During the recreation of the Elizabethan garden at Kenilworth in 2009

From medieval fortress to Elizabethan palace, Kenilworth Castle has been at the centre of England's affairs for much of its 900 year history. Standing on a low hill that was once at the heart of a 1,600 hectare (4,000 acre) park and surrounded by a vast man-made lake, these spectacular ruins, built mostly from the local red sandstone, reveal a medieval and Tudor past.
In 2009, works were carried out in the garden at Kenilworth to recreate the original Elizabethan garden as it was when Queen Elizabeth I visited in 1575.This garden was created when Kenilworth was owned by Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester, and was intended to impress Queen Elizabeth on her visit – Dudley had hopes of marrying the queen. The garden was lost over time, but is today recreated thanks to archaeological evidence and the survival of a letter – written at the time of the queen’s visit – which describes the garden in great detail from a first-hand account.