Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire


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Sudeley Castle, near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

Extracts from Wikipedia
In 1442, Ralph Boteler who was created Baron Sudeley by Henry VI, built the actual castle on its present site. In 1469 Edward IV confiscated the castle and gave it to his brother, the Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III) who used the castle as a base for the Battle of Tewkesbury.

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. He in turn left it to his son, Edward VI, who gave it to his uncle, Thomas Seymour who he made Lord of Sudeley.

In 1547 Thomas married Edward's stepmother Catherine Parr and they moved into Sudeley, accompanied by Lady Jane Grey. 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 and it was here in 1548 that Catherine became pregnant and gave birth to her daughter, Lady Mary Seymour, only to die seven days later. Catherine was buried in the Chapel.

Elizabeth I was entertained three times at Sudeley and in 1592 a spectacular three-day feast was held to celebrate the anniversary of the defeat of the Armada.

The current owners are Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe, wife of Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe, and her children Henry and Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst.

v Sudeley Castle
reproduced under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
1. Sudeley Castle, 2007 - Attribution: Mouchoir le Souris at the English language Wikipedia
2.
The Gatehouse of Sudeley Castle, 2006 - Attribution: Jennifer Luther Thomas
 

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This sounds like an wonderful festival and Katherine Parr is an amazing Tudor queen, having outlived Henry VIII and being stepmother to the young Elizabeth I in her formative years. Sudeley Castle sounds like a fantastic place to visit as well. Thank you for the information, CarolynHarris.
 
The current owners are Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe, wife of Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe, and her children Henry and Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst.



So Camilla is a relative of the present owners?
 
So Camilla is a relative of the present owners?
Yes, she is. Henry Edward Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe is Camilla's uncle. He is the son of Roland Cubitt, 3rd Baron Ashcombe and Sonia Rosemary Keppel - Camilla's grandparents. The Baron's wife - Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe - is the widow of Mark Dent-Brocklehurst, the heir to Sudeley Castle. After his death, his widow and two children inherited the castle.
 
This video includes shots of inside Sudeley Castle
 
I'm very much hoping to visit this place. I've known of it for a long time of course because of Catherine Parr, but now part of my research also crosses in that direction and I'm back again in the Cotswolds in a week or so. I think it opens in the spring but I often go to places briefly, nearby open spots, when closed as a pre-visit to get a sense of their placement in the environment and the local surrounds - 'drink in the atmosphere' you might say. A longer visit in the Spring when the gardens come to life would be really lovely.
 
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Katherine's burial was disturbed during the English Civil War by the Roundheads who had little regard for royalty or church ornamentation.
The chapel was left in ruins and her lead coffin was found dumped in the 18th century during partial restoration and finally in moved in 1861 to the newly restored chapel and tomb monument.

960px-Tomb_of_Catherine_Parr.jpg
 
I think also Horace Walpole may have in the 18th century intruded on her grave but I can't find this again having done a quick internet search but he did know a family connected to the Sudeley Estate during his lifetime. He was also part of a group that disinterred or attended the dissinterment of Mary Rose Tudor from her grave at Bury St. Edmunds so I may have this confused, I certainly hope it was not both! I find him peculiar, one of the twin 'horrorces' as I sometimes think of them; :p namely Horace's Mann and Walpole who lurked around the Stuart family in exile in Europe. Although Mann was said to be nice, I've not always been that convinced.
This is getting grim but I've long been rather suprised/ baulked at the way the bodies of deceased well known women where treated such as Katheirne of Valois, widow of Henry V, being left on show for a number of years and kissed by Samual Pepys for a few pennies or whatever he paid. Also in Florence I read many years ago when In Florence and remembered, the body of Maria Ludovica the last direct member of the Medici line wasn't treated very well, somewhat 'handled' when on public display is only the modest way to say it by persons including English 'gentlemen' touring on the continent. *shudder*. Not nice and these where such 'godly' times we are led to believe.
 
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Mary Tudor , dowager queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk was buried originally at Bury St. Edmunds Abbey but her remains were moved to St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds in 1539 when the Abbey was dissolved.
In 1784 the Earl and friend opened the queens coffin and cut off lockets of her hair as a ghoulish souvenir .
 
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