Sudeley Castle - Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
Sudeley Castle stands near the market town of Winchcombe in the Cotswold Hills of Gloucestershire. The remains of Roman villas have been found around the Winchcombe area and it was once the chief city of Mercia when under the rule of the Saxon King Offa, famous for the building of Offa’s Dyke, the barrier he had built to help prevent the Welsh from invading the County.
In 798, Winchcombe Abbey was founded by King Kenulph of Mercia and at the time of his death in 821 it was one of the wealthiest foundations in England, with 300 monks. Kenulph had a son, Kenelm who was only seven years old when his father died. A story tells that he was left with his older sister Quendrida, who was said to have been an evil woman.
In 798, Winchcombe Abbey was founded by King Kenulph of Mercia and at the time of his death in 821 it was one of the wealthiest foundations in England, with 300 monks. Kenulph had a son, Kenelm who was only seven years old when his father died. A story tells that he was left with his older sister Quendrida, who was said to have been an evil woman.
She was said to have bribed Kenelm’s tutor, Askebert to take Kenelm on a hunting expedition and murder him. Askebert killed the child, removed his head and buried him in the woods. A white dove is said to have dropped a parchment at St Peter’s in Rome which told of the crime. The parchment read:
“In Clent, cow pasture under a thorn, of head bereft lies Kenelm, King born, and the guiding light.” |
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The story was published in the Winchcombe and Sudeley Record in June of 1894 and it read:
“This villainy, so secretly committed in England, was miraculously revealed in Rome by a white dove that dropped a parchment on St Peter’s. On this evidence great multitudes assembled – a pillar of light appeared over the grave of Kenelm to which they were guided by a white cow which used to frequent the valley which afterwards became known as The Valley of the White Cow.”
“This villainy, so secretly committed in England, was miraculously revealed in Rome by a white dove that dropped a parchment on St Peter’s. On this evidence great multitudes assembled – a pillar of light appeared over the grave of Kenelm to which they were guided by a white cow which used to frequent the valley which afterwards became known as The Valley of the White Cow.”
Quendrida didn’t know anything about this until an angry mob came to take her to the makeshift grave where her brothers body lay. As the mob approached her, she was singing from a psalter that she was holding. Her eyes were torn out and the blood fell onto the psalter onto a verse that read:
“This is the work of them who defame me to the Lord, and who speak evil against my soul.”
“This is the work of them who defame me to the Lord, and who speak evil against my soul.”
The body of Kenelm was wanted by both Gloucester and Worcester as Holy Relics but his remains went to Winchcombe Abbey where a shrine was built that drew many visitors and many miracles were witnessed. Kenelm was venerated as a Saint. Two stone coffins that are believed to be the remains of Kenulph and Kenelm are now in Winchcombe Parish church. One of the miracles witnessed was the appearance of a spring called Kenelm’s spring, which supplies Sudeley Castle with water.
In 877, Viking invaders raided Winchcombe Abbey, leaving it with considerable damage. King Ethelred the Unready gave the Saxon estate and manor to his daughter Goda after she married Walter de Maunt. Goda and Walter’s son Ralf became the Earl of Hereford. Ralf had a son called Harold who is recorded as being the holder of Sudeley in the Domesday book but his Earldom was taken away from him by William the Conqueror. The Domesday entry reads:
“Held by Harold de Sudeley: taxed at 12 Hides; there were 31 plow villages, whereof 4 were in demean, 6 water mills and a wood 3 leagues long by 4 leagues wide.”
“Held by Harold de Sudeley: taxed at 12 Hides; there were 31 plow villages, whereof 4 were in demean, 6 water mills and a wood 3 leagues long by 4 leagues wide.”
After the death of Harold, the estate was passed on to his son John de Sudeley who married Grace Tracy, the daughter of William Tracy, an illegitimate son of Henry I.
In 1139, the manor house was fortified as John joined Matilda in her attempt to gain the crown of England against King Stephen. The King seized Sudeley and used it as a Royal garrison. Eventually the fortified manor house was returned to the family and was handed to John’s son, Ralph de Sudeley.
By 1367, the estate was held by John 9th Lord de Sudeley who was killed in Spain while fighting for the Edward the Black Prince, son of King Edward III. Sudeley was then passed on to John’s sister who married into the Boteler family.
In 1440, Ralph Boteler was made a Knight of the Garter and created Baron Sudeley by Henry VI (6th). He was a military commander and a Member of the Kings Household under Henry V (5th) and Henry VI (6th). He built the Sudeley Castle we see today on its present site; the older manor house is believed to have stood where the current gardens are now. The building originally had a moat and had quarters for servants and men at arms. The Chapel and Tithe barn were also built around this time.
