Kenilworth Castle Flashcards
What year did Geoffrey de Clinton build Kenilworth?
• 1124
Who was Geoffrey De Clinton?
• Royal chamberlain to King Henry II - Henry commissioned Geoffrey to construct the castle to keep an eye on Roger Earl of Warwick
• Henry II give him higher status in Warwickshire - Sheriff and land in Stoneleigh
Why is the site situated where it is today?
• to counter influence the power of Roger Earl of Warwick - the castle was 5 miles from him
• natural military defence of the Pinham and Inchford brook
• construction materials situated close - a quarry is 200m south for materials/stone for construction and there is a forest nearby - timber for construction
• Norman consolidation of power - keep power, and for taxation
1124 - what was everyday life like/what jobs were there at the castle?
• minstrels
• chaplain - tended to the chapel (Catholics)
• blacksmith - door hinges, portcullis
• weaver - makes clothes
• knights/soliders
• chef
• always under construction!
1124 - similarities to Goodrich
• destroyed by the ECW
• intitula purpose was military
• both evidence a spiral staircase and Norman arrowslit
• square, stone keep - typical of Norman style
1124 - how is the castle different to Goodrich
• Goodrich is placed on the Welsh border
Why was the castle first built?
• local power struggle
• natural resources
• knoll for defense
What was significant about Kenilworth castle during this time?
• Norman consolidation of power
Purpose of a keep
• to collect taxation
• offer protection
• accommodation
• hosting banquets
• worship
• buisness decisions
What remains of the keep on the site today?
• first two floors below the string course line
• East wall with Norman arrow slit
• SE turret - evidence of a well
• buttress - offers stability (West?)
Features of Kenilworth castle in 1124
• horse garrison- cannot be seen on the site today, not stables (for military)
• forebuilding - extra layer of defense, main entrance to the keep
• crenellations - for defense and positioning cross bows for better aim
• drawbridge
• curtain walls - made out of red sandstone
• keep
• gatehouse - choice of who enters/leaves, element of control - good for defense
• ditch - form of defense, makes curtain walls more intimidating, harder to scale, slows attackers down and are more vulnerable to the archers - difficult to undermine
• quarry
• keep
• finham and inchford brook - body of water, constant supply, becomes marshy and is hard to cross
• towers - height advantage for the archers, lots for different views
• huts on the bailey
• forest - firewood, provide food source, useful as timber is a resource for construction - weapons
Evidence that Kenilworth castle was first created due to a local power struggle (EQ)
• Henry felt the Earl of Warwick was gaining too much power - potential rival
• Warwick was 5 miles south of Kenilworth
• KHI - gave permission, revenue ans substantial part of Warwick’s land to Geoffrey
• GDC - constructed the original stone keep - string course line - appreciate scale at 2 floors
• buttress (military)
Evidence that Kenilworth castle is situated where it is today because of its natural military defenses on site
• two brooks (Finham and Inchford) which are West and South of the castle. In heavy chainmail = difficult to attack with speed
• marshy land surrounding the castle west and south - natural defense because weapons such as trebuchets, battering rams and siege towers that were used are hard to move for attackers
• a low natural knoll, west of Kenilworth - height advantage, makes it difficult for enemy to scale and looks intimidating
EQ - evidence castle was constructed there because of positioning to materials that could be used for construction
• 200m South quarry - red sandstone used for keep. Easier to build quickly and effectively
• 1124 - Kenilworth was surrounded by a forest. Scale is smaller but we can still see evidence. Therefore timer is more accessible for fires, weapons and construction
EQ - evidence Castle was commissioned to consolidate Norman power and control following Williams death
Marc Morris - castles were ‘first and foremost’ ‘military instillations’
Horse garrison - inner court (??)
• keep - last line of defense - (purpose/uses) be seen in charge, ruling, control, law, justice, taxes - military elements of intimidation to local population (east wall = Norman arrow slits)
• walls are 4.3 m thick - withstand attack
What time period was King John?
1199 - 1216
Who was King John?
• his people rebelled against him - got him to sign the magna Carter
• high taxes - help people hostage if they didn’t pay
• know as ‘John Lackland’ - lost lots of land in France. Barons frustrated as expected to pay to fund the war
• first King to give away his power - 1215 ‘innocent until proven guilty’
• fears rebellion so adds to Kenilworth
• right to a trial
Why did King John make changes make these changes?
