Today Sudeley Castle remains the only private castle in England to have a queen buried within the grounds - Queen Katherine Parr, the last and surviving wife of King Henry VIII – who lived and died in the castle.
Henry himself, Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, Queen Elizabeth I and Richard III have all played a part in Sudeley’s story. King Charles I found refuge here during the Civil War, when his nephew Prince Rupert established headquarters at the Castle. Following its ‘slighting’ on Cromwell’s orders at the end of the Civil War, Sudeley lay neglected and derelict for nearly 200 years.
Then in 1837, Sudeley was rescued by the wealthy Worcester glove-makers, brothers John and William Dent, who began an ambitious restoration programme, which was continued by their nephew, John Coucher Dent, when he inherited the castle in 1855. His wife, Emma Brocklehurst, threw herself enthusiastically into Sudeley’s restoration, at the same time forging strong links with the nearby town of Winchcombe. It is the results of Emma’s dedication that are so evident in the gardens and exhibitions at Sudeley today.
Sudeley Castle & Gardens is now the home of Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe, and her son, daughter and their families. The family is committed to the continued preservation of the castle, its treasures and the ongoing restoration and regeneration of the gardens.
Sudeley Castle is a Grade I listed castle in the parish of Sudeley, in the Cotswolds, near to the medieval market town of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. The castle has 10 notable gardens covering some 15 acres (6.1 ha) within a 1,200-acre (490 ha) estate nestled within the Cotswold hills.
Building of the castle began in 1443 for Ralph Boteler; the Lord High Treasurer of England, on the site of a previous 12th-century fortified manor house. It was later seized by the crown and became the property of King Edward IV and King Richard III, who built its famous banqueting hall.[2]
King Henry VIII and his then wife Anne Boleyn visited the castle in 1535 and it later became the home and final resting place of his sixth wife, Catherine Parr who remarried after the king's death. Parr is buried in the castle's church, making Sudeley the only privately owned castle in the world to have a Queen of England buried in its grounds. Sudeley soon became the home of the Chandos family, and the castle was visited on three occasions by Queen Elizabeth I, who held a three-day party there to celebrate the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
During the First English Civil War, the castle was used as a military base, by King Charles I and Prince Rupert, and it was later besieged and slighted by parliament, remaining largely in ruins for the following few centuries until its purchase in 1837 by the Dent family, who restored the castle and turned it into a family home.
Sudeley is operated by the family and remains the home of Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe and "her son, daughter and their families" as of 2021. The family is committed to the continued preservation of the castle, its treasures and the ongoing restoration and regeneration of the gardens of Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe, her children, Henry and Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst, and grandchildren. As of September 2019, BBC News referred to Lady Ashcombe as "the castle's owner".
The castle exhibitions were redesigned and relaunched in 2018 as "Royal Sudeley 1,000: Trials, Triumphs and Treasures", and is set in the 15th-century service wing, covering three floors. It takes visitors through the 1,000 years of Sudeley's history, highlighting important aspects of the castle's past, and exhibiting the historical artefacts and pieces of artwork in the collection.
The castle opens to the public seasonally and sections are used as a hotel, but it also remains a family home, with Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe often called the "chatelaine of Sudeley". As of 2019, one of the tours of the castle included a visit to the "family's private apartments available daily from Spring to the end of October.
Sudeley has also been used as a wedding venue for some years. Several celebrity weddings have taken place at the castle, from Elizabeth Hurley's wedding in 2007, to Felicity Jones's wedding to Charles Guard in 2018.
In September 2019, thieves stole items from the castle's royal exhibition, including "rare keepsakes made from gold and precious stones and presented by King Edward VII to his last mistress".