Warwick Castle: The Castle and Grounds

A few weeks ago we took advantage of half-term break and an absolutely gorgeous early November day to head down to Warwick Castle. For North Americans whose only experience of castles is in Disney fairy tales and Narnia fiction, this was a real treat. In fact, when we were leaving, we said to each other, "Now we can go home to Canada--we've seen a real castle!"

The history of fortification on the site stretches back to the Anglo-Saxon era, at least to the time when Ethelfleda held out there against the invading Danes in the early 900s. In 1068 William the Conqueror had a Norman motte and bailey castle built, providing the outlines of the current castle. Within a hundred years this wooden castle was rebuilt in stone, and in subsequent centuries towers and other structures were added. By about 1500 the castle looked much like it does today. There's something magical about standing in these rich historical sites and imagining the people who lived there and the events that took place: the Earl of Warwick preparing for battle in 1471 in the Wars of the Roses, the castle under seige by Royalist forces in 1642 in the English Civil War, or the later Earl hosting a lavish weekend party in 1898 for such luminaries as the Prince of Wales (future King Edward VII), along with a minor guest, a certain young man named Winston Churchill.

The castle and its grounds are impressive. One enters the castle across a bridge (where the original drawbridge was) and through the 14th century barbican and gatehouse on the northeastern wall (pic 1). This entrance comes complete with all the necessary castle defences such as a portcullis and murder holes. Inside the gatehouse, towers, and castle walls are many rooms which would have provided quarters for prisoners, servants, and guests. The inside of the castle has a huge lawned courtyard. Back in the days of use as a castle this would have been like entering a small village, with every corner filled with the sights and sounds of tradeworkers, craftsmen, servants, children, and animals.

Looking back toward the gatehouse from the courtyard, one sees two towers at each end of the northeastern wall: Caesar's tower, built in the 14th century and the home of the castle dungeon beneath it (pic 2), and Guy's tower, completed by 1395 and the taller of these two main towers (pic 3). From these and other towers and the castle walls themselves, archers could defend the castle by raining down arrows upon the attacking army. We managed to photograph a few of these archers-in-training, aiming through the angled arrow slits or "loops" (pic 4).

Looking to the southeast side, with the river Avon flowing outside its walls, one sees the main residence hall, which includes the great hall used for banquets and meetings, the state rooms for housing important guests, the chapel, the kitchen, and some servant's quarters (pic 5). This residence hall gradually grew from the 11th to the 19th century, from a basic great hall and chapel to the huge complex which exists today.

The oldest part of the castle is the mound, the highest point of the interior grounds and the location of the motte in the original Norman castle (pic 6). The view from the mound looking away from the castle across the river Avon to the south is breathtaking--just what one always imagines the idyllic English countryside to be like (pic 7).

The grounds surrounding the castle are equally impressive, and we can only wish we could see them in their full, late-spring slendour. All the lawns and gardens have been restored to their 18th and 19th century glory. The conservatory and the peacock garden are outside the walls to the west (pic 8). This was called the peacock garden because of the distinctive peacock-shaped shrubbery and because of the live peacocks running around the garden--a tradition continued in their current edition. To the south of the castle, across the river, is an island which was home to all sorts of exotic animals from all over the world in the late 19th century: Japanese deer, Chinese geese, and even a baby elephant (that tradition is not carried on today!). The view back to the castle from the island is quite a sight--especially delightful with three little children running on the lawn toward the castle (pic 9).

There's much more to show and tell about our visit to Warwick, even just in exploring the exterior. However, we certainly didn't only explore the outside and the walls and towers--the inside is just as impressive. In our next post we'll describe that part of the adventure. Thanks for joining us on the tour so far!

See also: Warwick Castle: Inside the Castle.