We are a collective of family and friends who have strong links to Kenilworth.
Some of us live here, have lived here all our lives, started out here but still have strong links and relationships in Kenilworth, and some of us have moved back to Kenilworth. The Kenilworth Carnival has been a strong tradition that we all enjoy being part of; all of us have been part of the carnival processions in previous years and we look forward to continuing the tradition.
Our name needed to describe what we do, so using the original name for Kenilworth, the carnival history and what we are we came up with:
Chinewrde Carnival collective (we pronounce it “Kin-ee-weird”)
Historical references for the name Chinewrde
From John H. Drew’s book: “Kenilworth; A Manor of the King” pg 10; (First Published 1971, New Edition 1994; Malcolm Peters, Birmingham)
Kenilworth, or Chinewrde as it was called in Domesday Book, was a small settlement in the forest, one of a number in the area. It still has tenuous connection with Arden in a few very ancient oak trees that can be seen, which were little more than a few years removed from acorns in those ancient times.
The Kenilworth entry in Domesday Book reads:
In CHINEWRDE Richard the forester holds 3 vigrates of land by the king. There are 10 villeins and 7 bordars with 3 ploughs. Woodland half a league long and 4 furlongs broad... belong to STANLEI. (V.C.H. WKS. VOL. 1.)
From Mark Pawlowski & John H. Drew’s book “Kenilworth, portrait of a town & castle” Chapter 2 castle hill and high street, pg 26, (Published by Jones-Sands publishing, 2003)
“... If we glance to the left, we look down the length of Malthouse Lane along which the farmer drove his cattle to and from Abbey Fields. It was known as Optone at the time of the Norman Conquest, the remaining part of the town being Chinewrde. By the 17th Century, High street was called High Town”
From the Chinewrde Morris Dancers leaflet: http://www.chinewrde.f9.co.uk/
“Chinewrde is the old name for Kenilworth as it appears in the Domesday Book. The name has caused a great deal of hilarity due to the variety of pronunciation. We prounounce it “Kini-werder”...”
Webpage on the changing name of Kenilworth:
