After visiting Sudeley Castle, I have come away from my visit unhappy. Several reasons lead to me having this feeling as we were driving out of the car park.
The first reason for my visit to Sudeley Castle becoming unsatisfactory was the food served at the café. They served sandwiches, but the bread was extremely thick, and I had salad in my egg mayonnaise sandwich. Due to the salad, it led me to pick it out of my sandwich; which took some time. If you plan to visit Sudeley Castle, I suggest that you take your own picnic so you can have it in the gardens.
Secondly, when I walked into the house to view the exhibition of Henry VIII and Lady Jane Grey, which is on the second floor. I got to the first floor, but I wasn’t sure if the next set of stairs would lead to the exhibition or not. Therefore, I walked around the rest of the house before finding out that indeed, it did lead to the next part of the exhibition. There was no sign saying ‘exhibition continues on the next floor’ so I wasn’t sure if visitors were allowed to go up there. I walked around the rest of the house before working out that visitors can go up there and it does lead to the rest of the exhibition. At least that made me a little happier.
The St Mary’s Church was lovely. I was able to see the coffin of Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII, who died at Sudeley Castle on the 5th September 1548 due to complications at birth. The coffin was beautiful, but I think I was looking for something that wasn’t even in the church.
Catherine Parr gave birth to a baby girl named Mary Seymour at Sudeley Castle on the 30th August 1548 and disappeared from all records in 1550. The evidence suggests that she could have died before her second birthday, however, as she was the daughter of a Dowager Queen of England and nephew to Edward VI, it seems mysterious that she has disappeared from all records.
What I was looking for was a poem written by John Parkhurst, Catherine Parr’s chaplain. It was found in his 1573 collection, suggesting that Mary died. I had thought that it was on a plaque in the church, but it seems like I was wrong.
The Secret Garden is hard for people who have autism. There were too many smells within the garden, so I found myself hurrying through it, wanting to get out. Due to this, I was unable to enjoy the gardens, which was a shame.
Would I return to Sudeley Castle?
Overall, Sudeley Castle is possibly one of the worse castles I have been too. Since all of the negatives of my experience at the castle have outweighed the positive, I wouldn’t want to return to Sudeley Castle shortly. It’s a shame as I was looking forward to this visit.
However, if you want to make your own decision about Sudeley Castle, you can book tickets in advance at
https://sudeleycastle.co.uk/