Leicester's Gatehouse, Kenilworth Castle

Another wet and grey day. I went in to Kenilworth to do a little bit of grocery shopping and stopped briefly at Kenilworth Castle to grab a quick blip.

A castle has stood on this site since 50 years after the Norman invasion. When Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, took possession of the Castle in the 1560s he continued to build and modernise the castle and he created formal gardens. He built an impressive new gatehouse and a luxurious suite of Tudor apartments to entertain Queen Elizabeth I. In 1575 she and her entourage were lavishly entertained for three weeks and almost bankrupted Dudley. During the English Civil War Cromwell had parts of the Castle demolished to prevent them ever being used as fortifications again. Today, Kenilworth is one of the largest castle ruins in the UK.