Sudeley Castle: Difference between revisions

[[File:Sudeley Castle view from garden Oct07.jpg|thumb|right|The QueenQueens's Gardens at Sudeley Castle]]

Although the origins of Sudeley are lost to time, its name, a corruption of its [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] name ''Sudeleagh'', meaning ‘south'south lying pasture or clearing in forest'<ref name=":1"/> gives us an idea of what it was like. Sudeley most likely owes its early rise as a royal estate to its close proximity to [[Winchcombe]], which, during the reign of [[King [[Offa]], was the capital of the [[Kingdom of Mercia]].<ref name=":1"/> Under royal patronage, Winchcombe prospered, becoming a walled town with its own monastery, where a king and a saint are now buried.

By the turn of the 11th century, Sudeley had grown into a manor house set in a Royalroyal [[Deer park (England)|deer park]], given as an extravagant gift from [[King [[Æthelred the Unready]] to his daughter [[Godgifu (daughter of Æthelred the Unready)|Goda]] on her wedding day.<ref name=":0"/>

Despite [[William the Conqueror]]'s policy of depriving Saxon nobles of their estates after the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066, the family managed to retain Sudeley, and Goda's descedantsdescendants would hold Sudeley for another four centuries.<ref name=":2"/>

During [[The Anarchy]], John de Sudeley supported the [[Empress Matilda]] in her fight against her cousin, [[Stephen, King of England|StephanStephen of Blois]].

[[File:St Mary's Chapel, Sudeley Castle (5069).jpg|thumb|St Mary's Chapel, built {{circa |1460)}}]]

[[Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley|Ralph Boteler]] is believed to have started the construction of the castle in 1443, around the same time he became [[Lord High Treasurer of England]]. RalphHe rose to prominence during the [[Hundred Years' War]]; serving in France under [[John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford]] in 1419, and was later appointed to the Regency Council of King [[Henry VI of England|King Henry VI]] in 1423.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Goodall|first=John|date=4 October 2020|title=Sudeley Castle: The tumultuous tale of one of the finest castles in the Cotswolds|url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/architecture/sudeley-castle-the-tumultuous-tale-of-one-of-the-finest-castles-in-the-cotswolds-218976|access-date=3 December 2020|website=Country Life}}</ref>

Sudeley was not Ralph's first great project, having extensively renovated the [[The More|Manor on the More]], the house he used when attending court, and was later described by a French Ambassador, [[Jean du Bellay]], as more magnificent than [[Hampton Court Palace|Hampton Court]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pollard|first=Albert Frederick|title=Wolsey|publisher=Greenwood Press|year=1978|isbn=0837179971|pages=325}}</ref> Unfortunately, Ralph failed to gain royal permission to [[Licence to crenellate|crenellate]] the castle, and had to seek King Henry VI's pardon.<ref>John Ashdown-Hill, "Eleanor The Secret Queen", Page 51 ''The History Press'', 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-7524-5669-0}}</ref>

Ralph built Sudeley Castle on a double courtyard plan; with the outer courtyard being used by servants and by [[Man-at-arms|men-at-arms]], and the inner court and its buildings reserved for the use of Ralph and his family.<ref name=":5"/>

In 1449, Ralph's son, Thomas Boteler, married [[Lady Eleanor Talbot]], famed as ''England's Secret Queen'' for her relationship with [[King [[Edward IV]] after the death of her husband. It was this relationship that [[King [[Richard III]] used to illegitimizeillegitimise his brother's children and heirs, clearing the way for himself to take the crown.

Ralph, now out of favour as a supporter of the [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrian]] cause, was in 1469 compelled to sell Sudeley and six other manors to the crown. [[King Edward IV]] bestowed Sudeley upon his brother, [[Richard III of England|Richard, Duke of Gloucester]], who used it as a military base before the [[Battle of Tewkesbury]] in 1471.<ref name=":2"/><ref name=":5"/>

In 1478, Richard swapped Sudeley for [[Richmond Castle]], before re-inheriting it when he acceded to the throne in 1483, when he seems to have visited both Sudeley and [[Kenilworth Castle]] on a [[Royal Progress]].<ref name=":2"/>

The banqueting hall now lies in partial ruins, and has been redesigned as a garden, with roses and ivy climbing the walls. In 2018, conservators were working to stabilizestabilise the ruin.<ref>[https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/news/conservators-work-to-protect-the-ancient-ruins-at-sudeley-castle-and-get-rare-view-of-ancient-graffiti Conservators work to protect the ancient ruins at Sudeley Castle and get rare view of ancient graffiti]</ref>

After the death of Richard at the [[Battle of Bosworth]] in 1485, Sudeley, as property of the crown, transferred to King [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]], who in turn presented it to his uncle [[Jasper Tudor]].

