Podcastles
- Oct 19, 2020
- 3 min read

Warwickshire- Kenilworth

Updated: Feb 6, 2021

IT’S TIME!

Nikita and Georgia’s visit to Kenilworth Castle

We are so excited to be back with another Podcastles episode, particularly because this time, we're talking about Kenilworth castle, one of our all-time faves.

We hope you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it- there was so much we wanted to talk about so it is pretty remarkable that it’s not three hours long.

Before we get started, some very sad news.

In the episode, you were promised a look at Nikita’s Monet replica. Unfortunately, when we went to take the picture, we discovered the artwork has gone. No news yet on whether it was stolen, but there's a high chance it's posing as a real Monet in the Louvre.

So if you see a Monet painting made out of tissue paper…

As beautiful as it was, you'll just have to take our word for it that the architects aiming to imitate the Norman keep when they designed new buildings (well, new for the 16th century at least) did a much better job.

This episode covered the history of Kennilworth castle from the 1120s, when it was given to Geoffrey de Clinton as an attempt to balance the powers of Warwick castle, all the way through to its restoration by English Heritage.

Kennilworth by no means skimps on its ghosts and skeletons or it claims to fame, from King Henry III’s legendary siege of 1266 to the wooing of Elizabeth by her court favourite Dudley, Earl of Leicester. We covered these stories, as well as so much more, in this episode, and then had the difficult job of deciding how important it was in comparison to Warwick castle. Let us know whether or not you agree with our conclusions!

Whilst editing this episode, we noticed that we state - without much explanation - that from Edmund, son of Henry III, the castle stays in his part of the family until it comes back into the crown lands through John of Gaunt.

If you’re interested, Edmund’s son inherits, and then his grandson. This grandson, Henry, 1st Duke of Lancaster, passes the castle to his daughter, Blanche, who marries John of Gaunt, thus John of Gaunt gets the castle because…. well, sexism.

Gaunt, though, happens to be the third son of Edward III and Gaunt's son, Henry Bollingbroke, usurps the throne from Richard II, son of Edward III’s first son, who has no children. This means that when Henry Bolingbroke, aka Henry IV, inherits the castle, Kenilworth is back under royal control. And for anyone that has noticed a slightly odd point from this story…. yes… that means Gaunt and Blanche were both great-grandchildren of Edward II - the Plantagenets, like so many other royal families, didn't mind a bit of mid-level incest.

English Heritage has done a fantastic job not only of restoring and protecting the castle but of encapsulating its history. The Elizabethan gardens have been expertly recreated from the accounts of Robert Langham and extensive excavation work. The audio tour is fascinating, as are the exhibitions in Leicester’s gatehouse. The website also offers plenty of insight, including recreations of what the grounds would have looked like in various periods. We strongly recommend you check it out. You can find more information about visiting here.

See you soon!

Nikita and Georgia

Ps. If you liked this episode please like, rate and subscribe- it really helps us out.