• very insecure - afraid of rebellion (especially from Barons)
• strengthens the military fortifications
• upset the Pope - head of Roman Catholic Church
• castle has double in size (makes concentric)
Everyday life at the castle during King John period
• Carpenters, mason, miners/quarrymen, blacksmith, mortar maker (construction)
• military jobs - cavalry, farrier to look after horses, knights and soliders (stationed at towers and keep)
Similarities to Caerphilly
• keep
• water defenses (slows attackers)
• walls ?
• both have medieval features
What was significant about Kenilworth during King John’s time?
• concentric - doubled the size of the castle
• improved military fortifications - highlights national context (feared barons rebellion)
Continuity of features during King John’s time
• inner court - still the same from the Norman period
• domestic buildings
Change of features in King John’s period
• added another floor to the keep - can see from string course line today - added a fighting platform and fishtail arrow loops
• outer curtain wall - two (concentric) - extra line of defense
• King John adds tower to concentric wall - Lunn’s Tower (3 floors - provides look out and defence)
• south exterior wall = 3 fishtail arrow loops (can still see today)
• mere- 1.5 miles, line of defence (can’t swim in chains because you’d drown) - South
What remains on the site today from King John period
• south exterior wall 3 fishtail arrow loops
• remains of fireplace in Lunn’s tower
• double D gatehouse/Mortimer’s gatehouse (1st floor) - grooves where portcullis would have been, can’t see second floor because it was destroyed in ECW
• buttresses SW ?
• arrow slits for defence SW ?
• CANT SEE TODAY but would have been crenellations, also no longer defensive inner walls
Causes of the 1266 seige
• England was divided by civil war
• Henry III was at loggerheads with some of the leading nobles such as Simon de Montfort
• rebels had Kenilworth as a key asset, because Henry had given away one of his most heavily fortified castles (Kenilworth) to the late Montfort in hope of décorons loyalty
• rebels inside castle refused to give the castle back
• Henry sent messenger to them in March 1266, and they returned with a severed hand
Montford’s Weapons in the seige of 1266
• seige engines
• stone projectiles from both sides
• missiles
King Henry III’s Weapons in the seige of 1266
• 2000 wooden ‘hurdles’
• 60,000 crossbow bolts and nine seige engines
• stone throwing machines erected around the castle, which bombarded it with missiles
• wooden seige towers - one contained 200 crossbow men
Consequences of the siege in 1266
• disease and starvation
• castle was restored to King Henry I
• began 200 years of the castles ownership to house of Lancaster
• did little to establish peace - sparked trouble elsewhere
• seige was ruinously expensive - Henry was so short of money he pawned the jewels from the shrine of King Edward the Confessor
• Edward I - informed his thinking in time for the crusades he embarked on in 1270 and his great castle building and besieging campaigns from 1277 onwards in wales and Scotland
John of Gaunt - time period
(1340 -99)
Continuity in John of Gaunt’s time
Lunn’s tower
Keep
Chapel
Outer wall
crenellations
Changes in John of Gaunt’s time
• strong tower with a cellar (used for storing food) - we can still appreciate scale today, still see pilasters and pillars. Western rooms on the first floor (buttery and pantry) and the 2nd floor had lodgings
• kitchens added - 19 x 8.5 m, twice the size of average aristocratic kitchens. cauldron, breadoven, drain - jobs such as a chef, cook, cleaner
• great hall - makes it palatial, window tracery, we can see entrance/doorways and 3 fireplaces
• North wall with remains of three of the six fireplaces on site today, bread oven can be seen, cauldron place can be seen
• Saint Lowe’s tower - two stories
• south of the castle is state apartments. Largely a ruin due to being slighted during the ECW - rely on ground survey
What was remarkable about John of Gaunt’s great hall?
• high wide space - we can still appreciate the scale today
• hammer beam roof
• chimneys for fireplaces
• tapestries – we can see panelling above the fireplace where they would have been
• oriel windows
• six large fireplaces - there are three evident today
• window seat - evident through the architecture today
• Spanish tiles because he was married to the Constance of Castile (Spanish)
• decorated beams
• intricate, tracery around windows
• private many sided chamber with fireplace
Continuity during Robert Dudley’s time
• double D gatehouse
• pool
• Tiltyard
• outer curtainwall
• mere
When did Robert Dudley have Kenilworth?
