Guy Fawkes Bonfire & Fireworks at Kenilworth Castle All pictures on this page are unretouched photos taken at Kenilworth Castle. Full details the 2004 fireworks are on the Kenilworth Round Table website. In recent years there has been a Guy Fawkes Night bonfire and fireworks display at Kenilworth Castle, organised by Keniworth Round Table. The display is held in the Great Mere just outside the castle wall (shown in daylight in the picture at the top of the Kenilworth Castle main page). In medieval times this was a huge lake. The highest point in Kenilworth Castle's very long and distinguished history was the fireworks display on the Great Mere staged for Elizabeth I, by Robert Dudley. Having a firework display over water increases the spectacle through the relections on the surface. Dudley's display was organised by Italian firework designers engaged by the him for the project. That was the first recorded use of the word "firework". The area of the Great Mere at Kenilworth forms a natural amphitheatre. Its sloping sides enable everyone to have a good unobstructed view of the castle and the display. In the picture above you can see the backs of the heads of the people standing in front of me, along the entire width of the picture. The bright object in the left foreground is the bonfire. The trees in the mere, and the entire landscape is illuminated by the firework overhead. The castle is floodlit, and partly obscured by smoke. The event attracts around 15,000 people. You can imagine that in 1575 much of the population of Warwickshire would have been gathered here, together with the Medieval equivalent of the hot-dog sellers (see left). In the background are the silhouettes of trees against the floodlit castle. Young William Shakespeare was aged 11 at that time, and is believed to have seen the spectacle. There were lots of children around that age watching this year too. The Heart FM Radio Roadshow. Kenilworth Town Views Kenilworth Castle Heart-of-England Main Page