Pass -J)Ah4D PRESENTED BY RUXES id jafiiLWORCii. S W&KWIGK: (Next door to the Bank) Claremont, Kemlworth: Horsfall, Coventry : a nd the Booksellers in Warwick and Leamington. \ i V f2*t* / A. Caesar's Tower. B. Site of Kitchen. C. Strong Tower. D. Great Hall. E. White Hall. F. Lobby, and Stair to V. Presence Chamber. G. Privy Chamber. H. Leicester's Buildings. I. Inner Court. K. Pleasaunce. L. Swan Tower. M. Garden. N. Gate House. O. Lunn's Tower. P. Stables. Q. Water Tower. R. Room in Walls. S. Head of Water, Passage from the Lake. T. Mortimer's Tower. U. Tilt Yard. W. Recess at upper end of Great Hall. X. Stairs leading to Vaulted Chamber-*. Y. Sir Rob. Dudley's Lodging. Z. Henry Eighth's Lodging. A GUIDE TO KENILWORTH CASTLE AND CHURCH BY THE EEV. W. DEAKE, A. M. WARWICK : HENRY T. COOKE, HIGH STREET. LAREMONT, KENILWORTH; HORSEFALL, COVENTRY; AND THE BOOKSELLERS IN WARWICK AND LEAMINGTON. *847. Gilt. fE3 121910 KEXILWORTH CASTLE. 1 ' Reft, Kenihvorth ! of all thine ancient glory, Thy grey monastic cells in ruin lie : But lo ! another name takes up thy story, And gorgeous Raleigh meets th' admiring eye. Even as of old he moved right gracefully Through thy sweet pleasaunce and its verdant bowers, When Dudley was the host of Royalty, And good Queen Bess was lodged within thy towers Where now the ivy trails, and ruin darkly lowers. " M S. The ruins of Kenilworth Castle may fairly court comparison with any of those time-worn relics of feudal days, which yet remain to us, whether we consider their picturesque situation, their magnitude and state of preserva- tion, or the historic associations connected with them. But it is not alone the Artist, the Antiquarian, and the Histo- rian, who visit them, to do grateful homage, each at his own peculiar shrine. It is not alone for the glorious tints which the rising or the setting sun casts upon the grey old towers — nor for the effects of light or shade, which the moon dis- plays, when she pours her silver flood of light through the deep windows, and plays upon the rustling mantle of ivy which shrouds the lofty pile — it is not alone that here may be traced the successive changes of domestic Architecture, from the Norman keep of Geoflroi de Clinton, to the gate- way of Bobert Dudley and the residence of Cromwell's Commissioner — it is not alone that these walls were be- leaguered by the Plantagenet, and held by de Montfort's 2 KENILWORTH CASTLE. Son — that they witnessed the captivity of our second Edward and the triumph of Mortimer — that John of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster, had here a favourite abode ; that Harry the 8th had special liking for the spot, and that Charles the First completed the purchase of it begun by Prince Henry, his brother — it is not for these reasons alone that thousands of steps are yearly turned towards Kenilworth ; and that the monster type of the 19th century disgorges its multitudes daily to visit the tall keep which is the type of the 12th. Wonderful contrast, suggestive of deep and anxious thought ! yet Kenilworth has other sources of interest than these. It is a spot around which the wand of an enchanter has cast the spell of its most potent attraction ; and the Warwickshire village owes its world-wide fame to the pen of the Scottish Novelist. Yes, dear reader, well we know that could we read thine heart, as thou drawest near to the portal of Leicester's Castle, we should find it filled with remembrances of that tear-compelling tale, which has its scenes of deepest interest within these mouldering walls. Eight pleasant memories are rising up in the mind, and Fancy is busy picturing to herself the visit of the Virgin Queen to her haughty sub- ject, — recalling the villanies of Varney and the sorrows of Amy Eobsart. This is Kenilworth' s chief charm; this makes it holy ground to the great bulk of its visitors ; for not only his own countrymen, but the whole race of civilized man, do homage to the genius of Scott, and every nation sends hither its representatives to render it. Here may be met with the Russian, the French, the Italian tourist, the Student of Salamanca and of Heidelberg, and many a pilgrim from the "Far West," whose republican prejudices and associa- KENILWORTH CaSTLE. 6 tions are powerless to check the natural reverence with which he treads the land of his forefathers, and claims kindred with the Saxon race. A stone in the Churchyard records the name of one daughter of Columbia who crossed the broad Atlantic to return no more, and who rests peacefully in the consecrated ground of the Monks of Kenilworth. We have no intention of entering upon the ground which has already been occupied in the novel of Kenilworth, in aught that we may have to say ; for we suspect few will be our readers to whom it is not familiar, and who have not refreshed their recollections by a glance at Sir Walter's notes previous to their visit : but there are other points not without interest to the enquiring visitor, on which we pre- sume to offer our guidance, and therefore ask permission to bear him company. The passage from Leamington or Coventry to Kenilworth, short as it now is, will afford time to tell all that we