Sudeley Castle, Castle in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England

Sudeley Castle is a Grade I listed country house in the Tudor style near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, begun in 1443 for Ralph Boteler on the site of a 12th-century fortified manor. Its multi-winged main building, chapel, stables and ten gardens covering about 15 acres stand within a 1,200-acre estate in the Cotswold hills.

Ralph Boteler, Lord High Treasurer of England, began the present castle in 1443 on the site of a 12th-century fortified manor, financing it partly with spoils from the Hundred Years' War. In 1469 he sold Sudeley to Edward IV, who granted it to his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester; Richard later built the banqueting hall. During the Civil War it was a royalist base, then was besieged and slighted by Parliament. The Dent family bought and restored it from 1837.

The name Sudeley is a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon Sudeleagh, meaning 'south lying pasture or clearing in forest'. Queen Elizabeth I visited three times and held a three-day party there to celebrate the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Visitors can see the church where Catherine Parr is buried.

The grounds open every morning and close in the late afternoon, allowing visitors to walk through both outdoor sections and exhibition rooms inside. Those touring the garden areas should wear sturdy shoes, as some paths cross gravel and uneven terrain.

Within the grounds stands St. Mary's Chapel, where Katherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII, was buried in 1548. Her tomb remains the only one in England where a queen lies in a private residence, as all other monarchs rest in royal or ecclesiastical sites.