The medieval foundation of the Castle

Kenilworth Castle, with its massive Norman keep with thick impenetrable walls was once a formidable power base of the Lords and Kings of England.  Its origins date back about fifty years after the Norman Conquest when King Henry I gave the royal estate of Stoneleigh to his chamberlain, Geoffrey de Clinton, who built the first castle there.  It was held by the powerful de Montforts in the 13th century. Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester later became a leading rebel against HenryIII, and in 1266 Henry's army surrounded Kenilworth Castle, for a period of eight months, but it's fortifications withstood the siege. However, the defenders were later forced to surrender, due to disease and famine.

A priory for the Augustinian order was built on this site in about 1124. The priory gradually gained wealth and the Pope upgraded its status to an abbey in 1447. St Mary's Abbey was closed by King Henry VIII in 1548.

16th century and Elizabeth 1

In 1553, the castle was given to the Duke of Northumberland, John Dudley, but this did not last long as he was executed for treason by Queen Mary, following his attempt to put his daughter-in-law LadyJane Grey on the throne. Ten years later, after Elizabeth I ascended the throne, Kenilworth was given to Robert Dudley, John's son, who became Earl of Leicester. During the 16th. century, this was the place where Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, famously, entertained Elizabeth I in great style. In 1575 she stayed for a period of eighteen days, at a cost of a thousand pounds per day. A truly extravagant lifestyle, and a graphic example that Elizabeth I's 'friendship' didn't come cheap.

17th Century and Cromwell

During the Civil War, Cromwell considered the castle, a crown property, to be too great a threat, and so had its defences removed by his garrison commander Colonel Joseph Hawksworth. The Keep was partially destroyed and the mere dam was breached. With the exception of Lecister's great Gatehouse, the remains of the red sandstone castle was never reoccupied. After the Restoration Charles II granted the castle eatate to Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, younger son of the statesman and historian Lord Clarendon. Fish’s estate map of 1692 was commissioned by Lord Rochester and gives a wonderful picture of Kenilworth in the late seventeenth century.

18th Century and economic decline

The demands of building work, and the day-to-day running of the castle, brought wealth and employment to the town. After the Civil War, and the loss of the castle and its royal patronage, the people of the town were reduced to a period of relative poverty.

Kenilworth then became a small market town, supporting a range of local industries, including candle-making and the manufacture of agricultural implements.

19th Century: Kenilworth influences culture and art

In 1821, Walter Scotts novel, Kenilworth; A Romance,was published.  The plot centred around the alleged murder of Amy Robsart, first wife of the Earl of Leicester, and Leicesters ambition to marry Elizabeth 1.   The novel inspired Arthur Sullivan to write a choral work.

The composer,Gaetno Donizetti composed a three act opera Il castello di Kenilworth (or Elisabetta al castello di Kenilworth) on the same theme. It received its first performance on 6 July 1829 in Naples.

Painters were also drawn to Kenilworth in the 19th century, including the fine water colourist Peter de Witt and Britain's greatest artist J.M. Turner. In the nineteenth cenury De Witt and some good local artists painted the subject of Kenilworth Castle many times. Kenilworth Town Council owns a fine water colour of the Castle painted by Henry Martin Pope