Class J3A fo'iO Book_- K^&,t) 3/ ■ '■/ A GUIDE TO KENILWORTH, CONTAINING A BRIEF HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE r Cattle, prtorp, and Cfjurtfj; WITH A PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT STATE OF THE CASTLE, AND NOTICES OF THE PRIORY RUINS, AND THE CHURCH. Illustrated with a Plan and Six other Engravings. Cofcenttg : PRINTED AND SOLD BY MERRIDEW & SON. SOLD ALSO BY J. MERRIDEW, WARWICK AND LEAMINGTON ; AT THE CASTLE LODGE, KENILWORTH j AND BY THE BOOKSELLERS AT LEAMINGTON. (*% ADVERTISEMENT. The Editors of the present work, impressed with a sense of the very interesting and im- portant situation of the subject of their publi- cation, have spared neither time nor labour to render it acceptable to their readers. The Castle of Kenilworth, situated nearly in the centre of the county of Warwick, equi- distant from Coventry, Warwick, and the increasingly fashionable Spa of Leamington, cannot but be an object of great and deserved curiosity. The traveller passing through Kenilworth will be forcibly struck with the grandeur of its ivy-mantled towers, and the majesty of its architecture ; and his curiosity being excited, an enquiry will follow as to the period of its construction, its owners, the historical events connected with it, and the cause of its present state of decay. To gratify this curiosity — to exhibit to the public a correct, yet brief account of the place, as it was in " the olden time," and a description of it as it is at present, has been the desire of the Editors ; which they trust they have satisfactorily accomplished. KENILWORTH CASTLE WAS built by Geffrey de Clinton, Cham- berlain and Treasurer to King Henry I. concerning whose parentage there is some degree of obscurity. It is contended, on the one hand, tha^ he was grandson to William de Tankerville, Chamberlain of Normandy ; whilst others suppose him to have risen from the lowest rank in life, through the favour of his Sovereign, who poured honours and wealth upon him with an unsparing hand ; making him Lord Chamberlain, then his Treasurer, and finally Justice of England ; and from these high situations being all centered in him, we have reason to con- clude he was a man of more than common talent. One part alone remains of the Castle built by him, viz. Cesar's Tower ; but his name is preserved, being handed down to posterity, 8 KENILWORTH CASTLE. in the appellation given to a small piece of ground,, at a short distance north of the Castle, still called Clinton Green. The possession of this place was, however, but a short time held by Geffrey de Clinton ; for we find that in the 1 1th Henry II. it was in the hands of the Crown, and the Sheriff accounted for the profit of the park ; and in the IQth year of the same Monarch's reign it was garrisoned by the King, in conse- quence of the rebellion of his eldest son ; with whom, historians tell us, Lewis King of France, Robert Earl of Leicester, and many other great men, took part. The Castle continued in the Crown until the 38th Henry III. except for a few years, when it was in the possession of Geffrey de Clinton, the son and heir of the founder ; but in the 38th Henry III. that Monarch granted it to Simon Montford, Earl of Lei- cester, and Eleanor his wife, during their lives ; which same Simon was the principal ringleader in the rebellion against his bene- factor, in the 42d year of his reign, when the Barons, having armed themselves, held a Parliament at Oxford by force, and com- pelled the King's assent to their unjust and dishonourable ordinances. He died in the KENILWORTH CASTLE. 9 battle of Evesham, in the 48th Henry III. with his eldest son Henry Montford, and many persons of high rank. The Castle, however, was still held by his son Simon Montford, who received therein many who fled from the battle, with the friends and followers of those that were slain ; and he continued there spoiling the country until the following Midsummer, when the King made preparations to march with his army against the Castle to subdue it. In the mean time, Simon Montford, leav- ing Henry de Hastings governor, went away privately and journeyed to France, for the purpose of providing sufficient force to raise the siege of the Castle, when it should have commenced, but returned again without being able to accomplish his intention. Henry set forward for Kenilworth with banners and ensigns displayed, having a nu- merous army and a plentiful stock of provi- sions, and on the morrow following the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist, be- girt the Castle on all sides ; and after a siege of six months, it was surrendered on the 21st December, 1216; and almost immediately afterwards granted by the King to Edmund, his younger son, and to the heirs of his body 10 KENILWORTH CASTLE. lawfully begotten ; reserving to himself the advowsons of the Priory of Kenilworth, and Abbey of Stoneleigh. This possessor was afterwards cieated Earl of Leicester, and subsequently Earl of Lan- caster. After this, in the 15th Edward IT. Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, being attainted, the Cas- tle again became the property of the Crown, and was held by Edward II. until the latter part of his reign ; when, foreseeing the ap- proaching rebellion, he ordered Odo de Stoke, then his Constable, to garrison the Castle ; but these orders were issued too late, for being seized in Wales, by Henry, Earl of Lancaster, (brother to him who was at- tainted of treason, and also his heir,) he was brought to this Castle, and confined until he had consented to abandon the throne, and place his eldest son in his stead. The piti- able end of this monarch at Berkeley Castle, in Gloucestershire, will be long and pain- fully remembered. In the 1st of Edward III. the above- named Henry was restored to the earldoms of Lancaster and Leicester, and all his brother's lands, whereof this was part. He was succeeded by his son Henry, created KENILWORTH CASTLE. 11 successively Earl of Derby, and of Lincoln, and lastly Duke of Lancaster; who died in the 35th Edward III. without male heirs; but leaving two daughters, viz. Maud, who married William, Duke of Bavaria; and Blanche, who became consort of John of Gaunt, fourth son of King Edward III. shortly afterwards created Duke of Lancas- ter ; and on partition being made of the lands of the last Duke of Lancaster, this Castle, and its appendages, among other possessions, became the property of Blanche. This John of Gaunt, towards the latter end of the reign of Richard II. began to construct all the ancient buildings here, (ex cept Cesar's tower,) with the outer walls and turrets; and the Great Hall and Tower adjacent is, by tradition, called Lancaster's Buildings to this day. Henry IV. his son succeeded to the pos- session of this Castle ; and consequently it was again vested, and subsequently conti- nued in the crown, being united to the duke- dom of Cornwall, in the 1st of Henry VII. as part of the possessions of the Dutchv of Lancaster. Thus it remained until the reign of Eliza- beth, who by letters patent, dated the 9th 12 KENILWORTH CASTLE. June, in the 5th year of her reign, granted it to Robert Dudley (one of the sons of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland,) and his heirs; and in the following year she raised him to the dignity of Earl of Leicester. This potent Baron added to the already magnificent structure of Kenilworth Castle, the noble Gatehouse, and that part called Leicester's Buildings; besides the Flood Gate, and the Gallery Tower, in which was a spacious apartment for ladies to witness the exercises of tilting and barriers ; and Mortimer's Tower, whereupon the arms of Mortimer were cut in stone, was also erected by him. Such indeed was the extent of his improvements, that in beautifying and en- larging the Castle, he is said to have ex- pended sixty thousand pounds. On the 17th July, 1575, Queen Elizabeth aid a visit to the Earl at this Castle, where she continued 17 days; and the following extract from Dugdale will give the reader some idea of the splendour of the entertain- ments: — " Here in July, an. 1575 (17 Eliz.) having compleated all things for her reception, did he entertain the Queen, for the space of KENILWORTH CASTLE. 13 seventeen dayes, with excessive cost, and variety of delightfull shews, as may be seen at large in a special discourse thereof then printed, and entituled, ' The Princely Plea- sures of Kenilworth Castle ;' having at her first entrance a floating island upon the pool, bright blazing with torches, upon which were clad in silks the Lady of the Lake, and two nymphs waiting on her, who made a speech to the Queen, in meeter, of the antiquity and owners of that Castle, which was closed with cornets and other loud musick. Within the base court was there a very goodly bridge set up of twenty foot wide, and seventy foot long, over which the Queen did pass, on each side whereof were posts erected with presents upon them unto her by the Gods, viz. a cage of wild fowl by Silvanus ; sundry sorts of rare fruit by Pomona; of corn by Ceres ; of wine by Bacchus ; of sea fish by Neptune ; of all habiliments of war by Mars ; and of musical instruments by Phoebus. And for the several dayes of her stay, various and rare sports were there exercised, viz. in the Chase sl savage man with satyrs : bear-bait- ings, fire-works, Italian tumblers, a country bride ale, with running at the quintin, and morrice dancing. And that there might be 14 KENILWORTH CASTLE. nothing wanting that these parts could afford, hither came the Coventre men, and acted the ancient play 5 long since used in that City, called Hocks Tuesday, setting forth the destruction of the Danes in Kins Ethel- red's time ; with which the Queen was so pleas'd that she gave them a brace of bucks, and five marks in money to bear the charges of a feast. Besides all this, he had upon the pool a triton riding on a mermaid, 18 foot long ; as also Arion on a dolphin, with rare music. And to honour this entertainment the more, there were then knighted here Sir Thomas Cecill, son and heir to the Lord Treasurer, Sir Henry Cobham, brother to the Lord Cobham, Sir Francis Stanhope, and Sir Thomas Tresham. The costs and expence whereof may be guessed at by the quantity of beer then drunk, which amount- ed to 320 hogsheads of the ordinary sort, as I have credibly heard." The Earl of Leicester, by will, in 1587, bequeathed the Castle to his brother, Am- brose Earl of Warwick, for life, and after his death to his son, Sir Robert Dudley, Knight, and his heirs, and dying in the year 1588, was buried in Saint Mary's Chapel, Warwick. KENILWORTH CASTLE. 