know, historically, of the place we are about to visit. From our first authentic record we learn that Henry I. granted the Manor to his Chamberlain and Treasurer, Greoffroi de Clinton — a man it would appear of low origin but great talents — one of those lucky Normans who settled in this country subsequent to the Conquest, earning and receiving his share of the great spoil. No part of the present ruins can be attributed to an earlier date than the reign of Henry I. ; and the portion called Caesar's Tower, is un- doubtedly the work of a Norman Architect. Its name, which might mislead us to ascribe it to an earlier period, is possibly derived from some older building once occupying the same site. Geoffroi de Clinton did not churlishly keep to himself all that the bounty and favour of his Sovereign had bestowed 4 KENTLWOHTH CASTLE. upon bim. A portion he devoted to God, by founding the Priory and Church in the valley to the east of the Castle, and giving an example of piety and sacrifice, which men who hold a purer faith need not be ashamed to imitate. It is a pleasing and instructive illustration of the times, that in making these gifts he had the consent of the king, and also of his own wife and son Geoffroi, which son emulated his father in his piety towards God, and in the benefactions conferred upon His servants; and bequeathed the same excellent spirit to his son Henry de Clinton, who seems to have contemplated, if he did not actually take upon himself religious vows; his son Henry is the fourth and last of the Clintons whose name is recorded in connection with Kenil- worth. How that connection ceased cannot be traced, but during the tenure of all these three decendants of the first Geoffroi de Clinton, the Castle seems at intervals to have been vested in the Crown. Thus in the 19th Henry II., it was possessed and garrisoned by the King, against whom his eldest son was then in arms, aided by king Louis of Prance. The provisions laid in as store at this time afford a valuable example of prices in the 12th century : 100 Quarters of Wheat 20 Quarters of Barley 100 Hogs 40 Cows, salted 120 Cheeses 25 Quarters of Salt .. . The other records which shew from time to time that this Castle continued in the king's hands, contain much curious matter illustrative of medieval times. At one time the Sheriff accounts to the King for money paid in lieu of £. s. d. 8 8 2 1 13 4 7 10 4 2 1 10 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 5 feudal service in guarding the Castle, and also for rent received from those who, in those turbulent times, sought security by residing within the walls ; then we find charges per contra for repairs done, for fortifications strengthened, (these especially in King John's time) ; for repairing the banks of the lake, for a boat to lie near the door of the king's chamber, and for 5 tons of wine, brought from Southampton ; shewing that the scheme of railway com- munication from Birmingham to that Port has not the merit of originality. From the same source we discover that Kenilworth Castle was used as a Royal Gaol, and as a Eoyal Residence, for which latter purpose it was richly de- corated; and that in 22 Henry III. it was assigned as a residence for the Papal Legate then in England, afterwards Pope Adrian the 5th. In 28 Henry III. appears the first mention of a name much celebrated in English History in connection with Kenilworth Castle : Simon de Montfort was appointed governor. Pour years later the custody of the Castle was granted to Alianore, the king's sister, wife of the said Simon, at which time the woods between Coventry and Kenilworth were cut down to a breadth of 6 acres for the security of passengers. Again 6 years later, the Castle was granted to Simon and his wife for their lives, and became the stronghold of that party, which some historians have identified with the oligarchical, some with the popular cause in this country. In the struggle which ensued between Henry and his powerful subject Kenilworth became a place of great im- portance. In 48 Henry III., soon after the king had taken Northampton, and success seemed leaning to his side, an attack was made by John Gifford, then governor, a knight c 6 KENILWORTH CASTLE. of great valour and a fierce partizan of de Montfort, upon Warwick Castle then in the possession of Wm. Mauduit, a friend of the king, whom with his wife and family he brought prisoner to Kenilworth, having demolished a great part of the fortifications at Warwick. Soon after this Henry and his son Edward were taken prisoners by the barons' party, in the disastrous battle of Lewes, but the prince ere long made his escape, and raising an army, proved by his vigour and martial talents more than a match for the veteran de Montfort. Eoused by the daily accessions to the royal cause, the E. of Leicester sent his son Simon into the North to collect succours, who brought hither to Kenilworth almost 20 banners with a great multitude of soldiers. Here they established their head quarters, and hence went to Winchester where they spoiled the city, but soon after return- ed to Kenilworth. Meantime treachery was busy among them. Ealph de Ardern, a Warwickshire man in the rebel army, was