Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

Warwick District Warwick is a local government district of central Warwickshire in England. It borders the Borough of Rugby and Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire as well as the West Midlands County (of which Coventry and Solihull are within the historic ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England, south-west of

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

, north of

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

and north-west of London. It lies on

Finham Brook The Finham Brook is a lower tributary of the River Sowe, it flows through Kenilworth and Warwickshire, England, to join the Sowe near Finham. Its principal tributaries include the Canley Brook, which drains the Tile Hill and Canley areas of Cove ...

, a tributary of the

River Sowe The River Sowe is a river in Warwickshire and West Midlands, England. It is a tributary of the River Avon, and flows into it just south of Stoneleigh about 5 miles (8 km) south of Coventry. It is about long. The Sowe rises in Bedworth ...

, which joins the River Avon north-east of the town. At the 2021 Census, the population was 22,538. The town is home to the ruins of

Kenilworth Castle Kenilworth Castle is a castle in the town of Kenilworth in Warwickshire, England managed by English Heritage; much of it is still in ruins. The castle was founded during the Norman conquest of England; with development through to the Tudor pe ...

and

Kenilworth Abbey The remains of St Mary's Abbey, of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England are situated in the grounds of St Nicholas' Church and in an adjacent area of Abbey Fields. Some of its ruins are above ground and some are below ground. History A priory ...

History

Medieval and Tudor

A settlement existed at Kenilworth by the time of the 1086

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, which records it as ''Chinewrde''.

Geoffrey de Clinton Geoffrey de Clinton (died c. 1134) was an Anglo-Norman noble, chamberlain and treasurer to King Henry I of England. He was foremost amongst the men king Henry "raised from the dust". He married Lescelina. Life Clinton's family origins are a littl ...

(died 1134) initiated the building of an

Augustinian priory Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

in 1122, which coincided with his initiation of

. The priory was raised to the rank of an

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

in 1450 and suppressed with the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s. Thereafter, the abbey grounds next to the castle were made

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

in exchange for what

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was ov ...

used to enlarge the castle. Only a few walls and a storage barn of the original abbey survive. Kenilworth Abbey Fields

During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, Kenilworth played a significant role in the history of England: Between June and December 1266, as part of the

Second Barons' War The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of King Henry III, led initially by the king himself and later by his son, the fut ...

, Kenilworth Castle underwent a six-month siege, when baronial forces allied to

Simon de Montfort Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...

, were besieged in the castle by the Royalist forces led by Prince Edward, this is thought to be the longest

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

in Medieval English history. Despite numerous efforts at taking the castle, its defences proved impregnable. Whilst the siege was ongoing King Henry III held a Parliament at Kenilworth in August that year, which resulted in the

Dictum of Kenilworth The Dictum of Kenilworth, issued on 31 October 1266, was a pronouncement designed to reconcile the rebels of the Second Barons' War with the royal government of England. After the baronial victory at the Battle of Lewes in 1264, Simon de Montfor ...

; a concillatory document which set out peace terms to end the conflict between the barons and the monarchy. The barons initially refused to accept, but hunger and disease eventually forced them to surrender, and accept the terms of the Dictum. During the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

in the

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian dates from 1 January 1401 ( MCDI) to 31 December 1500 ( MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Renaissance, and the early modern period. M ...

, Kenilworth Castle served as an important Lancastrian base in the Midlands: The Lancastrian King Henry VI and his wife,

Margaret of Anjou Margaret of Anjou (french: link=no, Marguerite; 23 March 1430 – 25 August 1482) was Queen of England and nominally Queen of France by marriage to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Born in the Duchy of Lorrain ...

spent much time here. Kenilworth StNicholas southwest

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

visited

at Kenilworth Castle several times, the last in 1575. Dudley entertained the Queen with pageants and banquets costing some £1,000 per day that surpassed anything seen in England before. These included fireworks. Near the castle there is a group of thatched cottages called 'Little Virginia': According to local legend they gained this name because the first

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es brought to England by Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

from the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

were planted and grown here in the 16th century. Modern historians however consider this unlikely, and have suggested that the name may have originated from early colonists to America returning to England from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

17th and 18th centuries

During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, Kenilworth Castle, was occupied by Parliamentarians, after the

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

garrison was withdrawn. After the end of the war, the castle's defences were

slighted Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...

on the orders of Parliament in 1649, after which the castle became a ruin. In 1778 Kenilworth windmill was built. In 1884, it was converted into a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

, by the addition of a large water tank on the top of the tower in the place of the sails. It continued to be the town's main water supply until 1939, and finally became disused in 1960. It is still a local landmark, but is now a private home.