15 Ambrose Dudley enjoyed the Castle but a short time, for he died in February 1589, at Bedford House, in the suburbs of London, in consequence of a wound received in the service of his country, and was buried at his own desire in Saint Mary's Chapel, Warwick, where a magnificent marble monument re- cords the favours conferred on him by his sovereign — his marriages, and his death. On his decease, his nephew, Sir Robert Dudley, succeeding to the Castle, made it his residence, and endeavoured to prove his being the legitimate son of the Earl of Lei- cester, which was somewhat doubtful, owing to the marriage of his father with the Count- ess of Essex during the life-time of Lady Douglas, his mother ; but failing in this proof, he procured the King's license to travel abroad for three years, and went into Italy. His enemies, however, obtained a summons for his return by a special privy seal ; and this not being obeyed, the Castle and all the lands were seized to the King's use, by virtue of the statute of fugitives, and thereupon surveyed, a copy of which survey, as it manifests the strength and value of the place, we here introduce : — " The Castle of Kenilworth, situate upon a rock: 16 KENILWORTH CASTLE. " I. The circuit thereof within the walls containeth 7 acres, upon which the walks are so spacious and fair, that two or three persons together may walk upon most places thereof. ^its original arch-way 24 KENILWORTH CASTLE. of twelve feet wide was closed, and divided into two rooms, of which the inner one, lined with oak wainscot, bearing the Ragged Staff in many places, contains a splendid chimney piece, the lower part of which is of alabaster, and being "curiouslie wrought," is probably that which belonged to the Privy Chamber. It has been richly decorated with gilding, and bears the inscription — " Droit et Loyal" on the transverse part of the chimney piece, with the initials R.L. on each side, between which are his arms and cognizance, encircled with the garter. The smaller shields are charged with double- tailed lions, the ancient arms of Dudley, and the date of 1571 appears in the turn-up of the initial L. on the right hand. The motto of " Droit et Loyal" is in bold relief, but the words " Vivit Post Funera Virtus," in intaglio, seem to have been added after the Earl's death. The upper part of oak, no less curious for its elaborate design and carving, was probably taken out of the Pre- sence Chamber. It bears the initials E. R. in honour of the Virgin Queen ; and the centre tablet shews marks of having held a shield, on which we may conjecture that the royal arrfls were displayed. b ' ; ±^±£Llt.±:M-&^ KENILWORTH CASTLE. 25 Following the local situation of the build- ings of the Castle itself, as laid down in the plan, and with strict accordance as to their chronological order, we commence with CESAR'S TOWER 5 u Which," to use the words of Sir William Dugdale, " by the thickness of its walls, and form of building, appears to have been of the first foundation/' in the time of Henry I. Its eastern front is shewn in the general view of the Castle, from the N. E. ; and the south front of this massive pile forms a conspicuous object in the centre of the ge- neral view from the S. W. Unlike many other Norman keeps, it had no dungeon ; at least no receptacle of the kind has been discovered, though an examination has been made for the depth of seventeen feet, down to the natural bed of gravel. The place of confinement for prisoners in early times, mentioned in cotemporary records, must, therefore, have been in one of the corner turrets ; but at a later period, the strong Tower, hereafter to be described, would 26 KENILWORTH GASTLE. afford suitable accommodation. The north side of this stupendous Keep, shewn in the annexed view from the garden, is totally down, having been destroyed either to ren- der it untenable for military purposes, or by the Oliverian officers for the value of the stone. Horace Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, vol. ii. p. 152, note, speaking of tbe " trifling singularity" with which Lin- coln's Inn Fields was laid out, in the exact dimensions of one of the Pyramids, observes that " this would have been admired in those ages when the Keep at Kenilworth Castle was erected in the form of a horse fetter,'' and the Escurial in the shape of " Saint Lawrence's gridiron." But the architect of the Keep deserved no such sarcasm ; as a reference to the plan will satisfy the reader. Its walls are in several places no less than sixteen feet thick ; and all its parts are on the same scale of durability. The upper windows have been altered on the exterior, from circular-headed openings to square ones ; corresponding in style with Leices- ter's other works. The turrets at each corner were evidently much higher origin- ally, as the range of loop-holes indicate ; KENILWORTH CASTLE. $7 above which would rise the battlements. The clock, described in Lanehanrs account of Queen Elizabeth's visit to the Castle, was fixed in the S. E. angle; the places where the dials were fastened remaining