A theatre of history

In the second of two articles, John Goodall tells the story of the revival of Sudeley Castle as a shrine to English history and Henry VIII’s last wife, Katherine Parr

- John Goodall

IN 1830, two brothers, John and William Dent, owners of a glove-making factory in Worcester, purchased an estate in the environs of Winchcombe on the edge of the Cotswolds from Lord Rivers. It may have been when inspecting their new property that the two men first visited the remains of Sudeley Castle, picturesquely nestled in a deep valley that opens out into the flood plain of the River Severn. The castle, ruinous, but partly occupied by tenants, was not in their possession. It already enjoyed an unusual degree of celebrity, however, and they evidently coveted it.

The fame of Sudeley was partly a product of its proximity to Cheltenham, which had developed as a fashionable spa town during the Regency. Indeed, no less a figure than George III made a day trip to the castle on his first visit to the town in 1788. When exploring the ruins, the King was saved from injury by one Mrs Cox, a resident, who used her own body to break his fall down a spiral stair. The story goes that she was rewarded with a commission in the Guards for one of her relatives.

For antiquaries, the castle was of particular interest. It offered through its associated personalities a survey of English history from the Saxon period to the Civil War. This glittering narrative was recorded in several county histories during the 18th century and, as early as 1791, was summarised in a luxuriously produced monograph published in London by the remarkable naval clergyman and topographer Cooper Willyams. This publication was not simply a labour of love.