[[File:Queen Catherine Parr.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Melton Constable Hall|Melton Constable]] or [[Baron Hastings#1290 creation|Hastings]] portrait of Queen Catherine Parr]]

During his reign, [[King [[Henry VIII]] only stayed at Sudeley once, on his 1535 Royal Progress with [[Queen Anne Boleyn]]. In the months leading up to Henry's visit to Sudeley, he started to enact the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], executing Bishop [[John Fisher]] and [[Sir Thomas More]]. Moreover, it was while he was at Sudeley that [[Pope Paul III]] and [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I]] started discussing his [[excommunication]] and removal.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 8, January-JulyJanuary–July 1535: 21-2521–25|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol8/pp423-434|access-date=3 December 2020|website=British History Online}}</ref>

The death of Henry and the accession of [[King [[Edward VI]] led way for the rise of [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Edward]] and [[Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley|Thomas Seymour]]. Henry's will had an "unfulfilled gifts" clause that allowed for his executors to award themselves new lands and titles, which led to Edward being declared [[Lord Protector|Lord Protector of the Realm]], and making his brother ''Baron Seymour of Sudeley''.<ref name="musson"/>

A few months after this, Thomas secretly married Henry's widow and final wife, [[Queen Catherine Parr]], without the permission of the king, causing a minor scandal.<ref name=":1"/>

In 1548, Catherine, now pregnant, moved with her husband to Sudeley Castle, taking a considerable retinue: 120 [[Yeomen of the Guard]] and [[Gentleman Usher|Gentlemen of the Household]], plus her ladies-in-waiting.<ref name=":1"/> Prior to her arrival, Seymour had spent "vast amounts of money on the Castle, to fit it for a Queen".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tudortimes.co.uk/places/sudeley-castle-and-gardens/the-tudor-period |title=Conservatives have voted to expel Derek Sloan from caucus |date=20 November 2014 |work=Tudor Times |access-date=7 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref> The castle was specially prepared for this move, and descriptions still exist of what Catherine's bedchamber looked like.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davey|first=Richard|title=The Nine Day's Queen|publisher=Outlook Verlag GmbH|year=2020|isbn=978-3-75240-094-6|location=Frankfurt, Germany|pages=121}}</ref> During Parr's tenure, one of her attendants was [[Lady Jane Grey]], Thomas Seymour's ward,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thetudortravelguide.com/2018/11/24/sudeley-castle-and-the-remarkable-life-and-death-of-katherine-parr/ |title=Sudeley Castle: The Remarkable Life, and Shocking Death, of Katherine Parr |date=24 November 2018 |work=Tudor Travel Guide |access-date=7 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref> who would be queen for nine days in 1553.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dent |first=Emma |dateyear=1877 |title=Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLYLAAAAYAAJ&q=Lady+Jane+grey+Sudeley+castle&pg=PA186 |location=Sudeley Castle |publisher=J Murray |page=186 |isbn= |author-link= }}</ref>

Catherine died at Sudeley on 5 September 1548 from what was described as "childbed fever", five days after giving birth to her daughter [[Mary Seymour]]. At the funeral, Lady Jane Grey was the chief mourner, and ecclesiastical reformer [[Myles Coverdale]] preached his first [[Protestant]] sermon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Murray |first=John |dateyear=1872 |title=A Handbook for Travellers in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLaMuyFN-bQC&q=sudeley+castle+chapel&pg=PA162 |location=Gloucestershire |publisher=J Murray |pages=162–163 |isbn= |author-link= }}</ref>