19th century to present

With the demise of the defensive role of the castle, Kenilworth had ceased to be a place of national significance, but

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

's 1821 novel ''

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a ...

'' brought it back to public attention, and helped establish the ruins of the castle as a major tourist attraction. In the early 19th century Kenilworth was known for its horn

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...

making industry, which peaked in the 1830s. Kenilworth was revolutionised by the arrival in 1844 of the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

to the town, when the

London and Birmingham Railway The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR). The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...

opened the

Coventry to Leamington Line Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed by ...

, including

Kenilworth railway station Kenilworth railway station is a railway station in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England on the Coventry to Leamington Line. The original Kenilworth station opened in 1844 before being rebuilt in 1884 and closed in 1965. In 2013 it was announced t ...

. The station was rebuilt in 1884 and a new link line was opened between Kenilworth and to bypass . This closed to all traffic on 3 March 1969. The railway in the 19th century brought industrialists from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and

, to develop a residential area around the town's railway station, thus moving the focus of the town to the south. In the 19th century the town had some fine large

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property l ...

s with landscaped gardens; these were demolished after the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

for housing developments. The railway also brought a number of new industries to Kenilworth, such as

tanning Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

making, and chemicals, and also caused substantial growth in Kenilworth's

market gardening A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to ...

; which became known for producing crops such as tomatoes and strawberries. Kenilworth St Johns - panoramio

The town's growth occasioned the addition of a second

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

, St John's, which is on Warwick Road in Knights Meadow. It was designed by

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery. He was Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commiss ...

and built in 1851–1852 as a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

building with a south-west

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

and

broach spire A broach spire is a type of spire (tall pyramidal structure), which usually sits atop a tower or turret of a church. It starts on a square base and is carried up to a tapering octagonal spire by means of triangular faces. File:Leicester Cathedral ...

. By the 1870s Kenilworth's population had exceeded 4,000. During

The Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on the night of 21 November 1940, a German aircraft dropped two

parachute mine A parachute mine is a naval mine dropped from an aircraft by parachute. They were mostly used in the Second World War by the Luftwaffe and initially by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Bomber Command. Frequently, they were dropped on land targets. Hist ...

s on Kenilworth, the large explosions in the Abbey End area demolished a number of buildings, killing 25 people, and injuring 70 more. The bomb damaged area of the town was redeveloped in the 1960s. In May 1961, the Kenilworth Society was formed over concerns about a group of 17th-century listed cottages adjacent to Finham Brook in Bridge Street. It sets out to promote awareness of Kenilworth's character and encourage its preservation.

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

withdrew passenger services from the Coventry to Leamington Line and closed Kenilworth Station in January 1965 in line with '' The Reshaping of British Railways'' report. In May 1977, British Rail reinstated passenger services, but did not reopen Kenilworth station, which became derelict and was eventually demolished. In 2011 Warwick Council granted

John Laing plc John Laing Group plc is a British investor, developer and operator of privately financed, public sector infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, hospitals and schools through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Private Finance Initiativ ...

planning permission to build a new station, It finally reopened in 2018. In the early 1980s, the town's name was used by one of the first generation of computer retailers, a company called Kenilworth Computers based near the Clock Tower, for its repackaging of the

Nascom The Nascom 1 and 2 were single-board computer kits issued in the United Kingdom in 1977 and 1979, respectively, based on the Zilog Z80 and including a keyboard and video interface, a serial port that could be used to store data on a tape cassette ...

microcomputer with the selling point that it was robust enough to be used by agriculture. Kenilworth was struck by an F0/T1 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide outbreak on that day.

