The castle was increasingly fortified throughout the 12th -13th centuries, particularly by King John, who strengthened these curtain walls. In 1265 after the death of the rebel baron Simon de Montfort, the garrison commander refused to surrender the Castle to the King. In response Henry III laid siege to the Castle for almost six months in 1266. Despite the bombardment by catapults the powerful sandstone walls and defences held, with only disease and starvation eventually forcing the garrison to surrender.
Henry enforced the Dictum of Kenilworth requiring the rebels to pay heavy fines to recover their estates.
Continue clockwise to the junction with the moat path by the cottage.
These trails follow the same route as the leaflets but provide more detailed and deeper information at each point of interest (and we will keep adding more as we go!).
Please note – these trails are developed and optimised for a mobile experience so may not work effectively on bigger screen sizes.
Important – Using these trails and clicking their links will require mobile data (no more than accessing web pages), please ensure you are aware of your data limits and costs before using them.
Each point contains everything you need to locate it, as well as links to mapping services for its location.
At each point you will find further information pages and links to help interpret where you are and what you are looking at.
If you spot a mistake or encounter a problem please let us know by providing your feedback on the dedicated form linked below.
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