in communication with Edward, and sent infor- mation of the return of this party of the younger de Mont- fort to Kenilworth. Edward was then at Worcester and started from that city as if with the purpose of marching to Salisbury ; but he soon turned aside towards Kenilworth, and arriving late at night near the castle, concealed his men in an hollow and there placed them in order. While this was going on they suddenly heard a great noise which made them fear they were discovered and their purpose of surprise defeated, but it proved to be nothing but a convoy going to fetch provisions. This they seized, and making use of the fresh horses, fell upon the town and monastery, and made many prisoners with little loss to themselves. Among these were 15 that bore banners ; young Simon de Montfort escaped, having slept that night in the castle and so secured KENILWOKTH CASTLE. 7 himself, but his banner was taken. Edward returned im- mediately to Worcester with his prisoners. In the meantime de Montfort, ignorant of his adversaries' movements, marched from Hereford with the intention of joining his forces to those of his son at Kenilworth, but when he had come to Evesham he was met by Edward who had divided his forces into three divisions, one of which he caused to display the banners taken at Kenilworth and to approach the rebels from the north, that they might suppose it to be the array of young de Montfort coming to his aid. This device partially succeeded, and it was not till the forces were drawing near each other that de Montfort discovered the danger of his position. Nothing daunted he encouraged his men, reminding them that they were fighting for the laws of the land, and in the cause of God and Justice. But his Welsh allies fled even before the battle began, and he, with his eldest son and most of his chief friends, was slain, while others were wounded and made prisoners. This battle was fought on the 4th of August, 1265, 49 Henry III. Kenilworth afforded a place of refuge to the scattered remains of the rebel party. Here young Simon de Mont- fort still maintained the war, and to him gathered the friends and followers of them that had been slain at Evesham, much embittered by their loss. Kenilworth became the centre from which he exercised an almost regal authority, sending out his officers and bailiffs to drive cattle and raise contributions. This continued for the space of about nine months, from the autumn of 1265 to mid- summer in the following year, when Henry, having been restored to the throne at Winchester, and being determined to crush this last effort of the rebellion, came down with a strong force and beleagured the Castle. In the meantime 8 KENILWORTH CASTLE. young de Montfort, fearing to be shut up in Kenilworth by the king's superior forces, had made his escape to France, to solicit succours there ; but his place was well supplied by the governor whom he had left behind, and the efforts of the besiegers were vigorously repulsed. The king then offered terms to those in the castle and also to de Montfort, who had returned and gathered forces in the Isle of Ely. The celebrated Dictum de Kenilworth was published, but rejected by the rebels, as containing too hard conditions for them to accede to. The siege lingered on, but at last disease made its appearance in the castle, and after a second unsuccessful attempt to come to terms, it was at length agreed that the castle should be rendered, if, upon message sent to the Isle of Ely, it should appear that de Montfort could hold out no hope of relieving the garrison. The strength and importance of the place are sufficiently indi- cated by these favourable terms. But after the message was dispatched the disease, which was dysentery, kept increasing, and the survivors, without waiting de Montfort's reply, surrendered the castle on St. Thomas' day, after the siege had lasted six months. Henry forthwith retired to Oseney, in Oxfordshire, where he kept the feast of the Nativity. Thus Kenilworth fell once more into the hands of the king, who bestowed it on his son Edmund, E. of Leicester. This prince was in possession in 7 Edward L, at which time we find it recorded that the pool on the south side of the castle was half a mile long and a quarter broad. In the same year there was held here a famous passage of arms, called that of the Round Table, beginning on St. Matthew's eve, and continued till after Christmas Day. This was the best age of chivalry ; and such exercises as KENILWORTH CASTLE. 9 these were of frequent occurrence. Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, was the chief mover of these diversions, which consisted of tilting and tournament, and also of dancing among the ladies. Edmund of Lancaster was succeeded in possession of Kenilworth by his son Thomas, but this nobleman having engaged in a rebellion against his cousin, Edward the second, was beheaded at Pontefract in the loth year of that king's reigu, and his estates reverted to the crown.