St John’s House Museum is run by Warwickshire County Council, and has had a varied history spanning almost 400 years. To the side of the house is a small garden belonging to St John's and to the rear is the large St. Nicholas' Park
The existing building is not the first on the site. The first recorded one was a hospital dedicated to St John the Baptist which was founded at some time during the 12th century the reign of Henry II of England. After changing hands during the monastic dissolution the building was altered almost beyond recognition in 1626 and transformed into the current building. In 1788, George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick purchased the property and it stayed in the family until 1960. During this period, in 1815 it was turned from a family residence into a private school.
In the 1960s, the property was passed from the Earls of Warwick to Warwickshire County Council who turned it into a museum which it still remains. The ground floor is composed of social history exhibits and a re-creation of the school that occupied the building.
The first floor contains rooms dedicated to the history of the Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers. To the rear of the building is a large terrapin classroom the school children can use for lessons.
No visit to Warwick is complete without a visit to its splendid castle
The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burgh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century, when Sir Fulke Greville converted it to a country house. It was owned by the Greville family, who became earls of Warwick in 1759, until 1978.
From 1088, the castle traditionally belonged to the Earl of Warwick, and it served as a symbol of his power. The castle was taken in 1153 by Henry of Anjou, later Henry II. It has been used to hold prisoners, including some from the Battle of Poitiers in the 14th century. Under the ownership of Richard Neville – also known as "Warwick the Kingmaker" – Warwick Castle was used in the 15th century to imprison the Edward IV.
We also saw an archery display ...
... a trebuchet in action
We overheard a passing American explain to his assembled entourage that "trebuchet" meant “three buckets” – I think not; according to my sources the word 'Trebuchet' is derived from the Old French word 'Trebucher' meaning to throw over.
An eagle display ...
... and some peacocks.
But the main reason for our visit to Warwick was its Folk Festival - which in our view is one of the best run festivals on the "circuit" - nice venue (Warwick School) and sufficient of the big names to attract good audiences.
We saw some that we had seen before in various venues, including The Young 'Uns ...
... Tom McConville
and David Newey
Other key sessions included Becky Wolff and Little Chicken Band, Spooky Men’s Chorale, The Hut People, Walsh and Pound, Belshazzar's Feast, Gavin Davenport (Sheffield singer), ahab (disappointing in Bridge Theatre but sound was much better on main stage in the evening) and the irrepressible Keith Donnelly who managed to just about get through one song in his session – very funny.
My top three favourites were:
Show of Hands - http://www.showofhands.co.uk/, The QP (who included our camping neighbours – Dan Bones and his sister) - http://www.theqp.co.uk/, and Spiers & Boden - http://www.spiersandboden.com
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