*%X -EX-LIBRIS -££

John E.Pritchard.

BRISTOL .

^X£TVERg^J
YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

1950

ANNALS

OF

WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY.

BY

EMMA DENT.

-

I'AIR Flajr — on Sudeley's tower unrolled,
While icy storms are hurtling by ;
We hail across the cold grey sky
The gleaming of thy bright red fold

$mmi§m®$r easw®.

England's broad Banner here did wave,
And one sad Queen within these walls.
Whereon thy shadow idly falls,
Found quiet resting-place and grave.

And many a Banner floated free,
In days when Chandos held his state
Within the ancient Castle-gate,
And woke the courts with revelry.

Then proudly float, fair Flag, once more
From towers that, strong and stately still,
Rise up and overlook the hill
And vale as in the days of yore 1

And let thy presence speak to all
Of welcome warm, and hearts as true,
As in the olden summers drew
The rich and poor to Sudeley's hall.

FRANdS R. TRAILL.

LONDON :
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1877.

PREFATORY.

TO MY HUSBAND.
IT is said that all history, both ancient and modern, is a mosaic
made up of fragments of single authorities.
If this is true of standard works of history, how doubly so
of my humble effort in the following pages, wherein I have en
deavoured to bind into something like one harmonious whole, the
interesting facts which cluster so thickly round Winchcombe, once the
Capital of Mercia, and the thousand historic associations with which
Sudeley Castle, our beautiful home, abounds.
Few residences can boast a greater antiquity, or have witnessed
more striking changes. A mansum, or manor-house, before the
Conquest, a baronial castle in the time of Stephen, then alternately
going to decay, or rising into additional magnificence, with stately
towers to overlook the vale — again suffering from neglect, and once
more right royally restored and beautified to' receive the widowed
Queen as Seymour's Bride, with all her lordly retinue.
Passing to the noble Chandos, thrice in his time were Sudeley 's
gates thrown open wide, to receive the " Great Gloriana," for whose
royal entertainment were prepared tournament, joust, and pageantry,
with all the quaint. revelry of the period.
Another change of scene presents to us Sudeley's pride laid low by
the cruel hand of rebellion. True to his king did the last Chandos of

iv PREFATORY.
Sudeley fight, and spend his might in that most righteous cause. He it
was, who at the battle of Newbury, had no less than three horses
killed under him ; he it was, who called forth Charles's burst of honest
commendation, when urged by the surrounding courtiers to check his
impetuous bravery — " Let Chandos alone ! his errors are safe." But
when the excitement of the war was over, the noise of the cannon
hushed, and the winds of heaven had dispersed the smoke from the
last burning embers, Sudeley Castle was a ruin ! her noble owner too
impoverished to realise his dream of restoring her stately pile !
For more than two hundred years thus she lay. Moss and ivy, wall
flowers and roses seemed to vie with each other in throwing a tender
veil over her decay ; and not in vain ! The time arrived, and your
worthy Uncles, with reverent care, once more raised her beautiful head
to delight the heart of the antiquary, and the eyes of all beholders. It
has been your happy privilege to add much to their interesting work,
and mine to cull from your choice collection of old Histories, such remi
niscences as belong to the Castle and neighbouring Abbey town.
Would that I could do them justice in arranging them for the
perusal of those less favoured than ourselves with leisure to search the
originals. You will read these chronicles with the partiality of a
husband's eye ; of others I only crave that they may be regarded as
materials lovingly collected for some future and abler pen than mine.
To the memory of the former noble owners of Sudeley Castle,
among whose peaceful shades I have passed so many happy hours, and
to the not less Sacred but more tender remembrance of those whose
kindness cast our lot in this pleasant heritage, with lovino- reverence I
dedicate these Annals of a historic neighbourhood and of a happy
home. EMMA DENT.

ADVERTISEMENT.
IT has been my desire, in preparing this Work, to consult all the
best authors who have treated of any of its various subjects, and
the following List may serve to show that I have bestowed some
trouble in endeavouring to carry out my intention. My task has been
materially lightened by the fact, that many of the books required are in
the Sudeley Library ; these are indicated by an asterisk. But beside
these, several MSS. preserved in the British Museum, or the Bodleian
Library, with others supplied by the kindness of friends, have been
employed ; and Mr. Cripps and others have drawn my attention to
papers preserved in the Public Record Office, which have enabled me
to trace the career of the seven Lords Chandos of Sudeley in more
detail than has heretofore been done.

*Ames's Typographical Antiquities, by
Herbert. London, 1785, 3 vols.
Annales de Winchcomb. Cottonian MS.
*Annalia Dvbrensia. London, 1636.
*Archaeologia.
*Atkyns', Sir R., Gloucestershire. London,
1 712, folio.
*Ballard's Memoirs of Eminent Ladies of
Great Britain. Oxford, 1752, 4to.
*Barksdale's, Clement, Nympha Libethris
and other works.
*Bentley, Thomas, MonvmentofMatrones.
1582, 4to., 3 vols.
'"'Bibliotheca Gloucestriensis. 1825, 4to.
*Bigland's, John, County of Gloucester.
1791-2, 2 vols., folio.

