When Mary died five years later and Elizabeth I came to the throne the Dudleys' fortunes were restored, thanks to Robert Dudley's close personal friendship with the new queen; Robert was made Earl of Leicester and Kenilworth was returned to him, while his older brother Ambrose was made Earl of Warwick, just down the road. Robert Dudley had Kenilworth extensively remodelled, and Elizabeth stayed at the castle with a large entourage for almost three weeks after the work was completed in 1575; but contrary to his hopes and many people's expectations she did not marry Dudley, and he died a few years later.

During the English Civil War in the mid-C17th Kenilworth was a Royalist stronghold, and following the Parliamentarian victory it was partially destroyed to make sure it couldn't be so used again. For the next 200 years it was a farm, and increasingly a tourist attraction, and it's now managed by English Heritage. If this hasn't completely exhausted your interest in the topic, there's plenty more here.

I really couldn't decide which shot to blip today, so I turned the decision over to CH - but even he (unusually) was indecisive; which is why I'm posting after Poldark  rather than before. If this one had been better-composed it would probably have got the nod - partly for the view, but also for the extraordinary quality of the graffiti carved into the stone. This is pretty dramatic, this is not for the faint-hearted; and I really liked this view of the gatehouse. Finally, this one is also the gatehouse I think, but from a different angle, taken through an unexpected set of gates in the overflow car park. This one really does look better large against the dark background.