After Henry VIII died in January 1547, his sixth and surviving wife Katherine Parr married Thomas Seymour and moved to Sudeley Castle. It was here, on 30 August 1548, that she gave birth to her daughter Mary. Five days later, on 5 September, Katherine died of what was described as childbed fever. She was 36 years old. Lady Jane Grey, then aged about 11 and living at Sudeley as Seymour's ward, served as chief mourner at what became the first Protestant royal funeral in English history. Katherine was buried in St Mary's Church within the castle grounds. Over the following two centuries, her tomb was vandalised and its location forgotten entirely. In 1782, a group of local men accidentally uncovered her lead-lined coffin while digging. They opened it and reportedly found her body remarkably well preserved. The coffin was reburied, lost, and found again in 1817 before finally being given a permanent marble tomb in 1863. Today, Sudeley remains the only private castle in England where a queen is buried. The castle has 10th-century origins — the first castle was built around 1139, though the current structures are mostly 15th century — and has hosted Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Richard III, and Elizabeth I. It was badly damaged during the Civil War and lay ruinous for nearly 200 years before the Dent family began its restoration in 1837.
“Over the following two centuries, her tomb was vandalised and its location forgotten entirely.”