A few years after the building of the castle, Ralph Boteler was appointed Treasurer of the Exchequer and High Treasurer of England. Boteler was a Lancastrian supporter and during the War of the Roses in 1469, King Edward IV (4th) forced him to sell Sudeley Castle to the King. King Edward gave the castle to his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester who held the estate for nine years using it as a base during the battle of Tewkesbury. In 1478, Richard exchanged Sudeley for Richmond Castle in Yorkshire. After the death of King Edward IV (4th), Richard ascended to the throne as Richard III. He once again became the owner of Sudeley. Richard was killed in 1485 at Bosworth Castle which brought an end to the War of the Roses and the crown of England went to Henry VII (7th) which was the start of the Tudor dynasty. Henry gave Sudeley Caste to his uncle, Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford who died in 1495 and the castle was returned to the crown.
King Henry VIII (8th) and Anne Boleyn visited the castle from 21st – 26th of July in 1535. During his time there, he met with Thomas Cromwell at Winchcombe Abbey to discuss the dissolution of the monasteries, which was the fate of Winchcombe Abbey.
After the death of Henry VIII, his son Edward VI gave the castle to his uncle, Sir Thomas Seymour, appointing him Lord of Sudeley and High Admiral of England. Thomas took an interest in the young Princess Elizabeth but she said no when he proposed to her. He then moved on to her step mother, Katherine Parr.
Thomas Seymour and Katherine Parr courted before she met the King Henry. Katherine had been married and widowed twice before the age of 30. In 1547, Thomas and Katherine married in a secret ceremony. Thomas Seymour refurbished the castle in 1548 and he and Katherine moved in accompanied by Lady Jane Grey. Thomas continued to flirt with the young Elizabeth who would have only been 15 at the time. One incident that was recorded mentioned Thomas going into Elizabeth’s bed, removing her dress and spanking her behind. Katherine became jealous and had Elizabeth moved to another house.
On August 30th 1548, Katherine gave birth to a daughter who they named Mary. Only days later on 5th of September, Katherine died from fever. Katherine was buried in St Mary’s Chapel at Sudeley and Lady Jane Grey attended as chief mourner. Katherine Parr in the only English Queen to be buried on private land. There is no record of what happened to baby Mary but it is believed that she died at 2 years of age.
After the death of Edward VI (6th), the legitimate heir to the throne was his sister, Princess Mary. Thomas Seymour conspired with others to replace her with Lady Jane Grey who was the granddaughter of King Henry VIII’s sister. Thomas was executed on the 20th of March 1549 being convicted with 33 counts of treason.
In 1554, Queen Mary I granted the Castle and estate to Sir John Brydges, creating him Baron Chandos of Sudeley, who’s descendants held the caste for the next 100 years. During that time, in 1592, Queens Elizabeth I stayed at Sudeley for a 3-day celebration with the 3rd Lord Chandos to celebrate the defeat of the Spanish Armada. It has been described as one of the longest parties in history.
On 22nd August 1642, George, 6th Lord Chandos declared his support to King Charles I during English Civil War. His servants and tenants were all armed and they marched to join Charles at Shrewsbury while his brother was left at Sudeley to take command of the castle. The castle was surrendered in January 1643 to Colonel Massey and his roundhead troops. Prince Rupert, the King’s nephew, attacked and captured Cirencester 2 days later which forced the roundheads to leave Sudeley but not before desecrating the chapel by turning it into a stable and slaughter house.
Sudeley was attacked again in 1644 by the Parliamentarians under the command of Sir William Waller, and was surrendered by the governor of the castle, Sir William Morton. The castle was used by the Parliamentarians for the next 5 years as a garrison until they were ordered to destroy the castle so it would be useless as a military base. Lord Chandos was awarded £1000 for the loss of the castle but he never returned and the title was passed onto the Pitt family.
For the next 200 years, the castle lay in ruins and much of the stone was used by locals as building materials. The remains of the castle were occupied by the tenants of the estate and at one time it became an inn called the Castle Arms.
In May 1782, Katherine Parr’s tomb was discovered in the ruined chapel by some tourists. They approached a local farmer named John Lucas who was persuaded to dig under the wall. They found a lead lined coffin with an engraving on that read:
“Here lyethe queen Katherine, wife to King Henry VIII and last wife of Thomas Lord of Sudeley High Admiral of England and uncle to King Edward VI (6th). Died 5th September 1548.”