'*Brydges, Sir Egerton, Speeches delivered
to Queen Elizabeth at Sudeley Castle. 1815.
*Burghley State Papers, by Haynes and
Murdin. London, 1749-50, 2 vols., folio.
'"'Camden's Britannia, by Gough. London,
1789, folio, 3 vols.
*Chambers' Book of Days. 1863, 2 vols.
*Chronicles of Florence of Worcester.
Translated from the Latin by Thomas
Forester. 1854.
*Chronicles of Roger of Wendover,
formerly ascribed to Matthew Paris. Trans
lated by Giles. 1849, 2 vols.
*Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon.
1858, 2 vols.
'"'Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham. 1863.

VI

AD VERTISEMENT.

Clarendon's History of the Rebellion.
""'Cooper's Chronicle. 1560.
*Cripps' Royal North Gloucester Militia.
*Cromwelliana. Westminster, 1 810, folio.
'¦'Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron.
1817, 3 vols.
'"'Doyle's Chronicle of England. 1864.
"Drayton's Polyolbion. London, 16T3.
'"'Dugdale's, Sir W., Baronage. London,
1675-6, folio.
'¦''Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum,
Caley, Ellis, and Bandinel's Edit. London,
1817-30, 6 vols., folio.
"Dugdale'sWarwickshire. MDCLVT,folio.
'"'Erasmus' Paraphrase of the New Testa-
mente, with an Epistle dedicatory to the most
vertuous Ladie Quene Katherine Dowager.
London, 1548, folio.
'"'Evans' Stone Implements. 1872.
'"'Fabian's Chronicle, continued by John
Kyngston. London, 1559, folio.
'"'Fosbroke's Encyclopedia of Antiquities.
London, 1823-5, 2 vols, 4to.
"Fosbroke's History of Gloucestershire.
Gloucester, 1807, 2 vols., 4to.
"Foxe's Book of the Martyrs. London,
1631,3 vols.
*Froissart's Chronicles, Pynson's Edition.
London, 1523-5, 2 vols., folio.
Froude's History of England.
"'Fuller's Church History of Britain.
London, 1655-6, folio.
"Fuller's Worthies. London, 1662, folio.
""Gifford's Dialogue between a Protestant
and Papist. London, 1582, 4to.
'^Godwin's, H., Worthies of Newbury.
"Gough's British Topography. London,
1780, 2 vols., 4to.
"Grafton's Chronicle. H. Denham, Lon
don, 1569, folio.
'"Griffiths' History of Cheltenham.
"Grose's Antiquities.
'^Halle's Chronicle. London, 1550.
Higden'sPolycronycon, by Peter Treveris.
1527, folio.

1 *Holinshed's Chronicles. London, 1586,
2 vols., folio.
* Horse Subsecivas, by Grey Brydge, Lord
Chandos. London, 1620, 8vo.
* Hume's History of England. 1796,
8 vols. ^Jameson's (Mrs.) Monastic Orders.
1850. Jordan's, Rev. J., Parochial History of
Enstone. 1857.
King's Vale Royal (Cheshire). London,
1656, folio.
Knight's Encyclopaedia. 1854.
*Lacroix's Military and Religious Life.
1874. "Latimer's Sermons, MDXLIX.
"Leland's Itinerary, by Hearne, 3rd
Edition. Oxford, 1768-70, 9 vols., 8vo.
*Letters of the Martyrs, by M. Coverdale.
John Day, London, 1564, 4to.
Lubbock's, Sir John, Antiquity of Man.
*Lysons' Gloucestershire Antiquities.
Lysons' Our British Ancestors.
Lysons' Romans in Gloucestershire.
*Macaulay's, Lord, History of England.
1854, 3 vols.
Maclean's, Sir John, Life of T. Seymour.
1869. "MS. Notes by E. T. Browne, Esq., and
Mr. Lapworth.
®Mercurius Rusticus. London, 1647,
izmo. '"'Milles' Catalogue of Honor. London,
1610, folio.
'"'Murray's Handbooks for Rome, and for
Devon. '"Nash's Worcestershire. 1799, 2 vols.,
folio. '""Naunton's, Sir R., Memoirs of Robert
Cary, Earl of Monmouth, and Fragmenta
Regalia. Edinburgh, 1808.
'"'Nichols' Progresses of Elizabeth and
James I. London, 1 788-1 807, 3 vols., 4to.
Ormerod's History of Cheshire. London,
\ 1819, folio.

AD VERTISEMENT.

Vll

*Parr's, Queen Katherine, Prayers. 1547,
i6mo. Planch €s Conqueror and his Companions.
Royalist Composition Papers. Public
Record Office.
'^Rudder's Gloucestershire. Cirencester,
1779, folio.
'""Saxon Chronicle, Ingram's translation.
1823, 1 vol.
*Speed's History of England. 1627.
""'Stanley's, Dean, Westminster Abbey.
1869. '^Strickland's (Miss) Queens of England.
*Strutt's Saxon Antiquities. London, 1 7 7 5 ,
3 vols. ""'Tanner's Notitia Monastica.
Thomason's Collection of Tracts, in the
British Museum.