Modern Kenilworth

The Warwick Road entrance to Talisman Square - geograph

Kenilworth is close to the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...

at Gibbet Hill in Coventry to the north. Kenilworth has several suburbs, which include Borrowell, Castle Green, Crackley, Ladyes Hill, Mill End, Park Hill, St Johns, Whitemoor and Windy Arbour. The town has good transport links to Coventry,

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

and

.OS Explorer Map 221, ''Coventry & Warwick'' Kenilworth Map

The principal shopping area of Kenilworth is around Warwick Street, Abbey End and Talisman Square; a 1960s shopping precinct. In 2008 the square was modernised and partly redeveloped to include a new

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

supermarket. Kenilworth has been a

Fairtrade Town The Fair Trade Towns campaign is the result of a grass-roots citizens movement that started in the UK in 2001 (see below). It allows citizens to get together in order to self-proclaim their town (or other local geographical area) as a region that ...

since 2007. The town's public library underwent a renovation in 2021. ''The Cross'', a local pub-restaurant, received a

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

in 2015. Near the centre of Kenilworth is

Abbey Fields Abbey Fields is a {{convert, 68, acre, ha, adj=on park that is found in the centre of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England. The park was once farmland belonging to St Mary's Abbey, which was dissolved in the middle of the sixteenth century and i ...

, a public

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

which covers , within the valley of

. Abbey Fields contains the ruins of the historic Kenilworth Abbey as well as St Nicholas church. It contains public amenities such as a swimming pool, a lake, a children's play area, and heritage trails. There are several further public open spaces in Kenilworth; firstly Kenilworth Common, an area of historic

covering . Secondly, Parliament Piece, a field and nature reserve covering , which according to legend, was where King Henry III held a Parliament in 1266. Knowle Hill Nature Reserve, managed by the

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is a Wildlife Trust and Registered Charity covering the county of Warwickshire and Solihull and Coventry in the county of West Midlands, England. The Trust aims to protect and enhance wildlife, natural habitats and ge ...

, is found near The Common and covers . In the centre of Kenilworth stands a

Kugel ball A kugel fountain (also called a "floating" sphere fountain or by the pleonasmic name kugel ball) is a water feature or sculpture where a sphere sits in a fitted hollow in a pedestal, and is supported by aquaplaning on a thin film of water. Pres ...

water feature, called the Millennium Globe. Kenilworth's clock tower (pictured at top of article) is an important local landmark. It was first built in 1906–1907 by a notable local benefactor George Marshall Turner, as a memorial for his late wife. It stands in a roundabout in the town centre. The top part of the tower was severely damaged in 1940 by World War II bombing and had to be pulled down, it was fully restored in the 1970s. The clock tower is

locally listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

as a heritage asset by

Warwick District Council Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whit ...

Politics and government

Kenilworth gained a

local board of health Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

in 1877, which was converted into an

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

in 1894. Under local government reforms in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

Kenilworth Urban District was merged into the new

along with

and

. The former urban district of Kenilworth was then reconstituted as a

successor parish Successor parishes are civil parishes with a parish council, created in England in 1974. They replaced, with the same boundaries, a selected group of urban districts and municipal boroughs: a total of 300 successor parishes were formed from the fo ...

with a Town (parish) Council. Since 2010 Kenilworth has been part of the Parliamentary constituency of Kenilworth and Southam, prior to that it was part of Rugby and Kenilworth.

Transport

The A46 bypass opened in June 1974. Both

Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Borou ...

and the M6, M42 and M40

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

s are within of the town. Kenilworth station building exterior (4)

The railway station at Kenilworth is on the Coventry to Leamington Spa line, it was closed in 1965 and reopened in April 2018. it has direct services operated by

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

to , and . station is 11–14 minutes' drive away.