* This ill-fated monarch purposed to make Kenilworth a royal residence, but within a very few years, Henry Earl of Lan- caster revenged his brother's death, having seized Edward in Wales and conveyed him as a prisoner to Kenilworth. While he was here confined, a parliament was held at West- minster, which required his abdication in favour of his son, upon the granting of which he was conveyed to Berkeley, and thence to Corfe Castle; and finally being brought back to- Berkeley, was there foully and most barbarously murdered. In the first year of Edward III., Henry of Lancaster above-named, was rewarded for the part he had taken in the late successful rebellion by restoration to all the estates of his brother Thomas, whereof this castle formed a part. He enjoyed it eighteen years, having died and been buried at Leicester, in 19 Edward III. He was succeeded by his son Henry, then Earl of Derby, and subsequently in suc- cession Earl of Leicester and Duke of Lancaster, who also died in peaceful possession of Kenilworth, on the Tuesday next after the feast of the Annunciation of our Lady, 35 Edward III. leaving two daughters, Maud and Blanch, as his joint heiresses, — aged respectively 22, and 19; the * It seems probable that his fate was partly owinsf to his having been accessory to the execution of Piers Gaveston on Blackiow Hill. 10 KENILWORTH CASTLE. former of these married William Duke of Bavaria, while the marriage of the latter brought Kenilworth, as her portion of the inheritance, into the hands of one of its most illus- trious possessors — John of Gaunt, son of Edward III., and soon after created Duke of Lancaster. Kenilworth became to him a favourite place of abode and he added largely to it ; a considerable portion of the ruins still bear his name, and prove the magnificence of his taste. At his death his son, Henry Bolingbroke, was absent from England, having been banished by his cousin Richard II., who treacherously siezed all the property of his uncle and thus led the way to his own overthrow and death. By the accession of Henry IV. Kenilworth, his private property, was once more in the hands of the crown. Henry V. must have visited the place for it seems that he erected a building in the low marshy ground, near the tail of the pool called Le plesans en marys. And so it continued during the wars of the roses to be a royal residence, and is mentioned in the act of the first of Henry VII. as part of the possessions of the Dutchy of Lancaster, then united to the Dukedom of Cornwall. Henry VIII. bestowed much cost in repairing the castle, and removed the building set up by Henry V. and placed part of it in the base court of the castle, near the Swan tower. Kenilworth continued the property of the crown till it was granted by Queen Elizabeth, in the 5th year of her reign, to Robert Dudley, (son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland ) whom in the following year she created Earl of Leicester. This nobleman commenced and carried through great alterations in the place, building the entrance gateway and tower on the north side, the noble and lofty range called Leicester's buildings ; rebuilding the flood- gate or gallery tower, at the further end of the tilt yard, V,EEN E " ZAE «H. S V 1S[T TO KKNILWORTH CASTLE IN] 575. KENILWORTH CASTLE. 11 and Mortimer's tower at the end next the castle. He also enlarged the chase, and is said to have expended about £60,000 on this place — an enormous sum of money in those days. The celebrated visit of Queen Elizabeth took place in July, 1575, full particulars of which will be found in the notes to the novel of Kenilworth. On the death of the Earl of Leicester, Kenilworth by his will went first to his brother Ambrose, Earl of Warwick, for his life, who survived him but one year ; and secondly to Sir Eobert Dudley, knight, his son, by Lady Douglas Sheffield, daughter of Lord Howard of Effingham, whom Leicester had secretly married but never owned as his wife, — and in whose lifetime he married the Lady Lettice, Countess of Essex. This Eobert Dudley endeavoured to establish his legitimacy by proof of his mother's marriage, before a com- mission at Lichfield, but was stopped by a command of the Lords of the Council, ordering the whole matter to be brought into the Star Chamber. Here the strong evidence which was brought forward of Leicester's marriage, proved of no avail, the whole proceedings were ordered to be sealed up, and no copies taken without the king's special license, and Sir Eobert finding his hopes of obtain' g jus- tice very remote, obtained leave to go abroad for three years. While absent he was summoned to return, but failed to obey, and being pronounced in contempt, his castle and lands of Kenilworth were seized for the king's use, and upon survey made were estimated as follows :— &. s. d. In Lands - - - 16431 9 In Woods - - - 11722 2 The Castle - - - 10401 4 Total - - - -£38554 15 12 KENILWORTH CASTLE. Sir Robert however still retained an interest in the estates, for which he received a proposal from Prince Henry, eldest son of James the first, who desired to become possessor of the whole demesne. The purchase money was fixed at £14,500, saddled with the condition that Robert Dudley should, during his life, hold the constableship of the castle by patent from the prince. Not above £ 3000 of this pur- chase money had been paid when Henry