English Heritage Re-Creates one of the Greatest Gardens of the Elizabethan Age

“Here were things, ye see, might inflame any mind too long after looking …”

Magnificent carved arbours; a bejewelled aviary; planting abundant in colour, perfume and fruits and an 18-foot-high fountain carved from dazzling Carrara marble are just some of the glories of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester’s garden at Kenilworth Castle.  In an age known for its extravagance, this was a garden designed to astound visitors, including Elizabeth I at a time when Dudley still hoped to marry her.

It is this garden, lost for centuries, that a pioneering team of historians, archaeologists, plants men, designers, craftspeople and gardeners are currently re-creating.  When open fully in 2009 it will present the most complete picture of an Elizabethan garden anywhere in the world – a garden to seduce and beguile visitors today just as it did in 1575.

The re-creation of a 16th century garden has never been attempted on this scale before. It has been made possible by important advances in garden archaeology and the survival of an extraordinary eye-witness description of the Kenilworth garden, written by Robert Langham in 1575*. As a result a garden will be brought back to life, which was once, together with the castle it adorned, the ‘glory of England’.

Project milestones for 2008/9 include:

May - July 2008 construction of aviary, arbours, pathways, terrace, ballustrading and obelisks
May 2008 First planting of hedges and summer bedding begins
24 June 2008 First preview of garden for long-lead journalists
(artists’ illustrations and work-in-progress photos available)
August 2008 Previews of garden as a work-in-progress for visitors
Autumn 2008 Planting of spring flowers, hedges and fruit trees
Spring 2009 Terraces, arbours, aviary and obelisks all marbled, jewelled and decorated; 18ft high, carved fountain installed; summer planting begins

Media previews

Late Spring 2009 Garden open to the public

The Kenilworth Castle Garden project has provided English Heritage with a unique opportunity; to present the most complete picture of Elizabethan garden architecture, design, statuary and planting anywhere in the world and also to offer a window on the period’s most enduring love story – that of Elizabeth I and her favourite Robert Dudley.