He was granted Kenilworth in 1563
Changes Robert Dudley made to Kenilworth
• north-east of Kenilworth – added Leicesters Gatehouse
• Elizabethan stables
• Leicester’s building
• loggia
Loggia
Delays entrance to the keep
Art from around the world
Build suspense as Elizabeth can’t see the Elizabethan Gardens
Previously, a forebuilding - provides an extra layer of defence
Leicester’s building
Stately/royal accommodation for QE
Three floors
Elizabethan window tracery is still evident - it shows there were large windows as he wanted her to be able to see sunrise to sunset
Remains of doors/entrances
Holes were tapestries were hung, can still be seen on the site today
Top floor was the dancing chamber
Elizabethan window tracery is evident today
Corridor connecting Dudley and Elizabeth’s rooms
Heart - remains of a fire still on the site today
Indents where timber flooring was
Doorways where we can see how many floors there were – four stories
How often did Elizabeth visit the castle?
She grants Dudley the castle in 1563
She visits four times
1575 is her longest stay - 19 days
Elizabeth travels with over 100 people known as her baggage train
Robert Dudley’s Elizabeth Gardens
• aviary, with birds from France, Spain and Africa, which shows his global connections in terms of wealth
English Heritage, re-create the gardens for £2.1 million - used extract from Robert Langham’s letter to recreate
There was a Fountain made from white Carrara marble from Tuscany
The terrace was 10 foot high and 12 feet wide with a view of the garden
The obelisk was 4.6 metres high – ancient symbol of immortality and power
Leicester’s Gatehouse
North east of Kenilworth
Elements of Tudor furniture inside
Not used for military – kept as accommodation for Colonel Hawksworth during the English Civil War
• evidence of crenellations on the site today
Entrance is wide enough for a carriage
Red sandstone - can be seen on the site today (from quarry)
Fourposter beds
Wooden panelling
Who was Robert Dudley?
Earl of Leicester
Courtier of Elizabeth I
Knew Elizabeth from childhood
Wanted to marry Elizabeth, and proposed to her on multiple occasions
Had status and wealth
Why did Robert Dudley make these changes?
• top floor of Leicester’s building was a dancing chamber for Elizabeth entertainment
• changes were made to impress Elizabeth for love, money or royalty
Leicesters building provided accommodation
Royal progress – privy Elizabethan Gardens
Romance - tiltyard preparations
Status symbol – loggia, Gardens
Jobs at Kenilworth Castle during Robert Dudley’s time
Farriers
Chefs
Musicians
Gardeners
Stable hands
Weavers
Stewards
Butler
Hunters
Servants
Similarities of Kenilworth to Hardwick Hall during Robert Dudley’s period
Tapestries
Similar to Leicester’s building
Built in the 16th century
Both are status or show of wealth
Multiple stories
Expensive
Differences of Kenilworth to Hardwick Hall during Robert Dudley’s period
Female makes improvements to Hardwick Hall
Lots of glass – expensive
What was significant about Kenilworth Castle during Robert Dudley’s time?
Statement of wealth and status – Elizabeth’s 1575 stay cost Dudley £1000
Elizabeth’s final visit to Kenilworth, she had visited the castle four times
Part of her Royal progress in 1575 on the 9th of July
Built to impress – marriage proposal
Tiltyard during the Royal progress
Scale of the Tiltyard was 150 m , can still be seen today
Posts with gift from the gods, for example, music, war, fruits
Baggage train of 100 people for Elizabeth’s 19 day stay
Fireworks over the double D Gatehouse
Busy, chaotic environment
Elizabeth took 50 horses with her
There was a hunting park north of Kenilworth
English Civil War
• initially used by King Charles - royal stronghold - good position in midlands, base for raids
• 1642 - garrison withdraws for Edge Hill - parliamentarians took the castle over
• 1649 decide to have the castle slighted so it can’t be used for royalists
• slighted by Colonel Hawkesworth - renovated Leicester’s Gatehouse as a home, mere was drained by Hawkesworth
• fortifications were dismantled in 1650
• example of national importance
Context of the English Civil War
• parliamentarians vs royalists
• civil war
• lasted six years
• 30th January 1649 - King Charles I beheaded
• for 11 years, Charles implemented policies without asking anyone
• believed in divine right
Where can we see damage from the Civil war today ?
• Leicester’s Building = slighted
• no longer see crenellations
• no hammer beam roof
• no Spanish tiles
• strong tower has been slighted (top floor gone)
• large oriel windows
• kitchens are no longer to scale
• Gardens had to be recreated by English Heritage
• North wall on the keep is slighted
How is Kenilworth castle used today?
