WARWICKSHIRE |
| Anne Hathaway's Cottage |
Off A439, 1 mile west of Stratford-upon-Avon |
Even if this were not the birthplace of William
Shakespeare's wife, the cottage would still hold its own as an architectural gem, with
irregular timber-framed walls and tiny latticed windows beneath a trim, thatched roof.
Little has changed since Shakespeare strolled through the herb-scented garden to woo the
woman he was to marry in 1582. Inside he would have seen rooms furnished much as they are
today, with the wooden settle in the living room where, it is said, William and Anne sat
when courting. |
| Arbury Hall |
Off B4102, 2 miles south-west of Nuneaton |
Behind Arbury Hall's Elizabethan facade is a remarkable
interior in which the hall's 18th century owner, Sir Roger Newdigate, indulged his
enthusiasm for the Gothic Revival style. The soaring fan-vaulted ceilings, plunging
pendants and filigree tracery were described by the writer George Eliot, who was born on
the estate, in her book Mr Gilfil's Love Story. Substituting 'Cheverel Manor' for
Arbury she wrote of 'architectural beauty, like a cathedral' in the dining room, and
described the saloon as 'elaborate in its tracery, which was like petrified lacework'. |
| Baddesley Clinton |
Off A41, 7.5 miles north of Warwick |
One of the finest medieval moated houses in England,
Baddesley Clinton has changed little since 1634, and its stone walls rise sheer from the
moat that completely surrounds it. There is only one way into the house - across the
bridge and through the gatehouse that rises to rooftop height. An unusual feature of the
house is the 'priest-hole' built into a drain in the kitchen, which can be seen through a
glass panel in the floor. Other rooms contain fine fireplaces, especially in the Great
Hall where the massive carved stone chimneypiece bears a coat of arms made up of four
branches of the Ferrers family, owners of Baddesley Clinton until 1939. |
| Charlecote Park |
Off B4086, 5 miles east of Stratford-upon-Avon |
Built in brick which four centuries have mellowed to a
rosy pink, it is pure Elizabethan both in style and origin. The gatehouse was the one part
of Charlecote that escaped the attentions of its 19th century owner George Lucy who,
despairing of the many alterations that had taken place over the centuries, restored the
interior of the house in the 'Elizabethan Revival' style. Inside the house the rooms
contain fine paintings, sculptures and furniture acquired by George Lucy during his time
at Charlecote and arranged as they were 150 years ago. The out-buildings include a brew
house with its original brewing equipment, and a coach house where carriages used by the
Lucys are on display. |
| Coughton Court |
Off A435, 2 miles north of Alcester |
The most imposing feature of Coughton Court is its
gatehouse. It was built early in the 16th century and through its archway horses and
wagons once passed. In the 18th century, however, this archway was transformed into the
front hall. It has a fan-vaulted ceiling, and the walls are hung with 17th century Flemish
tapestries. The rooms above the front hall include the Tower Room in the north-east
turret, which had two secret compartments beneath its floor for hiding priests in times of
trouble. The Throckmorton family, who have lived here for five centuries, have always been
Roman Catholics, and it was in the drawing room of Coughton Court that the wives of the
Gunpowder Plotters are said to have heard of the plot's failure.` |
| Farnborough Hall |
Off A423, 6 miles north of Banbury |
In the 18th century the Grand Tour of Europe was
popular among young men of means, and many came back to England impressed with the
architecture they had seen, particularly in Italy, and with their baggage crammed with
fine paintings and sculptures. One such man was William Holbech, owner of Farnborough Hall
from 1717 until 1771. He set about remodelling the hall on the lines of a Palladian villa,
and filled it with classical sculptures and paintings. A barn in the grounds of
Farnborough Hall houses the Edgehill Battle Museum. |
| Holy Trinity Church |
Old Town, Stratford Upon
Avon |
In an
attractive setting near the River Avon is the parish church where
Shakespeare is buried ("and curst be he who moves my bones").