still visible. In this angle is also the well, the entrance to which, to prevent accidents, is closed, though not until the well had been tho- roughly emptied, and its depth and con- struction ascertained in the year 1819. It is seventy feet deep from the ground floor of the Tower, and from thence it passes up- wards in the thickness of the wall, to the second floor, a space of twenty more, — making together ninety feet. It is three feet wide at the top, and four feet at the bottom. The water issues from a fissure of the rock, about two feet above the bottom : it is a strong spring, and rises about ten feet. The well is quoined down to the rock about sixty feet, and then for ten feet is made per- fectly round and smooth through the rock, which is of red sand-stone. Nothing of consequence was discovered in it. The great staircase occupied the N. E. angle, but in the corresponding turret at the S. W. there seems to have been another staircase of later construction, leading to the 28 KENILWORTH CASTLE. chief apartments. Some paintings in fresco, on the plaster, in imitation of recesses with trefoil heads, are seen higher up this turret; an indication possibly of its having been the chapel mentioned by Dugdale. The ori- ginal entrance to the Keep was on the west, to which an ascent was gained, either by a flight of steps exposed to observation on the outside, or by a small subsidiary tower, as at Rochester, and other ancient Castles. The place of this staircase or tower is now occupied by an arcade of Leicester's time, with the remains of a date of "70, for 1570; which, by some stone steps recently laid open, led under an arch of an earlier period (shewn in the preceding view,) into THE GARDEN. Of this appendage to the general grandeur of the Castle, with its aviary, fountain,* &c. * A view of this fountain is preserved in the copy made by Beighton in 1716, of a large fresco painting, formerly at Newnham Padox, representing the Castle (in its perfect state) as it appeared in 1620, and from which an engraving was made in 1817, and published by Merridew and Son, of Coventry. KENILWORTH CASTLE. 29 no better account can be given than by Lane- ham, # who saw it in its splendour. To the west of the arcade, the remains of THE KITCHENS are discernible, by an oven and other culi- nary arrangements ; though the principal walls are levelled to the ground. The ivy here spreads luxuriantly, in many a " gad- ding spray," from stems of enormous growth, as it does in several other parts of the Cas- tle, with various profusion, but always with grace and effect. Still following the order of the plan, we next come to THE STRONG TOWER, Or part of Lancaster's Buildings ; so called from John of Gaunt, in whose time it was * Laneham's Letter, containing an account " of the entertainment untoo the Queenz Maiesty at Killingwoorth Castl, in Warwik Sheer, in this Somerz Progress, 1575," has been recently re-printed, in a work entitled " KeniU worth Illustrated" 30 KENILWORTH CASTLE. erected ; though, without a shadow of his- torical authority, " the Wizzard of the North" has given it the name of Mervyn's Tower ; by which appellation it will, no doubt, be known for as many years to come as his book contains pages. The view annexed is from the arcade above mentioned ; and the exterior is seen, in the extreme distance beyond the Great Hall, in the general view of the Castle, from the S. W. A slightly-pointed arch gives entrance to a groined apartment, of one large, and two smaller divisions. The inner one is engraved in Plate 43 of Carter's An- cient Architecture, and its pointed vaulting, and uniting torus, noticed as very peculiar ; though that able artist seems to have mis- taken the date of the building. This small room has a perforation in its S. wall, through which a sliding beam once passed, to barri- cade the door to the Sally Port, in the ad- joining vault beneath the Great Hall. A single room of the second story, by this access, has been partially cleared. It is also groined, and has a closet at the N. W. angle. Near the window of this apartment are two coats of arms, scratched in the stone. First, Between three cross crosslets a bend, 1 $ s, & ~^ >> .jfi? Ss j? t" 1 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 31 charged with three pheons. Above it in black letter ISianm Edmondson, in his Heraldry, gives argent on a bend sable, three pheons of the field for Bland, of Kippax Park, in Yorkshire ; and for Bland of London and Yorkshire, the same, only the pheons Or. Second, Quarterly, first and fourth, a cross flory, second and third, three crescents (in- verted.) These are the arms of the Frevile Family, who, according to Edmondson, in some branches, bore Or, a cross flory gules ; and in others gules three crescents ermine. The third story is a mass of ruin, from the falling in of the roof; but it has contained a similar groined apartment to those below, with a corresponding closet at the angle. The word Dotale in black letter is scratched on the wall of this room ; and a gallery at the S. corner communicates with a circular staircase, rising to the roof, as well as des- cending a few steps to a similar gallery, which on one hand is connected with a room and closet like the