£2.5M proposals to realise hidden potential of Kenilworth Castle

An ambitious scheme to recreate the lost Elizabethan garden at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire is at the heart of a multi-faceted development programme which English Heritage will discuss with Kenilworth Town Council and other interested parties on 17th May.

The consultation will provide information and invite comments on the £2.5 million programme, which has four main components: a painstaking restoration of the Castle’s original Elizabethan garden that Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, arduously created in 1575 to impress Queen Elizabeth I; construction of a new timber-framed visitor admissions and retail building closer to the main site entrance and car park; completion of the conservation and renovation of Leicester’s Gatehouse, which will be open to the public for the first time in many decades; and creation of a permanent exhibition that recounts the colourful history of the site in the renovated Gatehouse.

Kenilworth Castle, reputedly the largest ruined castle in England and the setting for pageantry, romance and political intrigue for over eight centuries attracts some 95,000 visitors each year.

Last year, English Heritage discovered stunning archaeological evidence beneath the existing 1970s garden, including the rubble foundation of a fountain, a sill-beam structure that could possibly have supported one of the recorded arbours, and a soil layer which indicates levelling work made in preparation for the construction of the historic garden.

Experts are convinced that with more extensive archaeological and historical research, an accurate representation of the original magnificent Elizabethan garden, resplendent with a fountain and a bejewelled aviary, can be recreated.

There are currently two entrances to the site, both using incongruous modern buildings that impact negatively on the aesthetics of the monument, and which fail to offer adequate shelter and convenient retail services to visitors. The Gatehouse, an imposing entrance specially built to impress Elizabeth, has also deteriorated over the years and public access is denied despite recent stabilisation work.

Loraine Knowles, English Heritage’s Visitor Operations Director for the West, said: ‘ Kenilworth Castle has substantial unrealised potential to contribute to the local community and to promote people’s understanding and enjoyment of history and the historic environment. We are extremely excited by the plans that we are putting forward and are very keen to seek the opinion and support of as many people as possible. It is one of English Heritage’s most prestigious properties and we are determined to provide an experience and visitor facilities to match.”

Restoration of lost Elizabethan garden
Prompted by last year’s new archaeological finds and the prospect of damage to valuable archaeology deposits caused by modern planting (see Editor’s Note 2 for details), a full excavation of the ‘hard landscaping’ elements of the former Elizabethan garden will begin this summer. This will reveal further details of the fountain, whereabouts of the arbours, obelisks and other architectural features. Evidence of planting, however, is unlikely to survive.

English Heritage experts believe that all these findings, coupled with further garden and art historical research, will be sufficient to help them reconstruct the real Elizabethan garden, limiting speculation only to the planting scheme.

Reconstruction of the garden will begin in the summer of 2006, with a target public opening date at Easter 2007. It will involve, first and foremost, the laying of a water permeable but root-resistant geotextile beneath the top soil to protect the archaeology,

Descriptions contained in a letter by Robert Laneham, a gentleman usher to Robert Dudley, perhaps provides the most vivid and enchanting impressions of the former garden in the Italianate Renaissance style (see Editor’s Note 3 for details). It is one of two detailed contemporary accounts of the garden and will be closely studied and used by English Heritage in the restoration.

An extensive education and outreach programme is being planned to engage school children and interested members of the public throughout the excavation and restoration phases.

New visitor admission building
A new visitor admission building providing a single access point to the Castle is being planned at the Gallery Tower, adjacent to the visitors car park. It will replace the two existing separate entrances at Castle Green and Mortimer’s Tower, which will be closed and their modern structures removed, resulting in considerable improvement to the appearance and integrity of the monument within the Castle walls.

The new building will be a long, low green-oak framed structure of vernacular design that draws inspiration from the varied traditions of timber buildings that would have been a feature of the site. Pad foundations will be used to minimise impact on the archaeology on the site of the Gallery Tower, and the building’s size and height has been designed to avoid disruption of the vista along the Tilt Yard.

Welcoming and well equipped for its 21st century purpose, the building will provide enclosed queuing and ticketing, office space and staff welfare facilities. Retail space will also be integrated within the building, giving visitors a walk-through shopping experience.

Following public consultation English Heritage will make an application to the Warwick District Council, the local planning authority. If the application is successful, work will commence immediately with a target completion date of Easter 2006.

Permanent exhibition in the renovated Gatehouse
Work to the interior of the Gatehouse is underway after stabilisation work to the structure and conservation of its exterior was completed in March 2005. By Easter 2006 all floors will have visitor access and improved welfare facilities. Usage and attraction of the Castle will be significantly boosted.

Plans include the housing of a new permanent exhibition on the second floor consisting of nationally important historical artefacts, panel displays, and other discreet means of introducing atmosphere themed around the spectacular festivities that took place when Elizabeth I visited the castle in 1575. Meanwhile, the basement will provide a dramatic new space for schools and education groups and the ground floor, with its beautifully panelled room, will be available for civil weddings and community events. A new audio tour, introductory displays and site graphics to enhance the understanding and enjoyment of the whole site are also being planned.

Loraine Knowles said: ‘All the components in the proposal are conceived with the ultimate aim to guarantee Kenilworth Castle a future as splendid as its past. We do apologise for the inconvenience that visitors will endure during the development. We believe that the investment will pay off and bring about results that will reinforce the Castle’s historical significance and enhance its attraction as a source for inspiration and enjoyment for generations to come.’

For further press information please contact Renee Fok at English Heritage Corporate Communications on 020 7973 3297 or at renee.fok@english-heritage.org.uk

Note to editors:

1. Working closely with renowned garden archaeologist Brian Dix, teams from English Heritage and Northamptonshire Archaeology conducted an archaeological and architectural evaluation of the site in autumn last year. The results clearly confirmed that the current garden, created in 1975, was modelled on a plan that was flawed but has been, until recently, generally accepted as correct.
   
   More interestingly, the results identified a number of definite features indicating the survival of elements of the former garden laid out by Robert Dudley. Most notable is the central fountain, the off centre position of which in relation to the current garden indicates that the former garden was laid out differently, and was possibly smaller.
   
   It is also clear from the excavation that the construction of the modern garden has begun to damage archaeological deposits. In one instance, the roots of clipped yew cones have penetrated 35 to 40 cm into the subsoil, causing disturbance to the buried archaeological layer.
   
2. From Laneham’s description the garden was divided into foureven quarters, with a carved stone pilaster in the centre of each one, Spread throughout were elaborate stone carvings, including obelisks, spheres and sculptures. There was an arbour at each end, and an elaborate birdcage built against the curtain wall. At the centre of the garden was a marble fountain which Laneham describes in great detail.
   
   An excerpt reads: “…A garden then so appointed, as wherein aloft upon sweet shadowed walk of terrace, in heat of summer, to feel the pleasant whisking wind above, or delectable coolness of the fountain-spring beneath, to taste of delicious strawberries, cherries, and other fruits, even from their stalks, to smell such fragrancy of sweet odours, breathing from plants, herbs, and flowers, to hear such natural melodious music and tunes of birds, to have in eye for mirth sometime these underspringing streams…. whereby, at one moment in one place, at hand without travel, to have so full fruition of so many of God’s blessings, by entire delight unto all senses (if all can take) at once…”