THE KENILWORTH HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY SOCIETY will be hosting free guided walks of Kenilworth St. Mary’s Priory/Abbey ruins on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th September 2022 at 3pm in support Heritage Open Days. Take a walk back in time to when Kenilworth St. Mary’s Priory, later Abbey, was one of the most prestigious Augustinian houses… Read More Heritage Open Days 2022
This then & now comparison shows an etching of the Tantara Gatehouse, one of the largest surviving fragments of the old Abbey of St Mary, Kenilworth, matched as closely as possible to its modern day vantage point in June 2021. A more precisely matched ‘now’ vantage point can’t quite be achieved, as a large yew… Read More Tantara Gatehouse Etching – Then & Now
This undated view shows Rosemary Hill, taken from the junction with Upper Rosemary Hill and Abbey Hill, looking down towards Bridge Street. What’s notable about the ‘then’ image is that the bank to the left has been significantly cut back to allow road widening and to permit a slightly less challenging gradient for traffic coming… Read More Rosemary Hill Road Widening – Then & Now
The photo above comes once again from the aerial imagery snapped by the late John Webster, kindly provided to us by his son Steve Webster, now living in New Zealand. This fantastic image shows the old Abbey Fields swimming pool as it appeared up until its redevelopment in the 1980s. The ‘now’ image is taken… Read More The Swimming Pool from Above – Then & Now
The undated ‘then’ photo above shows the Boxing Day Duck Race, nowadays a firm fixture in Kenilworth’s calendar over the Christmas period. The image shows officials from the Kenilworth Lions Club dumping a huge sack full of numbered plastic ducks into Finham Brook from the parapet of the Ford’s foot bridge. The banks are packed… Read More The Duck Race – Then & Now
This undated image of St Nicholas’ Churchyard, was provided to KHAS from the collection of the late Reg Palmer. It shows the path running down from the High Street from the north-west towards the Norman west door of St Nicholas’ Church, which was rescued from the Abbey and inserted into the church’s tower by Robert… Read More St Nicholas’ Churchyard – Then & Now
This wonderful photo was snapped by Ian Fenwick, while on a recent lockdown walk. It shows the Abbey lapidarium wall, taken with the sun at the perfect angle for the shadows to accentuate the details of the mouldings: If you are curious about the lapidarium wall, you can find some pictures of it being re-assembled… Read More Lockdown Photo: The Abbey Wall
This undated image of St Nicholas’ Church, was provided to KHAS from the collection of the late Reg Palmer. It shows the east end of the chancel, the south chapel and the south transept, presumably taken some time in the nineties or noughties. The ‘now’ image is mostly unchanged, save for some additional undergrowth present… Read More St Nicholas’ South Chapel – Then & Now
This image of Oxpen Meadow, was provided to KHAS from the collection of the late Reg Palmer. In the distance (left) is the Castle, and in front of it can be seen 38 Castle Road, beside the Ford. The meadow beneath Little Virginia can be seen to the rear. A few trees have come and… Read More Oxpen Meadow Marsh – Then & Now
This image of the lake at Oxpen Meadow, Abbey Fields, was provided to KHAS from the collection of the late Reg Palmer. Formerly a fishpond belonging to the Abbey of St Mary up until the dissolution, Robin Leach dates its draining to become the oxpen meadow as c1650. Harry Sunley tells us in A Kenilworth… Read More Oxpen Meadow – Then & Now
This Then & Now comparison is one which, at first glance, appears to be little changed, due perhaps to the relatively small timescale between the two images, but on closer inspection the differences begin to appear. The undated ‘then’ image may perhaps have been taken some time in the late nineties or early noughties, the… Read More Abbey Fields Playground – Then & Now
To mark the 900th year of the Foundation, there will be a Celebration in S. Nicholas’ Church of “The Masse” at 10 in the morning of the 28th of August, the feast day of S Augustine of Hippo to whom, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, Priory, later Abbey, was dedicated. The order of service will be that… Read More Kenilworth Abbey 900
These images of the restoration of the Abbey’s Lapidarium Wall were provided to KHAS from the collection of the late Reg Palmer. A lapidarium (from the Latin lapis, meaning stone) is defined as a place where stone monuments and fragments of archæological interest are exhibited. The images show the rebuilding of the wall in 1984,… Read More Rebuilding the Lapidarium Wall – Then & Now
This year we are commemorating the 900th Anniversary of the initial founding of Kenilworth Priory as described in Canon John Strecche’s 15thC Chronicle. Members of KHAS will be hosting free guided walks of the Priory/Abbey ruins on the following dates: Sunday 28th July and Saturday and Sunday 14th and 15th September 2019. Take a walk… Read More Forthcoming Events
This week’s Then & Now comparison comes from our guest contributor, the esteemed local historian Robin Leach. Robin has written numerous books on the history of Kenilworth, maintains two websites on Victorian Kenilworth and Kenilworth in WWII and will be the guest speaker on the History of the Abbey Fields at October’s KHAS meeting. The photos… Read More The Swimming Pool, Abbey Fields – Then & Now
This slightly sinister looking scene shows Bridge Street, presumably taken from Kenilworth Hall. The ‘then’ photo shows what might conceivably be a local bobby peering suspiciously round a gas lamp at the photographer. Warwickshire, like all counties nationally, had been forced to provide a constabulary by Act of Parliament since 1858. Kenilworth Hall was owned by… Read More Bridge Street from Kenilworth Hall – Then & Now
One thing that is apparent when trying to recreate Then & Now pictures is how much leafier today’s scenes are than those of yesteryear. Sometimes it’s difficult to match the exact vantage point for the ‘now’ photo because it would result in a photo containing a wall of foliage that obscures the scene to be captured! This… Read More Abbey Fields & St Nicholas’ Church – Then & Now
The Abbey Gatehouse, sometimes known as the Tantara gatehouse, is one of the few surviving parts of the Abbey to still exist above ground and has the added distinction of being one of the oldest structures in Kenilworth apart from the castle and parts of St Nicholas’ church. Work has been carried out in recent… Read More Work to begin on Kenilworth Abbey Gatehouse
This postcard scene shows Bridge Street and Rosemary Hill from the Abbey Fields. The ‘then’ postcard must date to about 1905 or 1906, as the the avenue of trees along the path between Bridge Street and Abbey Hill is newly planted. Following the dissolution of the Abbey of St Mary, Kenilworth in 1538, the land… Read More Bridge Street from Abbey Fields – Then & Now
Another shot attributed to J. Tarver from 1963, this time of St Nicholas Church taken from within the Abbey ruins, with matching a 2016 counterpart shot. It is not known when St Nicholas’ Church was established. The nearby Priory (later Abbey) of St Mary was established by Geoffrey de Clinton in 1122 and we do… Read More St Nicholas Church – Then & Now
It’s springtime, and that means many of us will be out and about in the park this weekend looking to fill our bank holiday weekends. So, just a quick reminder that the ‘Barn’ Museum and Heritage Centre in the Abbey Fields will be open on Sunday 27th March at 2.30 pm. We hope to see… Read More Easter Sunday ‘Barn’ Museum and Heritage Centre opening hours