midnight
Half of the houses look as if they 'd stepped straight out of an artist 's canvas . '' For the next few days the party lived with guidebooks in their hands . They thoroughly explored Kenilworth Castle , tried to call up a vision of the pageant that was presented before Queen Elizabeth there , and deplored the tragic fate of poor Amy Robsart . Then the car splashed through the ford at the foot of the wood , and carried them along the Warwick Road , past Blacklow Hill , where Piers Gaveston was executed , and where , it is said , his restless spirit still rides at drear midnight , to Guy 's Cliff , with its old Saxon mill and romantic view of the Avon . Then on to Warwick , to look at the treasures of a castle fortunately untouched by the ravages of war , and the beautiful Beauchamp Chapel , with its tomb of the `` King Maker '' . They could have stayed a long time in ancient , picturesque Warwick , admiring the quaint , old houses and the smooth stretches of the river , but the attractions of Stratford lay only eight miles away , and they had booked their rooms in advance at the hotel there . None of them ever forgot their first entry into Shakespeare 's town .