Visiting Sudeley Castle: The Fabled History Within Its Walls
One of my favorite outings in the Cotswolds was visiting Sudeley Castle near the town of Winchcombe. At Sudeley Castle, you can walk in the footsteps of some of history’s most notable characters in the beautiful gardens and learn about the castle’s famous inhabitants. There are ten magnificent gardens to explore, each with its own unique style and design. The castle was once the home of Queen Katherine Parr, the last and surviving wife of King Henry VIII. Today Sudeley Castle remains the only private castle in England to have a queen buried on the grounds. Queen Katherine Parr lies entombed in the St. Mary’s Church and is the only English queen to be buried on private land. We really felt a sense of history when strolling the grounds and walking through the rooms of this castle with its royal connections spanning thousands of years. The following is a creative interpretation of my visit.
Her hazel, piercing eyes complement her carefully stitched crimson gown. It brushes the ground casually as if walking through palace gardens is an everyday task. If your name is Katherine Parr, it is. Winding greenery that makes you lose track of time laces the ruins of Sudeley Castle. The flowering grounds flourished with life, and the fragrance greeted my nose sweetly. Tracing in footsteps centuries upon centuries old, I find the hours turning counterclockwise to a time when wives were beheaded depending on King Henry VIII’s mood. I could almost taste the whimsical yet desperate feeling that clung to the atmosphere—a palace of refuge and death. Blessed with a head still attached, Katherine thought she had escaped the binding marriage to the king and finally captured true love with her new husband. But, in this hope, tragedy was born. The Tudor hallways echoed, and I could almost hear the cries of Katherine’s baby, who grew up without her mother’s doting arms.
The incompleteness of the curved edges of the buildings made the site all the more intriguing. Like a puzzle with a missing piece, I knew there was more to this story than a wife and mother. A chapel sat proudly framed by two shapely hedges; inside, a marble woman concealed her body. Glass-stained hues reflected light onto the statue's hands placed in prayer. Her hands had done more than pray. I imagined how she must have sat leaning into the light of a candle, ferociously scribbling in ink—not thinking about how that ink would forever be known as the first book written and published by a Queen. Katherine managed to elude the fate that had captured the others: beheaded, divorced, or dead. Despite being one of King Henry’s six wives, when death eventually seized Katherine, her body was left unattended in the cold crumbling chamber meant to preserve and honor her. Long forgotten, rediscovered, and laid to rest, Katherine now resides peacefully.
The beauty in decay never ceases to captivate my curiosity. I marvel at the chipped stones and usually disregarded nooks and crannies. My hands trace softly along the cold outer walls of the castle brimming with history. I can feel what we recognize as the past, present, and future exist simultaneously, if only for a moment. It’s neither 2022 nor the 1500s, but instead, a time of beauty and appreciation. The wind blew playfully at my white floral draping skirt as if traipsing around Sudeley Castle was a common pastime for me. I can’t say it is, but the air whizzing past my ears could almost be a maiden playing the lute or perhaps a distant longing cry. There’s something enchanting about a building that has stood longer than many human lives. Every villainous soul has longed for the immortality that history effortlessly gains. The earth’s beating heart protects the castle with a shield of ivy that wraps around it like armor. Intricate embellishments hover over glassless windowpanes. Everlasting yet so easily destructed, the tale of Sudeley castle lives on.
