Kenilworth Castle & Elizabethan Garden

MIsty Morning by Matthew Sugars Photography

Viewing the Castle image © English Heritage

Elizabethan Garden image © English Heritage

Kenilworth Castle © English Heritage

Exploring by Lorentz Gullaschen

Kenilworth Castle and its Elizabethan Gardens is the star of Kenilworth’s show and has been described as “the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages…”.
From medieval fortress to Elizabethan palace, Kenilworth Castle has been at the centre of England’s affairs for much of its 900-year history. It was at the centre of the almost six-month-long Siege of Kenilworth in 1266, thought to be the longest siege in Medieval English history, and it formed a base for Lancastrian operations in the Wars of the Roses. It saw the removal of Edward II from the English throne, the French insult to Henry V in 1414 (said by John Strecche to have encouraged the Agincourt campaign), and Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester’s lavish reception of Elizabeth I in 1575.

Today, you can marvel at the mighty Norman keep and imagine the majesty of the Great Hall playing host to medieval monarchs. Walk in the footsteps of the great Tudor queen as you explore the immaculate garden and picture the opulence and splendour of Elizabethan Kenilworth.