The Warwick Castle Unboxed Showcase

Battle of the Countesses

The Court House, Jury Street, Warwick
Saturday 30 May, 2pm to 4pm

Join local historians Aaron Manning and Dr Adam Busiakiewicz for a moderated and adversarial debate on who was the most consequential Countess of Warwick in Warwick Castle's history. The legacies of the artistically minded Anne, 4th Countess of Warwick (1829-1903) will be set against those of the socialite and socialist Daisy, 5th Countess of Warwick (1861-1938) to bring to life the contrasting characters of these two Victorian aristocrats. Audience members will be able to put their own questions to the two opposing sides culminating in a vote to decide who should be crowned winner. Participants will also be able to view a selection of archival documents relating to the Countesses from the Warwick Castle Archive as part of the event.

Wheelchair accessible.

£12 + booking fee, includes tea and coffee.

Lady Brooke and World War Ambulance Train No. 6

Warwickshire County Record Office
Tuesday 3 June, 1pm to 1.30pm

Find out how Elfrida 'Marjorie' Greville, later 6th Countess of Warwick, supported the war effort during the First World War, and how this war had a catastrophic impact on her personally.

Wheelchair accessible.

Free.

Fan painting workshop for adults

Market Hall Museum
Sunday 7 June, 2pm to 4pm

Join illustrator Jessica Hartshorn (Jessi Illustrates) to paint beautiful watercolour artwork onto paper fans inspired by our collections. Learn a range of techniques and be guided by Jessi in this social workshop. Each participant will have the opportunity to paint two fans each. Come away with a watercolour masterpiece which can keep you cool this summer!

Wheelchair accessible.

£25 + booking fee, includes tea and coffee.

Tour of the Great Hall and State Rooms

Warwick Castle
Tuesday 9 June, 11am

Warwick Castle, supporter of the ‘Warwick Castle Unboxed’ exhibition at Market Hall Museum, invites you to join a guided tour of its Great Hall and staterooms, home to the Greville family for nearly 400 years. Led by the castle’s History team, the tour offers a short introduction before focusing on the Greville family and the later history of the castle, including the fall of the House of Warwick.

Pick up your ticket on arrival at Warwick Castle (business reception) and spend the day at the castle. Discover over 1,100 years of history at Britain's Ultimate Historical Experience, action-packed with live shows, extraordinary events, stunning grounds and gardens and rich history.

Meet at the entrance to the Great Hall at 11 am for the guided tour.

Please see Warwick Castle website for information on accessibility.

£20 + booking fee per person. Includes entry to the castle for the day and a guided tour.

Fulke Greville, Treasurer of the Navy

Warwickshire County Record Office
Thursday 11 June, 1pm to 1.30pm

Warwickshire is not noted for its Naval history but the Warwick Castle archive contains a splendid series of account books relating to the upkeep of the Naval Fleet when the threat of another Spanish Armada remained real. Rob Eyre, Senior Archivist, provides an opportunity to examine these fascinating documents more closely.

Free.

Wheelchair accessible.

The Tale of ‘Jack Indian’

County Record Office
Saturday 13 June, 2pm to 4pm

An intriguing entry in the Warwick Castle account books from the 1640s refers to an individual known as 'Jack Indian'. But who was 'Jack', and what might the term 'Indian' mean? Historian Kerry Apps will explore the surviving documentation surrounding Jack and the theories about who this young man might have been and his probable Indigenous American origins. Kerry will describe the connections between Connecticut, New England, and Warwickshire, and the context of Anglo-Indigenous contact and conflict that likely influenced Jack's presence in Warwickshire, as well as his role within a broader history of Indigenous American presence in Britain.

Kerry Apps is a historian specialising in the seventeenth century, with a particular emphasis on early America. She earned an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, concentrating on Indigenous American presence in the early English colonies in the Caribbean in 2022. By 2026, she will have completed a PhD with the National Trust, examining the links between Restoration-era Ham House and the Atlantic and Indian Ocean worlds.

Wheelchair accessible.

£12 + booking fee, includes tea and coffee.

The Earl of Warwick’s Condom: Contraception and sexual health from the 18th to the 20th century

St John’s House
Tuesday 16 June 6.30pm to 8 pm

Among the more unusual items in the Greville Family of Warwick Castle Collection is an 18th century condom belonging to the then Earl of Warwick. Using this remarkable artefact as a starting point, historian and archivist Lesley Hall - who has over forty years of experience specialising in the history of gender and sexuality at the Wellcome Collection - will explore how ideas surrounding reproductive health, personal protection - 'safe sex', and population concerns developed between the 18th and 20th centuries.

This fascinating talk will consider who had access to contraception, how availability changed over time, and how shifting social attitudes, legal frameworks, and technological innovations influenced the choices people made. The session also reflects on broader themes of privacy, health, and social inequality, offering a revealing window into an aspect of everyday life that is often hidden from the historical record.

The historical object will also be on display. This talk has adult themes.

Wheelchair accessible.

£12 + booking fee, includes tea and coffee.

Women at Work: The Labourers of Warwick Castle in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

Market Hall Museum
Wednesday 24 June, 1pm to 1.30 pm

The Earls of Warwick were among the town’s largest landowners and employers, and many local families relied on the Castle for their livelihoods - including women. Through detailed study of the Warwick Castle Wage Accounts from 1854/55 historian and HCW volunteer Chrissie Priestley has helped to uncover a vivid picture of the people who worked for the 4th Earl of Warwick.
This talk shines a light on the women labourers: their respective roles and the wages they earned. Discover the Names Project and what it reveals about the relationships between the Earl and the communities - particularly the women - that he employed.

Wheelchair accessible.

Free.

Picturing the Past: The Decorative Vouchers of Warwick Castle

Market Hall Museum
Monday 29 June 2pm to 3.30pm

Warwick was bustling with shops in the 19th century, many of which thrived thanks partly to close connections with the Earls of Warwick Castle. From the well known grocers Thacker and Christmas to Alex Wylie the ironmonger, and even local bakers who supplied bread for the Castle’s elephant, the surviving vouchers - or bills of sale - from the Warwick Castle Collection reveal a vivid picture of a lively market town.

Join HCW volunteers Sue Rigby and Sue Lock as they delve into the stories preserved within these fascinating documents. Learn about the Vouchers Project, explore beautifully decorated original vouchers, and uncover the rich tales of the tradespeople who shaped Warwick’s past—many of whom traded recently enough to be remembered today.

Wheelchair accessible.

£12 + booking fee includes tea and coffee.