former, and on the other with THE 32 KENILWORTH CASTLE. THE GREAT HALL. The exterior of this magnificent apartment towards the inner court with its oriel, is shewn in the plate annexed. The steps leading to the highly enriched doorway are fallen down and removed ; but the arches, which once in part supported them, remain. The interior of the Hall shews an undercroft of six arches in length, and three in breadth, originally bearing a groined roof. The lowest arch at the north end was separated from the others by a wall, to form a passage to the opening leading to the Sally Port, and in the corresponding window above it is a circular aperture, through which the chain of the portcullis, or sliding door, acted. The cross bar, for further security, has been noticed in the adjoining strong tower. The undercroft, appropriated only to military and domestic stores, is lighted by four loop- holes only, of singular formation. It is, no doubt, referred to in the survey, page 16, as part of " such stately sellars, all carried upon if £ i p I £ 3. ^ =s > KENILWORTH CASTLE. 33 pillars and architecture of free stone, carved and wrought as the like are not within this kingdom." The pillars and groining are represented in the plan, and must not be mistaken as belonging to the Hall above, whose roof was supported by trusses of tim- ber, the holes of which are to be seen be- twixt the windows. The dimensions of the Hall are about ninety feet by forty-five, which, with the latter measure for height, would give a double cube, an admired pro- portion amongst ancieni builders. The win- dows, though bereft of their glass, and of a principal part of their tracery, still appear graceful in outline, and must once have been exceedingly beautiful. There is a fire-place on each side ; and on the side next to the inner court is an oriel, in plan comprehending five sides of an oc- tagon, with three large windows, a smaller window, and a fire-place. On the opposite side of the Hall is a recess, with a single window, and a small closet, ridiculously called Queen Elizabeth's Dressing Room, though probably only a voider, or, in modem language, a butler's pantry. This recess joins another to the south, of equal dimen- sions, but with two windows and a staircase. 34 KENILWOHTH CASTLE. Passing hence towards the White Hall, is another winding staircase/ discovered in the year 1820., which terminates in two vaulted chambers. THE WHITE HALL. Of this apartment, which from the situa- tion of a loop-hole on the N. side, must have been erected previously to the Great Hall, little can be ascertained beyond its dimensions, which were fifty-eight feet by twenty-five ; and that it had two bay win- dows. It had also a door into THE PRESENCE CHAMBER, An irregularly-formed room, about thirty- eight feet long, connected with a tower and staircase of four stories. The exterior lobby with steps leading to the inner court, is an half octagon. According to a valuation made shortly after the death of Leicester, KENILWORTH CASTLE. 35 the Presence Chamber was of " verie curious woorke, wainscotted, with the doores and the portals also." Adjoining was THE PRIVY CHAMBER, Which had a bay window, and a fire-place opposite ; from which the alabaster chimney piece, now in the Gate House, was probably removed. Its area was a square of about twenty-three feet. LEICESTER'S BUILDINGS. These are shewn in both the general views of the Castle ; forming the mass to the left of the picture, in the view from the N. E. and rising in majestic height in the right of the S. W. view. The plan and representa- tions here referred to, render any verbal description superfluous ; but to correct a popular error, it. »may.> be observed that the great staircase flanked the centre apart- 36 KENILWORTH CASTLE. ment; and that the projecting erection at the S. W. angle, usually called the staircase, and shewn in the general view from S. W. was a suit of closets or dressing rooms. On a tablet, below the middle window of the East front, is the date of 1571. Leicester's Buildings are now in a state of frightful di- lapidation. SIR ROBERT DUDLEY S LOBBY AND HENRY VIIL's LODGINGS. These are levelled to the ground. The view of the Castle, in its entire state A. D. 1620, (published by the proprietors of the present work,) represents them directly rang~ ing from Leicester's Buildings to Cesar's Tower, including the gate of entrance from the Base Court to the inner one ; but the plan copied from Dugdale, notices a remark- able obliquity, and it has been deemed pro- per so to let it remain, until better evidence shall come to light upon the subject. KENILWORTH CASTLE. 37 THE WALLS, TOWERS, &c. The walls, encompassing an area of seven acres, were, according to the survey, in page 16, " so spacious and faire that two or three persons together may walk upon most places thereof;" and their present appearance jus- tifies this description. They were protected by a breastwork, and had a sally port in their W. angle, opposite to the barricadoed door way under the Great Hall. Remains of fire-places are to be seen in several parts of the walls, round which slight temporary barracks for the garrison were no doubt set up when the wall required manning, or the number of soldiers was too large for recep- tion within the body of the Castle. There are no relics of the buildings of the Plaisance, though their situation is shewn in the plan marked K. at the right of the Strong Tower. 