Castle of Kenilworth, Robert Dudley, Amy Robsart and her ghost

Amy Robsart and Robert Dudley

Robert Dudley was the fifth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and his wife Jane, daughter of Sir Edward Guildford. Robert Dudley was the 1st Earl of Leicester and his brothers, John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick and Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick.

When Queen Elizabeth, in 1558, ascended England's throne Dudley's fortune rose by leaps and bounds. He was 27 at that time and the sort of man to catch Elizabeth's attention. Dudley was in fact her favourite courtier. Dudley married Amy Robsart when he and Amy, daughter of Sir John Robsart of Norfolk, were only 17 years of age. Amy and Dudley had at first lived very happily together. But once back in the brilliant court of Queen Elizabeth, ambition soon killed Lord Dudley's love for the village beauty.

When the Queen lavished honors upon him he lost his head and began to dream of a union with the sovereign herself and of being crowned at Westminster as king-consort. And as far as he could see the sole obstacle was poor Amy. He began to neglect his gentle wife. He sent her to live in a hamshackle two-story building known as Cumnor Hall (Place), about 4 miles from Oxfort. There under the care of one Anthony Forster, a sort of dependent of Dudley and with a few servants, she dragged out a lonely miserable life.

10 Years after the marriage, on 8 September 1560, came the climax whose exact story none can ever know. Thomas Blount, a kinsman and hanger-on of Amy's husband, afterward wrote to Dudley. "She would not that day, suffer any one to tarry at home, and was so earnest to have them gone to the autumn fair at Abington when any made reason for tarrying at home she was very angry. "

Why she should have wanted the house deserted that day is not clear. But there must have been some strong reason, since it made so gentle a woman so angry when any refused to go to the fair. The servants, trooping home from the fair at nighfall, found Amy's dead body lying on the floor at the foot of a short spiral staircase. The supposition was that she had fallen down the stairs and broken her neck. Was she murdered or was it suicide? Lord Robert Dudley was implicated, as having had a hand in her death since he wanted to marry the Queen. So he began to plan and plot against her.

If she had suffered from an incurable malignant growth, as stated, it would have been a reason for suicide. In 1564 a pamphlet entitled "Leicester's Commonwealth" declared that Forster and another friend of Dudley's had flung her down the stairs. Another version was that Anthony Forster had called her from the door falsely announcing Dudley's arrival, and that he arranged for the stairs to collapse as she ran down to meet her husband. Another tale says that Amy was poisened and her body laid at the foot of the staircase to give the idea of a fall.

Another said he had in his train a surgeon, skilled in the use of drugs, who made various unsuccesseful attempts to poison the unhappy lady. At last the plotters succeeded, and in 1560 Amy Robsart was killed at Cumnor Place. The story then given out was that she accidentally fallen downstairs and broken her neck. But almost nobody even at that time believed it.

There was a thourough inquiry into his wife's death. The jury returned a finding of death by mischance. This finding, as definite it was, did not silence the gossips. They pointed out that even if Dudley did not incite Forster to murder Lady Amy, she might have committed suicide. Her personal maid had said at the inquest that she had heard her mistress "pray to God to deliver her from desperation" - a desperation of which the gossips held Dudley to be the cause. To this day the nature of Amy's death is shrouded in uncertainty. Dudley did not attend her funeral at St.Mary's Church, Oxford on 22 September nor visit Cumnor Place again.

Some historians believe that Dudley was not at all responsible for the tragedy. If he was, he profited little by it. Elizabeth did not marry him. He married twice after Amy's death. He also rose to great heights at court, becoming Earl of Leicester and receiving as a gift from Elizabeth, the castle of Kenilworth. Sir Walter Scott's famous novel "Kenilworth" reads Amy died 15 years before Elizabeth visited Kenilworth, three years before Dudley aquired the castle and four years before he became an Earl.

For many years Cumnor Place stood empty and deserted, believed to be haunted by the ghost of Amy. It was fast becoming a ruin when it was demolished in 1810 by the Earl of Abingdon.

Ghost of Amy Robsart

Before Cumnor Place was destroyed, the ghost of Amy Robsart walked the grounds each Christmas for almost 250 years. Her pale shape appeared near the staircase where she had died. And she returned every Christmas to stare tragically and accusingly at all who still lived in the Hall. After the victory over the Spanish Armada, Dudley one day was returning home through Wychwood Forest, tired and sick after battle. Without warning, the spectral shape of his wife loomed before him, and with a great laugh his phantom wife predicted that he would be dead within 10 days.

A week later it was announced at court that Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, had died. Amy continued to haunt Cumnor Place every Christmas until the house was demolished in 1810. Her ghost then moved to her parent's home at Syderstone Hall, so it is said. The ghost of Amy was not alone. It is alleged that people observed frequent appearances of the ghosts of Anthony Forster and Verney. Both Richard Verney and Forster were accused by "Leicester's Commonwealth" of complicity in Amy's murder.