Catherine was buried two days later at St. Mary's Church, within the grounds of Sudeley, in what was the first [[Protestant]] funeral in English. Over the next two centuries, her original tomb was "mutilated and defaced" and the location of her burial place was lost. In 1782, a coffin was discovered, with a lead plate that read "Here lyeth Quene Kateryne wife to Kyng Henry the VIII and Last the wife of Thomas Lord of Sudeley... dyed 5 September...". In 1792, vandals dug up the coffin. In 1817, the remains were placed in a stone vault near the remains of the 6th Lord Chandos.<ref>{{cite book |last= |first= |dateyear=1844 |title=A brief historical account of the Castle and Manor of S. ...: including ... particulars relative to Queen Catherine Parr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJZYAAAAcAAJ&q=sudeley+castle++1782%2C+++%E2%80%98Kateryne+the+Quene%E2%80%99%22&pg=PA38 |location= |publisher=Sudeley |pages=38–42|isbn= |author-link= }}</ref>

After the chapel restoration was completed in 1863, Parr's remains were placed in a new neo-Gothic canopied tomb designed by [[George Gilbert Scott]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Tomaini |first=Thea |dateyear=2017 |title=The Corpse as Text: Disinterment and Antiquarian Enquiry, 1700-19001700–1900 |location=Gloucestershire |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |page=152 |isbn=9781782049517 }}</ref> and created by sculptor [[John Birnie Philip]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Murray |first=John |dateyear=1872 |title=A Handbook for Travellers in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, and Herefordshire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XLaMuyFN-bQC&q=Tomb+Catherine+Parr+sudeley+A+handbook+for+travellers+in+Gloucestershire%2C+Worcestershire%2C+and+Herefordshire&pg=PA163 |location=Gloucestershire |publisher= |page=163 |isbn= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://royalcentral.co.uk/features/the-english-queen-buried-amidst-a-castle-garden-154737/ |title=The English queen buried amidst a castle garden |date=15 January 2021 |work=Royal Centre |access-date=7 March 2021 |quote=a new tomb, carved by John Birnie Philip, and featuring a full-length depiction of her. Her crest along with those of her four husbands are on the tomb while on the wall next to it is a plaque commemorating the words found on her coffin.}}</ref>

On 8 April 1554, [[John Brydges, 1st Baron Chandos|John Brydges]] was elevated to [[Duke of Chandos|Baron Chandos]] of Sudeley by Queen [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary I]]. He had previously been [[Lieutenant of the Tower of London]], befriending Lady Jane Grey. He was the one who led Jane to her execution while she was in his care.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BRYDGESBrydges, Sir John (1492-15571492–1557), of Coberley, Glos.|url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/brydges-sir-john-1492-1557|access-date=3 December 2020|website=History of Parliament}}</ref>

Queen Elizabeth I stayed at Sudeley on three occasions during her reign, first visiting her old friend, the recently widowed [[Dorothy Bray, Baroness Chandos]] at Sudeley in 1574. Staying again during the Royal Progress of 1575, that saw [[Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester|Robert Dudley]] throw a lavish party at [[Kenilworth Castle]] in a final attempt to convince her to marry him.

Elizabeth's most famous stay at Sudeley was in 1592, when [[Giles Brydges, 3rd Baron Chandos]] threw a three-day party for her. Giles extensively landscaped the grounds surrounding the castle in preparation for the visit, and held banquettes, plays, dances and gave extravagant gifts during her stay, even presenting his daughter, [[Elizabeth Brydges]] to the queen in the guise of [[Daphne (Greek mythology)|Daphne]].<ref>Elizabeth Zeman Kolkovich, ''The Elizabethan Country House Entertainment'' (Cambridge, 2016), pp. 73-873–8.</ref> The visit reputedly almost bankrupting the Brydges family.

The yearly excavations by archaeologists [[DigVentures]] began in 2018 and set out to discover more about this party, uncovering extensive Tudor Gardens to the east of the Victorian reconstructed gardens currently on the site. Through these investigations, evidence of multiple phases of landscaping have been revealed, the earliest of which dated to the middle of the 16th century.<ref>Jago et al 2022 - https://digventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/SUD21_PXA_v2.1_merged.pdf</ref> This is significant as previously these gardens had been attribuitedattributed to [[Giles Brydges, 3rd Baron Chandos]] and the landscaping efforts in advance of Elizabeth's vistitvisit. [[LiDAR]] shows extensive areas surrounding the castle grounds which still may contain the evidence of these works, but it is worth noting that there appears to have been another phase of work, likely associated with the works done by [[Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley|Thomas Seymour]] in advance of the arrival of [[Queen Catherine Parr]].

