It’s total madness that I’ve not written this post up before now. I’m looking out into the garden on a sunny, yes, sunny, January day and it reminded me of a sunny Spring day out we had last year with friends. I’ve been fascinated by the Tudor period for as long as I can remember and have always been rather fascinated by Robert Dudley. When I was asked where I’d like to spend my birthday I decided it was high time we had some fun exploring Kenilworth Castle. I really have no idea why we’d never been before. We were in for a treat.
Parts of this Warwickshire castle date back to the 12th Century and although the main castle is a ruin, there’s still plenty to explore and keep everyone entertained. We’re English Heritage members and Kenilworth Castle is really rather wonderful. There is a magic to the place and a certain amount of romance. It’s here that Robert Dudley hosted Queen Elizabeth I, he was one of her favourites and there have been rumours over the years that a marriage may have been on the cards at some point.
You get an instant feeling of space when you arrive and children can run around and explore the nooks and cranny’s to their heart’s content.
It wasn’t long before Monkey found ruins to explore and conquer.
No Daddy I’m the King of the Castle!
Being a bit of a castle and stonework fanatic I didn’t know which way to look first as we started to explore the inner court. I always love to imagine what rooms would have looked like in their heyday, who would have looked out of windows, and walked across long-lost floors. There were hidden clues all around us of what the castle must have looked like.
But really Monkey was far more interested in being an explorer, seeing where stairs led to and chasing pigeons away.
He left me to admire the views and look on in awe at a wonderful piece of our history.
As I looked down from one of the towers I could spy someone having quite a lot of fun, running up and down one of the mounds, rolling down and laughing with his friends.
Once I’d returned to ground level we decided to explore the Elizabethan Garden, beautifully restored to a vision of its past. Of course, there was still plenty of room to run around and play chase.
We had a wonderful day exploring Kenilworth Castle, imagining how it would have looked in its glory days. Running around, exploring the grounds, taking in the atmosphere. It’s. well worth a visit if you are in the area. There is on site parking and a cafe, as well as picnic benches dotted around the site.
Oh wow looks gorgeous and s great day out x
It was lovely
It looks like you all really enjoyed your day. What a lovely place to visit #CountryKids
It certainly cleared away the cobwebs
Kenilworth Castle looks like a great place to explore as a family, there’s so much space to explore and learn in. I love that it’s clearly a ruins yet you can see the mason work of the window arches and doorways still. Monkey looks like he’s enjoying his adventure through the castle, which proves it’s great for the kids imaginations. Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids.
It’s lovely that the kids feel able to run around and explore without worrying about touching things and breaking anything.
I have a thing about castles recently – something rather amazing about exploring these British ruins that were once homes and fortresses of the powerful. Now I’m imagining Robert Dudley and Elizabeth I flirting within these walls! Must visit and while I muse and imagine past scenes definitely looks like my two will have fun exploring like Monkey!
I’ve always been fascinated by castles, ruined or not 🙂
Ever since my mother-in-law gave me some Philippa Gregory books, I’ve been wanting to visit the castles in Warwickshire! It’s just so far away from where we are! But it’s a great excuse to go on holiday on your part of England just to get my fill of all the lovely castles in your area 😉 #countrykids.
We are lucky to have some beautiful historic buildings fairly close to us
What a fabulous place to explore. Kenilworth Castle is on my list of places I’d like to visit as I’m fascinated by the history behind it – and visiting places like this always brings it to life for me. Looks like you all had a wonderful day out and Monkey certainly seems to have enjoyed it 🙂
It’s well worth a visit Louise
This is one impressive ruin! I’ve added it to my ever increasing list of places to visit at some point – I think the kids would love it! x
Ooh I do live a good castle and this place looks fantastic! Gorgeous shots and Monkey obviously loved exploring! Xx
So do I, can’t beat them for a good exploration adventure
This post is really evocative of balmy spring days! I’ve never been to Kenilworth Castle – I bet my two would love it.
It was early April last year, chillier than it looks, but still a lovely fresh day
I’ve just watched a really interesting series about castles in Britain…they talked about Kenilworth quite a bit. Robert Dudley went all out to woo Elizabeth I in Kenilworth, spent £1000s trying to impress her. Such an interesting part of our history & a great place for children to run around! #countrykids
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04t6n19
I know, he really wanted to be king I think
I keep on meaning to visit Kenilworth Castle. Every 6 months or so a blog post pops up and reminds me I haven’t managed to get around to doing so. Your photos look great, this year I really will visit!
I hope you enjoy it when you do visit