'xTytler's England under Edward VI. and
Mary. London, 1839, 2 v°ls-
'"'Upcott's English Topography. 1818,
3 vols. *Voragine's Golden Legend. W. de Worde.
1527, folio.
*Walpole's History of Painting. 1828.
'"'Warburton's, Eliot, Memoirs of Prince
Rupert. 1849, 3 v°ls-
'*Wermylierus, Otho, Spirituale and most
precyous Pearle. London, 1550, i6mo.
'"'Willis's History of Mitred Abbeys. Lon
don, 1 7 19, 2 vols., 8vo.
*Willyams, Cooper, History of Sudeley
Castle. 1 79 1.
*Winchcomb Cartulary.1
*Wood's Athense Oxonienses, Bliss's
Edition. London, 1813, 4 vols., 4to.

In the Sudeley Collection of Coins and Tradesmen's Tokens found
in Winchcombe and Sudeley, are :

Roman Coins, separately mentioned at p. 15.
Saxon Coins of Offa, Kenulf, ^Ethelred II., Canute, Harold I., and Edward the
Confessor. English Coins of William I., Stephen, Henry III., Edward I., Edward II., Edward III.,
Richard II., Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI., Edward IV., Richard III., Henry VII.,
Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., Charles II., James II.,
William and Mary, William III., Anne, George I., George II., George III.'
Tradesmen's Tokens issued in Bristol, Campden, Cheltenham, Cirencester, Gloucester,
Tewkesbury, Winchcombe, Chipping Norton, Alcester, Evesham and Worcester.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
West View of Sudeley Castle, from a photograph by Marianne
BROCKLEHURST  Vignette.
To face Page
Vale of Evesham, Winchcombe, and Sudeley, from a Watercolour by
H. Pearsall . ......... i
Belas Knap Barrow ......... -4
Stone, Flint, and Bronze Implements . ... . . 8
Roman Pavement, from a drawing by G Makgill, Esq. .... 13
Roman and Saxon Ornaments, &c. . ... . 15
King Offa, copied from the MS. by James A. Burt  19
King Kenulf, copied from the MS. by James A. Burt . . . 28
Charter of Winchcombe Abbey, copied from the MS. by James A. Burt. 33
King Kenelm, copied from the MS. by James A. Burt . . . -37
Kenelm's Church and Well, from drawings by Edmund T. Browne, Esq. 53
Old Oak, and Inner Park Wall, from a drawing by J. Rushton . . 58
Visions of Henry I., copied from Dibdin's " Bibliographical Decameron,''
by Miss Edith L. Wedgwood ........ 75
Postlip Chapel and Doorway, from a drawing by J. Rushton . . 79
Stanley Pontlarge Church, from a drawing by J. Rushton . . -105
Greet Chapel, from a drawing by Ed. T. Browne, Esq. . . . 106
Gretton Church, from a drawing by J. Rushton  106
The Portmare Tower, from a photograph by Marianne Brocklehurst . 118
Winchcombe Church, two views, drawn and lithographed by J. Dray
ton Wyatt . . . . . . . . . . . .121

x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
To face Page
Label Terminations on Sudeley Chapel, from sketches, by Marianne
Brocklehurst  •

125
126 133133

Richard, Duke of Gloucester .... ...
Marriage of Henry VII., from an old engraving
Children of Henry VII. , from an old engraving
Richard Kidderminster, Abbot, copied from the MS. by James A
Burt ... .... . . . 137
Henry VIII., carved in stone by Holbein . • 14°
Barge Board on old House in Winchcomre, from a drawing by Edmund
T. Browne, Esq. . . • '43
Doorway and Fragments of Winchcombe Abbey . . 145
Whipping Post, from a drawing by Miss Mary J. Booth 147
Ducking-Stool, from a drawing by J. Rushton . . . 147
Parish Stocks, Winchcombe . 148
Abbey House, Winchcombe, from a drawing by Edm. T. Browne, Esq. . 149
Stone Coffins of Kings Kenulf and St. Kenelm . . . . 150
John Winchcombe, painted by Holbein, from a drawing by J. Rushton . 156
Henry VIII. carved in Boxwood, by Holbein, from a drawing by Edith
L. Wedgwood . . .158
Katherine Parr's Letter to Seymour of Sudeley . . . 163
Miles Coverdale . 168
Exterior of Katherine Parr's Nursery Window, from a photograph by
Marianne Brocklehurst . 171
Interior View of the same, from a painting by Pearsall . 172
Katherine Parr, from a miniature by Holbein . . 180
Katherine Parr's Seal and Jug . ... 183
Katherine, Duchess of Suffolk . . igt
Marquis of Northampton . . . ... 196
Arms of former Owners of Sudeley

209

Kxixution of Lady Jane Grey, from a painting by Paul Delaroche,
with the permission of the publishers, Goupil & Co. . . .

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

XI

To face Page
Sudeley Castle, from a tapestry map  216

Window surmounted with Leopard's Head, initials and date, E. C, 1572,
from a drawing by J. Rushton 
Chandos Almshouses, from drawings by Miss H. Broadmead
Giles Brydges, 3RD Lord Chandos . 

Queen Elizabeth, painted by Zuccaro, from a drawing by Edith L
Wedgwood 
Henry VIII. and his Family, painted by Sir Antonio More, from a
drawing by Marianne Brocklehurst ....
Cumnor Bedstead, from a drawing by J. Rushton 
Chandos Buffet, from a drawing by J. Rushton ....
Frances Brydges, Countess of Exeter, from a scarce engraving .
Doorway, with initials and date, G. G, 16 14, from a drawing by J
Rushton  . . . • .
George, Lord Chandos, from a drawing of the original portrait, by
Miss Edith L. Wedgwood ... ...
St. Mary's, Sudeley Manor, from a photograph by Dr. Tothill
' Charles I.'s Letter on the original board from Philleigh Church
Cornwall ............

Bead-work representing Charles I. at Sudeley Castle
Octagon Tower, Sudeley Castle, from a drawing by J. Rushton
Charles I.'s Bedstead, from a drawing by J. Rushton ....
General View of Sudeley Castle, drawn and lithographed bv J. Dray
ton Wyatt ........ ...
Ruins of Sudeley Castle from the West, from a drawing by J. Drayton
Wyatt .............

219 222224
228231
232246
248 250
254261264
266270 274
278284
288

Caricature of a Roundhead, from a sketch by Edm. T. Browne, Esq.
The Bridge of Life, by Hogarth, drawn by Marianne Brocklehurst . 291
Rowell Manor House, from drawings by J. Rushton  298
Portion of Queen Elizabeth's Charter  301
Communion Table, Pulpit, and Font, Winchcombe Church . . . 305

xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
To face Page
Doorway of an Old House in Winchcombe, from a drawing by J. Rushton 308
Ground-Plan of Sudeley, from a drawing by Fred. Simmons . . .312
George III.'s Visit to Sudeley  • ¦ 31?
Inscription on the Leaden Coffin of George, Lord Chandos . . 319
Inscription on the Coffin of Queen Katherine Parr  320
Tomb of Queen Katherine Parr, sculptured by J. B. Philip . . 323

ENGRAVINGS IN THE TEXT.
Page
Ground-plan, Belas Knap, from a drawing by L. Winterbotham, Esq. . 6
Skull found in Belas Knap Barrow .... .7
Stone found at Child's Wickham, from a drawing by Marianne Brockle
hurst ... ..... . . 10
Ground-plan of Roman Villa, from a drawing by G Makgill, Esq. . 13
Huddlestone's Table, from a drawing by Henrietta Wedgwood . . . 31
Stone Coffin, from Winchcombe Abbey ... . 36
Clent Church .......... . . 46
King Kenulf's body carried to Winchcombe, from a drawing by Mari
anne Brocklehurst ...... . e0
Window of St. Kenelm's Chapel, from a drawing by J. Rushton . . 54
West View of low Embattled Tower, from a photograph by M. Brockle
hurst ........
Seal of William de Tracy ......
Seal of Otuer de Sudeley 
Seal of Ralph de Sudeley .......
Piscina, Winchcombe Church ... . .
Processional Cross, from a drawing by Miss Edith L. Wedgwood 12-
Spur, from Tewkesbury Battle-field . . . I2g
Alms Chest, Winchcombe Church ... ... 134

76
868795
120

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xni
Page
Winchcombe Abbey Seal  135
Seal of Richard Ancelme, Abbot of Winchcombe  141
Initials of Richard Kyderminster on George Inn  151
Clock from Hailes Abbey . . . . . . . . . . . 162
East View of low Embattled Tower . . . . . . . .165
Katherine Parr's Effigy, from the "Monument of Matrones '' . . . 177
Fragment of Queen Katherine Parr's Monument . . . . .178
Sir Thomas Seymour, from a copy by Lady Lucan of the original minia
ture by Holbein . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Lady Jane Grey ............ 201
The Old Pleasaunce ............ 207
John Brydges, first Lord Chandos of Sudeley . . . . . .212
The Chandos Mantel-piece, from a drawing by Marianne Brocklehurst. 218
The Chapel Bell, from a drawing by Fred. Simmons . . . . .222
Frances Clinton, wife of Giles, Lord Chandos . . . . . . 227
Elizabeth, Lady Kennedy . . . . . . . . . • 239
Katherine, Countess of Bedford, from a painting by C. Jansen . . . 242
Lantern, XIVth Century work . . . . . . . . -244
Ruins of Sudeley Castle . . . . . . . . . . 253
Prince Rupert, from a scarce engraving by Hollar . . . . 259
Charles L, from an original miniature ........ 263
Sir William Waller, from an old engraving . . . . . .268
Sword found on Dunn's Hill, from a drawing by Marianne Brocklehurst 269
Sir William Morton, from a photograph lent by the Rev. T. Bulkeley
Owen ....  271
Colonel Edward Massey . . . . . . . . . . .272
Old Pewter Communion Plate . . . . . . . ..277
The Grange, Sudeley  ... 283
The March of Intemperance, by Hogarth, from a drawing by Marianne
Brocklehurst  292

xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page

Clement Barksdale's Autograph, copied from one of his books at
Sudeley Castle, in which his name is written  293
East view of Sudeley Chapel . . . 300
Interior of Winchcombe Church, from a photograph taken before its
Restoration . . 305
Remains of Cross in Winchcombe Churchyard . . 309
Hagioscope in Sudeley Chapel . . . 311
The Buttery Hatch . . 313
Lead Coffin of Queen Katherine Parr . 315
Maces belonging to the Borough of Winchcombe 324
Warming Pans, 1642 and 1645 . . . 341

h.

i\ ,-!

lv_

,tt\M WW

ANNALS

WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY,

CHAPTER I.
" As free as Nature first made Man,
Ere the base laws of servitude began,
When wild in woods the noble Sayage ran. "
Dryden.

