Sudeley Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Sudley; Sudleagh

In the civil parish of Sudeley.
In the historic county of Gloucestershire (Modern Authority of Gloucestershire, 1974 county of Gloucestershire).

Castle here was besieged during the Anarchy. Present building is C15 quadrangular castle rebuilt in the late C15 and altered circa 1572. It fell into a period of disuse and ruin after 1649. It was restored as a country house in 1837-40 and 1868-89. Further improvements took place in 1901-07 and in the 1930s. Sir Ralph Boteler received a pardon for crenellating without licence in 1458.

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Timber Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

A Royal Pardon licence to crenellate was granted in 1458 May 5.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP031276

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 327820

• Web site links
  • http://www.sudeleycastle.co.uk/
    http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/manor%20houses/sudeley%20castle.htm
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_midlands/163/sudeleycastle.htm
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p170-6, 212
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Gloucestershire and Bristol (Malvern) p33-4
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p80-1
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p183
    Verey, David, 1979, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire: the Cotswolds p438-40
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Barnard, 1911, in Ditchfield, Mem. Old Gloucestershire (London) p98-107 [slight]
    Dent, E., 1877, Annals of Winchcombe and Sudeley (London)
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p463-4
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p262-3
    Lysons, 1801, Antquities of Gloucestershire (London) plates xlix-li
    Willyams, 1791, History of Sudeley Castle (London) [of little value]
    Rudder, S., 1779, A New History of Gloucestershire
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p101
• Journal Articles
  • Hall, M., 1990 April, Country Life
    1985, Archaeological Journal Vol142 p334-35
    Rawes, B., 1977, 'A Check List of Castles and other Fortified Sites of Medieval Date in Gloucestershire' Glevensis Vol11 p39-41
    Lees-Milne, 1967, The Connoisseur Vol164 p72-7
    Faulkner, P.A., 1966, 'Sudeley Castle; Berkeley Castle; Beverstone Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol122 p172-238
    Oswald, A., 1940 Nov, Country Life Vol88 p454-8, 478-83, 500-4
    Dent-Brocklehurst, M., 1913, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol19 p55-61 [reprint of 1910 article]
    Dent-Brocklehurst, M., 1910, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol33 p6-11
    Tipping, 1909, Country Life Vol25 p486-95
    Latimer, J., 1889-90, 'Leland in Gloucestershire' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol14 p232-235
    1879-80, 'Transactions at Cheltenham' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol4 p24-6
• Guidebooks
  • Dent-Brocklehurst, M., c.1950, Sudeley Castle Guidebook [with plan by Walter Godfrey]
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1446-52) p422
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/gloceng.html#gloc13]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p170, 188
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol2 p56
• Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Kretschmer, R.,1973, 'Ralph Botiller, Lord Sudeley' BA Thesis, Keele University