Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle has a history spanning more than a thousand years. It started life as a wooden fort built by William the Conqueror in 1068. It received an upgrade to stone during the Hundred Years War and remained a military stronghold into the 17th century. In 1604, James I gave Warwick to Sir Fulke Greville, who over the years slowly changed it into a country house. It remained with the Greville family, who became the Earls of Warwick, until 1978, when it was sold due to financial pressure to the Tussauds Group, looking to create a medieval park for the public. After a merger, it is now owned by Merlin Entertainment.
How many people can say they spent the night in a castle?
Within the castle, there are two private suites inside Caesar’s Tower. Each Suite is on it’s own floor and decorated to the standards of a Lord and Lady. The rooms have high vaulted ceilings, a huge four poster bed, and are decorated in a regal fashion. There is a spacious bathroom, a tea and coffee maker, and access to the battlements.
We stayed in the Rose Suite.
We arrived very late in the afternoon, all the people who enjoyed the castle that day were already gone. Our concierge greeted us, she gave us a cursorily look around the castle and showed us to our room. A bottle of champagne sat waiting for us.
The package included a full breakfast in one of the staterooms downstairs, a private tour of the castle, and an afternoon tea in The Conservatory Tea House. We filled out our orders for breakfast before our concierge left us for the evening. We were told to order everything we wanted, and not to feel guilty about it; so we did, and we didn’t.
We were the only guests in the castle that night, we had the place to ourselves. The first picture in the row below, is our room’s access onto the castle battlements. After walking into the town for a quick late dinner, we walked on the castle walls. The views both outside toward the village and inward to the empty courtyard were cool, it was a great way to walk off dinner.
We woke up before the castle was open to the public and before breakfast was due to be served, so we took advantage of our status as the only guests in residence, by strolling the empty grounds. There are multiple outdoor attractions such as jousting and a trebuchet demonstration on the fields picture on the left. As well as The Falconer’s Quest, where birds of prey show off their predatory skills (use caution with the little ones), archery demonstrations, and plenty of things for the kids.
The grounds are expansive, the first photo to the left on the top row in the photos below is the hill where the original wooden fort was built. The gardens are beautiful, they have 5 male and 2 female peacocks. When we were there all the males were showing off.
At breakfast time, we were led to our own stateroom.
The breakfast we ordered the night before was brought in and we were left to enjoy our privacy.
We ordered a full English breakfast, which most times includes, two fried eggs, a couple of slices of thick bacon, sausages, black pudding, baked beans, and a grilled tomato. All of this is accompanied with toast and coffee or tea. Taking our concierge’s advice, we also ordered a granola mix with yogurt, pastries, and fresh fruit.
This was really nice, made you feel special, like not having to wait in a long line or getting back stage passes to your favorite band. As we chatted, we wondered what it would be like if this was your normal daily breakfast. Would it destroy the enjoyment of it all? After all, if everyday is Christmas, then Christmas is no longer special. Don’t get me wrong, if you want to make me a wealthy Earl, I’m all in, just random thoughts over breakfast.
We explored some more after breakfast until it was time for our tour. We were Matthew’s only customers and he took his time giving us the full treatment. If I wrote about all the knowledge he dropped on us, I could write a book.
We started in the great hall and walked though the first floor, every room more amazing than the next. These rooms were set up as if for a 1898 royal party weekend.
Remember when I wrote the castle was bought in 1978 to the Tussauds Group, yes, that Tussauds. Many of the rooms are set up with wax figures from the 1898 era. Some purists may find these tacky in a way. I didn’t mind them, I thought they helped put you in the timeframe and showed you the fashion of the day.
The furnishings and the cabinetry are artwork. They don’t make things like this anymore.
I have to give one piece special attention, the Kewilworth Buffet table.
This piece of furniture sits in the great hall and was made from a single oak tree, taking 9 years to complete. A family business in Warwick called Cookes and Sons created it. According to our guide, it spent some time at the Great Exhibition, then in 1852 it was given as a wedding gift to the future Earl, George Greville. The elaborate cravings are scenes from Sir Walter Scott’s novel, Kenilworth. The story tells about the romantic life of Elizabeth I and her courtier, Robert Dudley.
The tour took us to the nooks and crannies the public didn’t get to see. When we came to this stairway, we heard an interesting fact. Back in the day, before the wide scale presence of hospitals, and especially in great houses, all the births and deaths occurred in the home.
You will notice the railing and balusters on the landing form a small door. This is so a coffin can be passed out through the door, instead of trying to navigate the sharp curve of the stairs.
We walked down hallways filled with old photos of past Earls and their family. I enjoy looking at pictures like these.
Our guide told us stories of prominent family members and their roles in history. The stories weren’t sanitized, some family members had torrid affairs, they all seemed to like to party, and unfortunately each generation drove the family deeper, and deeper, into debt.
One of the last things our guide showed us was a picture of the current Earl, Guy Greville, the 9th Earl of Warwick, born in 1957 and the last Earl raised in the home. I’m kicking myself because I didn’t get a photo of it. The picture shows a man in his forties, with his wife, and two young children. As stated previously, his father sold the castle and many of its contents, including artwork said to be worth 5 million pounds, in 1978.
The guide told us the Earl couldn’t bare seeing the family home as a medieval amusement park. Once he left after the sale, the Earl never returned to the castle again.
The last thing we did at Warwick before our 4 hour drive to the Lakes District, was a proper English tea. My first one! I had Earl Grey and my wife had a lemon flavor, which were served in elegant pots. On the tower you see in this picture, the bottom plate was pilled with crustless finger sandwiches, the fillings ranged from cucumber, egg salad, salmon, and ham and cheese. The next plate was sconces, served with clotted cream and raspberry jam. This was my first taste of clotted cream, delicious. The top plate was a selection of sweet cakes and pastries; such as lemon drizzle cakes and fruit tarts, I found the Victoria sponge cakes particularly good. I’m told each establishment has their own unique variations.
The day was spectacular, looking out over the gardens, sipping tea, and eating finger sandwiches. I’m glad we made the stop.