No one should come abruptly upon Stratford, the home of Shakespeare, as Mr. Winter says. It is wiser and pleasanter to approach it gradually by way of Warwick and Kenilworth. Both these castles have a place in Shakespeare’s plays, and it is well worth while for the visitor to see them.

Warwick is a quaint old town. Its population is about 12,000, and it lies on a hill rising from the river Avon. Far back in antiquity it was a settlement of the Britons, and, afterward, it was occupied by the Romans. Its present name is of Saxon origin. Many of the houses retain their medieval appearance; and in fact two of the old gates of the town are still standing.

The prevailing quality of the town of Warwick is a sweet, solemn peace. The people live there as in a gentle dream of repose. The little rows of cottages breathe contentment; ivy embowers them, and roses cluster about their windows.

The Church of St. Mary at Warwick as it now stands was rebuilt after a fire in 1694. The Lord Leicester Hospital was established by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in 1571. He founded it for the reception of twelve poor men. This building contains several interesting relics, one of which is a Saxon chair said to be a thousand years old; and another is a piece of needle-work by Amy Robsart, the heroine of Sir Walter Scott’s novel, “Kenilworth.”

On a commanding position overlooking the Avon rises Warwick Castle, the ancient and stately home of the Earls of Warwick. This castle is one of the finest and most picturesque feudal residences in England. It probably dates from Saxon times; but the oldest part now standing is the tall CÆsar’s Tower, 147 feet high, which was probably built soon after the Norman conquest. In 1871 a great fire almost completely destroyed the castle; but it was restored in the old style. The most important event in the history of the building was its successful defence by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War in England.

The interior of the castle contains an interesting collection of paintings, old armor, and other curiosities. In the Great Hall are the sword and some other relics of the legendary Count Guy of Warwick. His feats of arms in slaying terrible monsters are an important part of English legend. In the Great Hall also are the mace of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who was known as “the king maker,” and the helmet of Oliver Cromwell. This castle is noted for its famous collection of pictures, among which are several by Rubens and Van Dyck. In the conservatory of the castle is preserved the famous Warwick vase of marble, which was found near Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli, in Italy, and is attributed to the fourth century B. C.

Nathaniel Hawthorne has put into words the very feeling that comes over each visitor to Warwick: “We can scarcely think the scene real, so completely do those towers, the long line of battlements, the massive buttresses, the high-windowed walls, shape out our indistinct ideas of the antique time.”

PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 4, No. 8, SERIAL No. 108
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.

Shakespeare’s Country