“Here lyethe queen Katherine, wife to King Henry VIII and last wife of Thomas Lord of Sudeley High Admiral of England and uncle to King Edward VI (6th). Died 5th September 1548.”
When John Lucas prized the coffin open, the Queen’s body was perfectly preserved, her skin was still white and her red hair was also visible. However, after being exposed to the air, her body crumbled to just dust and bones. Lucas was told to rebury the coffin, which he did but one night after a drunken night out with friends, they persuaded him to reopen the coffin so that they could see for themselves. Legend says that Lucas went mad and died, and shortly afterwards his friends also suffered similar fates.
In 1817, Katherine Parr’s coffin was removed from its open grave and placed into the Chandos family vault. In 1861, she was interred in the chapel in a fitting tomb suitable for a queen by the Dent family who bought the castle in 1837.
John and William Dent were glove makers from Worcester, they bought the castle from the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos. They restored much of the castle and acquired many valuable pieces of furniture and art from the Tudor period which is still in the castle today.
In 1856, the nephew of John and William Dent, John Coucher Dent inherited the castle. John married Emma Brocklehurst, the daughter of John Brocklehurst, the owner of a silk milling company and the 1st MP of Macclesfield. After her husband's death in 1885, Emma Dent carried on restoring the castle and was dedicated to helping the local area of Winchcombe, including providing the towns 1st piped water supply. Emma died in 1900 and the castle has been kept in the family to this present day where Lady Elizabeth Ashcombe now resides with her children, Henry and Mollie who help manage the estate.
A tall lady in a long green dress has often been seen around the castle nursery sometimes accompanied by the sound of a child crying. Before she appears, witnesses have said that they’ve smelled apple scented perfume. It is believed to be the ghost of Katherine Parr and the crying child, her daughter Mary.
In 1860, a worker on the estate was asked to fix a blind in one of the windows. It was evening and the sun was going down, so he had to fix the blind by candlelight. While he was repairing the blind, he felt a woman rush past and he could hear the sound of her dress rustling as she moved. He presumed it to be Emma Dent but he later found out that everyone else was downstairs, he had been working alone. He told the housekeeper that he’d taken a tooth from Katherine Parr’s coffin. He wrote the following in a notebook:
“Could it be so, that the ghost of Katherine was committed to roam over these old precincts, making night hideous and to fill me with ore, those who have been guilty of robbing the dead.”
His wife made him return the tooth to the coffin.
“Could it be so, that the ghost of Katherine was committed to roam over these old precincts, making night hideous and to fill me with ore, those who have been guilty of robbing the dead.”
His wife made him return the tooth to the coffin.
One winter, the castle was locked up with only the cleaners and an artist who was using ‘Katherine’s room’, to paint. One of the workers walked past the window in the room and said good morning to a lady who was standing by the window, who she believed to be the artist. As she left the room, she saw the artist was walking down the stairs and she hadn’t been in the room that day. She described the lady as tall, wearing a long green dress.
On a visit to the castle, an elderly couple were in the area of the nursery when they spoke to a lady who they believed to be someone dressed up in costume. The lady walked past them without acknowledging them and then disappeared. They described her as very beautiful, tall, wearing a long green dress and red hair.
During the late 19th to the early 20th centuries, a housekeeper was employed by the Dent family by the name of Janet who worked at the castle for 50 years. Janet was a Scottish lady who was strong minded and highly efficient at her job. In those times the women's and men's sleeping quarters were in different parts of the building to keep them from having relationships. Janet would sit at the top of the stairs where the men's quarters went one way and the women's the opposite way to ensure that they all went to their appropriate rooms. She used to wear a mob cap, white blouse, a faded pink long skirt which would reach to her ankles and black shoes.
In 1993, a group of teenagers from a local school visited the castle when one of the teenagers wondered off on her own. She went up the stairs and she was confronted by the ghost of Janet who appeared close to her face and angrily waved a feather duster in her face twice. Janet is often seen around August and September time and is usually seen on the stairs and in the Rupert Room.
The Tithe barn has its own ghost. A woman in her 20s has been seen often, she wears a long white dress and has long auburn hair. She is seen playful and happy and is believed to have stayed at the castle once on holiday and had a holiday romance. People believe that she secretly met her lover in the barn.
A small black dog has been seen many times by visitors which is believed to be the pet of Prince Rupert who was killed during a siege during the Civil War.
Other ghosts that have been seen are a young blonde-haired boy in the garden, a blacksmith who hammers away in the night in the vault and many guests have been woken up in the night by the weight of someone sitting on the bed.