Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of Kenilworth in County Warwickshire, England. The first castle was built in the 1120s by Geoffrey de Clinton, who was appointed Sheriff of Warwickshire by King Henry I. Its original form is unknown, but some historians have suggested that it consisted of a motte, which is an earthen mound, surrounded by wooden buildings. It is possible that the stone keep, which survives today, was part of this design. After Geoffrey’s death in 1133, the castle passed to his son, also named Geoffrey.
Royal Possession
In 1173, Eleanor of Aquitaine and three of her sons led a rebellion against King Henry II. After eighteen months, the revolt ended and Henry remained king. During the rebellion, Kenilworth was garrisoned for Henry. When Geoffrey de Clinton died in 1173, the castle became a royal possession.
Royal records from the time the castle came under royal control show that the stone keep was present and a bailey was attached. The castle was accessed by a bridge that spanned a lake. Under King John and King Henry III, the outer defenses of the castle were extended and a curtain wall was built. In 1208, King John was excommunicated. He launched a program of rebuilding and enhancing the royal castle, which included spending £1,100 on Kenilworth Castle.
Second Barons' War
In 1244, Henry granted Kenilworth to Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. In 1263, de Montfort led a rebellion against Henry, known as the Second Barons’ War. Kenilworth was the center of operations for the rebels. Henry’s heir, Prince Edward, was imprisoned briefly at the castle. In 1265, de Montfort was killed in battle. Henry de Hastings became the new leader of the rebels. In 1266 the rebels took refuge at Kenilworth and Prince Edward surrounded the castle with his troops. The Siege of Kenilworth Castle is the longest in English history; it lasted six months before the rebels surrendered.
Becoming a Home
After the Barons’ War, Henry III granted the castle to his youngest son Edmund Crouchback. It was later inherited by Edmund’s grandson Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, then it passed to the duke’s son-in-law John of Gaunt. In 1364, John of Gaunt began transforming the castle from a fortress to a home. His grandson, King Henry V, continued this transformation. The castle remained in royal hands until it was given to John Dudley in 1553. After his execution later that year, that castle returned to the royal family. In 1563 Queen Elizabeth I gave the castle to John Dudley’s son, Robert, Earl of Leicester who expanded the castle.
A Royal Visit
Elizabeth visited Dudley at Kenilworth a number of times in 1566, 1568, and 1575. Her last visit is especially memorable. She brought over one hundred members of her household to the celebration which lasted nineteen days. Dudley entertained the queen with pageants and lavish banquets. No expense was spared and the visit nearly bankrupted Dudley. The celebration supposedly inspired William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It also inspired Sir Walter Scott to write a novel about the visit in 1821.
English Civil War and Modern Times
After Dudley died in 1588, Kenilworth returned to the Crown. During the English Civil war, the castle was looted by Parliamentarian troops in 1656. The troops destroyed one wall of keep and the water defenses, rendering the castle indefensible.
In 1660 King Charles II granted the castle to Sir Edward Hyde, Baron Hyde of Hindon and Earl of Clarendon. It remained in the Clarendon family until 1937 when it passed to John Siddeley, 1st Baron Kenilworth. In 1958, the family gave the castle to the town of Kenilworth. In 1984 it was given to English Heritage. In 2005, English Heritage began a program to restore the castle to its Elizabethan form.
Sources:
English Heritage “Kenilworth Castle” (accessed July 20, 2010)
Renn, Derek. Kenilworth Castle. London: English Heritage, 1991.
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