Ever visited a Queen’s Bedroom? – Kenilworth Castle
My family have actually set foot in the Queen's bedroom. Amazing, right?
Wait, what!?! NO! Not THAT Queen.
Queen Elizabeth I's bedroom!
To be honest her room lets in a bit of a draft, to fresh for a sleep over (mind you half of the wall and roof was missing). More about that later.
A quick hop from our house to Kenilworth (obviously as it IS Kenilworth Castle) and we were extremely excited to see what we would find there. The only thing I had heard about the place was that ite was a ruin.
YES, A BLOODY RUIN! Nothing like Warwick Castle.
However do I listen to what others say? Well...yes but I still needed to check it out for myself.
We had been invited to review, so popped into the main shop at the entrance and spoke to a lovely girl at the till. She explained where everything was, where we could buy food (she could probably tell that I like my food) and offered us information leaflets.
We were in
Although Kenilworth isn't a full castle with loads of made up rooms, it still took me by surprise. There are entrancey bits to walk around, the surrounding gardens, little quirky out buildings, secret entrances, a tall tower (that is made up and furnished),
As per usual Eliza (& me) needed to use the toilet straight away, so we headed straight for the toilets.
Outside the toilet, is a paved garden with decorative, hedgey bits. Both our kids loved running around this and did so for ages........and ages.
Fun at first but then you just think
"I want to actually look around, y'know!"
We then entered:
(LEICESTER'S GATEHOUSE)
and had a good look around. Built by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in 1571 as part of his grand plan to woo Queen Elizabeth I, the gatehouse is set up as it may have looked in the 1930s. Visit the exhibition on the top floor to explore the royal love story of Elizabeth and Dudley.
It was very cold outside so we took full advantage of this heated area and studied everything
If you are wearing muddy shoes there are blue, plastic over shoe protectors to wear.
Upstairs a thoroughly nice chap explained the history of the castle and had a few fun things for the kids to do.
HUNGER STRIKES
After the Gatehouse we were all very hungry (shock). The foodhall is situated in the old stables converted into a beautiful room with high ceilings and scrummy grub for you all to eat. I would only recommend a picnic if it were a stunningly warm day.
After the food, we took a look at the rest of this impressive room.
There are loads of things for the kids to do here. If yours are anything like mine, they won't sit for five minutes so don't worry they will be kept amused while you just relax and eat.
After that we took a stroll around the whole castle from within the grounds. Kids were running up and down the mounded up earth against the castle (quite steep in places ) and loving it. In the summer you could roll down them, just watch for rocks and such like.
You see, kids don't need great, huge theme parks, they need to be able to use their imaginations.
Much, much, much healthier.
We came back round to the main section of the castle and couldn't wait to ascend the towers and explore. Keep your eyes peeled for old graffiti inside some of the rooms. Amazing. Here are some names I spotted.
Framework (I would call it) has been installed to shore up some of the old building and to give you (the visitor) a safe, easy way to climb and discover the castle.
THE SHARD OF THE TUDOR TIMES
Then we came into Queen Elizabeth I bedroom. Quite surreal really, although there isn't much let of it now. I can still say I have been in the Queens bedroom, can you? It would have looked impressive back in the day, set in a 100ft tower and boasting the largest glass window in Tudor England.
I won't go on to much more because after all, you'll want to discover some things for yourselves, right?
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