Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, England

All the images on this page will taken about 25 seconds to open with a 56k modem

Blue links open an off-site page

 

We decided to make Kenilworth our first test project because we were mad! Having never done this before, we chose one of the biggest, and probably most complex castles in Britain. This reconstructions, created using a 3D CGI program called Cinema 4D, is not a commissioned piece of work, but an example of what we can do and an addition to our portfolio. We thought that if we can create this castle, we could create any other.
        We chose to recreate it as it was in 1575 when Elizabeth I came to stay for 19 days during her "Princely Pleasures" as she toured the English countryside. It was at its best - and biggest - then, and by this time was actually a palace. Its owner was the ex-flame of Elizabeth: Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. He thought he'd spend a fortune on the visit and maybe finally succeed in getting the 'Virgin Queen' to marry him. The only thing he succeeded in was nearly bankrupting himself!

A VERY, VERY BRIEF HISTORY

Kenilworth Castle was built by the Norman, Geoffrey de Clinton (no relation of Bill) - Chamberlain to Henry I - around 1122. He built an oval enclosure and protected it by damming streams to create a great lake to the south and west with a moat to the north and east. Henry II, however, was rather jealous of de Clinton's creation and decided he’d have it for himself around 1173-4, giving the de Clintons a much smaller castle in Buckinghamshire in exchange - wasn‘t that nice of him.
        The keep (’Caesar’s Tower’), with stonewalls up to 20 feet thick in places and a wide base to prevent any attempts to undermining the walls, was a formidable Norman construction. It was never taken by force and only some nasty epidemic inside its walls ended a siege of Kenilworth in 1266.
        Many monarchs added to Kenilworth Castle; most notably King John, who had built the outer curtain wall and towers. The other big builder was John of Gaunt who, in the late 14th century, began to turn it from a fortress into a palace adding the Great Hall - an equal of Westminster Hall. John of Gaunt was a son of Edward III. On his dad’s death the kingship went to Richard II. Since Dick was only 12 at the time, John of Gaunt ran the country and was king in all but name.

Keeping up a long English tradition, John of Gaunt's eldest son, Henry Bolingbroke overthrew Richard becoming Henry IV. Henry IV's son, the famous Henry V, constructed the ‘Pleasure Garden’, which lay at the western end of the Great Lake. He even retired there for a while after his victory at Agincourt (needed to get away from those slings and arrows of outrageous fortune - yes, we know that‘s Hamlet).
        Henry VIII added ‘Henry’s Lodgings’, a brick and timber building no longer standing, and Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester added 'Leicester Building', a large apartment building in the Gothic style, overlooking the lake, in the 1570. It's this period that Kenilworth is probably most famous for, because of the Earl's relationship with 'Good Queen Bess' and her 19 day visit there in 1575. This palace must have looked a wonderful site on the day of her arrival with the colour of its entertainers on land and lake, Italian pyrotechnics and the lights of a thousand torches.

Kenilworth Castle changed sides twice during the English Civil War of the 16th. Century. It was after this war, under Oliver Cromwell's instructions, that much of Kenilworth was ‘slighted’ - another word for demolished - and the Great Lake was drained. All this to stop the castle from ever being used by the royalists again. It’s all thanks to Mister Cromwell and his friends that we have so many wonderful ruins in Britain! (Well, he did give us parliamentary democracy in return).

 

 

In 1984 Kenilworth came under the ownership of English Heritage, who have the difficult task of not letting its ruinous state get any worse. If you’re wondering why they don’t restore any of this magnificent palace - or many other ruins - it’s because an ancient law forbids any ‘slighted’ castle from being restored. Maybe it’s time to change it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visitors are welcome to download and use the Virtually Historical's images for personal and education use free of charge. Anyone wishing to use images for commercial use should contact us.

 

© Virtually Historical MMIV