Below is an aerial view of Sudeley Castle and the surrounding gardens.  This is from the cover of the Guidebook which I bought while visiting.  What?  Did you think I travelled by helicopter?

The rest of the pictures of Sudeley Castle and Gardens are from my own collection of photos that I took while I was there.  You may notice that there are no pictures of the inside of the castle itself.  This is because Sudeley is one of the many historical buildings where photography is not allowed inside the building.  However I can assure you that the inside of the Castle is as enchanting as the outside.

Lying just half a mile from Winchcombe in Gloucestershire Sudeley Castle dates back to medieval times when King Ethelred (The Unready), who reigned from 978 - 1016, gave the manor of Sudeley to his daughter and her bridegroom as a wedding present.

Of course the original Saxon house has not survived to this day.  It is believed that it was probably situated in the field now known as the Hop Yard to the east of the Queen's Garden.

The strong royal connections did not end here and the family moved in royal circles for the next few centuries.

But Sudeley was not to remain in the same hands forever and by the time that Henry VIII came to the throne Sudeley was the property of the Crown again.

On the death of Henry VIII his son Edward VI gave Sudeley to his uncle, Sir Thomas Seymour, a man already aquainted with Katherine Parr, the king's widow.

Soon after being widowed Katherine and Seymour resumed their affair and began to refurbish his estates at Sudeley in preparation of their approaching marriage.

However while the marriage was a seemingly happy one it was shortlived.  With the birth of her daughter Mary there began the rapid decline in Katherine's health and when her daughter was only seven days old Katherine lost her fight for life.  She was laid to rest in St Mary's Church and remains there to this day.

By the time of the English Civil War Sudeley was the property of Lord Chandos a supporter of the Royalists who were destined to lose the war.
 

Once again Sudeley was strongly connected with the royal family with King Charles I staying at the Castle during the war and Prince Rupert of the Rhine making it his base.  However Cromwell's army soon managed to defeat the Royalists and after two days smoked out the defenders of the Castle.

The army then proceeded to loot and plunder the castle.  They even went so far as to desecrate St Mary's and dig up graves.

In 1649 Cromwell ordered the destruction of Sudeley.  The ruins of Boteler's Banqueting Hall, the Dungeon Tower and the Tithe Barn stand to this day, this last is now a garden.

Sudeley remained in ruins for 180 years.  There were frequent visitors to the ruins.  Many people came for picnics and walks, even George III visited while on a trip to the Cotswolds.  The castle however seemed to be at the end of it's long history as it fell to further ruin, this time not from an army, but from the elements of nature.

In 1810 history took a turn for the better when the Marquess of Buckingham bought the castle and put it to use as an inn and stables.  It was not until the Dent brothers bought the estate in 1837 that it began to return to it's former glory.

The restoration that they began was continued after their deaths by their nephew, John Dent, and his wife Emma.  Certainly the influence of Emma Dent is very evident in the castle as it stands today.  "The Life and times of Emma Dent" is on exhibition at the present time and contains many of the items she collected over the years.

As well as the Emma Dent exhibition there are the following attractions at Sudeley.

Firstly, of course, there is the castle itself with interesting items, each with their own history, in all of the rooms that you are permitted to walk around.

For those who want it there is an audio tour available which directs you around the castle and gardens offering little bits of information on items that you may miss just by walking through the building.

The award winning gardens are beautifully kept and the photos above certainly don't do them justice.

St Mary's Church is also open to the public if you wish to see where Katherine Parr lies at rest.

While walking up the path to the castle you can also stop to see the wildfowl sanctuary and the rare white peacocks.

Added to all of this there are resident craftsmen including a stonemason (who I seem to have missed on my tour) and a caligrapher.  Well worth looking at his work just for the jokes.  There is also a gift shop with a wide variety of items including the Diary of Emma Dent, which is now sitting in my to be read pile.

There is also a spacious restaurant and an adventure playground for any youngsters to play in while you tour the castle.

Well worth a visit though I feel that if the weather is bad a lot of the attractions would be lost, the gardens certainly would not be as enjoyable.