News

Slip away into England's storied past

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Stacia Zachary
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
KENILWORTH, England --  When I moved here, I decided I was going to experience England first hand. You don't have to travel far to visit a national treasure or place which touts its ties to antiquity, so I quickly pursued weekend trips with dogged enthusiasm.

On one such adventure, I booked my daughter and I on an overnight stay at Kenilworth Castle. The description was vague to say the least claiming that Queen Elizabeth I often visited the castle and we would dine on English fare before going on an exclusive after-hours tour of the grounds. So, after packing our sleeping bags and an overnight bag into the car, away we went.

Situated in the town of the same name in Warwickshire, the castle is in various stages of ruin while the Tudor-style gate house and stabling block both remain intact and painstakingly restored. When we pulled in the drive -- 30 minutes late due to Friday evening traffic -- the castle looked deserted. Curious to see if I was in the wrong location or had arrived on the wrong day, I left my car in the car park, followed my email instructions and rang the service entrance gate for access.

As the great privacy gates slowly creaked open, we were greeted by a young lady with a bubbly disposition, and saw a bustle of activity going on inside. Ushered immediately through the gates, we were escorted into the gate house and shown our camp beds on the second floor in one of the lounge rooms.

Once situated, my daughter and I took off for the grounds just in front of the castle ruins -- a building reportedly built especially for Queen Elizabeth I by her suitor Robert Dudley -- where we practised our archery skills using a long bow. On hand was a gentleman dressed in traditional garb, fitting of the sixteenth-century commoner. This only added to the historic allure that first captured my attention.

After target practice and witty conversation, my daughter and I, along with four other families, departed for our evening meal in the stable block café and museum. Here, we dined on jacket potatoes, a hearty soup and salad and cider or fruit juice with which to wash the food down. Shortly after, when the sun had completely set for the evening, a castle expert showed us around the grounds and pointed out interesting facts about the ruins and imparted bits of knowledge not commonly known about Kenilworth's storied past.

For instance, King Henry VI of England was rumored to have taken an arrow to the cheek during the Battle of Agincourt as the War of the Roses raged. He was spirited away to Kenilworth where a physician was mandated to remove the arrow. Here, the physician fashioned a device that held open the wound while the arrowhead was extracted - a device still in use today.

With the nighttime tour complete, our group made our way back to the stable block and warmed ourselves with hot cocoa or coffee, while the "squire" weaved eerie tales of ghostly presences lingering about within the castle walls. While this might not be the most advantageous trip to bring children under the age of 8 on, the overall experience of sleeping in an actual historical landmark left its impact on me. That night, sleeping under a carved headboard with the Tudor Rose engraved on it, it dawned on me that I was in the company of historical, other-worldly spectres and real-life admirers of the often grand, if not notorious, English past.

I awoke when the sun peaked through the lead-framed glass windows, signaling the end of our trip back in time. After fortifying ourselves with a hearty meal of cereal and toast or a full English breakfast, we set off to explore the castle's curiosities before it opened to the public.

As I packed the car with our belongings, I stole one final glance at the gate house and the red-stoned ruins standing proudly behind. Kenilworth is a very romantic and authentic representation of the not-so-forgotten past. While it didn't sate my desire to explore England's history, it did ignite my interest further in uncovering her past, one national treasure at a time.

(Editor's note: There is no intended endorsement of Kenilworth or English Heritage sites.)