Under the Chandos family, Sudeley continued to prosper and thrive, with [[Grey Brydges, 5th Baron Chandos]] gaining the title "King of the Cotswolds" for his magnificent style of living and his generosity. Records show that he had been buying in expensive tapestries from abroad through [[William Trumbull (diplomat)|William Trumbull]], envoy to the [[Archduchy of Austria|Archdukes of Austria]], to decorate Sudeley. Grey was an influential courtier and an avid traveller, extensively travelling Europe and taking part in the [[War of the Jülich Succession]]. He married [[Anne Stanley, Countess of Castlehaven|Lady Ann Stanley]], descendant of King Henry VIII's younger sister [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Princess Mary Tudor]], and possible heir to the throne of England. He died in 1621.<ref>{{cite book |last=Broomhall |first=Gillian |date=11 August 2014 |title=The Little Book of the Cotswolds |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gy0TDQAAQBAJ&q=Sudeley+Grey+Brydges%2C+5th+Baron+Chandos+%E2%80%9CKing+of+the+Cotswolds%E2%80%9D&pg=PT113 |location= |publisher=The History Press |page= |isbn=9780752454443 |author-link= }}</ref>

Sudeley's final royal occupant was to be [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] during the [[English Civil War]], a war that was fought between the king and parliament.<ref name=":2"/>

Later that year, after Royalistthe royalist army failed in the [[Siege of Gloucester]], King Charles I set up camp at Sudeley, using it as his base of operations in Gloucestershire; and then set about trying to force [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex]] into an open pitch battle.

In 1649, after the end of the civil war, parliament ordered the slighting of the castle, to ensure that it could never again be used as a military post. The process took some five months to complete, largely dismantling the inner courtyard and royal apartment rooms, but strangely leaving much of the outer courtyard intact. In 1650, [[George Brydges, 6th Baron Chandos]] received some financial compensation for the loss of the castle.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dent |first=Emma |dateyear=1877 |title=Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLYLAAAAYAAJ&q=Annals+of+Winchcombe+Sudeley+1649%2C+slighting+of+the+castle%2C&pg=PA285 |location=Sudeley Castle |publisher= |pages=285–286 |isbn=}}</ref>

Buried in debt, the lord was unable to rebuild Sudeley, and he died in 1655 after years of being imprisoned in the [[Tower of London]]. On his death, the semi derelict castle was inherited by his widow, Lady Jane Savage, separating from the title Baron Chandos for the first time in over a century. She did not have the means to restore it and the castle was a neglected ruin for almost 200 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/history |title=History |date= |work=Sudeley Castle |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

=== Victorian Renaissancerenaissance ===

Sudeley was owned by the Pitt Familyfamily, descendants of Lady Jane Savage's second marriage, who were elevated to a peerage in 1776 as [[Baron Rivers]].

During the 18th century, they rented Sudeley out to tenants, most notably the Lucas family, members of the local gentry. Joseph Lucas entertained [[King [[George III]] on his visit to the castle in 1788, with Mrs Cox the housekeeper saving the king's life, catching him after he fell down the Octagon Tower.<ref name=":2"/> The Lucas family were also involved in the rediscovery of Queen Catherine Parr's tomb in 1782,; her corpse was found to be "entire and uncorrupted".<ref name=":2"/>

In 1837, Sudeley Castle was purchased by brothers John and William Dent of [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], wealthy glove manufacturers, whose father had founded [[Dents]] Gloves in 1777. At the time of the purchase, the castle was "ruinous, but partly occupied by tenants".<ref name="musson"/><ref name="countrylife.co.uk">{{cite web |url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/architecture/the-salvation-of-sudeley-castle-how-one-of-the-finest-castles-in-the-cotswolds-was-saved-from-ruin-219149 |title=The salvation of Sudeley Castle: How one of the finest castles in the Cotswolds was saved from ruin |date=11 October 2020 |work=[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]] |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

The Dents' restoration of the castle was quite sensitive, deciding to not entirely rebuild the castle; rather, leaving part of it as picturesque ruins, giving the castle much of its character still seen today. One reliable source states that the restoration was directed by [[George Gilbert Scott]], "working on the western side of the inner court in the style of the existing Medieval and Elizabethan buildings"; Gilbert Scott subsequently began the restoration of the castle's free-standing St Mary's chapel.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://gilbertscott.org/sudeley-castle-and-st-marys-chapel-sudeley/ |title=Sudeley Castle and St Mary's Chapel, Sudeley |date=20 March 2018 |work=Gilbert Scott |access-date=7 March 2021 |quote=Directory of British Architects 1834-19141834–1914, 2 volumes (Continium, London, 2001), vol. II, p. 1075.}}</ref>

