Cotswolds - Day 5 (June 28, 2016)

Warwick Castle

Today was the intrepid couple's last day together in the Cotswolds, on this trip. We will be back, as there is much unfinished business here. It was a good day, as the weather cooperated again. All week it seemed that when we were out and about, the rain stayed away. It rained each day but when we were hoofing it around the various venues, we never got wet. Lucky perhaps but it is more likely that the god of the Cotswolds wants us to come back.

Today, we went to Warwick Castle notwithstanding the fact that more than one local had warned us that this would be a disappointment. I sort of think the real reason the locals didn't like the idea was that the property was now owned by a corporation. U.S. based Merlin Entertainment, who in recent years purchased the U.K. based, Madame Tussauds Group, is the current owner. Merlin Entertainment is now the second biggest entertainment company of it's kind in the world, behind Disney. I guess it is sad that it is not still managed by a British aristocratic family but after seeing it today, it became apparent that the property would be very expensive to keep up and is perhaps more appropriately  managed by a corporation. The sad part about a corporation owning it is that they need to make money from it and the complaint of the locals is that it has become very much like a medieval "disneyland". The flip side though is that the corporation has preserved a magnificent example of a medieval castle for future generations. In any event, Mrs. Gym and I thought the castle was very cool. We avoided many of the attractions that would draw kids to the place but as I said, I understand why they are there.

The drive to Warwickshire and back to Buckland Manor was relatively uneventful. We thought we were lost when we made it to Warwickshire because as big as it is, the Warwick Castle and the associated grounds are hard to see when you are driving around town. We eventually found the parking lot and found a spot for the Focus. This trip made the Gym Rally team near experts on roundabouts. You don't need maps necessarily, you just need a good copilot to watch the signs and call out the exits. Mrs. Gym did a wonderful job and navigated expertly while Gym hung her out over the left side of the road trying to train his brain from the right-hand side of the car.



 

This is where we entered the Warwick Castle

imposing battlements

Looking down on the courtyard. In the left background is the gate
where we entered and the residences are in the buildings on the right.

A life size model of a trebuchet which hurled big
projectiles at castles.

The armor of a mounted knight in the Great Hall of the residence.

another part of a massive collection of weapons and armour in the
Great Hall. Here we see an array of pikes above a door.

A legacy of Madame Tussaud's in the library where wax figures give are set
in a scene from the late 19th century. Those are thousands of leather-bound books in there.

Another 19th Century scene in the library.

a bedroom

more armor and weapons in the Greatroom.

impressive display of swords and spears

Armour of the various nobility that lived in the castle

part of a flintlock pistol collection

The Dining Room

The Chapel

A patriarch on horseback

A priceless chandelier

Sabers

After seeing some pictures of the castle and all the extraordinary stuff that is in it you might wonder about the nobles that lived there and what happened to them. The family that owned the castle and the title of Earl of Warwick longest were the Greville family. They had possession for most of the time between 1604 and 1978 when they sold it to Tussauds. Like every family some generations were strong and some were weak. Some were builders and some were squanderers. On the whole though, the Greville family were builders and they kept the castle in pretty good shape for 374 years until the corporations took over.