The Parish Register records his baptism in 1564 and burial in 1616 (copies
of the original documents are on display). The church is one of the most
beautiful parish churches in England.
Shakespeare's tomb
lies in the chancel, a privilege bestowed upon him when he became a lay
rector in 1605. Alongside his grave are those of his widow, Anne, and
other members of his family. You can also see the graves of Susanna, his
daughter, and those of Thomas Nash and Dr. John Hall. Nearby on the north
wall is a bust of Shakespeare that was erected approximately 7 years after
his death--within the lifetime of his widow and many of his friends. |
| Kenilworth Castle |
On B4103, in Kenilworth |
Though its towers are crumbling and its windows as
blank as sightless eyes, it still retains the imposing strength and grandeur that made it
one of England's chief strongholds in Norman times. The best approach to the castle on
foot is across the causeway that leads from the car park on the south side. Here much of
the castle's outer wall still stands; beyond it the Norman keep stands alone, separated by
the ravages of war, time and weather from the buildings added to it in later centuries.
Only the walls remain of the great banqueting hall built in the 14th century, and little
more of the buildings added in the 16th century. During the Civil War the castle was held
by the Roundheads, who destroyed the keep's north wall after the war. The castle has not
been lived in since the Restoration. |
| Lord Leycester Hospital |
High Street, Warwick |
The Lord Leycester Hospital consists of a group of
timber-framed buildings of 1383. The 'hospital' was founded as a charitable institution in
1571 by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, as a retirement home for his aged retainers and
their wives. The buildings still serve as almshouses. Next door is the Chapel of St James,
founded in 1383. In 1450 Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, built the adjoining Guildhall.
The hospital's Great Hall is also notable for its magnificent oak roof. The buildings
cluster around a tiny courtyard. |
| Lunt Roman Fort |
Off A423, 2 miles south-east of Coventry |
An impressive reconstruction stands on the site of the
original Roman fort built after the rebellion of the Iceni tribe under Queen Boudicca in
about AD 60. The site is on high ground overlooking the River Sowe. The gateway is based
on that carved on Trajan's column in Rome, and erected in the fort's original post-holes.
Another reconstructed building is the granary, where all finds from the site are
displayed. But the most impressive feature of the fort is the Gyrus, a great fenced ring
in which the Romans trained their horses for battle. |
| Mary Arden's House |
Off A34, 3 miles north-west of Stratford-upon-Avon |
Of the two women who figured largest in William
Shakespeare's life, his mother, Mary Arden, is the less well-known, and her home at
Wilmcote the least familiar of the houses associated with him. Yet it is perhaps the most
fascinating, for it was continuously occupied until 1930 and is preserved in almost its
original condition. The Ardens were farmers, and the house is a typical Tudor farmstead
with a dairy, dovecote and outbuildings. These now contain the Farming Museum. |
| Midland Air Museum |
Off A423, 2.5 miles south-east of Coventry |
In terms of size, the biggest attraction of this museum
is the mighty Vulcan bomber purchased after its retirement from the RAF. Visitors can
climb up into the crew area of this famous plane, which once carried Britain's H-bombs.
