Kenilworth was named after Sir Walter Scott's novel "Kenilworth" which was being read by Mrs Smith at the time her husband, Richard Joseph Smith, set up the first cattle run on the east bank of the Mary River in 1850.Â
Kenilworth. A Romance is a historical romance novel, first published on 13 January 1821. Set in 1575 it leads up to the elaborate reception of Queen Elizabeth I at Kenilworth Castle by the 1st Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley, who is complicit in the murder of his wife Amy Robsart. Amy passionately loves her husband, and the Earl loves her in return, but he is driven by ambition. He is courting the Queen's favour, and only by keeping his marriage to Amy secret can he hope to rise to the height of power that he desires. At the end of the book, the Queen discovers the truth, to the shame of the Earl. The disclosure has come too late, for Amy has been murdered by the Earl's even more ambitious steward, Varney.
Kenilworth Castle is located in the town of Kenilworth in Warwickshire, England. Constructed from Norman through to Tudor times, the castle has been described as "the finest surviving example of a semi-royal palace of the later middle ages, significant for its scale, form and quality of workmanship". Kenilworth has also played an important historical role. The castle was the subject of the six-month-long Siege of Kenilworth in 1266, thought to be the longest siege in Medieval English history, and formed a base for Lancastrian operations in the Wars of the Roses. Kenilworth was also the scene of the removal of Edward II from the English throne, the French insult to Henry V in 1414 , as well as the Earl of Leicester's lavish reception of Elizabeth I in 1575.
You will find this little cache close to the Kenilworth museum run by the Kenilworth and District Historial Association. The museum provides examples of 'living history', with an operational plug and cord telephone switchboard, working antique machines and fine examples of the lifestyles of the early settlers of the district. Collections include historical photographs, antique farming, industrial and household equipment. It is open only on Sundays and not in Summer.