died, nevertheless Charles as his brother's heir took possession, and obtained a special Act of Parliament in 19 James I. to enable the Lady Alice, wife of Robert Dudley, to alien to him her right of jointure, which she did in consideration of £4,000 paid to her from the exchequer. With the possession of King Charles in 1640, Dugdale's History of Kenilworth Castle, whence the information given above is chiefly derived, comes to an end. Its subsequent history is told in a few words. Towards the close of the civil war it shared the fate which fell, as by a righteous retribution, so heavily on the mansions and castles of that nobility, which, a short cen- tury before, had consigned so many ancient religious houses to ruin and desolation, and shared their spoils. Henry the eighth robb'd the Canons of Kenilworth of their property, and pulled down the stately Priory and sold its materials. Cromwell and his soldiers acted towards his successor the part which Henry had taught them, and Kenilworth, from being a stately and noble palace, became a ruin. The last addition to its present buildings was made in these disastrous days, by the Parliamentary Officer, who made Leicester's gateway his residence, and added to it the two- gabled building which abuts upon its eastern face. All the rest of the castle was dismantled — its floors and its roofs of lead pull'd down and sold — its moat drained and its timber fell'd. KENILWORTH CASTLE. 13 After the restoration, the land and ruins were granted to Lawrence Hyde, second son of Chancellor Hyde, and by marriage of a female descendant of Lawrence they passed to Thomas Villiers, Baron Hyde, afterwards Earl of Clarendon, whose descendants are the present possessors. And now having seen what history tells us of Kenilworth Castle, let us endeavour briefly to describe the existing ruins as they present themselves to the visitor of the Castle, and attempt to identify them with the buildings mentioned in Dugdale and elsewhere. Since the formation of the Railway, nearly all visitors approach the Castle by the same road, which leaves the village street on the left hand side, and descending a hill crosses a small stream, and at the point just beyond where it turns sharp to the right brings the visitor upon the first portion of the buildings, scarcely visible, in a deep hollow and oversown by tree and underwood. The base and side walls are all that here remain of the gallery tower, the south east termination of the tilt yard, and originally the chief entrance to the Castle. From hence the road again descends and crosses a second stream, by which the Castle mills, now destroyed, were once worked, after it left the pool. Here for the first time we come in sight of the princi- pal ruins. The building immediately in the foreground with a window of two lights of ecclesiastical character is called in Dugdale's plan the Water tower ; it seems to have con- sisted of two floors, and the upper part was probably used as a Chapel; its date is early, apparently in the time of Edward 1st or 2nd. Beyond it is seen the long low roof of the stables, and then at the north east angle a round tower, known as Lunn's tower. This I take to have been the 14 KENILWORTH CASTLE. tower which was built in 3 Henry III., and cost £150 2s. 3d. an earlier one having fallen about Christmas of the preceding year. It probably served as an outpost to the great Keep. As he turns to the left into Clinton's Green, the pilgrim to Kenilworth must be prepared against a vigorous assault from the inhabitants of that spot, who will importune him to buy, or failing that, to borrow, a guide to the ruins of Kenilworth ; we need scarcely say that we advise him rather to trust to the book he holds in his hand. Entering a small wicket gate in the north wall, he first arrives at Leicester's gateway, a square building of four stories, flanked at each angle with an octagonal tower and embattled. On the porch on its west side he will read the initials R. D. carved on the stone, and in the interior, by payment of sixpence, may inspect a curiously carved chimney-piece. Access to the rest of this interesting building is not to be obtained, it being now a private residence. The gabled building on the east side has been already mentioned as having been added to this tower in the 1 7th century. Passing on we come directly in front of the main buildings of the castle, and looking westward have the inner court in full view. The eastern side of the square, which consisted of buildings erected by King Henry VIII. and Sir Eobert Dudley, is wholly destroyed, only a vestige of foundations remaining here and there. On the right is Caesar's tower, a noble keep of immense strength ; its walls are many feet thick, and in each angle has been a staircase. Though it has been subjected to some alterations, it retains undeniable evidence of its Norman origin in the form of its older windows, which are narrow and circular headed, and in the KENILWOItTH CASTLE. 