- ELIZABETHAN -

KENILWORTH CASTLE, WARWICKSHIRE, ENGLAND

Today & 1575

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This Elizabethan project was the first reconstruction ever tackled by ARC for their portfolio.  It was decided to recreate the Inner Court of Kenilworth Castle (Warwickshire, England) when it was at its height in 1575. (The castle itself dates back to the Normans). Kenilworth, at this time, had become more of a palace than a castle and had grown considerably in size since its Medieval 'birth'. Added to this, they wanted to portray it as it prepared for the famous 19 day visit of Queen Elizabeth I. This was going to be Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester's last chance to try and get the Virgin Queen to marry him and he pulled out all the stops, and the cash, to make it a visit she would remember. To find out what happened, you're going to have to read our article about the visit!

KENILWORTH REVISITED

Many aspects of these old images are not accurate, which is why Kenilworth is being revisited. When ARC first reconstructed the site, they relied on illustrations and guesswork in the absence of any experts to help us. In the 2 years since then they have developed somewhat and know what to look for and how to search deeper for answers. For example: you'll see in the keep interior images that the walls are plastered and there's wood panelling on the lower sections. We now know that the walls were just stone with the possible covering of wall hangings. The Inner Court images show a trackway in front of Henry's Lodgings. This would not have been there and the level of the entrance to the lodgings must have been much higher as the ground level, on which the 3D figures stand, must have been at the same height. The images of the keep's gatehouse, where it meets and Henry's Lodging, were based on the illustrations in the Kenilworth Castle guidebook, but these (excellent) representations don't seem to ring true to the footings at the site. Of course, had ARC been working with English Heritage and their archaeologists and historians on this project we would have had many of our questions answered before they embarked.