Sudeley Castle

Sudeley Castle

Sudeley is a former castle, now converted to a country house. The building dates from the mid-15th century, when it was built for Ralph Boteler, with further work commissioned in the late 15th century for Richard III. The structure has been extensively altered and restored over subsequent centuries: around 1572 for Lord Chandos; in the mid-19th century for J. Dent by the architect Sir G.G. Scott; in the later 19th century for Mrs E. Dent by J.D. Wyatt; in the early 20th century by M. Anderson; and in the 1930s by W.H. Godfrey for Major Dent-Brocklehurst. The castle was slighted in 1649 but was purchased by the Dent family in 1837 and subsequently restored. It was the last home of Katherine Parr, the widow of Henry VIII.

The building is constructed of coursed, squared stone and ashlar with stone slate roofs, lead flats, and what are probably Welsh slate roofs. It is arranged around a large rectangular outer courtyard, with the west wing extending to form one side of an inner courtyard. The opposite side is largely represented by the ruins of the Great Presence Chamber.

The exterior is of 2 and 3 storeys, with higher towers. On the north face, there is a late-19th-century tower on the left, with a plinth and 3-light mullion and transom windows to ground and first floors. String courses act as hoodmoulds, with 2-light similar windows above topped by moulded heads on consoles. A string course and crenellations run across, with the crenellations higher at corners. To the right is 16th-century work featuring a 4-light mullion and transom window with a king mullion at ground level, and a 6-light similar window above with two king mullions. The wall sets forward slightly, with double boarded doors leading to a gate in a 4-centred arch, flanked by 2-light mullioned windows. Above this are two oriel windows, each with 2-light mullion and transom windows and hipped roofs. Set back further to the right are windows ranging from 2 to 4 lights, with mullioned or mullion and transom design, above which are three 4-light mullion and transom windows and one 6-light window. A moulded string course and crenellations run through from the corner tower, which has a hipped roof and six chimneys with moulded caps.

The inner walls of the outer courtyard feature corner turrets at each end on the north side. There is a plinth, a boarded door with moulded arris to the opening and a 4-centred head with plain spandrels, and a 2-light mullion window on the left return of the turret. Beyond is a wide archway with a 4-centred head and chamfered arris, with single-light windows flanking it. Further along is a 4-light mullion window on each side of a half-glazed door. A corner turret with a boarded door on its right return and a 2-light mullioned window on its main face stands at the end. Above runs a string course as a hoodmould, with 2-light mullion windows on each face of the corner turrets. Between them are three 4-light mullion and transom windows with king mullions, a moulded string course, and a crenellated parapet.

The east wing features windows that are all 4-light mullion and transom with reserved chamfers and king mullions, with string courses as hoodmoulds. The doors are boarded with moulded surrounds and 4-centred arches with plain spandrels. The ground floor has a plinth with a single window at each end and four doors with two windows between each pair. The first floor has eight windows, and above runs a crenellated parapet with five ashlar chimneys topped with moulded caps.

The Great Presence Chamber, located at the end of the east range, survives only as its east and north walls. An octagonal stair turret stands on the right, featuring lancet windows, a string course, and a moulded head. To the left is a plinth with two former mullion and transom windows, their tracery now gone, beneath relieving arches with scrolls to flat hoodmoulds. A chimney breast is adjacent to a 4-light mullion and transom window with cusped heads to the lights, a flat head, and a hoodmould with scrolled ends. Above is a 4-light mullioned window with a king mullion and two transoms, crenellations to the sill, and buttresses with high 4-light windows on each side without transoms but with plain sills. Below the left window, an open passage leads back to the fireplace and flue. An oriel window with a 3-light mullioned window and two transoms stands to the left. Inside, a flying 4-centred arch spans the right ground-floor window, with a panelled vault behind in the wall thickness. The floor above is gone, but a fireplace with a flat stone lintel and moulded arris survives, along with blind tracery in the window reveals and a moulded sill to shorter windows. Fan vaulting begins over the oriel. On the left return is a 9-light mullioned window set high up, with four king mullions and a moulded sill; the end lights are blind, and the arch is 3-centred.

The interior of the north and east ranges contains significant features. On the ground floor of the east range is the Library, which has bolection-moulded panelling and a wide stone fireplace, originally from around 1572 and reset from elsewhere in the building. The fireplace features fluted columns on each side and carved heads on the cornice with an egg-and-dart frieze. Carved panels sit above the doors, and the upper parts of the windows contain stained glass. An adjoining panelled room features Ionic pilasters above a dado and a moulded cornice, with a stone fireplace surround. The main stairs have an open well with moulded strings and rails, spiral balusters, square newels topped with knob finials, dado panelling, and 1580 stained glass in the windows.

On the first floor, the Katherine Parr room to the south retains largely 19th-century decoration (from 1847 onwards), with stone door surrounds in 4-centred arches and ornate timber surrounds featuring a crocketed frieze. Linen-fold panelling lines the walls, and an ornate fireplace surround and overmantel with a nodding ogee head are topped by a carved wooden cornice. The moulded plaster ceiling has pendants, and the windows contain stained glass, some from the 17th century. The north drawing room features 12-panelled doors and an ornate carved fireplace surround, with some 17th-century glass in the north stair windows; otherwise the decoration is 19th century in painted finishes. The room over the gateway has a wide stone fireplace with a 1930s strapwork frieze, 12-panel doors, and a moulded plaster ceiling. The billiard room beyond features small-panelled panelling with a dado, strapwork Corinthian pilasters, a carved frieze, strapwork doors, and an ornate fireplace surround and overmantel with a moulded plaster ceiling and stained glass to the upper parts of the windows.