Warwickshire

ssing Guy's Cliff, the beautiful Blakedown Mill, which existed prior to the reign of Henry II., and Chessford Bridge. Few who visit Kenilworth at the present day would imagine that this

h is a full mile in length, picturesquely broken up by the interspersing of modern and older buildings. Few, indeed, would suppose that any manufacture o

es, is a wooden panel on which is carved a representation of the bear and ragged staff, with the initials R. L., standing for Robert Leicester. The building was in former times one of the lodges of the castle, to which the roadway passing th

cel with a south aisle or Lady Chapel of considerable interest. The nave and tower date from the fourteenth century, and on the western side of the latter a very beautiful Norman doorway, probably removed from the adjacent priory, has been inserted. This door, which is well worth the study of those

na and a circular font, dating from the middle of the seventeenth century. In the lower belfry is a boat–shaped leaden casting, weighing about a ton, and bearing the seal of one of Henry V

the melting down of the lead covering the roofs, in order that it might be turned into cash. The ancient Communion plate belonging to the church is of great interest, and includes a chalice, dating from about 1570, the gift of the

the full title of whom was the Canons Regular of St. Augustine.

las, crumbling yearly into greater decay, which in ancient times saw so much of the stir, pageantry, and circumstance of life. And even if some of the legends and tales

it the locale of one of his most popular and perhaps most readable novels. That his history is not entirely accurate has little or nothing to do with the enjoyment of t

he" or manor of Chenil. Whether the original owner of the manor was one named Chenil, or Kenelm the Mercian, there is no satisfactory evidence, but Dugdale associates the name with the latter, and this, indeed, seems the

EY CLIN

, containing three hides, held direct of the King by Albertus Clericus, in pure alms; and Chineworde, held by Ricardus Forestarius. Opton is upper–town or high–tow

an earthen keep. The exact site of the latter is quite an open question, as is the point as to which of the earthworks now traceable date back to the far remote period of Saxon times. Indeed, until the reign of Henry I. the history of the castle is largely speculative. Some authorities incline to the view

tragic events. In the Barons' War it changed hands several times, and among its most famous

reigns, and Edward II. was deposed in the Great

e, and rebuilt the Gallery Tower on the outer end of the dam, and probably added an upper story to the great barn." One of his finest additions was undoubtedly the great gate–house on the north side, by which means he turned what had formerly been the rear of the castle into the front, approaching it from the road crossing the valley instead of from the side of the fields and lake. It is considered by several authorit

thousand pounds: a sum which in those days, of course, represented a far greater amount than would appear at first sight. Although no doubt Queen Elizabeth was entertained right royally on the occasions of all her visits, it wa

met, whilst still distant from the castle several hundred yards, by a person dressed to represent "one of the ten sibills cumly clad in a pall of white sylk, who pronounced a proper poezie in E

he gateway, blew a fanfare of welcome, whilst "her Highness, all along this Tilt–yard, rode into the inner gate, where a person representing the Lady of the Lake (famous in King Arthur's Book), with two Nymphes waiting upon her, arrayed all in sylks, attended her Highness coming." These beings appeared suddenl

ll attend while

Queene) to Cour

ve to Arthur

you in earnes

wls containing gifts from the gods, which a poet had been engaged especially to present to her. These consisted of rare fruits from Pomona, corn from Ceres, wine from Bacchus, a cage of wild fowl from Silvanus, sea fish from Neptune, weapons from Mars, a

have included several recitals in addition to the Latin poem, which was read to her by a po

, and Morrice dancing, the performers for the latter entertainment being probably drawn from Long Marston, near Stratford–on–Avon, which in those days was famous for them. Most elaborate aquatic sports were also given on the lake, where a Triton appeared riding on a mermaid 18 feet long, accompanied by Arion on a do

pressed herself as greatly pleased, giving to the players

e told by Laneham that "The Clok Bell sang not a Note, all the while her Highness waz thear: the Clok also stood still wit

y knighting five gentlemen, amongst whom were Sir Thomas Cecil, son and heir to the Lord High Treasurer Sir Henry Cobham, and Sir Francis Stanhope; and it would appear that she also touched for the King's Evil, as a record exists that "Nyne persons were cured of the

any other incidents recorded in the tale. She died at Cumnor Place fifteen years before this royal pageant, and it seems probable that her death occurred prior to the g

Lord Dudley, in the presence of Edward VI. and many members of the Court. She lived chiefly in the country during the time that her husband was in attendance on the Court, and ten years after her marriage, in 1560, was residing at Cumno

rvants, who had been allowed to visit the fair at Abingdon. In due course an inquest was held, and full inquiry made

ouglas Sheffield, whom he had privately married in May two years later, a son, Robert, being shortly afterwards born to them. This marriage (concerning the legality of which there seems to be some doubt) he u

son was born to them, who, however, died in 1584. On Leicester's death it was found that he had bequeathed the castle for life

e agreed equals in its size and beauty of architecture many a manor–house itself. The old–time entrance passage of this gate–house nowadays forms two rooms and small addition

OKE C

te–house; and after passing through a strip of garden the outer court of the castle is

m the curtain. The tower has two upper floors with fireplaces, and to one of these has been given (why it is not discoverable) the title of the King's Chamber. The loopholes are all splayed on the inside, to assist in the discharge of arrows, and on the outside wall are holes, in which were placed

e centre a large porch and a wide entrance, as though this part of the building was once used for the purpose

ormerly provided with two portcullises and a double set of gates. Remains of chambers on either side are discoverable, the one on the left hand possessing a garderobe; the outer entrance is defended by two half–round towers, which are pierced with loopholes for repelling attack. The tower gateway leads out upon the high bank, which was originally a portion of the dam of the great lake, and was used as a tilt–yard. It extends for a distance of about eighty yards to the Gallery Tower placed at the end of this isthmus–like strip of land, which in ancient times separated the lower lake from the great lake. The Gallery Tower, however, cannot now be reached from the tilt–yard, ow

y trees and underwood, probably derived the name from the Norman–French braie, meaning a low rampart; althou

ine fireplace. The upper chamber, from which a good view of Lunn's Tower is obtained across the long, picturesque, and weather–stained roof of the stables, is known as the Queen's Chamber; why, there is no record to tell, and it is, therefore, probable that the name is a fanciful one. The Warder's

feet in depth, and extended round the castle on its southern and western sides for a distance of nearly half a mile. The second or smaller lake,

er rises above one on the right, with the ruins of Leicester's buildings opposite, on the left. Once the inner court is en

by Michael Lambourne. The outer path to this postern cuts through the great bank on which the hall is placed, and which was the inner boundary of the moat of the older castle, the moat of which was what is now a hol

r more for show than as able to afford any special security, as the huge windows of the hall above w

re well seen from the point where the postern gate and passag

ens, pleasance, and the remains of the Swan Tower, now almost hidden in ivy and trees, the bottom stage

work, there is a small recess for the warder or usher. The floor of the hall rested upon the vaulted roof of a magnificent cellar; the vaulting springing from ten piers arranged in double rows at equal distances from the walls, and having corresponding half–pillars against the walls themselves and in the angles. The lighting of the hall above was from large windows set in deep splayed recesses, with wide stone window seats, three on the eastern and four o

ms on each side, the holes for which are still visible between the windows, the wh

t ideally, it possesses a wide prospect of fertile lands and wooded vales, over which in ancient times the Lord of Kenilworth held sway. It is, indeed, lamentable that this fine castle should have aroused the destructive propensities of the Cromwellians, a