15 character of its buttresses. Some portions of this massive building have fallen down, and the huge fragments which lie scattered round give a better idea of the vastness and solidity of the building, than can be formed by a simple Kenilwortii Castle from the Outer Court. view of its exterior. Westward from Caesar's tower were the kitchen and other offices now represented only by some two or three arches and remnants of foundation ; and again beyond these lies the building called Mervyn's tower, which Sir Walter makes the scene of some of the incidents of his novel. It has been a building of considerable strength, and of a date intermediate between Greoffroi de Clinton's keep, and John of Gaunt 's buildings. Its chambers are all arched of stone, and it is the part of the ruin most adapted for the purposes of a gaol, and may therefore have been built for that purpose in the time of Henry the second. By one of the staircases its present summit may be reached, and hence may be seen on the right the remains of the Swan tower, 16 KENILWOBTH CASTLE. which formed the north west angle of the outer walls, the walls themselves built in 26 Henry III. and bordering the lake, and immediately below, the space within the walls on which the pleasaunce was re-edified. Adjoining Mervyn's tower on the south side is the great banqueting hall, built by John of Gaunt. It must have been a noble apartment. Its floor was supported on a stone vaulting carried on two parallel rows of pillars — the under apartment being probably used for stores — the windows, filled with tracery and tran^ som'd, are of great height, the space of wall between them panell'd, and the fire-places on each side richly ornamented. One window at its southern end looking east into the great court and one west towards the chase, are its oriel windows, while at the north-east end is the entrance doorway, through a very beautiful arch, not easily accessible, but which may be seen from the interior court. The line of building now turns to the east, but it is not easy to trace it distinctly : it is however of the same date with the great hall, and con- tained, according to Dugdale, rooms called the white Hall, the presence chamber, and the privy chamber. — The second of these had an oriel towards the inner court. Beyond these, and carried out to the south, are the remains of Leicester's buildings, a magnificent erection of great height and striking beauty. Though the latest in date, their con- tinuance appears more dubious than that of the other portions of the Castle, the thickness of the walls being considerably less. From an accessible point on the outer circuit of the walls south-east from Leicester's buildings, a view may be obtained of Mortimer's tower, lying just below, and of the tilt yard, stretching away south-east to the site of the gallery tower, but broken now by the river — its KENILWORTH CASTLE. 17 bridge being replaced by a modem one just to the west of its old position. The low meadows south-west of the tilt yard mark the position of the pool, and the rising ground beyond shews its limit in that direction. Turning north- Leicester's Buildings. wards, the interior side of the water tower, stables, and Lunn's tower are visible, but fenced out from closer inspec- tion, and forming part of the farm yard. Here again are features which would seem to indicate that the water tower had an ecclesiastical purpose. The stables are partly of hewn stone, partly framed in wood, and are probably of Leicester's building. If desirous of a nearer view, the visitor on leaving the Castle may pass through the farm 18 KENILWORTH CASTLE. yard to the east of Leicester's gateway, and examine Mor- timer's tower, of which there are important remains; and crossing the bridge trace the walls of the tilt yard to a considerable distance. This will also lead him to the meadows on the south side, from which perhaps the best general view of the Castle may be obtained. This however is a point on which we do not presume to dictate : an artist may spend with profit many days beneath the walls of Kenilworth, and still find new combinations of its varied outlines, each more striking and pleasing than the last. The view from the south meadows is, nevertheless, the one which we seem to have seen attempted most frequently. In crossing the little wooden bridge, on the road to the Castle, it is probable that the eye may have lighted on the Church spire and a neighbouring pile of ruin which lie in the valley of the stream to the east, at the distance of some third of a mile. These are the parish Church of Kenilworth and the poor remains of its once flourishing Augustine Monastery, and we cannot let our readers leave Kenilworth without a visit to them, and a few words from us respecting them. Kenilworth Church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, consists of western tower and spire, nave, north and south aisles, north transept, and chancel, of the following interior dimensions — Tower 14 5 X 12 Nave 74 6 X 28 4 North Aisle 46 3 x 10 6 North Transept 19 On.&s. x 13 3 E. & w. South Aisle 61 9 X 12 Chancel 39 4 x 32 9 KENILWORTH CASTLE. 