Kenilworth Castle and the Elizabethan Garden

Phew!  The weekend was jampacked - to say the least!

Enroute to the Cotswolds we visited Kenilworth Castle (it's about 10 minutes from junction 6 of the M42).  We had underestimated the effect of it being (a) halfterm and (b) the sunny weather - and so when we arrived at 11.30, it was to find that the carpark, and the overflow carpark, were completely full.  Luckily we managed to find somewhere to park in Kenilworth itself, about 10 minutes walk away.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting - but it wasn't something on this scale! This is the stable block (now housing an exhibition and the café).

Originally built in the 1120s, it was extensively remodelled by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in about 1570, in preparation for visits by Queen Elizabeth 1st (although Mr Z&Z, being Scottish, refers to the current Queen as being Elizabeth the 1st - it gets very confusing...), and then 'slighted' in 1650, during the Civil war (Parliament had ordered the destruction of all former Royalist strongholds).  Luckily for us, this slighting was minimal - the north side of the keep was destroyed, and various sections of the outer curtain wall.  Over the next few centuries, it was alowed to decay, but public interest in it increased after the publication of 'Kenilworth' by Sir Walter Scott in 1821.

It's now in the hands of English Heritage.

About the only bit that's left intact is this - Leicester's gatehouse, which was converted into a private house after 1650.

I loved the panelling in this room!

Lots and lots of stairs, and spaces to explore!

The sheer scale of the site was impressive.

However, I had also wanted to see the Elizabethan garden. 

Again, planted up for the visit of QE1, and then allowed to disappear, it's based on archaelogical investigation and a 16th century description by Robert Langahm, a minor official in Leicester's household, who was allowed to sneak in for a few hours while QE1 was out hunting.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed - I think that I may well have imagined that there would be a splendid array of foliage, forgetting that it was only replanted in 1975 (so not that long in gardening terms, I suppose), and I was also comforted by a sign saying that all the planting was done with a view to peaking in July, the month of QE1's 1575 visit, rather than planting for all round colour and interest.  All the plants would have been available in Elizabethan England.

Would I visit again?  Yes - although with a picnic (weather permitting).