38 KENILWORTH CASTLE, THE SWAN TOWER Is situated at the extreme point, where the Plaisance and Garden join each other, and is a square building of about seventeen feet within, of which only the lower story is left. Its name may be derived from the swans upon the lake resorting to it, or some shelter for them being placed there. LUJSN'S TOWER, Shewn in front of the general view from N, E. is polygonal, about twenty-one feet diameter within ; has three stories, the two uppermost with fire-places, and on the out- side a turret staircase. See the view. KENILWORTH CASTLK. 39 THE STABLES. The lower story of this range of buildings is of stone, the lofts are of brick and timber pane work ; each compartment having a diagonal piece of timber in it, rudely imi/ tating the Ragged Staff. THE WATER TOWER. This is a most curious building, and well deserves the attention of the architectural antiquary. The ground floor is a square of about twenty feet within. The second story has a fire-place ; and there are stairs com- municating with the top of the tower, which must have had a parapet for defensive pur- poses. Near the Water Tower is a ROOM IN THE WALL, Which may possibly have been the Guard House. It contains a fire-place and a locker, and has also a narrow passage lead- ing to a loop-hole. D 40 KENILWORTH CASTLE. MORTIMER'S TOWER, u Whereupon," says Dugdale, " the arras of Mortimer were cut in stone, doubtless was so named by the Earl of Leicester, who raised it from the ground in memory of one more ancient that stood there formerly, wherein, as I guess, either the Lord Morti- mer, at the time of that great and solemn tilting formerly mentioned, did lodge, or else because Sir John Mortimer, Knt. pri- soner here in Henry V.'s time, was detained therein." It has been lately cleared of its rubbish, and appears to have had an arched passage through it of ten feet wide, with a small room on each side for the residence of domestics. From Mortimer's Tower we enter THE TILT YARD, Which is about 395 feet long, and from forty to fifty wide within, its walls forming KENILWORTH CASTLE. 41 what was once the head or dam of the lake. It is now intersected by a deep ravine, through which the undetained stream flows down the valley. The stone work of its sluice in part remains. At the other extremity of the Tilt Yard stood THE FLOOD GATE, OR GALLERY TOTTER, which is reduced to a wall on the east side, forty-five feet long, in the direct line of the Tilt Yard, and thence turning westward with a slight angle to the distance of thirty-eight feet more. Dugdale informs us, that it was built by the Earl of Leicester, and contained " a spacious and noble room, for Ladies to see the exercises of tilting and barriers," but the Gallery itself does not appear to have been erected, if the following item of Leicester's will, preserved amongst the Syd- ney papers at Penshurst, in Kent, and " wrytten with his owen hand, the first of 42 KENILWORTH CASTLE. August, iu Myddelborow, 1587," can be supposed to relate to it. " Yf yt shall please my Lord and brother to buyld out the gall* • which I once intended, then to take such tymber as shall be valeyed • • • • " From this tower a bridge, the foundations of which may be still seen, was thrown across a dingle to the Brays, a pleasant knoll, (see Lanebam's Letter,) deriving its name from " Bra, Brae, or Bray ;" a word used in Scotland to the present day nearly in the same sense as the English brow. The Brays was defended on the east by two round towers, about 28 yards apart, between which was the chief entrance to the Castle, until the Earl of Leicester built " the mag- nificent Gate House towards the North," (see Dugdale,) and turned the back of his proud residence into the front. Here, how- ever, Queen Elizabeth entered, when the Castle stood in all its glory ; and it is cer- tainly by far the most interesting approach for modern visitors to its ruins. KENILWORTH PRIORY AMD CHURCH. To many, amongst the numerous Visitors of Kenilworth, in its present high state of celebrity, it is conceived that some account of the Priory and Church will form an agree- able appendage to the preceding pages ; and in order to render this little Work as gene- rally acceptable as possible, the following brief but authentic notices of those establish- ments is added. 44 KENILWORTH PRIORY. The Priory was founded in the reign of Henry 1. by Geffrey de Clinton (mentioned in the previous account of the Castle,) who placed canons regular of the order of St. Augustine therein, and richly endowed the monastery. His son Geffrey was also a great benefactor, as was his grandson Henry; upon whose death, Amicia de Bi- dun, his wife, released to the monks all her right of dowry in the lands given by her husband; and many other grants of land and church patronage were fro.m time to time made to this monastery ; so that in the survey taken 26 Henry VIII. the possessions were valued at £533, 15s. 4d. per annum, clear of all reprises. Three years after- wards, viz. April 15th, 29 Henry VIII. it was surrendered by Simon Jekys, then Ab- bot, and his brethren, all of whom were al- lowed pensions during their lives. The scite of the monastery was granted by Henry VIII. to Sir Andrew Flamock, from ILofC. • KENILWORTH PRIORY GATEWAY. KENILWORTH PRIORY. 