Sport

*Kenilworth Town FC, located in Gypsy Lane in the south of the town, played in the Midland Combination until June 2011, when it resigned, preferring to spend money on ground improvements rather than fielding a team. It re-entered the

English football pyramid The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

in the 2013–14 season and was placed in the

Midland Football League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

Division 3, the 12th highest tier in the English league system. The stay, however, was brief; the first team again resigned shortly afterwards. The Gypsy Lane ground was purchased in 2018 by Coventry Plumbing F.C., which demolished the clubhouse and built a new one, before starting the 2019–20 season there. * Kenilworth Wardens FC is based at Kenilworth Wardens, a Community Amateur Sports Club in Glasshouse Lane to the east of the town. *Kenilworth RFC is the town's rugby union club. It fields three senior sides and hosts a large minis, juniors and colts section. The ground is also located in Glasshouse Lane. *Kenilworth Tennis, Squash and Croquet Club, in Crackley Lane, has nine tennis courts, five Squash (sport), squash and racketball courts and two croquet lawns. *Kenilworth has two cricket clubs: Kenilworth Wardens in Glasshouse Lane fields five senior teams and a juniors section starting from seven years old; Kenilworth Cricket Club fields three senior teams and plays at the Warwick Road ground. *Kenilworth Runners meets at the Wardens. It caters for runners of all ages and abilities. *Octavian Droobers is the local orienteering club, using maps of

and Kenilworth Common on which to stage events. *Kenilworth Wheelers meets all the year round on Saturday and Sunday morning for a road ride. During the summer months, regular evening training rides cater for all abilities from novice to racer. *Abbey Fields Swimming Pool is in

. It has a 25 m by 10 m indoor pool and an outdoor pool open from May to September. It is home to Kenilworth Swimming Club and Kenilworth Masters Swimming Club. *Kenilworth Golf Club features a mature 18-hole parkland course, plus a small six-hole par 3 course.

Two Castles Run

The Two Castles Run began in 1983 as a fun run between Warwick Castle and Kenilworth Castle. It has grown into an English Athletics-licensed run with 3,000 entrants in 2010. In 2010 and 2011 it held the Warwickshire Amateur Athletic Association 10 Kilometre Championship. In 2012 all 4,000 places were sold within 25 hours. The race is organised each June by Kenilworth Rotary Club in conjunction with the Leamington Cycling and Athletic Club.

Arts

Theatres

The Talisman Theatre, founded as Talisman Players in 1942, moved to its current 156-seat premises in Barrow Road in 1969. It won eight National Operatic and Dramatic Association, NODA awards between 2004 and 2014. The Priory Theatre, founded in 1932 as the Kenilworth Players, uses the former Unitarianism, Unitarian/Christadelphian chapel, a Gothic Revival building dating from 1816, which was converted into a 119-seat theatre building in 1945–1946. It was gutted by fire in 1976, but restored and reopened in September 1978.

Kenilworth Arts Festival

The first Kenilworth Festival was held in 1935. After a 70-year interval, it was revived locally in 2005. Between 2005 and 2015, events were held almost every year, with varying success. The company became a social enterprise in 2010. In 2015–16, a new team oversaw a change in direction, with a new name, branding and mission statement, as 'Kenilworth Arts Festival'. Kenilworth Arts Festival took place again on 19–28 September 2019.

Bonfire Night Fireworks Display

Kenilworth Castle hosts an annual firework display, known as one of the best Bonfire Night firework displays in the UK.

Education

The principal secondary school in Kenilworth is the Kenilworth School and Sixth Form, based at two different sites in the town. There are also a number of schools for primary age children.

Notable people

In order of birth: *Henry III of England (1207–1272) commissioned the

, which was made public on 31 October 1266. *Edward II of England (1284–1327) was held prisoner in Kenilworth Castle in 1326–1327. *

