Kenilworth Castle prepares for a time travelling summer!

Weekdays during August

In its 900 year history, Kenilworth Castle has played host to all manner of soldiers, traders and even royalty, and this summer, visitors will get a chance to meet some of the interesting folk that have passed through the castle as it hosts a Time Travelling Summer!

Every week until the end of August, a small troop of colourful characters will welcome visitors to the site to experience a different aspect of history, staying for five days (Monday to Friday) before returning to their own time!

The first Time Travellers to take up residence at the castle (1 – 5 August) will be the medieval knight and his squire, who will be looking to recruit some new knights to help support the defence of the realm! With medieval boys as young as six taken away to start preparing for life as a knight, 21st century visitors can try on armour and learn some of the skills with a sword to prepare them for a life on the battlefield!

Alternatively, young ladies who would prefer to leave battling up to the menfolk are welcome to learn the etiquette required to be a noble lady, with dressing up and lessons in courtly conduct! From Monday 8 to Friday 12 August, the heroics of the knight make way for the much shadier antics of England’s outlaws, particularly looking at the highwayman – a character who struck fear into the hearts of anyone daring to travel the country’s major roads!

“The story of many highwaymen is a long way from the romantic view of characters like Dick Turpin – gentlemen antiheroes who charmed their victims as they liberated their purses and jewellery,” explains English Heritage’s regional events manager, Karen Pike. “In reality, these were not career criminals, but rather desperate men who would stop at nothing to earn a few meagre pennies to feed their families. And with execution the punishment for highway robbery, once they had committed their first crime, they had very little to lose!”

The focus returns to the medieval period from 15 – 19 August, looking at civilian life in medieval Kenilworth, and from 22 – 26 August, the Time Travellers step back to explore the Norman invasion of Britain in 1066 – setting the scene for the establishment of a new architectural style of castle, including Kenilworth’s great keep! Time Travellers Go... Normans & Saxons is the perfect introduction to Kenilworth’s August Bank Holiday blockbusting event, “Siege!” taking place on Sunday 28 & Monday 29 August, with battle re-enactments, living history and demonstrations of one of the most feared weapons of the time, the castle-busting Trebuchet!

The Time Travellers Go... events run Monday to Friday from 11.00am to 5.00pm, with Kenilworth Castle and the Elizabethan Garden opening an hour earlier at 10.00am. Admission is £8.00 for adults, £7.20 for concessions and £4.80 for children, or just £20.80 for a family ticket (two adults and up to three children), or free for English Heritage members. An additional £1 is charged on standard admission for every child (member and non-member) to help fund the Time Traveller activity.

For more details, please call 01926 852078 or visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/kenilworth

ENDS

For further media information, please contact:
Jay Commins PRO – English Heritage (West Midlands)
Tel: 0113 251 5698
Email: jay@fim.org.uk