45 whom it descended to bis son and heir Sir William ; whose daughter married John Colbourn, Esq. of Morton Morrell ; which Gentleman having incautiously purchased some horses that were stolen out of the Earl of Leicester's stables, at Kenilworth Castle, acreD to the ^pernor? of CAROLINE GRESLEY, Wife of Richard Gresley, Esquire, Barrister at Law, of this Parish. She died in child-birth, On the 1st of October, A.D. 1817, aged 45 years. Leaving her afflicted husband and six children to lament their irreparable Joss; namely, William, Richard Newcombe, Francis, Caroline- Mary, Andrew, and Elizabeth. Unfeigned Piety, Purity of Thought, Mildness of Temper, and Benignity of Manners, with unbounded yet unostentatious Charity; added to the complete performance of every Conjugal and Maternal Duty, composed the character of this excellent Woman, who is now receiving her merited reward. This Monument was erected by her affectionate husband, To commemorate her virtues, And to set forth an example for imitation. * A beautiful engraving of this monument is given in " Kcnilworth Illustrated.''' 50 DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH. On the south wall of the nave, upon a brass plate, is the following singular and interesting monumental inscription : — Reader ! Contemplate thy own Mortality In the remains here before thee, Of the Rev. Mr. William and Mrs. Ann Best. The former, With indefatigable vigilance, For Fifty Years Vicar of this Parish. The latter, For Fifty Years and one his Wife. Not one Wife in Fifty, not one Mother, Not one Mistress of a Family, not one Neighbour, Not one Christian in Fifty, Has she left behind her better than herself. Fourscore Years and Ten, Was the good Old Age to which she lived. 1748, the Year of our Lord, In which she died, Eight Years after the death of her Husband, In the Year 1740, and of his Age Seventy-five. Filial Piety in their Son William, Doctor of Divinity, Devoted this Plate To the memory of his dearest Parents, An. Dom. 1753, Etat: Suae 58. The font is circular, with T. B. W. D. I. P. 1664, upon it. During the Usurpation, a wooden turned pillar, supporting a basin, DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH. 51 was substituted for the original font, which probably contained some ornaments which were objectionable to the Puritans, and was in consequence destroyed. After the Res- toration, the font, above described, was pur- chased by the parishioners. There is also a small organ bought by subscription, for 70 guineas, about seven years since. Before closing this description of the Church, it may be necessary to take some notice of a coffin plate, which was dug up in the south aisle in 1776, upon opening the ground for a vault; and the rather because an account of it has been printed in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, under the article Longevity, though with a slight error in the name of the person. The plate was of sheet iron tinned ; or, as some accounts say, plated with silver, and bore the following inscrip- tion : — Mr. James Bowles, Obijt, August ye 15th, 1656, JEtatis 152. Such is the reading of a fac-simile tracing of the inscription, evidently in letters of that period ; but though great pains have been 52 DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH. taken to recover the plate itself, which was taken to London many years ago, by Wm. Stokes, the person who dug it up, it appears to be irrecoverably lost ; and the strong sus- picions that exist as to a fraudulent insertion of the numeral 1 before 52, in the age of the person, cannot receive that confirmation, which there is great reason to believe an examination of it would produce. No entry in the parish register records the burial of such a person in 1656, nor does any name at all resembling Bowles occur for many years prior and subsequent to that period. FINIS. Valuable ana 3J»twttttg ^Topographical Mtxtet SOLD BY MERRIDEW AND SON, COVENTRY; AND J. MERRIDEW, WARWICK. A VIEW OF KENILWORTH CASTLE, AS IT APPEARED IN 1620, From a Drawing by Henry Beighton, ire 1716, of the curious Fresco Painting, then existing upon a Wall at Newnham Padox, the Seat of the Earl of Denbigh. Size of the Plate^ 2l£ by 13| inchies.