(1532 or 1533–1588) lived at Kenilworth Castle. *Thomas Underhill (1545–1591) was keeper of the wardrobe at Kenilworth Castle. *Thomas Hearne (artist), Thomas Hearne (1744–1817), landscape artist, painted ''The Priory Gate at Kenilworth'' in 1784. *William Field (minister), William Field (1768–1851), Unitarianism, Unitarian minister and local historian, served the Old Meeting House at Kenilworth from about 1830 to 1850. *Sir Walter Scott's (1771–1832) novel ''Kenilworth. A Romance'' appeared anonymously in 1821. *Samuel Butler (schoolmaster), Samuel Butler (1774–1839), classical scholar and bishop, became the incumbent of Kenilworth in 1802. *John Sumner (bishop), John Sumner (1780–1862), Archbishop of Canterbury, was born in Kenilworth. *Charles Sumner (bishop), Charles Sumner (1790–1874), religious writer and bishop, was born in Kenilworth. *William Gresley (divine), William Gresley (1801–1876), religious writer and cleric, was born in Kenilworth. *Samuel Carter (Coventry MP), Samuel Carter MP (1805–1878), inherited property in Kenilworth and is buried in the graveyard of St Nicholas. *Anna Russell (botanist), Anna Russell (1807–1876), botanist, lived in Kenilworth. *Samuel Hawksley Burbury (1831–1911), mathematician, was born in Kenilworth. *Isabel Burton, Isabel, Lady Burton (née Arundell, 1831–1896), religious writer and wife of the scholar Richard Francis Burton, was born in Kenilworth. *George Potter (trade unionist), George Potter (1832–1893), trade unionist, first president of the Trades Union Congress of England and Wales, was born in Kenilworth. *Sir Arthur Sullivan's (1842–1900) long association with vocal music began with a cantata, ''The Masque at Kenilworth'', in 1864. *Jack Burns (golfer), Jack Burns (1859–1927), Scottish champion golfer, was instrumental in creating the Kenilworth course in 1890. *Oliver Bodington (1859–1936), Paris-based international lawyer and marriage broker, was baptised in Kenilworth. *Edith Emma Cooper (1862–1913) was one half of Michael Field (author), Michael Field, known as a poet, dramatist and diarist. *Edgar Jepson (1863–1938), writer of crime, adventure and fantasy novels, was born in Kenilworth. *John Siddeley, 1st Baron Kenilworth, John Siddeley, Lord Kenilworth (1866–1953), motor and aero engineering pioneer, moved to Crackley Hall, Kenilworth, in 1918. *Reginald Lee (1870–1913), surviving crew member of the RMS Titanic, RMS ''Titanic'', died in Kenilworth.Mr Reginald Robinson Lee – Titanic Biography – Encyclopedia Titanica
at www.encyclopedia-titanica.org *Walter Ritchie (1919–1991), sculptor, lived and worked in Kenilworth. *Basil Heatley (1933-2019) was a marathon runner and Olympic silver medallist born in Kenilworth. *Andrew Davies (writer), Andrew Davies (born 1936), is novelist and screenwriter who lives in Kenilworth (the 1995 BBC ''Pride and Prejudice''). *Julia Slingo (born 1950), climate scientist and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, was born in Kenilworth. *Peter Marlow (photographer), Peter Marlow (1952–2016) was a photojournalist and photographer. *Tim Flowers (born 1967 in Kenilworth) is an Association football goalkeeper, notably for Southampton F.C., Southampton and Blackburn Rovers F.C., Blackburn Rovers. He was capped 11 times by England national football team, England. *Rebecca Probert (born 1973), legal historian and expert on marriage law, lives in Kenilworth with her travel-writer husband Liam D'Arcy Brown. *Kelvin Langmead (born 1985), professional Association football, football player for Shrewsbury Town and Northampton Town, was educated at Kenilworth School. *Sarah-Jane Perry (born 1990), professional international squash (sport), squash player, was educated at Kenilworth School.Squashinfo
Retrieved 18 April 2014.
/ref>

Twin towns

Kenilworth is town twinning, twinned with: * Bourg-la-Reine, Hauts-de-Seine, France * Eppstein, Hesse, Germany. Kenilworth also has friendship links with: * Roccalumera, Italy * Bo, Sierra Leone, Bo, Sierra Leone, throug
One World Link (OWL)
* Uyogo, Tanzania

References

Sources

* *

External links

Kenilworth Town CouncilKenilworth The Best Kept Secret in Warwickshire
— official Kenilworth town centre website
Kenilworth Chamber of TradeGeograph photos of Kenilworth and surrounding areaKenilworth local history articles and booksKenilworth in the Second World WarCatalogue of the Kenilworth Urban District Council archives
held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
Warwickshire Geological Conservation Group (WGCG) is based in KenilworthKenilworth archives
- Our Warwickshire {{authority control Kenilworth, Towns in Warwickshire