Kenilworth Castle: The forgotten royal fortress

When you think of royal castle’s, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Windsor Castle? Warwick Castle? Balmoral Castle? One is sure that when you think of a royal castle, Kenilworth Castle isn’t the first that springs to mind however this Warwickshire fortress was and is one of England’s most magnificent fortifications. It once stood at the heart of a vast hunting ground and across the centuries it has been a rich prize to generations of royals though because of its present ruination, Kenilworth Castle is not often remembered as a royal fortress however here we have a castle that is steeped in nearly 1000 years of history, lets take a bite sized look at some of that history.

The ruins of Kenilworth Castle.

The first castle at Kenilworth came to prominence during the reign of King Henry I when he granted land from his Stoneleigh manor to his treasurer, Geoffrey de Clinton. The southern part of the land was used for a castle, a park and a mere whilst the northern part of the land saw an Augustinian priory founded on it. Just a generation later, Kenilworth Castle was in the hands of royalty as King Henry II garrisoned the fortress against his rebellious sons and acquired the castle outright in the mid 1180s.

For the next few centuries, Kenilworth Castle became a strategically important fortification for royalty. King John spent an astonishing £1100 strengthening Kenilworth’s curtain walls and towers whilst his successor, King Henry III, gifted Kenilworth Castle to his sister, Eleanor, and her powerful husband Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. While de Montfort perished at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, his son Simon held the castle against the King in a six month siege though the 14th December 1266 would see the fortress eventually surrendered to the Crown.

John of Gaunt, fourth son of King Edward III, came in to ownership of Kenilworth following his marriage to Blanche of Lancaster. Kenilworth began to be gradually rebuilt by Gaunt in a more regal style than it had previously been with the work lasting two decades and being completed by masons and surveyors who had worked on the rebuilding of Windsor Castle. When King Henry IV ascended the throne in 1399, the castle was brought in to the Crown Estate where for the next century and a half, it would remain. While the Lancastrians favoured Kenilworth Castle and were drawn to it by the excellent hunting, it would be during the reign of the Tudor’s that Kenilworth would really come in to its own.

The first two Tudor Kings, Henry VII and Henry VIII, continued to use Kenilworth Castle both as a royal headquarters and residence. King Henry VII built a tennis court at the castle while King Henry VIII dismantled a banqueting house and had it re-erected within the castle walls. De facto Regent during the reign of King Edward VI, John Dudley, was granted Kenilworth towards the end of the boy king’s reign in 1553 though his execution was later that year ordered by Queen Mary I.

Kenilworth Castle became a firm favourite of Queen Elizabeth I’s during her reign, perhaps because she granted the fortress to a favourite of hers, Robert Dudley. During her various ‘progresses’ throughout her realm, The Virgin Queen stopped by at Kenilworth an astonishing four times including in 1575, which was the longest visit she had ever made to one of her courtiers. Dudley had made incredible changes to Kenilworth, undoubtedly to impress the Queen, but stunning nonetheless. He created the chase which was an enclosed hunting park of some 800 acres as well as an impressive 600ft long bridge and updates to the interior of the castle.

During the reign of the House of Stuart, Kenilworth Castle reverted back to the Crown Estate and the future King Charles I inherited the castle in 1612. Only using the castle occasionally, Charles granted custody to his retainer, the Earl of Monmouth, in 1626. When the English Civil War broke out in August 1642, Kenilworth Castle was taken almost immediately by the Parliamentarian Army though it saw no substantial action. Following the Civil War, Kenilworth was on its way towards ruination after its purchase by Colonel Joseph Hawkesworth, only Leicester’s Gatehouse remained in use as a house for Hawkesworth. The castle and its estate were granted to Laurence Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, in whose family it remained until the 20th century.

In the present day, Kenilworth Castle is one of the country’s biggest tourist attractions and hosts hundreds of historical events every year. Managed by English Heritage, Kenilworth Castle offers visitors plenty to do including Tower Views, where visitors get the chance to see the views that Queen Elizabeth I would have witnessed from her private rooms. The Elizabethan Gardens give visitors the chance to walk in the footsteps of ‘Good Queen Bess’ in a haven of peace and tranquillity. Leicester’s Gatehouse puts on a fantastic exhibition about the famous royal romance between Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley whilst the Castle Keep gives visitors the chance to witness a three stories high defensive Norman powerhouse.

Leiecester’s Gatehouse at Kenilworth Castle.

Nearly 1000 years have passed since the life of this great fortress began and it sure has seen its fair share of royalty, rebellion and romance and surely deserves to go down in history as one of the greatest fortifications this country has ever seen.

To find out more about Kenilworth Castle, visit the English Heritage website.

Photo Credits: Helen@littlethorpe, David Merrett, Wenceslaus Hollar [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons