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Sudeley Castle 
SOOD-lee (like "Sue")
near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England
Circa Date: 1450
Status: Fully Extant
SOOD-lee (like "Sue")
near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England
Circa Date: 1450
Status: Fully Extant
Special Info / Location/ Date
Special Info
Phonetic Pronunciation of House Name
SOOD-lee (like "Sue")
Location
Country
England
District Today
Gloucestershire
Historic County
City / Town / Village
near Winchcombe
Latitude
51.947222
Longitude
-1.956111
Date
Start Date
Completion Date
Circa Date
1450
Images
Architects
Extant / Listed / References
Extant
Extant Type
Fully Extant
Extant Details
Listed
House Listed As
Grade I
Gardens Listed As
Grade II*
On SAVE Britain's Heritage's List of Buildings at Risk
No
Country House: Yes
References
Vitruvius Britannicus
Vitruvius Scoticus
J.B. Burke (Burke's Visitation of Seats)
Vol. I, p. 25, 1852.
Country Life
LXXXVIII, 454, 500, 1940.
J.P. Neale (Neale's Views of Seats)
Access / Ownership / Seat
Access
Open to Public Please note: Houses listed as being open "By Appointment" are usually country house hotels or B&Bs.
Yes
Historic Houses Association Member
Yes
Phone Number If calling from the U.S., delete the first "0" in British numbers.
01242-602-308
Fax Number
01242-602-959
Email
Website
Awards
HHA/Christie’s Garden of the Year Award 1996.
Current Ownership
Current Ownership Type
Individual / Family Trust
Primary Current Ownership Use
Private Home
Current Ownership Use / Details
Seat ("Seat" is loosely defined
as any family that occupied the house for a period of 2 years or more)
Today Seat of
Lord Ashcombe, Dent-Brocklehurst family
A Past Seat(s) of
King Ethelred the Unready. Queen Catherine Parr (Sir Thomas Seymour). Dent family.
Possible (Unsure) Seat of
History / Gardens & Park / Movies
History
Earlier House(s) / Building(s)
There was 12th century castle on the site.
House Replaced By
Built / Designed For
House & Family History
Sudeley Castle has a royal history spanning 1,000 years. The early Sudeley was owned by King Ethelred the Unready. Sudeley was the home of Catherine Parr following her marriage to Sir Thomas Seymour; she later used Sudeley as her palace when she became Queen Catherine, the 6th wife of King Henry VIII. Catherine is buried at the Castle church. Notable visitors to Sudeley have included King Henry VIII, Ann Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, Elizabeth I, and King Charles I. Charles I’s nephew, Prince Rupert, used the House as his headquarters during the Civil War; during the ensuing fighting Cromwell's troops destroyed Sudeley and the house lay abandoned and derelict for two hundred years. King George III was one of many who visited Sudeley in the 18th century, attracted to its romantic, ruinous situation. In 1837 Sudeley was purchased by John and William Dent. The Dents made their fortune with the Worcestershire glove making company of same name. They began an ambitious restoration program which was continued by their nephew, John Coucher Dent, who inherited the Castle in 1855. Most of the interiors were outfitted with pieces purchased at the Strawberry Hill sale, when the furnishings from Horace Walpole’s house were sold.
Collections
This field lists art objects that are currently or were previously in the collection of the house.
For information on the history of British currency, click here. To use a chart that allows you to compare the purchasing power of money In Great Britain from 1264 to any other year, including the present, click here. To use a currency conversion to see the current value of the British pound, click here.
For information on the history of British currency, click here. To use a chart that allows you to compare the purchasing power of money In Great Britain from 1264 to any other year, including the present, click here. To use a currency conversion to see the current value of the British pound, click here.
Sudeley has an outstanding painting collection, including pictures by Turner, Van Dyck, and Rubens. The House also contains a good collection of Civil War memorabilia. Nicolas Poussin’s "Triumph of Pan" was sold to the National Gallery in 1982-83. John Constable’s "The Lock", dated 1824, was sold to the Thyssen Foundation, Lugano, Switzerland on January of 1991 for £10,927,000. Poussin's "Landscape with a Calm," 1650-51, considered one of the artist's purest landscapes, was sold in 1997 to the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Comments
Sudeley is considered one of England’s greatest historic houses.
Gardens & Park
Garden, Park, Follies and Outbuildings
The House is set among eight gardens and won the HHA/Christie’s “Garden of the Year” award in 1996. The Victorian Kitchen Garden includes organically-grown vegetables.
Chapel & Church
Movies
Location for Movies / TV
"Emma" (1997 - TV mini series, as Donwell Abbey). "Crisis at the Castle" (2007 - BBC TV documentary, episode 1).
Bibliography
| Author | Sayer, Michael |
| Year Published | 1993 |
| Reference |
| Author | NA |
| Year Published | 2002 |
| Reference | pg. 127 |
| Author | Mérot, Alain |
| Year Published | 1990 |
| Reference | pg. 162 |
Related Resources
There are no documents associated with this house.