DEEP in a beautiful vale near the northern base of the lofty
Cotswold range stands the small stone-built town of Winch
combe, now a " decayed borough," but once the abode of
royalty, and more lately the seat of a mitred abbot. The hand of time
has passed roughly over it, and centuries have rolled on since the
plumed warrior and the cowled monk were to be found within its walls,
since the convent bell ceased to sound, or the hills to re-echo the bugle
note or the falcon's cry, but the attentive observer can yet discover
many traces of its former importance in and around it. The object of
the following pages will be to bring before the reader, incidents
referring to the locality, and so much of general history as may be
needed to make that of Winchcombe and Sudeley more interesting
and clear.
The year 787 appears to be the first date that can be certainly
connected with the history of Winchcombe ; or Wincelcumbe, as it is
spelt in Domesday. At that time a nunnery was built in it by King
Offa of Mercia, afterwards the founder of St. Albans Abbey. Not
withstanding its present unpretending appearance, Winchcombe, ac
cording to " The Golden Legend," a work of the thirteenth century,
which will hereafter be more fully quoted, was at that period " the chief

2 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. i.
city of all the counties then comprised in Mercia." Although prior to
the founding of the nunnery the name of Winchcombe is seldom or
never met with, from its proximity to Gloucester, Cirencester, Evesham,
and Oxford, it no doubt shared in many of the most stirring events of
the early days, even as in later times it bore marks of the ravages
made by the civil wars of Stephen's reign, and again a few centuries
later of those of King Charles I. The ancient history of Winchcombe
naturally brings forward that of Sudeley, its near neighbour, and then
like our little river Isborne joining the Winchcombe stream and flowing
on together till both are lost in " classic Avon," so, henceforth, our two
histories, in happy combination, flow on together till, as a tiny tributary
trickling down from the Cotswold Hills, they are merged in the
broader stream of the national annals.
Before, however, entering on the authenticated incidents recorded of
the eighth century, it will be interesting to trace back, briefly, (so far
as is practicable through so long a vista of remote ages) some of the
facts presented to us by the discoveries of ancient British and Roman
remains which we have had the good fortune to witness in Sudeley
during the last few years.
Sir Francis Palgrave writes, that, according to an ancient tradition,
which, although not possessing scriptural authority, is grounded upon
Scripture, the Cymri, as they are still called in their own' language, are
descended from Gomer, the common ancestor of all the Celtic tribes,
Britain having fallen to their lot when the " isles of the Gentiles " were
divided among the children of Japheth, " every one after his tongue,
after their families, in their nations," (Gen. x. 5.) If this was so, it may
be supposed that they brought with them the history of our common
origin, and from which might have sprung the tradition of the first
inhabitants of Britain having emanated from the soil.
The popular idea of our British ancestors is ordinarily taken from
the account which Caesar gives of them in his Gallic War, but this
is inaccurate, as might be expected from his small opportunities of
observation. It is briefly as follows : — He allows that they were brave,
and made a stubborn resistance to his arms. They fought, he says,
from chariots with scythes fixed to the axle-trees of the wheels, which

chap, i.] THE DRUIDS. 3
mowed down their enemies, while, with marvellous dexterity, they
leaped to and from the ground, urging their horses on to surpassing
speed down steep hills or on the edge of precipices. Their habitations
were huts ; their clothing skins of wild beasts ; they tattooed their
bodies, painting them blue and green. They had no fortifications,""'
and their towns or villages consisted of clusters of huts defended often
only by their position on steep hills, or in almost impenetrable forests,
and the brave spirits of their indwellers. It was only the tribes of the
interior who were in this state, for the coasts were inhabited by settlers
from Gaul, who are described by Strabo as civilized in their habits ;
and the gold coins of Tasciovanus and other British rulers, certainly
not later than the commencement of the Christian era, have come
down to us.
Comparatively speaking, little is known of the religion of the ancient
Britons, owing to their priests, the Druids, making it a rule not to
commit to writing any of their creed or ceremonies, trusting instead
to oral tradition. When the Druids were crushed by the Romans,
most of these traditions perished, but some have been preserved in the
Triads of the Cymri, so called from " each triad containing three facts,
precepts, or definitions."
It is supposed that the Druids were of Celtic origin, and they
possessed in this country the greatest possible spiritual and temporal
influence over the people ; administering laws, and exercising the
power of excommunication, by which they cut off offenders from their
friends and families, as well as from participation in the sacrifices.
In their religious ceremonies they made use of the mistletoe when
found growing on the oak ; f and Augustine, even in the sixth century,
is said to have found the Britons worshipping /Esculapius under the
name of Heale ; the mistletoe was called " All Heale " (hence our
word healthy, and " the healing art").
The Druids were allowed many privileges, such as being excused

* This is a mistake ; our best informed antiquaries now ascribe a pre-Roman date to the mighty earth
works of Dorsetshire and Somersetshire, and the same is probably true of the camps on the Cheviot Hills.
t A few years ago we saw mistletoe growing on an oak in Eastnor Park, and which, from its rarity,
attracted much attention. B 2

