My theme for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is – Places I Have Been. After some contemplation I decided to limit it to Places I Have been in the UK, this is because I have been to far more places in the UK and have very limited experience of places outside of the UK. I hope you enjoy my post.

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle is a beautiful medieval castle located in Warwick and situated on the River Avon. The original castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068, however prior to this an Anglo Saxon Burh was located there. Since then some important people have resided at Warwick Castle, and one of the most well known was Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick and known as The Kingmaker. There is a lot of history surrounding Richard Neville so I am not going to give a full history lesson. I will share that, King Richard III was his son in law and it was Richard III that commissioned two gun towers for Warwick Castle.

For a while the castle was in a state of disrepair until until Sir Fulke Greville was granted the castle in 1601 by King James I. Greville converted the ruined part of the castle into a country house and repaired what remained of the castle. Sadly, Greville was murdered by his manservant and it is said that his ghost haunts the Watergate Tower, now known as the Ghost Tower. Another bit of history worth mentioning is that Capability Brown was asked in the 1700’s to design the landscaping for Warwick Castle to make it more natural to the river.

The Castle has been open to visitors since the 18th century and the 1970’s the Castle was sold to the Madam Tussauds group who owned it until 2007, then the Merlin Group took over the operations.

Now it is not so much a visit to a nice castle but more of a medieval experience.

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Warwick Castle has always been one of my favourite places to visit. It is a beautiful castle with an interesting history. Since I was a child I have watched the visiting experience evolve. My first visit, I think I was about 7 years old, there was not a lot to see. There was castle, a few rooms with furniture and wax work sculptures, depicting some of the history. The Ghost Tower, which was just an empty room and a lot of picnic tables. I would like to say it was nicer then, more peaceful and you could imagine yourself as living in this huge castle.

As a teenager I saw the beginning of the evolution with The King Maker exhibition and actors now wandered around the grounds. More rooms inside the castle were refurbished and opened. Then as the years past, we gained falconry and bird shows, jousting displays, dramas played out for the guests around the castle, little stalls selling a variety of products. The Ghost Tower is now a very spooky experience and there is now a sort of glamping resort where you can stay on the grounds of the castle. It has all got very commercialised. Despite all this, it is still a great place to go for a day out. There is so much more to see and do there now. It is a great day out.

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Thank you for reading x