Tuesday 23 April 2013

CDP National Theme Day - St. George's Day

Ruins of Caludon Castle at Caludon Park, Coventry.


What does Caludon Castle and St. George's Day have to do with each other?  Look at the emblem!  Legend has it that England’s Patron Saint, Saint George, was born at Caludon Castle and possibly died there too.  True?  I could find no hard facts to support this thought. Nevertheless, it is fun to imagine that it could be true.  


This site has been occupied since the 11th Century.  Before 1066 the land was owned by Lady Godiva.  The history is full of intrigue and drama.  For example, Caludon Castle was once owned by Thomas Mowbray.  Mowbray (1st Duke of Norfolk) appears in the first act of Shakespeare's Richard II based on the real life duel that didn't happen between himself and future King Henry IV.


It looks impressive across this small moat.  For a closer look (below) it took 2 grown adults (messing around with the camera timer and no tripod) to give you a reference as to the size of the remaining wall.


I can tell you I got chills walking through those doors/archways.  That is a fireplace in the middle.  If you want a little more history...follow the link here.  Caludon is now a park owned by Coventry City Council.  I am impressed.  There is a play area along side the Castle, with tennis courts and large open spaces.  

Caludon Park (with Caludon Castle just behind the central trees)
England's Flag


Legend, myth, true or false...let me wish you a 
Happy St. George's Day today on Shakespeare's birthday.


Participating in City Daily Photo's National Theme Day, please follow the link for more - CDP National Theme Day.

23 comments:

Unknown said...

I love the legend of Saint George and the Dragon. Stunning pictures !

Kate said...

A terrific post with lots of good information and photos for those of us who are just learning about St. George. Last night I checked out our own city that have several Greek churches named for St. George. He really got around!

Tanya Breese said...

wow, that is amazing!

Gerald (SK14) said...

love all the historical information - always difficult sifting fact from romantic fiction.

Adele said...

That is incredible! My favorite part is that Lady Godiva once owned the property. Amazing... Beautiful photo. I love that Mr. LOL is so engaged with your CDP projects. What a great guy.

bitingmidge said...

It's all that stuff that keeps coming me back. I just remain fascinated that not only did that happen, but records have been kept for more than a thousand years!

Oh and anytime you want better weather I'm pleased to be of service! ;-)

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Daryl said...

love these and i can only imagine how it must feel to stand/touch those walls with all that history and life over the past centuries absorbed into them ... i get chills thinking about it ... awesome shots .. how fabulous you figured out the timer and where to position the camera .. brava!!

Chrissy Brand said...

Interesting - and I thought St George was from the Middle East and had never been to the UK? ;-)

LONDONLULU said...

Beautiful tribute and post for the day! I love your photos and actually remember reading that St. George may have a Coventry connection - so cool you were able to explore it! (Also, I'm super-impressed you remembered the Kenilworth journey:))

Deb said...

Great series of pictures for theme day, nice touch with the self timer too.

Kris said...

Ruins always move me..this one is "spectacular"!

Stefan Jansson said...

Nice write-up and photos.

aspiritofsimplicity said...

I did not know that today was Shakespeare's birthday.I will have to read some Shakespeare later to celebrate.

Jack said...

I am glad you took the trouble to pose those two gorgeous humans in the scene. From the other photos, I had no idea that it is so big.

Anonymous said...

All the photos are beautiful. I really love your self-timer photo. The perspective from the grass is wonderful.

LOLfromPasa said...

You all are just terrific. I so enjoyed reading your comments. I was the one who had to do a lot of running back and forth on the timer photo :). It was worth it now that I have read your comments.

Adele - Mr LOL is a star. I told him what you said :).

Daryl - I put the camera on my scarf (yes, still wearing one:)).

Jack - 'Humans', love it!

Off to visit some new people who stopped by here. Cheers!

hamilton said...

I thought I left a comment - but I was having some 'puter troubles.

anyway, I hadn't heard of this castle, but with such a history of dragon slayers and naked horsewomen, I am now intrigued!

Unknown said...

I love that remaining wall, hope it will survive many more years. Great post!

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Brilliant post for the theme LOL. Wonderfully informative links and I loooove arches whenever they were built. Very inventive 'interactive' image haha!

LOLfromPasa said...

Hamilton - intriguing indeed :).

Cheers, JM.

Grace...you do have a way with words. Love it!

Hilda said...

Oh wow, what an amazing history—both the real and fictional ones! Thank you for this fascinating post.

Buck said...

Glorious! I love the history of the place, and the photos are fantastic. People in the image really shows the scale of the thing.

Mark R said...

Fascinating. I had never heard of Caludon though I live not many miles away. I shall visit.
I must admit that I also had not heard of this story of St George; but as there are so many myths about him, why not have another one?!!