Sudeley Castle
Encyclopedia
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
located near Winchcombe
Winchcombe
Winchcombe is a Cotswold town in the local authority district of Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, England. Its population according to the 2001 census was 4,379.-Early history:...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England. It dates from the 10th century, but the inhabited portion is chiefly Elizabethan. The castle has a notable garden, which is designed and maintained to a very high standard. The chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, St. Mary's Sudeley, is the burial place of Queen Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
(c. 1512–1548), the sixth wife of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, and contains her marble tomb
Church monument
A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a dead person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms, from a simple wall tablet to a large and elaborate structure which may include an effigy of the deceased person and other figures of familial or...
. Unusual for a castle chapel, St Mary's of Sudeley is part of the local parish of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. 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
King Æthelred (The Unready) (c. 968 – 23 April 1016) gave the manor and estate to his daughter Goda
Goda of England
Goda of England or Godgifu; was the daughter of King Ethelred the Unready and his second wife Emma of Normandy, and sister of King Edward the Confessor...
on her marriage to Walter de Maunt
Drogo of Mantes
Drogo of Mantes was the count of Valois and the Vexin in the early eleventh century from 1027 to his death. His capital was Mantes, thus his byname. He married Goda, daughter of King Ethelred the Unready of England and Queen Emma of Normandy and the sister of King Edward the Confessor. Their...
. Their grandson, Harold, held the manor Sudeley during the Norman conquest. The Boteler family inherited the manor and estate through the sister of the 9th Lord Sudeley who died while fighting in Spain alongside Edward, the Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
.
In 1442, Ralph Boteler who was created Baron Sudeley by Henry VI of England
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
, built the actual castle on its present site using what he had earned fighting in the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
. 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
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
confiscated the castle from its owner, Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley
Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley
Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley and 6th Baron Sudeley KG was an English baron and aristocrat. He was the Captain of Calais and Treasurer of England .-Family:...
and gave it to his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, who later became Richard III of England
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
. Richard would use the castle as a base for the Battle of Tewkesbury
Battle of Tewkesbury
The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses. The forces loyal to the House of Lancaster were completely defeated by those of the rival House of York under their monarch, King Edward IV...
. 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
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
, who then gave it to his uncle, Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford. By the time Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
succeeded, the castle was the property of the Crown again.
In 1535, Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
visited the castle with his second wife Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
, 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
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
, who gave it to his uncle, Thomas Seymour
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG was an English politician.Thomas spent his childhood in Wulfhall, outside Savernake Forest, in Wiltshire. Historian David Starkey describes Thomas thus: 'tall, well-built and with a dashing beard and auburn hair, he was irresistible to women'...
who he made Lord of Sudeley. In 1547, Thomas married Edward's stepmother Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
. At this time, Seymour and Catherine moved into Sudeley. They were accompanied by Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
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
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
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
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. She was later reinterred by the Rector of Sudeley in 1817 and an elaborate tomb was erected in her honor.
William Parr
William Parr may refer to:* William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Kendal - courtier and soldier, grandfather of Queen Katherine Parr* William Parr, 1st Baron Parr of Horton , son of the above...
, Marquess of Northampton
Marquess of Northampton
Marquess of Northampton is a title that has been created twice.-William Parr:First creation, 1547–1571The title was created for the first time in the Peerage of England in 1547 in favour of William Parr, brother of Catherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII. The title was forfeited...
. After Parr's involvement with the plot to put Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
on the throne, he was stripped of his property and title.
In 1554, Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
gave Sudeley Castle to John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos
John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos
John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos was an English Member of Parliament and later peer. His name is also sometimes spelt Bruges....
, and it remained his property throughout the reign of Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
. 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
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
was held.
Current ownership
Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe
Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe, , is a British peer.He is the son of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe and Sonia Rosemary Keppel, and the uncle of Her Royal Highness Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.- Education & career :...
, 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
Mark Dent-Brocklehurst
Mark Dent-Brocklehurst was a stockbroker and the heir to Sudeley Castle. He died suddenly from a heart attack in 1972. The castle passed to his wife Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe and his two children Henry and Molly....
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.
Hauntings
There is a melancholy figure who is said to haunt the castle. This figure is described as a tall woman wearing a green Tudor styled dress. The Lady in Green who looks out of a window and walks through the Queen's garden is thought to be the ghost of Catherine Parr. Catherine ParrCatherine Parr
Catherine Parr ; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen consort of England and Ireland and the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII of England. She married Henry VIII on 12 July 1543. She was the fourth commoner Henry had taken as his consort, and outlived him...
, was the sixth wife of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
. After Henry died in 1547, she married Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG was an English politician.Thomas spent his childhood in Wulfhall, outside Savernake Forest, in Wiltshire. Historian David Starkey describes Thomas thus: 'tall, well-built and with a dashing beard and auburn hair, he was irresistible to women'...
. Later that year, Catherine became pregnant at age 35 and gave birth to a daughter named Mary. A week later, to everyone's dismay, Catherine became ill with puerperal fever and died. Catherine was buried on the grounds of Sudeley in the Chapel of St. Mary. Her daughter, Mary, was abandoned by her father and was taken in by Catherine's close friend, Catherine Willoughby. After 1550, as there is no record of Mary Seymour, most historians believe she died.
During the civil war a century later, the Chapel where Catherine was buried was ransacked and her casket disappeared. In 1782, a local farmer came upon her casket. He opened it up to find her perfectly preserved. After taking a few locks of hair he closed the coffin and buried it again. Catherine's tomb would then be disturbed again in 1792 by two drunk men who roughed up the coffin and buried it upside down. It would not be until 1817, when her remains were moved to the tomb of Lord Chandos in St. Mary's Chapel that Catherine would be properly buried and honored with a marvelous marble tomb. As to Catherine's ghost, some think that she is still at Sudeley searching for her daughter whom she never had the pleasure of knowing. Many members of the household staff have reported seeing this apparition and have now come to accept it as the ghost of Queen Catherine.
The latest haunting comes from a teenager who was on tour in 1993. In 1896, a maid named Janet was employed as housekeeper for the castle. She was responsible for making sure that everything ran according to plan. She was also responsible for the other ladies which were employed under the household. Many of these ladies were young, unsophisticated girls who had never been away from home before. Janet took it upon herself to keep the ladies morals in check. On the tour in 1993, the young girl was standing on the steps when she felt drawn to the top. It is said that Janet kept watch at night at the top of the stairs protecting the ladies. Suddenly the girl saw an apparition of a maid. Scared out of her whits she ran down the stairs. To this day it is thought that Janet is still keeping watch over the castle and those who are employed and live there have come to accept her as part of their lives.
Cultural references
- BBC FourBBC FourBBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
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 CastleBlandings CastleBlandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
in the novels by P. G. WodehouseP. G. WodehouseSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
. The adaptation for BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television of Wodehouse's Heavy WeatherHeavy Weather (TV)Heavy Weather was a dramatisation for television by Douglas Livingstone of the novel Heavy Weather by P. G. Wodehouse , set at Blandings Castle...
(1995) was filmed there.
Recovering from the Crisis
The BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
'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.
See also
- Louisa PittLouisa PittHon. Louisa Pitt , was born in 1754 in Stratfield-Say, Southampton, Hampshire, England, the daughter of the British diplomat and politician George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers and Penelope Atkins. She married English peerage Sir Peter Beckford on 22 March 1773 in Dorset...
- Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
- List of castles in England