19 But in regard to the aisles, these measurements do not include a portion built off at the west end of each, for a vestry and lumber room. To begin with the interior. The east window of the chancel is in second pointed style of three lights, filled with stained glass, in praise of which nothing can be said in regard to appropriateness, though the purpose of the donor, the late Bishop Butler, cannot be too highly estimated. It contains little but coats of arms, which are surely out of place in the holiest symbolical position of a Christian Church ; and to make way for it the ancient window with flamboyant tracery (examples of which are rare in this country) was displaced, and now forms the entrance to a summer-house in the Vicar's garden. On the south side of the chancel are visible the upper portion of three sedilia, ogee-shaped and quite plain, under an horizontal moulding; the piscina, if any, is hidden by wainscotting. The north and south windows are all of two lights, of early third pointed character — three on the north side exactly corresponding in pattern and position with three on the south, but here there is a fourth, which forms with the third a doublet in the south-west part of the chancel. The north-west corner shows the rood staircase and door, now blocked up. The chancel arch is low, semicircular, having evidently been cut down when the roof was lowered. In the piers of the chancel arch are traces of a rood screen. The nave arches are not the same north and south, but they are all of that simple and frequent character which makes it not easy to decide their exact date. Those on the north side are probably early second pointed. The pier arches are all singly recessed with the edges chamfered. 20 KENILWOKTH CASTLE. The transept opens by arches into the nave and south aisle, and the pier on which these arches abut is irregular, and much larger than the rest. In the east wall of the transept are two square-headed windows of three lights, with the upper angles rounded off. In the north wall a three-light window, the lights being lancet-shaped and foliated. The north aisle has three windows of three lights, of third pointed work. The west end has a doorway blocked, and there is also a doorway on the north side. In the south aisle at the east and south-east is a segmental headed window of three lights, third pointed, each light being ogee-headed and cinquef oiled. Westward of these a similar window of five lights, and a doublet of early third pointed windows as in the chancel. This aisle on the ex- terior shows a small arched opening in the angle formed by the wall and one of the buttresses, with its original iron- work and a portion of a shutter within it : — this is one of the openings called lychnoscopes, vulne windows, and confes- sionals, according to the presumed use to which they were put. There is a second blocked in the south-west wall of the chancel. Is it not evident that these openings were in some way connected with the altars ? The existence of these two simultaneously in Kenilworth effectually disprove the theory that they symbolize the wound in the Saviour's side. The tower opens into the nave by an arch similar to the nave arches, but blocked by a gallery. There are also galleries in the north and south aisles and transept, and the whole ground-floor is pewed. The pulpit, reading pew, and clerk's pew stand under the chancel arch, intercepting the view of the altar. The font is just in front of them ; it is octagonal, with a date, 1664, and some initials ;it is KENILWORTH CASTLE. 21 probably an old font re-worked. The tower is a parallelo- gram of three stages, assuming an octagon form in the last stage, and capped by a low brooch spire, divided into three stages by two interrupted bands of billet-like moulding. In the west face of this tower is inserted a fine Norman doorway, with the diamond, embattled, zigzag, and beak head mouldings in succession. The carved work enclosing this doorway is probably of much later date. At each angle where the spire meets the tower is the figure of an angel. The belfry windows are second pointed; below, in the second stage, are small single lights, ogee-headed ; and im- mediately over the Norman door is a small third pointed window of two lights. On the exterior of the chancel the dripstone moulding of the windows is returned horizontally. The pitch of the nave roof is good, but whatever it may be, it is concealed by a flat ceiling. The chancel roof is nearly flat ; on the east gable is a carved bear and ragged staff. The clerestory windows are poor and debased. The remains of Greoffroi de Clinton's Monastery lie to the south and south-west of the Church ; consisting of a gate- way in pretty good preservation, a building, now used as a barn or stable, and some portions of wall, which serve to indicate the extent of ground which it covered. In the churchyard a portion of what was probably the chapter house has recently been excavated, and there may be seen some five or six coped coffin lids, with crosses on them of various designs and sizes. The buildings of this Monastery were originally in the Anglo-Norman style of architecture, as appears from an ancient seal of the Monastery, on which is represented a cross Church in that style, with a low pointed spire; but the only remnant of this building is 22 KENILWORTH CASTLE. the door now in the west front of the Church tower already described. A society so wealthy as that of the