West side of quadrangal Cumnor Place

The quadrangular stone building was owned by George Owen. He inherited it from his father, Dr. George Owen,

physician of Henry VIII. It was leased to Anthony Forster.

Castle of Kenilworth

The feudel glories and regal pomp of Kenilworth Castle have long since passed away. The castle, though it must be called a ruin, is in some parts very well preserved. A castle of contradictions it always has been. A place of pomp and pageantry, a castle of delight, and a grim fortress, a pleasure place, a king's prison and a place of suffering, where an earlier Edward II gave up his crown and where Elizabeth I was feted with masque and tournament by Robert Dudley, the castle's lord and her own handsome favourite. She granted the castle to him in 1563.

Kenilworth town dates back, it is said, to a time before the Norman conquest. Henry I granted it to Sir Geoffrey de Clinton, who built the early castle about 1120, but Henry II compelled him to turn it back to the crown. It became the most important of the great "lake fortresses" and its surrounding waters made it almost impregnable.

Castle of Kenilworth

Drawings of Kenilworth Castle in 1649. Three views

Plan of Kenilworth Castle in 1649. Artist. Wenceslaus Hollar

1.Clinton Green

2.The Swan Tower

3.The garden

4.The great gate-house

5.Lunn's Tower

6.The stable

7.The Water tower

8. The ground betwixt the wall and the poole. There joineth upon this ground, a park-like ground, called the King's Wood, with fifteen several coppices lying altogether, containing seven hundred and eighty-nine acres within the same; which in the Earl of Leicester's time, were stored with red deer, since which the deer have strayed, but the ground is in no sort blemished, having great store of timber and other trees of much value upon the same.

9.The poole. There runneth through the same grounds, by the walls of the castle, a fair pool, containing one hundred and eleven acres, well stored with fish and wild fowl.

10.The plesance (pleasance, pleasuance)

11.A strong tower arched three stories

12.The three kitchens

13.Caesars Tower

14.The Hall

15.The inner court

16.King Henry's lodgings (King Henry VIII's lodgings)