• stables used as a cafe for profit - attracts visitors
• used as a wedding and event venue
• hands on history events
• used for pupils to study exams
• signs as a guide
• preservation
• ghost tour
• guidebooks available to buy (audio tours)
• tours
How is Kenilworth represented by Sir Walter Scott?
• Scott wrote his romantic novel, ‘Kenilworth’
• written in 1821
• wrote many historical novels
• story of Dudley and Elizabeth in 1575
• centres on the secret marriage of RD and Amy Robsart
• RD is driven by ambition
• courting in favour of Queen Elizabeth I
• keeping his marriage to Amy a secret
• but Amy was murdered by the Earl’s even more ambitious steward, Varney
How is Kenilworth represented by JMW Turner in the first half of the 19th century?
• painted 15 castles and historical events such as Trafalgar
• paintings are atmospheric - often show decaying beauty
• affected by the events of his time - lived through a time of great change (between 1775 and 1851) - Britain was changing from an agricultural nation to an urban industrial society
• Empire was expanding fast
• travel by steam ship and the Locomotive influenced him
• as did Britain’s conflicts with France (he toured the battlefield of Waterloo in 1815)
• lived through the ending of slavery in the 1830s and the extension of the franchise in 1832
How do the physical remains prompt questions about the past and how historians frame these as valid historical enquiries?
• keep - why was this location chosen?
• where was King John influenced to use round towers (Mortimer’s tower)
• concentric/outer curtain wall and fishtail arrow loops - what can we learn about medieval defences
• was Leicester’s building fit for a queen?
• what jobs took place on the first floor of the Great Hall (pantry and buttery)
• Leicester’s building - evidence of where hung marble framework - what high status materials would have been used in the recesses?
Where is the keep?
North
Where is the tiltyard?
South
Where are the Elizabethan gardens?
North
Where is Mortimer’s tower?
• South
Where are Leicester’s stables?
• East
Where is Lunn’s Tower?
North East
Where is Leicester’s building?
South
Where is the knoll?
West
Where is SaintLowe’s tower?
South West
Where are the JofG kitchens?
North West
What remains today of the Keep?
• string course line, Elizabethan window tracery, loggia
What remains today of the tiltyard?
Appreciate the scale, entrance way largely remains
What remains of the Elizabethan gardens?
• remade from Langham’s description, done by English Heritage
What remains of mortimers tower today?
• arrow slits, the circular shape
What remains today of Leicester’s stables?
• Tudor beams
• now a cafe
What remains today of Lunn’s tower?
• 5 fish tail arrow slits
What remains of the knoll today?
Scale
What remains of Saint Lowe’s tower today?
• oriel window tracery
What evidence of the concentric walls remain today?
• crenellations, fish tail arrow loops, buttresses
Where is the mere situated in relation to the castle?
South
How large was the mere?
0.5 miles
Which towers did King John build?
Swann’s tower
Lunn’s Tower
Water tower
When did the siege at Kenilworth begin?
30th June 1266
What were the terms offered to the rebels called?
Dictum of Kenilworth - parliament called to castle to decide this in October
• meant rebels could have lands back on heavy fines
When did siege end?
13th December 1266
How was John of Gaunt related to King Edward III?
Fourth son
Two towers added by John or Gaunt
Saintlowe’s and Strong
What types of goods would have been stored in the Strong Tower ?
Meat, butter, milk
What styled ceiling did the Strong Tower?
•wooden beamed ceiling
Great Hall had the widest roof space in England after…?
Westminster
Where were John of Gaunt’s tall glad oriel windows?
• overlooking inner court and western side of castle
What can be seen today on the East wall of the Kitchens?
• fourth fireplace
• bread oven
• furnace for a cauldron
William Oke quoted John Gaunt had:
‘a finer wardrobe than any other Christian King’
What was impressive about the Great Hall?
Largest single-span hammer beam roof
Where is the strong tower in regards to the castle?
•North West
Where is SaintLowe’s tower in regards to the castle?
South West
How many times did Elizabeth I visit Kenilworth?
4
How does Robert Langham describe the aviary?
‘Great diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires’
‘It has ‘lively burds’ from Europe, and possibly Africa’
How do Historians know that Leicester’s Building was 3 floors?
Remains of fireplaces
Window tracery
Doorways
Indents of where floor beams would be
What can we see on the site today to suggest the castle had been slighted in 1650?
The outer curtain wall is damaged, the mere is drained and the southern wall of the keep is missing
Where is the Great Hall in regards to the castle?
West
