For readers under the age of 60 or so, this ‘then’ image will present a completely unfamiliar scene. It shows the mill buildings which once stood on the edge of the Common at Mill End, to which it gave its name. According to Rob Steward in Kenilworth History 1997 – 1998: “Townpool and Woodmill Pool… Read More Mill End from The Common – Then & Now
KENILWORTH HISTORY & ARCHÆOLOGY SOCIETY June 2016 Newsletter » Last Month: Dr Richard Buckley of Leicester University, who has been the lead figure in the whole of the “Richard III Project” from its outset, gave a very lively account of all the preparation and actual work that went into establishing that the skeleton found in the famous Leicester… Read More June 2016 Newsletter
This remarkable pair of aerial photos shows the castle from the air, taken from the west. The ‘then’ photo dates from before the Elizabethan garden had first been restored in the 1970s. The ‘now photo’ dates from 2016 showing the Elizabethan garden, now bedding in nicely following an archaeological dig in 2006 and the completion… Read More The Castle from the Air – Then & Now
Dear KHAS Member, Just to remind you that there will be a KHAS meeting on Monday June 13th at 7.45pm, in the Senior Citizens’ Club accessible from the Abbey End car park. David Snowden, of the Simon de Montfort Society, will be speaking to us on “Riding the Tiger: the Life and Death of Simon… Read More KHAS meeting on Monday June 13th
In the days when the Abbey Fields was a patchwork of farmers’ fields, the ‘tumbledown’ or ‘clappergate’ stile shown in this old postcard was situated in the Abbey’s Tantara Gatehouse to prevent cattle straying out of the fields. A larger field gate was situated in the main archway. In June 1973 it was destroyed by… Read More ‘Clappergate’ Stile – Then & Now
A timeline of the events of the great Siege of Kenilworth from its origins in August 1265 to its aftermath in December 1266: August 1265 – survivors of the battle of Evesham make their way back to Kenilworth Castle. The castle has been kept well provisioned with both food and siege equipment. The Countess and… Read More THE GREAT SIEGE OF KENILWORTH – Time Line
Today there is comparatively little to see above ground of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey in the Abbey Fields. Following the Abbey Excavations in 1840, in the 1880s and in the 1920s, in which the ruins were steadily uncovered for the first time since their destruction following the Reformation, the ruins have long since… Read More Abbey Ruins 1960s – Then & Now
Extract from KHAS original Siege booklet published 1966: “The effects of this long siege on the lives of the local people in Warwickshire were severe. Even before it started, the defenders were looting and destroying property and taking what they required to stock the castle. Then the King’s army lived off the land for many… Read More The Second Barons’ War & the Siege of Kenilworth – the short and long term effects both locally and nationally