Sudley Castle (#17)

One of the places our new friends Joode and Rich told us to visit was Sudley Castle...so off we headed on Thursday.  Just another perfectly gorgeous drive through the Cotswold country side to get there.  We parked at the edge of the castle property and walked about 15 minutes to the main castle.  This gate house piqued my interest as it had trash cans and a Webber bbq out back...somebody must live in it! I think I could be quite happy living in this little mini-castle!

It was a lovely walk to the castle and we passed many people just out walking their dogs off leash here - what a great life for a dog!

BUTTERCUPS!!  Remember our new friend Rich said he loves seeing the buttercups as the first harbinger of spring?  And I thought it was odd because I hadn't noticed any.  Funny, how once you start looking for something, it's all around you! The field below was just filled with buttercups!

The castle was interesting; lovely gardens (I took way too many photos!), but photos are not allowed inside the castle itself...so all I have are garden photos (which is not necessarily a bad thing!) The castle had a very interesting (and convoluted!) history...The first manor house on this site was built in 989...it was added on to, was used by various people throughout history (maybe the most interesting being Katherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII and the only English Queen to be buried on private land), it was damaged in the Civil War in England and intentionally partially demolished so as to be un-livable.  Two bachelor brothers, John & William Dent (who made their fortune in the glove business...Dents Gloves are apparently still well known), saw the property in 1837 and bought it to restore.  As they had no heirs, Sudley Manor was passed to their nephew (also in the booming glove business!) who, along with his wife were responsible for the majority of the restoration of the castle and the gardens.  It was never a defensive castle...just a lovely place to live.  There were several docents in various rooms to answer any questions.  One of these docents approached us to explain the symbolism in a very large tapestry hanging on the wall we were admiring.  At one point she pointed to some daffodils and pansies woven in the tapestry and described them as "homely" flowers.  I giggled and had to explain to her that we had just learned the British meaning of this word the day before.  I explained that in the US, something that is "homely" is ugly or un-attractive which totally surprised her.  

They had a lot of large animal statuary in the garden.

I loved this topiary woman reading a book...she must be getting ready for book club!!

The hedges were huge!

Moody sky above the castle!

The chapel really was very pretty!

Anne Parr's burial site.  She is the only queen to be interred on private property.

It was a little damp and drizzly when we were finished touring the garden and castle, so we stopped in the cafe/tea room before heading on.  The tea and lunch were just what we needed!  I had my first ever "sausage roll" here...and it was delicious, I'm hooked - nicely seasoned ground pork and apple sausage rolled in puff pastry and baked! I will definitely be on the lookout for more sausage rolls while we are here!  Gary had GF quiche and salad. Several "locals" had walked their dogs through the lovely grounds and were sitting in the cafe with their well-behaved (of course, they are British!) dogs lying at their feet!

The sausage roll...not much to look at but it sure was tasty!

But we couldn't linger too  long...we had another stop on our agenda.  Somehow when we had visited Stow on the Wold the other day, we missed the main attraction there! We had to head back for a peek!  Sometimes the stars are all aligned, and they sure were for us today!  Stow on the Wold is one of the more popular villages in the Cotswolds so parking is a real challenge.  The first time we came here, we parked in a public lot on the edge of town and walk a short distance into the center of town.  This time there was NO traffic and we drove right into the center of town and found a parking spot directly in front of the church we wanted to visit...like it was meant to be!

We were here to see the famous doors of St. Edwards Church.  This small Norman church, with parts dating from the 11th, 12th, and 14th centuries...lots of history here...but for any rock 'n rollers, you might be interested that in 2002 the funeral for John Entwistle, the bass player for The Who was held here, with speakers broadcasting the service to fans who had gathered outside. (This was a fun fact that I did not know before coming here!). Apparently Entwistle lived in Stow!

OK...here are the famous doors on the back side of the church.  They are flanked by yew trees that were planted 300 years ago, and now look like they have grown into the doors!  And for any of you Lord of the Rings fans...rumor has it that this door was the inspiration behind J.R.R.Tolkien's Doors of Durin, in The Lord of the Rings. (Aparantly Tolkien spent a lot of time in this area.)  It is honestly so cool looking! I was so glad we doubled back to Stow on the Wold so we could see these beautiful doors with the oil lamp hanging above.  I couldn't resist touching the yew tree on the side of the door, it was worn so smooth from centuries of people touching it! (I was equally glad that as we were walking away, 2 tour busses pulled up and unloaded all their passengers!)

Tomorrow we have another fabulous garden to visit...stay tuned! (I hope there is another sausage roll in my future!)