The chapel is a Grade I* listed property, as "Church of St Mary". The summary states "Circa 1460 for Ralph Boteler, late C15 or early C16 north aisle, restored 1859-1859–'63 by Sir G.G. Scott for J.C. Dent". ([[Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley]] was the owner during the first restoration of the castle and the chapel.) The summary goes on to state that the chapel exterior dates primarily to the 15th and 16th centuries and the "interior nearly all to 1859".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1340136 |title=Sudeley Castle, Church of St Mary |dateyear=1970 |work=Historic England |access-date=20 April 2021 |quote=(S. Rudder, A New History of Gloucestershire, 1779; papers at Sudeley Castle; D. Verey, Gloucestershire, The Cotswolds, 1970)}}</ref>

When the Sudeley was habitable again, the brothers set about filling the castle with art and antiques, buying up a considerable part of [[Horace Walpole]]'s collection during the [[Strawberry Hill House]] Sale of 1842, an auction that lasted 32 days.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Bray|first=Jean|title=The Lady of Sudeley|publisher=Sutton Publishing Ltd|year=2004|isbn=9780750937207|location=Stoud|pages=66}}</ref> One report states that they furnished the home with "a remarkable antiquarian collection of furniture, glass and paintings that further fleshed out its history, including some very discerning purchases from the Strawberry Hill sale in 1842".<ref name="countrylife.co.uk"/>

By 1855, both brothers had died and the castle was inherited by the Dent Brothersbrothers' nephew, John Croucher Dent, and his wife, [[Emma Dent|Emma]], of the wealthy silk manufacturer family, the Brocklehursts of [[Macclesfield]], who set about improving the castle and adding to its collections.<ref name=":3"/>

[[File:Sudeley Castle Queen's Garden (2551344589).jpg|thumb|QueenQueens's Garden]]

In 1859, Emma decided to attempt a re-creation of a historic garden. In 1885, she began to "substantially enlarge the house and its services ... she remodelled the western side of the castle through the full length of both courtyards, overbuilding one section of the ruins, and beginning a new tower at its north-east corner". In 1892, she built a "north lodge" on the property.<ref name="countrylife.co.uk"/> She also arranged for Winchcombe to get its "first piped water supply in 1887".<ref name="Sudeley Castle">{{cite web |url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/news/sudeley-castle-celebrates-the-women-of-its-past-and-present |title=Sudeley Castle celebrates the women of its past and present |date= |work=Sudeley Castle |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

[[List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in the United Kingdom|Camp 37]] was located where the visitors' car park is today, a prisoner of war (POW) camp for captured Italian and German soldiers. The POWs worked on local farms throughout the duration of the war until it was closed down on 20 January 1948.

The American-born Elizabeth first came to Sudeley after her marriage to [[Mark Dent-Brocklehurst]] in 1962,<ref name=":0"/><ref name="guardian">{{cite web|author=Emma Kennedy|date=1 June 1, 2012|title=Emma's Eccentric Britain: afternoon tea with Lady Ashcombe|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/jun/01/tea-lady-ashcombe-emma-kennedy?newsfeed=true|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222155455/https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2012/jun/01/tea-lady-ashcombe-emma-kennedy?newsfeed=true|archive-date=22 December 22, 2016|access-date=17 December 17, 2016|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> and in the subsequent years set about preparing to open the castle up to the public, which they did to great celebration in May 1970. The castle website timeline states that in 1969 the castle was inherited by Mark and his American-born wife Elizabeth"; the couple converted the property into a tourist attraction.<ref name="Sudely Castle History, Timeline">{{cite web |url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/history |title=Sudely Castle History, Timeline |date=19 September 2018 |work=SudelySudeley Castle & Gardens |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

Mark died in 1972, leaving Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe to manage Sudeley on her own, and the castle had to survive its third round of heavy death duties in under fifty50 years.<ref name=":0"/>

Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe married [[Henry Cubitt, 4th Baron Ashcombe]] and uncle of [[Queen Camilla]] in 1979. They decided to keep Sudeley open to the public as a historic attraction and set about a major restoration of the castle.<ref>{{cite web|last1last=King|first1first=Lucy|title=Trials, triumphs and treasures of Sudeley Castle|url=https://www.cotswoldlife.co.uk/out-about/places/trials-triumphs-and-treasures-of-sudeley-castle-1-5526517|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729025039/http://www.cotswoldlife.co.uk/out-about/places/trials-triumphs-and-treasures-of-sudeley-castle-1-5526517|archive-date=29 July 2018|access-date=5 July 2020|publisher=Cotswold Life}}</ref> Lord Ashcombe passed away in 2013.<ref name="Sudely Castle History, Timeline"/><ref name="countrylife.co.uk"/>

The SudelySudeley website confirms that in 1979, Elizabeth (Lady Ashcombe, by that time) and her children Henry and Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst "took over management of the visitor attraction".<ref name="countrylife.co.uk"/>

[[BBC Four]] featured an investigation into the castle on 27 June 2007 titled ''Crisis at the Castle''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007rvyb|title=BBC iPlayer - BBC Four|work=bbc.co.uk|access-date=2019-12-14 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214223335/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007rvyb|archive-date=2019-12-14 December 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> This detailed the turmoil associated with managing the castle by the three members of the Dent-Brocklehurst family.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2007/06/last_nights_tv_crisis_at_the_c.html|title=Blogposts|work=The Guardian|access-date=7 October 2007-10-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424112716/http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2007/06/last_nights_tv_crisis_at_the_c.html|archive-date=2008-04-24 April 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> Closing the castle to the general public on some weekdays meant that visitors were disheartened when embarking on their day trips, and resulted in a dramatic fall in visitor numbers in the three years leading up to the creation of the programme.

News reports in April 2008 stated that the family was selling a painting by [[J.M.W. Turner]] at auction because the attraction was "losing £100,000 a year" and required a restoration.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/family-sells-its-ps7m-turner-to-pay-for-sudeley-castle-repairs-6619903.html |title=Family sells its £7m Turner to pay for Sudeley Castle repairs |date=24 April 2008 |work=Evening Standard |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/j-m-w-turner-painting-could-challenge-auction-record-for-british-work-dcn9t5xwfj5 |title=J. M. W. Turner painting could challenge auction record for British work |date=25 April 2008 |work=The Times |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=The money is needed to help to fund the restoration of Sudeley Castle }}</ref>

Sudeley held a re-enactment of the funeral of Catherine Parr in September 2012, with guidance from historian Dr [[David Starkey]]; the event received positive feedback from re-enactment societies.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/Blog/Katherine-Parrs-Funeral-ReEnactment/ |title=Katherine Parr's Funeral Re-Enactment |date=25 April 2008 |work=Historic UK |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

Sudeley is operated by the family and remains the home of Elizabeth, Lady Ashcombe and "her son, daughter and their families" as of 2021.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/news/sudeley-castle-celebrates-the-women-of-its-past-and-present |title=Sudeley Castle celebrates the women of its past and present |date=2 November 2019 |work=Sudeley Castle |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=family home of Lady Ashcombe and her son, daughter and their families}}</ref> 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|Molly Dent-Brocklehurst]],<ref name="musson"/> and grandchildren. As of September 2019, [[BBC News]] referred to Lady Ashcombe as "the castle's owner".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-49725691 |title=King Edward VII jewellery stolen in Sudeley Castle raid |date=17 September 2019 |work=BBC |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=The collection was created by Lord Ashcombe, the husband of the castle's owner Lady Ashcombe, and grandson of Alice Keppel.}}</ref>

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 Serviceservice Wingwing, covering three floors. It takes visitors through the thousand1,000 years of Sudeley's history, highlighting important aspects of the castle's past, and showing offexhibiting the historical artefacts and pieces of artwork in the collection.<ref>{{Cite web|dateyear=2018|title=Treasures from Sudeley Castle|url=https://heritage-hub.gloucestershire.gov.uk/summer-2018/local-history/treasures-from-sudeley-castle/print|access-date=15 December 2020|website=Gloucestershire Heritage Hub}}</ref>

