Saturday

Kennilworth Castle

I very much enjoyed Kenilworth today.  It is another ruin of a castle but still beautiful.  It has an interesting history that goes back to the time of Some of the earlier kings and queens of the country.
    It originally started out as a settlement of approximately one hundred people in an obscure clearing in the middle of a forest.  It was small and obscure until a treasurer to Henry I decided to build a stronghold there in 1120 a.d.  One of the oldest parts of the castle is the Norman Keep designed to be an unconquerable fortress with some stone walls up to twenty feet thick and is located at the center of the castle.  The streams near the castle were damned, creating a large lake surrounding it, which became the largest man-made lake in the nation.  It was then that the castle became a royal residence under Henry II.  Over the succession of rulers the castle was upgraded and added to which brought it to is present day size.
    Today, the lake was been drained and no longer is part of what would have been the castle's fortifications.  It's a pity because it would have been beautiful.  I enjoyed climbing through and over the now dwindling walls of the castle.  The stone queried for the building of the castle is a beautiful reddish sandstone, that over time has been in a way melted by the elements.  It is evident to see when you can pick out trenches the running water has cut into the stone from rain.  Eventually there won't be much left of the beautiful edifice to explore.
     I found a great little gently slopping hill to roll down and did it a couple of times.  One is never to old to do such things, right?

Tuesday

Bath: The Roman Baths

When one thinks of Bath, England most are aware that it is a city that has a history, but aren't quite sure what it is. 

One reason it is fairly notable is that the entire city has been built out of stone that was quarried from a local limestone formation that is unique. 

It contains a high level of iron in the limestone which lends the yellow to orange tint to the buildings facades.  It made the town look as though the town had soaked up the warmth and hue of the sun.

The other reason for the city to retain some claim to fame is that England has only one hot spot in the entire country and it is coincidentally located in Bath.  The Romans utilized its hot springs and established Bath's first spa resort in approximately AD 43.  

The Roman Baths themselves are below the modern street level. There are four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House and the Museum holding finds from Roman Bath. The buildings above street level date from the 19th century.

Some of the finds that have been excavated from the baths include About 130 curse tablets have been found. Many of the curses related to thefts of clothes whilst the victim was bathing.

I find it humorous that even back then people would tell others off that had done them wrong by trying to cast a curse upon them.  There are also other offerings presumably given to the goddess of the spring that include a large number of Roman coins (approx. 12,000). 

I really enjoyed walking through the museum and seeing the baths in person.  It really lent authenticity and reality to what we had learned and studied about previous to visiting.  Admittance fees was six pounds but that also includes access to the audio that has information on just about everything in the museum.  I thought it was well worth the time and expense.

As of now I haven't mentioned anything related to literature, so here it is.  Bath was a popular location for the locals and not so locals to frequent when they were looking for a place to expend time and find entertainments, amusements and physical treatments.  The rich, including the Queen were likely to come and avail themselves of what was deemed as curative waters. 

Jane Austen is one such literary author that both visited and wrote about the city.  In Northanger Abbey, her heroine Catherine Morland visited and said about Bath "If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad."  In fact, because of Jane's familiarity with Bath, two of her novels are largely based in and around Bath.  Those novels are Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. 

I've read both novels and was very interested to see and find sites from the book in the environ that I was able to visit.  Unfortunately, I was not able to visit the museum that is dedicated to Jane Austen in Bath, but was told that it is well worth the time if one is interested in the author and her life there in Bath.