Augustine Canons at Kenilworth, doubtless numbered some among its members who were filled with that passionate love of building and adorning the Churches and Religious Houses devoted to God, which seems to have prevailed in mediceval times : and this may have led to the substitution of larger buildings and in a later style for the original Norman Monastery ; doubtless also the fierce rebellion, of which Kenilworth was so long the focus, and in which the Monks suffered severely by the exactions of both parties, may have caused the di- lapidation and destruction of their house. But happily for them they lived in a time when sacrilege was yet held to be Sin, and the damages which had been caused by the pressing necessities of war were fully recompensed on the return of peace. On their complaint of the losses they had sustained, the king issued letters patent commending their case to the benevolence of their tenants and others as they would expect that Grod should bless them, and himself give them thanks. The Canons of Kenilworth soon recovered from this depression, and from that time till the dissolution of the Monasteries in the reign of Henry YIIL, seem to have gone on fulfilling the design of their founders and benefac- tors, though the records of their history were lost at that fatal period of confiscation. The survey, after describing the clear income to have been £ 533 15s. 4d. per annum, goes on to detail the alms which were still given weekly to the poor, and the other distributions which took place. Doubtless the Black Canons of Kenilworth may have shared in those errors and deviations from the laws of their original KENILWORTH CASTLE. 23 constitution, which being proved in some few cases were charged upon all the monastic orders as a justification of the intended robbery. Some unworthy members may have crept in among them and brought discredit upon their house. But when we reflect on the present state of Kenil- worth, when we remember that the spiritual charge of so extensive a parish is confided to a single Priest, with a mere pittance of a stipend, and that it has a large pauper population, and is heavily burdened by poor-rates, we can- not but desire that reformation, not spoliation, had been the result of Henry's survey ; and that at least some portion of revenues, which would now have been most ample, was not saved from the general wreck to provide against the spiritual and temporal destitution which must now prevail there. The lapse of years and the rights of property have placed the possessors of Abbey and Church lands beyond the chance of being called to account by human laws for the robberies of which their predecessors were guilty, but that God has not ceased to vindicate His own cause may be seen by any who will carefully study the history of the possessions of many an Abbey and Monastery since the Reformation. To their destruction we owe the present inability of the Church to meet the spiritual wants of the people. May those who have shared the spoil in any the remotest degree, see in this fact a call upon them for great and immediate exertions to repair the evil that has been done. But we are running off into a subject on which it hardly becomes a guide-book to speak, however intimately connected with the objects we have led the reader to inspect, and scarcely to be separated from them. Indeed the other two 24 KENILWOKTH CASTLE. buildings in Kenilworth to which we have yet to direct the reader's attention, if he has time to spare for them, would naturally lead us to similar reflections. The chapels of the Roman Catholic and Unitarian dissenters are the immediate fruits of that suicidal policy by which the Church was irre- mediably crippled at the hands of the first Sovereign of England who, in solemn mockery, took to himself the title of Defender of the Faith. Both are of late date and of con- siderable architectural merit. The former stands some distance from the Church, on the north side. Its interior is very beautifully adorned, and it contains a valuable stained window, and one or two modern brasses : it has a lych-gate at the entrance. The Unitarian chapel is very lately erected in the third pointed style ; its material is red sand-stone, and it has an high pitched roof. Its symbolical features hardly accord with the creed taught within its walls, and are a curious example of the application of the details of mediaeval architecture combined with an utter ignorance or neglect of their true meaning. The very gable, which bears the legend " Uni Deo," and belongs to a chapel in which the doctrine of the Atonement is denied, is crowned with the cross of our Lord, while the three-light pointed window below, symbolizes, according to the laws of christian archi- tecture, the holiest mystery of our faith — the Trinity in Unity. This anomalous building stands conspicuous on the rise of the hill to the south-east of the Church, and forms a striking object in the view from the churchyard. Kenilworth contains here and there a few old gabled buildings of considerable antiquity, but most of the houses are of late date and unworthy of notice. H. T. COOKE, PRINTER AND BOOKSELLER, HIGH STREET, WARWICK. LBJe'lO