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 "[[Châtelain|chatelaine]] of Sudeley".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://britishheritage.com/travel/the-romance-of-sudeley-castle |title=The Romance Of Sudeley Castle |date=23 December 2020 |work=British Heritage |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/homes-and-gardens/places-to-live/behind-the-scenes-of-sudeley-castle-during-the-winter-months-7252712 |title=Behind the scenes of Sudeley Castle during the winter months |date=18 March 2019 |work=Great British Life |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.visitcheltenham.com/things-to-do/sudeley-castle-and-gardens-p129983 |title=Sudeley Castle & Gardens |date=2 May 2019 |work=Visit Cheltenham |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

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 of the United Kingdom|King Edward VII]] to his last mistress".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://royalcentral.co.uk/features/rare-edward-vii-love-gifts-stolen-from-historic-castle-130521/ |title=Rare Edward VII love gifts stolen from historic castle|date=17 September 2019 |work=Royal Central |access-date=6 March 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

BecauseDue ofto restrictions necessitated by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the castle was closed for some months; certain parts re-opened for a time during 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historichouses.org/resources/all-resources/covid-19-update-from-sudeley-castle.html |title=COVID-19: Update from Sudeley Castle |work=Historic Houses |date=19 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/cms-assets/downloads/Access-Statement-2020-inc-Covid-19.pdf |title=Access Statement |work=Sudeley Castle & Gardens |date=2 June 2020}}</ref> As of early March 2021, the Sudeley Castle & Gardens website was indicating that "exhibitions are closed until 2021. Reopening dates and information will be announced as soon as possible".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/plan-your-visit/opening-times-and-prices |title=Prices & Opening Times: 2020 Season |work=Sudeley Castle & Gardens |date=2 August 2020}}</ref>{{update needed|date=March 2024}}

Sudeley Castle sits at the heart of a {{convert|1,200-acre|acres|adj=on}} estate that lies nestled among the Cotswold valleys.

The castle gardens cover some {{convert|15 |acres}} and are available for the public to visit during the castle's open season.[[File:Queens' Garden, Sudeley Castle.jpg|thumb|230x230px|A comparison of the Queens' Garden in the Victorian Age and today|left]]The garden is split into ten separate gardens, the centrepiece being the Queens' Garden. The Queens' Garden is the Victorian replanting of an original Elizabethan [[parterre]] garden that had been discovered in the same location, the large yew hedges surrounding it date back to 1860.<ref name=":3"/>

Celebrated rosarian [[Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall]] is responsible for the current rose display in the Queens' Garden, which is now home to over eighty80 different varieties of rose.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Visit the Castle Gardens|url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/what-to-do/visit-the-castle-gardens|access-date=15 December 2020|website=Sudeley Castle & Gardens}}</ref>

Another garden at Sudeley is The Knot Garden, made up of more than 1,200 box hedges, its intricate design drew inspiration from the pattern of the dress worn by Queen Elizabeth I in "The''An Allegory of the Tudor Succession"'', a painting that hangs in the castle.<ref name=":6"/>

St Mary's Church, in which Catherine Parr is buried, is bordered by the White Garden, richwhich withincludes peonies, clematis, roses and tulips, where KatherineCatherine and her companion, Lady Jane Grey, would have entered the church for daily prayers.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sudeley Castle: The remarkable life, and shocking death of Katherine Parr|date=24 November 2018 |url=https://thetudortravelguide.com/2018/11/24/sudeley-castle-and-the-remarkable-life-and-death-of-katherine-parr/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200513095456/https://thetudortravelguide.com/2018/11/24/sudeley-castle-and-the-remarkable-life-and-death-of-katherine-parr/|archive-date=13 May 2020|access-date=5 July 2020|publisher=Tudor Travel Guide}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Sudeley Castle|url=http://www.ladyjanegrey.info/?page_id=11161|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906110043/http://www.ladyjanegrey.info/?page_id=11161|archive-date=6 September 2020|access-date=5 July 2020|publisher=Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide}}</ref>

Sudeley is also home to one of the largest public collections of endangered pheasants in the world, and works closely with the World Pheasant Association. The pheasantry which has been operating at the castle for over thirty30 years is part of a wider breeding program which has been set up in the hope of increasing the numbers of critically endangered birds before hopefully reintroducing them into their natural habitats.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 November 2019|title=Critically-endangered Edwards's pheasants reared at Sudeley Castle|url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/news/critically-endangered-edwardss-pheasants-reared-at-sudeley-castle|access-date=15 December 2020|website=Sudeley Castle & Gardens}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Pheasantry|url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/what-to-do/pheasantry|access-date=15 December 2020|website=Sudeley Castle & Gardens}}</ref>