17.The White Hall

18.The Presence Chamber

19.The privy Chamber

20.S.Robert Dudley's lobby

21.Leicester buildings

22.The base court

23.Mortimer's Tower

24.The Tilt-yard

25.The Gallery Tower

26.The Orchard


	Home The practice of gating and walling of castles and cities Glamis Castle, the mystery and the Ghosts Warwick Castle - The splendour and horror and the ghosts Castle of Kenilworth, Robert Dudley, Amy Robsart and her ghost Drawings of Kenilworth Castle in 1649. Three views Windsor Castle and the Ghosts Drawing of Windsor Castle from the South-East Castle of Kenilworth, Robert Dudley, Amy Robsart and her ghost Amy Robsart and Robert Dudley Robert Dudley was the fifth son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and his wife Jane, daughter of Sir Edward Guildford. Robert Dudley was the 1st Earl of Leicester and his brothers, John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick and Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick. When Queen Elizabeth, in 1558, ascended England's throne Dudley's fortune rose by leaps and bounds. He was 27 at that time and the sort of man to catch Elizabeth's attention. Dudley was in fact her favourite courtier. Dudley married Amy Robsart when he and Amy, daughter of Sir John Robsart of Norfolk, were only 17 years of age. Amy and Dudley had at first lived very happily together. But once back in the brilliant court of Queen Elizabeth, ambition soon killed Lord Dudley's love for the village beauty. When the Queen lavished honors upon him he lost his head and began to dream of a union with the sovereign herself and of being crowned at Westminster as king-consort. And as far as he could see the sole obstacle was poor Amy. He began to neglect his gentle wife. He sent her to live in a hamshackle two-story building known as Cumnor Hall (Place), about 4 miles from Oxfort. There under the care of one Anthony Forster, a sort of dependent of Dudley and with a few servants, she dragged out a lonely miserable life. 10 Years after the marriage, on 8 September 1560, came the climax whose exact story none can ever know. Thomas Blount, a kinsman and hanger-on of Amy's husband, afterward wrote to Dudley. "She would not that day, suffer any one to tarry at home, and was so earnest to have them gone to the autumn fair at Abington when any made reason for tarrying at home she was very angry. " Why she should have wanted the house deserted that day is not clear. But there must have been some strong reason, since it made so gentle a woman so angry when any refused to go to the fair. The servants, trooping home from the fair at nighfall, found Amy's dead body lying on the floor at the foot of a short spiral staircase. The supposition was that she had fallen down the stairs and broken her neck. Was she murdered or was it suicide? Lord Robert Dudley was implicated, as having had a hand in her death since he wanted to marry the Queen. So he began to plan and plot against her. If she had suffered from an incurable malignant growth, as stated, it would have been a reason for suicide. In 1564 a pamphlet entitled "Leicester's Commonwealth" declared that Forster and another friend of Dudley's had flung her down the stairs. Another version was that Anthony Forster had called her from the door falsely announcing Dudley's arrival, and that he arranged for the stairs to collapse as she ran down to meet her husband. Another tale says that Amy was poisened and her body laid at the foot of the staircase to give the idea of a fall. Another said he had in his train a surgeon, skilled in the use of drugs, who made various unsuccesseful attempts to poison the unhappy lady. At last the plotters succeeded, and in 1560 Amy Robsart was killed at Cumnor Place. The story then given out was that she accidentally fallen downstairs and broken her neck. But almost nobody even at that time believed it. There was a thourough inquiry into his wife's death. The jury returned a finding of death by mischance. This finding, as definite it was, did not silence the gossips. They pointed out that even if Dudley did not incite Forster to murder Lady Amy, she might have committed suicide. Her personal maid had said at the inquest that she had heard her mistress "pray to God to deliver her from desperation" - a desperation of which the gossips held Dudley to be the cause. To this day the nature of Amy's death is shrouded in uncertainty. Dudley did not attend her funeral at St.Mary's Church, Oxford on 22 September nor visit Cumnor Place again. Some historians believe that Dudley was not at all responsible for the tragedy. If he was, he profited little by it. Elizabeth did not marry him. He married twice after Amy's death. He also rose to great heights at court, becoming Earl of Leicester and receiving as a gift from Elizabeth, the castle of Kenilworth. Sir Walter Scott's famous novel "Kenilworth" reads Amy died 15 years before Elizabeth visited Kenilworth, three years before Dudley aquired the castle and four years before he became an Earl. For many years Cumnor Place stood empty and deserted, believed to be haunted by the ghost of Amy. It was fast becoming a ruin when it was demolished in 1810 by the Earl of Abingdon. Ghost of Amy Robsart Before Cumnor Place was destroyed, the ghost of Amy Robsart walked the grounds each Christmas for almost 250 years. Her pale shape appeared near the staircase where she had died. And she returned every Christmas to stare tragically and accusingly at all who still lived in the Hall. After the victory over the Spanish Armada, Dudley one day was returning home through Wychwood Forest, tired and sick after battle. Without warning, the spectral shape of his wife loomed before him, and with a great laugh his phantom wife predicted that he would be dead within 10 days. A week later it was announced at court that Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, had died. Amy continued to haunt Cumnor Place every Christmas until the house was demolished in 1810. Her ghost then moved to her parent's home at Syderstone Hall, so it is said. The ghost of Amy was not alone. It is alleged that people observed frequent appearances of the ghosts of Anthony Forster and Verney. Both Richard Verney and Forster were accused by "Leicester's Commonwealth" of complicity in Amy's murder. West side of quadrangal Cumnor Place The quadrangular stone building was owned by George Owen. He inherited it from his father, Dr. George Owen, physician of Henry VIII. It was leased to Anthony Forster. Castle of Kenilworth The feudel glories and regal pomp of Kenilworth Castle have long since passed away. The castle, though it must be called a ruin, is in some parts very well preserved. A castle of contradictions it always has been. A place of pomp and pageantry, a castle of delight, and a grim fortress, a pleasure place, a king's prison and a place of suffering, where an earlier Edward II gave up his crown and where Elizabeth I was feted with masque and tournament by Robert Dudley, the castle's lord and her own handsome favourite. She granted the castle to him in 1563. Kenilworth town dates back, it is said, to a time before the Norman conquest. Henry I granted it to Sir Geoffrey de Clinton, who built the early castle about 1120, but Henry II compelled him to turn it back to the crown. It became the most important of the great "lake fortresses" and its surrounding waters made it almost impregnable. Castle of Kenilworth Drawings of Kenilworth Castle in 1649. Three views Plan of Kenilworth Castle in 1649. Artist. Wenceslaus Hollar 1.Clinton Green 2.The Swan Tower 3.The garden 4.The great gate-house 5.Lunn's Tower 6.The stable 7.The Water tower 8. The ground betwixt the wall and the poole. There joineth upon this ground, a park-like ground, called the King's Wood, with fifteen several coppices lying altogether, containing seven hundred and eighty-nine acres within the same; which in the Earl of Leicester's time, were stored with red deer, since which the deer have strayed, but the ground is in no sort blemished, having great store of timber and other trees of much value upon the same. 9.The poole. There runneth through the same grounds, by the walls of the castle, a fair pool, containing one hundred and eleven acres, well stored with fish and wild fowl. 10.The plesance (pleasance, pleasuance) 11.A strong tower arched three stories 12.The three kitchens 13.Caesars Tower 14.The Hall 15.The inner court 16.King Henry's lodgings (King Henry VIII's lodgings) 17.The White Hall 18.The Presence Chamber 19.The privy Chamber 20.S.Robert Dudley's lobby 21.Leicester buildings 22.The base court 23.Mortimer's Tower 24.The Tilt-yard 25.The Gallery Tower 26.The Orchard