4 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. i.
from war and exempt from taxes. Apart from the human sacrifices
which marked their great ceremonies, and which are thought by some
modern authors to have been much exaggerated, there was much
in their teaching worthy of admiration. Their three principal subjects
of instruction were, "Piety towards the gods;" "Charity towards
men;" "Fortitude in death;" precepts worthy of an apostle, and
justifying the remark of Deutsch on the Talmud, that many things
taught by those inspired teachers were old truths gathered up from
ancient writings, and oral sayings then familiar to the people.
Of the British funeral rites and sepulchral mounds much has been
written, and many contending opinions formed. The one now generally
received is, that the various mounds which contain their burial places,
represent by the remains found in them three different periods ; viz.,
ist, the Stone age, stretching far back into prehistoric times, before
metals were known or used, and when implements were made only
of bone, flint, or stone ; the 2nd, the Bronze, when their implements
were of that metal or of gold ; and the 3rd, the Iron.
There seems no doubt that our British forefathers were worshippers
of Baal, or fire ; Baal, Bel, or Belus, all signifying the same. Many
places in England point to this fact by names associated with the god
of fire, and one occurs in our immediate neighbourhood. Belas Knap
tump, tumulus, tomb, or barrow (all signifying a " little hill"), is an
interesting example of this, and of what may be called the stone age.
This barrow, otherwise called Hamley Hough, lies just beyond the
boundary of our Humblebee Wood, in the parish of Charlton Abbots,
and carries with its name ideas of solar superstition ; * in Belas we
recognise Bel or Baal, and in Hamley we have " a place of Ham, solar
heat, the sun."
Belas Knap barrow was opened in 1863. It presented all the
interesting features of the long tumuli of the Britons ; the cromlech to
the north, and sepulchral chambers at the east and west ; also a single
sepulture, in a grave constructed of rough stones, at the south, possibly
a later interment. The walls leading to the entrance of the barrow

Lysons' "Our British Ancestors."

¦ ¦;-¦ a. ,^*m, fir-

ssisk

swlim.

«*'*&

atefc^

.^^»l^&2

Beller's Nap, Barrow.
Cell, — Northern Side, and Western Entrance.

chap, i.] BELAS KNAP BARROW. 5
were constructed of stones unhewn and unchiselled ; the stones of the
entrance also were without any mark of instrument upon them. It
seems as if the sacredness of the spot was esteemed to be enhanced by
this absence of workmanship with metal, as in Scripture times : "An
altar of earth thou shalt make unto me .... and if thou wilt make
me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone : for if thou
lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." Exod. xx. 24, 25.
Flint implements were found in the barrow ; the one represented in
the opposite Plate in all probability was the sacrificial knife ; and from
its calcined condition most probably was thrown into the fire with the
sacrifice. Flint knives are frequently mentioned in Scripture ; the
priests of Baal cut themselves with flints ; they shaved themselves
with them as a sign of mourning ; and both in the true and the false
religions of primitive times such implements were constantly used in
their religious or superstitious ceremonies. Unfortunately no trouble
was bestowed on the preservation of this barrow ; consequently the
principal cromlech on the N, side was broken and the sepulchral
chambers destroyed ; but a valuable collection of skulls gathered there
from is preserved in the College Museum at Cheltenham, of which a
very interesting description is given in " The Proceedings of the Society
of Antiquaries, April 19, 1866," where the progress of the excavations
is described, from a report by L. Winterbotham, Esq. ; but we must
content ourselves with a slight notice of the results.
Beginning with A in the ground plan, on a large flat stone nearly
eight feet square and two feet thick, was discovered a massive lower
jaw, and under the stones, the bones of five children from one to seven
years of age. There were no remains of an adult, but one remarkable
male skull, which might pass for a well-developed modern head. In
cell B were found human bones, with the bones and tusks of boars, a
bone scoop, some pieces of rough sun-dried pottery, and a few flints.
C represents an area of about five feet, originally roofed in with large
slabs of stones, but which had given way and fallen upon twelve
skeletons placed round in a sitting position on flat stones — these were
partially pressed into the ground from the weight above them. In the
nostrils of the skulls were parts of the fingers, as if, in the sitting

6 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. i.
posture, the fingers had so been placed as to keep the head erect.
D contained fourteen human skeletons, with no other remains but the
bones of mice, found chiefly in the skulls. E contained part of a
human skull and bones of a wild boar, both bearing marks of cremation.
F was a broken circle of stones, seven feet in diameter, but with no
remains. The soil around was deeply impregnated with wood ashes,

Ground-plan, Belas Knap.
and here was found the calcined knife. In all, thirty-eight skeletons
were found.
Among the skulls, the most remarkable is the one here delineated,
showing how the upper incisors were broken off, or ground down even
with the gums. Other lower jaws exhibited the same peculiarity. It
remains for future archaeologists to ascertain whether this was but a
fashion, or a badge of distinction among the men who tenanted our hills
in those far-off prehistoric times. In " Crania Britannica," by Davis
and Thurnam, these skulls are tabulated and described, as they are
considered to form a valuable and complete collection of very interest
ing ethnological specimens. Many of the arrow heads and flint imple
ments in the Sudeley Collection were found in the immediate vicinity
of this barrow.
Geologists tell us the stone age takes us back thousands, perhaps
millions, of years, when the configuration of the globe differed from
what it is now ; when mankind dwelt on the earth with animals long

CHAP. I.]

PREHISTORIC TIMES.

