Come and see Henry VIII at Sudeley Castle!

Romance and intrigue for the new season at Sudeley Castle near Winchcombe.

Sudeley Castle opens for the 2009 season on 30 March with a brand new exhibition.

Sudeley is launching a major new exhibition to coincide with the national celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s accession to the throne. The exhibition brings to life Henry’s and Anne Boleyn’s visit to Sudeley Castle in 1535 and includes fascinating detail of the costs to the estate.

Henry’s Vicar General – Thomas Cromwell – was hidden away at nearby Winchcombe Abbey, sending out his commissioners to value the assets of the monasteries and seize them for the Crown. This was the precursor to the process of the dissolution of the monasteries which changed the face of English history for ever. The exhibition reveals the intrigue surrounding Henry’s conferences with Cromwell during his stay at Sudeley.

Meanwhile Anne Boleyn investigated and exposed the fake holy relic at neighbouring Hailes Abbey and the tale is told through a series of hand painted murals and sound bites.

The exhibition includes Tudor artifacts and an audio description of this important period in Sudeley’s fascinating history. There is a further opportunity to see the costumes designed by Jane Stuart-Brown, associated with David Starkey’s TV series, The Six Wives of Henry VIII and keepsakes belonging to Henry’s sixth Queen, Katherine Parr, who is entombed in St. Mary’s Church within Sudeley’s award winning gardens.

Explore Gloucestershire
21 March 2009

• Contact phone : 01242 602308
• Also see : Sudeley Castle

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