— Price One Guinea. A small Engraviug, accurately copied from the large Print, is given to purchasers of the same. It is intended as a Key, and contains references to each part of the building. |This •mall print (the size of which is 1 If inches by 7 inches) is, in itself, an interesting picture, well adapted for the illustration of any works with which the History of Kenilworth Castle is connected. Copies of it, worked on fine large paper, may be had separate from the large print, PRICE SEVEN SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE. An accurate and faithful representation of this Castle, so interesting to the County of Warwick, as the most grand and picturesque ruin it contains; so intimately connected with the annals of our country, and which, as Dugdale informs us, was considered by Prince Henry as " the most magnificent object in the midland part of this realm," cannot fail of pos- sessing a considerable degree of local interest, (greatly in- creased by the celebrated Romance, recently published, entitled " Kenilworth" from the pen of the Author of «* Waveley,'') while it must claim the attention of the Artist and the Antiquary in a peculiar degree, especially when it is considered that no other accurate representation of the Castle, in its perfect itate, is known to exist. (See other side.) KENILWORTH ILLUSTRATED ; OR, THE HISTORY OF THE CASTLE, PRIORY, AND CHURCH OF KENILWORTH ; COMPREHENDING SIR WILLIAM DUGD ALE'S ACCOUNT OF THOSE EDIFICES, WITH ADDITIONS, AND A D^criptton of tfjeij: Present <§>tate» FROM MINUTE INVESTIGATION'; Together with a careful repiint of * Laneham's Letter, and 'Gascoigne's Princely e Pleasures at Kenelwoonh Casile ;' from the original Editions, in the possession of William Staunton, Esq. of Longbridge House, near Warwick. The Reprint of the latter Work contain the Printer's Address, and some various Readings from an unique Copy of an Edition in Octavo, 1576, formerly belonging to Dr. Farmer j which are accompanied by Notes and Illustrations. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, SOME UNPUBLISHED MASQUES, Of great Literary Merit, performed before Queen Elizabeth, from a coeval Transcript in a volume of Manuscript Collec- tions, by Henry Ferrers, Esq. of Baddesley Clinton, in the possession of William Hamper, Esq. of Birmingham. The work is printed in Royal Quarto, executed at the Chiswick Press, by C. Whittingham, in his best manner, and embellished with nearly Twenty Plates, by Messrs. William Radclyffe, C. Heath, and Meyer, from original Drawings by Messrs. W. Westall, A.R.A., H. Meyer, J. V. Martin, Barber, and W. Green, Price Tioo Guineas and a Half in Extra Boards. KENILWORTH ILLUSTRATED. Several applications having been made for separate impres- sions of the Plates on Folio Paper, for the purpose of illus- trating Dug dale, the Proprietors offer for Sale Twelve Sets only, worked on India Paper, at Five Guineas the Set. The Proprietors of Kenilworth Illustrated, amongst other proofs of the satisfaction with which their Work has been received by the Public, have to mention the notice taken of it by the celebrated Author of " Waverley" in his Romance of " Kenilworth/' vol. iii. page 86. Just Published, worked on Demy Qvo. price Three Shillings, SEVEN ENGRAVINGS, TO ILLUSTRATE THE ROMANCE OF KENILWORTH, Consisting of the following views of the CASTLE AND PRIORY. 1. View of Mervyn's Tower.-2. The Great Hall and Oriel. 3. Cesar's Tower. — 4. Ground Plan of the Castle. 5. General View N. E. containing Mervyn's Tower, Great Hall, Cesar's Tower, and Leicester's Buildings. 6. General view S. W. containing Leicester's Buildings, Lunn's Tower, Cesar's Tower, and Great Gate House. 7. Kenilworth Priory Gateway. The above Engravings are well adapted to illustrate any Work with which the History of Kenilworth Castle is connected. Worked on Demy Svo, and done uy in neat case t Price Three Shillings, SEVEN ENGRAVINGS OF THE Cfturcftcs anD public OBiulOingg IN THE CITY OF COVENTRY, CONSISTING OF THE FOLLOWING VIEWS : — 1. St. Michael's Church, from the East End. 2. Interior of St. Michael's Church. 3. St. Mary Hall. 4. Trinity Church.— 5. Ford's Hospital.— 6. Free School. 7. Representation of Peeping Tom, as seen looking from the Window in Hertford-street. MElVIORANDA LEAMINGTON PRIORS AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD, WITH VIEWS OF THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTS IN THAT FASHIONABLE SPA. This Work is published in Royal Octavo, at 7s. 6d. in extra boards, and a limited number of large copies beautifully printed on Drawing Paper, Imperial Octavo, at 15s. each. The Letter Press is accompanied by Eight Engravings, from Original Drawings, prepared expressly for this publication, which may be had separately, in neat case, at jive shillings the set. THE NOBLE AND RENOWNED HISTORY OF GUY EARL OF WARWICK, CONTAINING A FULL AND TRUE ACCOUNT OF HIS MANY FAMOUS AND VALIANT ACTIONS, REMARKABLE AND BRAVE EXPLOITS, AND NOBLE AND RENOWNED VICTORIES. Embellished with Decorations on Wood of the Statue in the Chapel at Guy's Cliff, and the Armour at the Entrance to Warwick Castle, engraved by Artists of celebrity, from Drawings made expressly jor this Publication, Price 7s. 6d. A smaller Edition at 3s. neatly half bound, and lettered. Just published) price Three Shillings, THE COVENTRY GUIDE, CONTAINING A CONCISE ACCOUNT OF THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE CITY, And Particular Descriptions of the CHURCHES, ST. MARY HALL, AND OTHER PUBLIC BUILDINGS. ILLUSTRATED WITH NINE ENGRAVINGS. Copies on Fine Large Paper, with Proof Plates, price Six Shillings. DESCRIPTION OF THE BE AUCHAMP CHAPEL, Adjoining to the Church of St. Mary, at Warwick, AND THE MONUMENTS OF THE EARLS OF WARWICK, In the said Church and elsewhere. BY RICHARD GOUGH, ESQ. Price 10s. 6d. on Large Paper, with Seven Folio Plates. Speedily will be published, AN ENTIRELY NEW GUIDE TO WARWICK, WITH FULL PARTICULARS OF THE CASTLE, CHURCHES, AND OTHER PUBLIC BUILDINGS. TOwtrateu tuitfj