7

ago extinct, with the mammoth and the woolly-haired rhinoceros, and
innumerable others. The study of those remote periods has become a
science ; and the earnest searchers after truth, doubtless having found
" some foot-prints on the sands of time," will gradually so track them
back, that fields of knowledge will yet be discovered of which we of
to-day have no idea, and when possibly even the connection between

Skull found in Belas Knap Barrow.
history and geology will be made clear. It is easy to imagine that the
philosophers of future ages may smile at ours of to-day, even as we
smile at those of early times, when it was believed that fossils were
serpents and such like turned to stone by saints — at least such was the
teaching of the monks ; and Fuller, some centuries later, is almost as
extravagant. He says,* " Who knows not, but at Alderly, in Glouces
tershire, there are found stones resembling cockles or periwinkles in a
place far from the sea, which are esteemed by the learned the gamesome
work of nature, some time pleased to disport itself and pose us by
propounding such riddles to us."
But to return to comparatively modern times. The worship of Bel

" Church History of Britain. "

8 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. i.
originated with the Assyrians, to whom the Phoenicians owed their
origin ; and as the Phoenicians came here at a very remote period
trading for tin, it is not difficult to see the connecting link between the
introduction of their faith into this Island, and the origin of the name
Belas Knap. This barrow very greatly corresponds with the description
given by Sir John Lubbock* of the tumuli of Northern Europe, as
consisting of large mounds, with a passage formed by blocks of stone
leading into a central chamber in which sit the dead, exactly like the
arrangements of the hut in which the Esquimaux of the present day
pass the winter. Professor Nilsson concludes from this, that the graves
were built after the pattern of the dwelling-houses, or that in some
cases the very house in which the dead man had lived was converted
into his grave. He says that some of the ancient tribes of the North,
unable to imagine a future altogether different from the present, showed
their respect and affection for the dead by burying with them those
things which in life they had valued most ; with ladies their ornaments,
with warriors their weapons. When a great man died, he was placed
on his favourite seat, food and drink were arranged before him, his
weapons were arranged at his side, and the house was closed and the
door covered up, sometimes, however, to be opened again when his
wife or children joined him in the land of spirits.
Though more rare in England than in Scandinavia, our tumulus by
Humblebee Wood must have been of this kind. Some antiquaries
have gone so far as to suppose that the contents of these barrows
indicate " a belief in a future' state, and of some doctrine of probation
and of final retribution," but to this Sir John Lubbock, in the lecture
before quoted, does not assent. Yet as we turn from contemplating
these bones so recently brought forth from the long-forgotten and
unnoticed barrow, what a mysterious and sacred atmosphere seems to
veil their history from our eyes !
" That mighty heap of gathered ground ! " Who can tell what love
and devotion may not have worked to raise that mound ; what grand
religious rites and ceremonies may not have accompanied its comple-

* "Antiquity of Man.''

i. Sacrificial Knife, found by J. C. Dent, 2. Spindle-whorl, found by Mr. Staite on 3. Sling-stone, Sudeley.
Esq. the Lodge Farm, Sudeley.
4. Plummet, or Net-sinker, Sudeley. 5. Flint Implements, Sudeley. 6. Bronze Celts, Cleeve Hill.

Stone, Flint, and Bronze Implements.

chap. i.J THE STONE AND THE BRONZE AGE. 9
tion ; how may not the workmen have thought their work would last to
all eternity, and the names of those so reverently placed within could
never be forgotten !
" The mound is now a lone and nameless Barrow,
Dust long outlasts the storied stone ;
But thou — thy very dust is gone ! "
Some writers are of opinion that the stone and the bronze age were
identical, the stone being used by the poor, the bronze by the rich ;
but this is probably only partially true, for the barrows where we find
stone implements are usually of more stately dimensions than those
that furnish bronze.* Flint, on account of its hardness, and of the
peculiar facility with which the flint flakes could be formed by a blow,
was well adapted to the wants of savage life. It was formerly thought
that the Romans introduced the bronze implements into this country,
copying in metal what they already found in common use ; but this has
given way to the opinion that they are of far greater antiquity. The
bronze celts here engraved were found by some workmen in 1856
between Winchcombe and Prestbury, on Cleeve Hill, and were brought
to us soon after we came to Sudeley. About the same time a lump of
copper was found by a workman in one of our Sudeley quarries. This
metal being quite foreign to the oolitic stone of the district, its presence
can be only attributed to those same far-off times when the bronze celts
were moulded by the inhabitants of these hills, and the metal, in a
liquid state, must have percolated through the soil into the quarry.
Another antiquity, which seems to belong to those times, is the stone
represented over leaf, and which was found a little below the surface
of the soil at Child's Wickham, near Evesham, and kindly presented by
the rector, Mr. Hartley. No antiquary has yet been able to throw
any light on its singular form, and twelve small cavities. Sir James
Simpson wrote a work upon stones of a similar character in Scotland,
and from his description we might suppose this to be one of them.
Some of these have channels communicating between the cavities ;

* See Worsaae's " Primaeval Antiquities.

IO

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. i.

they are supposed to have been receptacles for rain and dew, the
purest of all fluids, and therefore deemed fit for the religious service
of the Druids in their ablutions and purifications ; or, as in this
instance, where there are no lips or channels, for the dew to be mixed
with the expressed juice of the mistletoe.

Stone found at Child's Wickham.

