But a castle is rudely
piled together for strength and other material conveniences; and, having
served these ends, it has nothing left to fall back upon, but crumbles
into shapeless masses, which are often as little picturesque as a pile of
bricks. Without the ivy and the shrubbery, this huge Kenilworth would
not be a pleasant object, except for one or two window-frames, with
broken tracery, in the Banqueting-Hall. . . . .
We stayed from eleven till two, and identified the various parts of the
castle as well as we could by the guide-book. The ruins are very
extensive, though less so than I should have imagined, considering that
seven acres were included within the castle wall. But a large part of
the structures have been taken away to build houses in Kenilworth village
and elsewhere, and much, too, to make roads with, and a good deal lies
under the green turf in the court-yards, inner and outer. As we returned
to the gate, my wife and U---- went into the gate-house to see an old
chimney-piece, and other antiquities, and J----- and I proceeded a little
way round the outer wall, and saw the remains of the moat, and Lin's
Tower,--a real and shattered fabric of John of Gaunt.
The omnibus now drove up, and one of the old men at the gate came
hobbling up to open the door, and was rewarded with a sixpence, and we
drove down to the King's Head. . . . . We then walked out and bought
prints of the castle, and inquired our way to the church and to the ruins
of the Priory.
Pages:
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812