There are more than a score of aircraft on display at this open-air museum, including the
Sea Hawk, Meteor, Argosy, Javelin and Hunter. The museum also has the only Lockheed
Starfighter on display in this country. Sir Frank Whittle, pioneer of the jet engine, was
born in Coventry, and there is a centre devoted to his work. |
| Packwood House |
On B4439, 9 miles north-west of Warwick |
The most distinctive features of Packwood House are its
tall, steep-sided gables, massive chimneystacks and stone mullioned windows. Such features
are common in 16th century timber-framed houses, but at Packwood the timbers lie buried
behind a brick-and-rendered facade added some time around 1800. Inside the house there are
additions and alterations of even later dates, such as the oak floor in the Hall, laid in
1931, the oak floored and panelled Long Gallery, added in the same year, and the
timber-roofed Great Hall, fashioned from a barn and added to the house in 1925. Packwood
is justly famous for its garden. |
| Ragley Hall |
On A435, 2 miles south of Alcester |
Few great houses can boast such elegance and grandeur
as this house designed by Robert Hooke, in the Palladian style, in 1680. Seventy years
later it was further embellished by the plasterwork of James Gibbs, and in 1780 James
Wyatt added the magnificent portica and was responsible for the decoration of some of the
rooms. In 1969, the artist Graham Rust began painting his mural The Temptation on
the walls and ceiling of the South Staircase. It took him 14 years to complete. The mural
begins on the ground floor and culminates in an open-topped dome painted on the flat
ceiling. |
| St John's House |
Coten End, Warwick |
This 17th century mansion houses a branch of the
Warwickshire County Museum. On the ground floor are displays of domestic life in room
settings, as well as costume and crafts; one room is a replica of a Victorian schoolroom.
The upper floor of the building is devoted to the museum of the Royal Warwickshire
Regiment, with a display of uniforms, badges, medals, trophies and regalia. One room
contains weaponry of two World Wars. There are also mementoes and relics of Field-Marshal
the Viscount Montgomery, the regiment's colonel from 1947 until 1963. |
| Shakespeare's Birthplace |
Henley St. Stratford Upon Avon |
The son of a glover and
whittawer (leather worker), the Bard was born on St. George's day, April
23, 1564, and died on the same date 52 years later. Filled with
Shakespeare memorabilia, including a portrait and furnishings of the
writer's time, the Trust property is a half-timbered structure, dating
from the early 16th century. The house was bought by public donors in 1847
and preserved as a national shrine. You can visit the living room, the
bedroom where Shakespeare was probably born, a fully equipped kitchen of
the period (look for the "babyminder"), and a Shakespeare
Museum, illustrating his life and times. Later, you can walk through the
garden. You won't be alone: It's estimated that some 660,000 visitors pass
through the house annually. Built
next door to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bard's birth, the
modern Shakespeare Centre serves both as the administrative
headquarters of the Birthplace Trust and as a library and study centre. An
extension houses a visitor centre, which acts as a reception area for
those coming to the birthplace. |
| Stoneleigh Abbey |
On A444, 5 miles south of Coventry |
Though parts of Stoneleigh Abbey date from the 16th
century, it is the 18th century West Wing that catches the eye, with its handsome porch,
tall windows and fluted pilasters climbing three storeys high to the balustraded roof.
Inside the house the rooms contain much of its original furniture, complemented by superb
oak panelling, plasterwork and marble fireplaces and columns. The gardens, landscaped by
Humphry Repton, now include a nature trail, an adventure playground and a miniature
railway that runs at weekends. |
| Upton House |
On A422, 10 miles south-east of Stratford-upon-Avon |
Though extensively remodelled in 1927-9, this late 17th
century house retains its classical elegance and provides a perfect setting for its
contents. The house is virtually an art gallery, and it was to house the vast collection
of the 2nd Lord Bearsted that Upton House was remodelled. The collection includes
paintings by Canaletto, El Greco, Reynolds and Stubbs, Brussels tapestries, Chelsea and
Sevres porcelain and 18th century furniture. |
| Warwick Castle |
On A41, in Warwick |
Warwick Castle is as alive and vibrant now as at any
time during its 600 year history, and part of that history is vividly portrayed in a
series of waxwork tableaux set out in the rooms. Other exhibits include a helmet worn by
Oliver Cromwell and an elaborately wrought executioner's axe. Called 'A Royal Weekend
Party, 1898', the display depicts a visit by the Prince of Wales and other distinguished
guests during the summer of 1898, when the Earl and Countess of Warwick were hosts at many
such parties. Guests who stayed at the castle in earlier times and less happy
circumstances are recalled in the castle dungeon. In the magnificently appointed State
Rooms are the castle's art treasures, furniture collection and displays of arms and
armour. |
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