Sudeley Castle is a magnificent 15th and 16th century country house with a long and facinating history.
In the 10th century Sudeley was the property of Ethelred 'the Unready'. The present house was first built around two courtyards in 1442 by Ralph Boteler, Lord Sudeley, a supporter of the Lancastrian kings and Admiral of the Fleet in the French Wars of Henry V and VI.
In 1469 he was forced to sell the property to the Yorkist Edward IV, who passed it to his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later Richard III.
Sudeley Castle remained a Crown property unitl 1547 when Edward VI gave it to Thomas Seymour, Lord High Admiral, on his marriage to Catherine Parr the widow of Henry VIII.
The couple lived here in great splendour. Catherine died the following year and was buried in the church at Sudeley and in 1549 Seymour was executed for treason.
In 1555 Queen Mary granted the house to John Brydges, 1st Lord Chandos, lieutenant of the Tower of London. His son, the 2nd Lord, made changes to the house, particularly the outer courtyard in 1572.
During the Civil War Sudeley Castle was a Royalist headquarters under Prince Rupert, the nephew of Charles I and suffered several seiges.
The property passed by marriage to the Pitt family of Strafield Saye and the ruins became a fashionable destination for 18th century sightseers.
In 1837 the Castle was purchased by John and William Dent, wealthy glovemakers from Worcester. They commissioned the architect Harvey Eginton to transform the ruined buildings into a romantic Tudor house, furnishing the house with appropriate pieces including items purchased at the famous Strawberry Hill sale of 1842, when the contents of Horace Walpole's house were sold.
Their nephew, John Coucher Dent, inherited the house and created the present formal gardens. In 1859 - 63 he engaged Sir Giles Gilbert Scott to restore the church, also ruined in the Civil War.
On Dent's death Sudeley Castle passed to his wife and then it descended to Lord and Lady Ashcombe, the present owners.
The interior of Sudeley Castle was remodelled in the 20th century and the collection of paintings acquired by James Morrison in the early-19th century was inherited by Lady Ashcombe.
The present house occupies the north or outer courtyard rebuilt by the 2nd Lord Chandos in the 1570s.
To the east is the restored 15th century church and nearby the formal Victorian garden. The shell of the splendid late-15th century Banqueting Hall remains in the south or inner courtyard.
This building, together with the hall in the now vanished south range, formed the ceremonial heart of Sudeley Castle before the Civil War. The west side of the inner courtyard housed the service area, flanked by the Portmare Tower and the Dungeon Tower dated 1442.
A gatehouse at the centre of the north front was the original entrance but today the entrance is a tower in the north-east corner of the outer courtyard, dated 1889, leading to the North Hall which displays landscapes by Cuyp and Jacob van Ruisdael and a bust of Oliver Cromwell.
The Drawing Room above the gatehouse contains work by Rubens and the Oak Lobbys has 16th and 17th century stained glass in the windows.
In an adjacent bedroom is a huge four-poster bed said to have belonged to Charles I. The Catherine Parr Room was created in the early-19th century, almost as a shrine, with an elaborate plaster ceiling.
The south staircase, ornamented by a stained glass portrait of Elizabeth I, descends to the ground floor. Here a corridor leads to the Library which contains a late-16th century floral tapestry and Charles I's dispatch case.
The former Garderobe Tower links the east and west ranges.
Sudeley Castle is surrounded by eight beautiful gardens. The sculptured yews in the Queen's Garden encircle a collection of shrub roses. Gardens include Rose Gardens, Tudor Knot Garden and the Victorian Kitchen Garden. There are also manicured lawns and formal pools.
2008: 15 Mar-31 Oct: 10:30-17:00
Tel: 01242 604244 (10:00-17:00) Info: 01242 604357 Sudeley Castle Website
