Winchcombe and Sudeley Castle

At the end of a long drive just outside Winchcombe is a largely 16th-century mansion called Sudeley Castle. The first castle was built here in 1140 and fragments dating from its earlier, more martial days are still much in evidence. Originally little more than a fortified manor house, by the mid-15th century it had acquired a keep and several courtyards. It became a royal castle after the Wars of the Roses before being given to Thomas Seymour, Edward VI's Lord High Admiral. Seymour lived at Sudeley with his wife, Catherine Parr - he was her fourth husband. Seymour was executed for treason. Consequently the castle passed to Catherine's brother, William, but he was executed too. Queen Mary gave the property to Sir John Brydges, the first Lord Chandos. Sudeley Castle was a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War. It was disarmed by the Parliamentarians and left to decay until its purchase by the wealthy Dent brothers in 1863.

Catherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII and the only one to outlive him, is buried in Sudeley's chapel. She was born in 1512 into an influential northern family and educated in Henry's court. She was first married at the tender age of nine, but widowed six years later. Back at court, she was at the centre of a group of educated, capable women, using her influence with the King to protect her second husband, Lord Latimer, from the machinations of courtly politics. When Latimer died in 1543, Catherine was left one of the wealthiest and best-connected women in England, and an obvious choice of wife for Henry. She looked after him and his affairs during the years until his death in 1547. She quickly married Seymour and moved to Sudeley, where the future Queen Elizabeth was often her companion until Catherine's death in childbirth in 1548.

The village of Winchcombe has a considerable history. It was a seat of the Mercian kings and the capital of Winchcombshire until its incorporation into Gloucestershire in the 11th century. It became a significant place of pilgrimage due to the presence of an abbey established in ad 798 and dedicated to St Kenelm, the son of its founder, King Kenulf. The abbey was razed in the Dissolution but the parish church survived and is a fine example of a 'wool church', financed through income from the medieval wool trade. Of particular interest are the amusing gargoyles that decorate its exterior. They are said to be modelled on real local people. Winchcombe also boasts two stimulating small museums: the Folk Museum on the corner of North Street and the Railway Museum on Gloucester Street. Unlike many villages in the area, it has has retained many of its shops and local services.

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