N
estled in a fold of the Cotswold Hills
lies Sudeley Castle. Its basic layout
has changed little since it was built by
Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley, in the 15th
century: occasional towers and two-storey
crenellated buildings with mullioned windows
surround inner and outer courtyards, with
a tithe barn and chapel nearby. Among these
structures, bedecked with climbing roses,
clematis and ivy, stand romantic ruins
revealing the destruction wrought upon the
castle in later years, and providing a gateway
into Sudeley’s remarkable past.
Those ruins date from 1649, when parlia-
mentarian troops were ordered to “slight” the
castle. By then, Roundheads had occupied
Sudeley for nearly five years, having besieged
it twice before, and now sought to render it
untenable as a future royalist stronghold.
The site had been entwined with royal
history since long before Charles I installed
his nephew and cavalry commander, Prince
Rupert of the Rhine, at Sudeley in the early
years of the war. (Charles himself reputedly
slept in the exquisite four-poster bed now
displayed in the castle’s Chandos Bedroom.)
In the 10th century the manor house and
estate at Sudeley had been gifted by King
Æthelred to his daughter, Goda, and over
several centuries the crown intermittently
owned, architecturally embellished, gifted
and exploited the site.
Richard of Gloucester, who owned Sudeley
from 1471, used rumours of Edward IV’s
clandestine marriage at the castle to legitimise
his claim to the throne as Richard III. Later,
Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I
visited on royal progresses, and Katherine Parr
is buried in the chapel, having married the 1stEXPLORE... SUDELEY CASTLE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Rich in royal history
Burgeoning from an Anglo-Saxon manor house into a magnificent Tudor
residence, Sudeley Castle hosted successive monarchs before being ravaged
during the Civil War. CLEMENTINE BERESFORD explores the evocative
ruins and rich royal history of this hidden gem in the CotswoldsE
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Baron Seymour of Sudeley after Henry’s death.
In 1788, curious about the damage wreaked
by Cromwell’s assault, George III climbed the
Octagon Tower to investigate a cannonball
hole – only to take a tumble, and be saved from
injury by a gallant housekeeper.
Today, Sudeley’s rich royal history is told
through a superb exhibition in its oldest wing.
Treasures include Elizabeth I’s beautifully
embroidered satin christening robe and Henry
VIII’s exquisitely illustrated Bohun Book of
Hours. Of the many relics linked to Katherine
Parr, particularly fascinating items include her
love letters and a copy of her own book Prayers
or Meditations, bound in red silk and embroi-
dered with gold and silver threads. Other
keepsakes that emerged after the discovery of
her tomb in a ruined chapel in 1782 include
fragments of her dress and a lock of hair.
Stepping into the family’s wing, the castle’s
royal story continues through Katherine’s
anterooms and Lucas de Heere’s 1572 painting
The Allegory of the Tudor Succession, which
features various members of the Tudor
dynasty. The ruins of Richard III’s once-splen-
did banqueting hall, damaged by Cromwell’s
troops, now offer a picturesque canvas for
nature’s palette, with foliage creeping through
the oriel windows and eerily elevated empty
fireplaces. The nearby Queens’ Garden, named
for the various female sovereigns who have
visited the castle, boasts many dozens of
varieties of rose.
Indeed, Sudeley today is blooming. Its
renaissance was begun by the Dent family,
who bought the castle in 1837 and rescued it
from the ruinous decay that beset it after the
Civil Wars, and was continued by their
descendants, the Dent-Brocklehursts, who live
at the castle to this day. Thanks to their efforts,
visitors continue to be charmed by its golden
stone walls, historical connections and idyllic
setting among pillowy, verdant hills.Clementine Beresford is a cultural historian,
specialising in Tudor and Stuart royal ceremonyFor more information on visiting Sudeley
Castle, go to sudeleycastle.co.ukVISITBedecked with climbing
roses, clematis and ivy,
romantic medieval ruins
reveal the destruction later
wrought upon the castle
The Queens’ Garden at Sudeley Castle, where many
dozens of rose varieties bloomABOVE The golden stone walls
of Sudeley Castle, much
restored in the 19th century,
are set in glorious gardens
BELOW The turf-bewigged
ruins of the tithe barn, built
in the 15th century alongside
the original castle