Sudeley Castle

The Gatehouse

Sudeley Castle is a castle located near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. The present built was built in the 15th century and may have been on the site of a 12th-century castle. The castle has a notable garden, which is designed and maintained to a very high standard. The chapel, St. Mary's Sudeley, is the burial place of Queen Catherine Parr (c. 1512–1548), the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, and contains her marble tomb. Unusual for a castle chapel, St Mary's of Sudeley is part of the local parish of the Church of England. Sudeley is also one of the few castles left in England that is still in residence. Because of this, the castle is only open to visitors on specific dates and private family quarters are closed to the public. Access to private apartments is available though through a guided tour.

History

Part of Sudeley Castle from its gardens

A castle may have been built on the site during the reign of King Stephen (1135–1154). In 1442, Ralph Boteler who was created Baron Sudeley by Henry VI of England, built the actual castle on its present site using what he had earned fighting in the Hundred Years' War. He built up quarters for servants and men at arms on the double courtyard that was surrounded by a moat. He also added state and family apartments on the second courtyard. The Chapel, which would become St. Mary's, and the Tithe Barn were also built under Boteler.

In 1469, Edward IV of England confiscated the castle from its owner, Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley and gave it to his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, who later became Richard III of England. Richard would use the castle as a base for the Battle of Tewkesbury. The Duke would later exchange this property for Richmond Castle making Sudeley property of the crown. After Richard became king, he became owner of the castle for a second time. During his reign the Banqueting Hall with oriel windows and the adjoining State rooms, now in ruins, were built in place of the Eastern range of Boteler’s inner court as part of a Royal suite.

After Richard's death at the Battle of Bosworth, it passed to the new king, Henry VII, who then gave it to his uncle, Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford. By the time Henry VIII succeeded, the castle was the property of the Crown again.

In 1535, Henry VIII visited the castle with his second wife Anne Boleyn, which had been empty and unattended for some time.

When King Henry died, the castle became the property of his son, Edward VI of England, who gave it to his uncle, Thomas Seymour who he made Lord of Sudeley. In 1547, Thomas married Edward's stepmother Catherine Parr. At this time, Seymour and Catherine moved into Sudeley. They were accompanied by Lady Jane Grey and brought with them ladies to attend on the Queen Dowager, as well as gentlemen of the household and Yeomen of the guard. The Lady Elizabeth Tudor was also a guest at Sudeley during her stepmother's marriage to Seymour. Thomas began to renovate the castle for Catherine's use, but only one room that he built remains today. It was here that Catherine became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter, Lady Mary Seymour, only to die seven days later after childbirth. Catherine was buried in the Chapel. Her grave was discovered in 1728 after the castle and the chapel had been left in ruins by the English Civil War. She was later reinterred by the Rector of Sudeley in 1817 and an elaborate tomb was erected in her honor.

Engraving of Sudeley Castle

In 1549, Seymour's ambitions led him to being arrested and beheaded; after which, Sudeley Castle became the property of Catherine's brother, William Parr, Marquess of Northampton. After Parr's involvement with the plot to put Lady Jane Grey on the throne, he was stripped of his property and title.

In 1554, Queen Mary gave Sudeley Castle to John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos, and it remained his property throughout the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It was at Sudeley that Queen Elizabeth was entertained three times and in 1592 a spectacular three-day feast to celebrate the anniversary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada was held.

Current ownership

The knot garden of Sudeley Castle

The current owners are Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe, wife of Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe, and her two children — Henry (who married his wife Lili Maltese at the castle in 1998) and Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst. After the death of Lady Ashcombe's husband Mark Dent-Brocklehurst in 1972, she owns 50 percent of the equity, while her children each own 25 percent. Mark inherited Sudeley in 1949 after the death of his father. His mother decided to stay at the castle though until 1969. It was at this time that Mark and his American born wife, Elizabeth decided to open up the castle to the public. It took two years to convert the home into a tourist attraction only to see the death of Mark in 1972. With this event his wife and children were beset with massive debts and death duties. It was then that Lady Ashcombe decided to take on a 20th century renaissance of the castle. After her marriage to Baron Ashcombe, the couple made major renovations to balance a visitor attraction with what is primarily a private residence. Lady Ashcombe and her children have since taken over the management of the castle as a visitor attraction.

It is a Grade I listed building (first listed in 1960), and recognised as an internationally important structure.

Hauntings

A few people have reported seeing a tall woman wearing a green Tudor styled dress, seen looking out of a window and walking through the Queen's garden, is thought to be Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII. Many members of the household staff have reported seeing the Lady in Green. After Henry died in 1547, Catherine married Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley. Later that year, aged 35, Catherine gave birth to a daughter named Mary. A week later Catherine died of puerperal fever, and she was buried on the grounds of Sudeley in the Chapel of St. Mary. Her daughter, abandoned by her father, was taken in by Catherine's close friend Catherine Willoughby. There is no record of Mary Seymour after 1550.

A century later, during the civil war, the Chapel of St. Mary was ransacked and Catherine's casket disappeared. It was rediscovered in 1782 by a local farmer. He opened it up to find her well preserved body. After taking a few locks of hair he closed the casket and reburied it. In 1792 the casket was disturbed by two men who damaged it and buried it upside down. The casket was exhumed again in 1817 and Catherine's body moved to the tomb of Lord Chandos in St. Mary's Chapel.

Queen Katherine Parr Quincentennial

2012 is the 500th anniversary of the birth of Queen Katherine Parr and a series of events is planned at Sudeley Castle to commemorate its most remarkable former resident, including a new exhibition with a film introduced by Sir David Starkey, talks by writers and historians and Tudor Fun Days.

Cultural references

• BBC Four featured an investigation into the castle on 27 June 2007 titled Crisis At The Castle. This detailed the turmoil associated with managing the castle within three sets of owners and their families.
• Sudeley is regarded by many as the model for Blandings Castle in the novels by P. G. Wodehouse. The adaptation for BBC television of Wodehouse's Heavy Weather (1995) was filmed there.

Recovering from the Crisis

The BBC's investigation, Crisis at the Castle, highlighted the problems of running a family home as a visitor attraction. Closing the castle to the general public on some weekdays meant that visitors were disheartened when embarking on their day trips, and resulted in a dramatic fall in visitor numbers in the three years leading up to the creation of the program.

Other burials

• John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos, in Sudeley Church

See also

• Louisa Pitt
• Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
• List of castles in England

External links

• Sudeley Castle Official Website
• St Mary's Sudeley (Parish website)
• Sudeley Castle review and photo gallery