Sudeley Castle has been a tourist attraction since the early 18th century, drawing [[antiquarian]]s, print makers and artists from across Britain. Some of the earliest of these being [[Samuel and Nathaniel Buck]] who visited and drew the castle in 1732 for their book ''Buck's Antiquities''. The castle, as a romantic ruin, welcomed [[King George III]] who visited in 1788 whilst taking the waters at [[Cheltenham]] Spa.<ref name=":2"/>

Not everything in the castle's collection neatly falls into the art category, with artefacts such as a prayer book and love letter belonging to Queen Catherine Parr, weaponry, and the ''Bohun Book of Hours,'' one of only six of its kind to survive to the modern day.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Exhibitions|url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/what-to-do/exhibitions|access-date=15 December 2020|website=Sudeley Castle & Gardens}}</ref>

[[File:Family of Henry VIII, an Allegory of the Tudor Succession.png|thumb|270x270px|"''An Allegory of the Tudor Succession"'' Commissionedcommissioned by Queen Elizabeth I]]

Not all the art collection is on display to the public, with a selection of it in the exhibitions; the rest is kept in the family's private rooms. The castle does hold specialist art tours that takes small groups of visitors around the private quarters to view the art; however, these need to be booked in advance to ensure availability.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sudeley Castle guided tours|url=https://www.visitcheltenham.com/whats-on/sudeley-castle-guided-tours-p2893993|access-date=15 December 2020|website=Visit Cheltenham}}</ref>

* ''An Allegory of the Tudor Succession'' Commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I for her spymaster [[Sir Francis Walsingham]] and attributed to [[Lucas de Heere]].

* ''Rise of the River Stour at Stourhead'' by [[J. M. W. Turner]]. Dated to 1817 and exhibited at the [[Royal Academy of Arts]] in 1825; the [[Tate]] holds the preparatory sketches for this painting.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=David Blayney|dateyear=2008|title=The Lake and Temples at Stourhead|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-the-lake-and-temples-at-stourhead-d06112|access-date=15 December 2020|website=Tate}}</ref>

* ''A Portrait of [[Peter Paul Rubens]]'' by [[Anthony van Dyck|Anthony Van Dyck.]]<ref name=":7"/>

* ''Miniature of King Henry VIII'' attributed to [[Lucas Horenbout|Lucus Horenbout]]

* Louis XV [[Aubusson tapestry|Aubusson]] bed hangings, believed to have belonged to [[Queen Marie Antoinette]]

* A Waistcoatwaistcoat believed to have belonged to King Charles I

* A 16th-century lace canopy, said to have been made by Queen Anne Boleyn for the christening of Queen Elizabeth I

* A fragment of cloth said to have come from the dress of Queen Catherine Parr after the rediscovery and opening of her tomb in 1782

* Early 17th-century [[Sheldon tapestries|Sheldon Tapestry]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Treasures from Sudeley Castle|url=https://heritage-hub.gloucestershire.gov.uk/summer-2018/local-history/treasures-from-sudeley-castle|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906110044/https://heritage-hub.gloucestershire.gov.uk/summer-2018/local-history/treasures-from-sudeley-castle|archive-date=6 September 2020|access-date=5 July 2020|publisher=Gloucestershire Heritage Hub}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Needlework in Sudeley Castle|url=https://www.cotswoldlife.co.uk/out-about/places/needlework-in-sudeley-castle-1-1631094|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906110042/https://www.cotswoldlife.co.uk/out-about/places/needlework-in-sudeley-castle-1-1631094|archive-date=6 September 2020|access-date=5 July 2020|publisher=Cotswodl Life}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Exhibitions|url=https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/what-to-do/exhibitions|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906110043/https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/what-to-do/exhibitions|archive-date=6 September 2020|access-date=5 July 2020|publisher=Sudeley Castle}}</ref> woven in wool, silk and metal thread, with floral designs and biblical scenes. Parallels have been drawn between it and the Filioli Tapestry that was bought by [[J. P. Morgan]] in 1911 from [[Knole]] House.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Turner|first=H. L|dateyear=2011|title=Transplanted: A floral tapestry-woven table carpet once at Knole, Kent|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/authors2/HLTurner/HLTurner01.html|access-date=15 December 2020|website=Kent Archaeology}}</ref>