CHAPTER II.
" I doe love these ancient mines !
We never tread upon them, but we set our feet
Upon some reverend historie."
HAVING thus briefly touched upon our British antiquities, we
may pass on to that portion of our national history, which
explains how it is we have so many Roman remains on the
Sudeley property.
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in the year 55 B.C., but achieved no
permanent conquest. The Britons, when pressed by the Roman power,
occasional^ made some slight acknowledgment, but it was not until
the reign of Claudius (a.d. 43) that the subjugation of our island was
begun in reality. Aulus Plautius and Vespasian (who afterwards
became emperor) having gained a footing in it, invited the emperor to
come over, which he did, and though he remained only sixteen days,
he decreed himself a triumph at Rome, as the conqueror of Britain.
After his departure they pursued their conquest until they crossed a
great river in the western part of the country, which Horsley supposes
to have been the Severn. Ostorius Scapula warred with the Silures
beyond the Severn, but though he captured their king, Caractacus, he
was at last unsuccessful, and died. For some years the more remote
British tribes maintained themselves against the Romans, but in the
year 61 Suetonius subdued Mona (now Anglesey), and extinguished
the Druidic worship in blood. He was, however, recalled by a rising
of the Iceni, a people in the east of Britain, who, headed by their
queen Boadicea, strove nobly to throw off the Roman yoke. They
were subdued, and Boadicea perished, but the sad tale does not belong
to my history. At last, in the year 78, Julius Agricola was appointed

12 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ii.
to the command in Britain, and to him the establishment of the
Imperial rule is due. He not only conquered the natives in battle,
but reconciled them to the loss of their independence by the introduc
tion of Roman arts and luxury. " All this was by the simple people
looked on as a benefit, when it was really part of their bondage,"
Tacitus tells us.
As soon as the Romans had secured a footing in the country, one of
their great works was the formation of military roads, which often
followed the lines of older British ones, for the purpose of conveying
their troops and baggage ; and, among others, a chain of fortresses was
built along the line of the brow of the Cotswold Hills, overlooking the
vale of the Severn. Of the four great Roman ways or streets (so called
from strata, a road), it is the Foss which traverses the Sudeley estate.
Passing from Bath through Cirencester, it is readily traced in many
places — very distinctly from " the Dead Man's Gate," by the road
leading past the Farmcote cottages, and taking a sudden and very
picturesque turn, where it is so narrow that a cart can hardly pass ; then
for half a mile all trace being lost, it appears again in a grand road of
sixty feet in breadth stretching away over the hills. The tradition has
always been that this part of the road was British, but repaired and
used by the Romans. These roads were placed under the special
care of Mercury ; to his honour were erected pillars on which were cut
figures signifying the number of miles, and from this we derive our
custom of placing mile-stones on our turnpike roads. *
Although the occupation of the island may be said to have been purely
military, a partially Romanized population gradually grew up in the
southern and western districts, with whom mixed and intermarried the
veteran legionaries, who received land instead of pensions. Cities thus
sprung up, in many cases on the site of British towns, adorned with the
foreign luxuries of baths, hypocausts, frescoed walls and paintings,
tesselated pavemenis, temples, and penates or household gods,
specimens of which we find in our museums. Gloucester and Ciren
cester, under the names of Glevum and Corinium, were Roman cities,

Rudder's " Gloucestershire.''

Roman Pavement,
Found on the Wadfield Farm.
From a Drawing by G. Makgiix, Esq.

CHAP. II.]

ROMAN VILLA.

and indeed all this part of the country was classed under the second of
the four great provinces into which Britain was divided, viz., Britannia
Secunda, and which, beside Gloucestershire, included Wales, Hereford
shire, Monmouthshire, with parts of Shropshire and Worcestershire.
Sudeley estate is rich in Roman remains, which probably arose from
its proximity to Cirencester, Gloucester, and the Foss-road Not far
from the great high-roads were generally placed their military posts,
such as we suppose ours to have been above Longbarrow bank over
looking this vale. Again, not far from these encampments were
generally situated villas and dwellings of various descriptions, such as
the villa we discovered on the Wadfield farm in 1863.

Ground-plan of Roman Villa.

As usual, this was brought to light through the instrumentality of
the plough, which struck against a stone ; upon the removal of this and
other stones which were then found, a Roman villa was discovered
beneath the surface of the soil, in a perfect state of preservation. It

14 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ii.
was of the usual form, and, in addition to the reception rooms, with
hypocaust or bath. The average dimensions of the rooms were about
fifteen feet square, and they apparently must have been occupied by
some individual holding a high military appointment. The tesselated
pavement was as perfect as if just completed by the workmen ; but its
speedy removal was found to be absolutely necessary in order to
preserve it from the Winchcombe public, who in the space of one
Sunday afternoon carried off a large portion in small pieces, as
souvenirs. Thanks to the energy and ability of Mr. Fred. Simmons,
bailiff, this valuable memento of Roman times was soon safely lodged
in the green-house of Sudeley Castle : where may it long be preserved
as reverently as it is by its present owners !
After the subjugation of Car'actacus, this part of the country ceases
to afford material for history, but we may fairly imagine that it was
both peaceful and prosperous, from the remains of luxurious Roman
dwellings that everywhere abound. In the north it was otherwise, as
is plainly testified by the visits of the Emperors Hadrian and Severus,
and the Walls which they raised to keep out the Scots and Picts, but
which at last failed to do so.
By degrees the incursions of these tribes became very formidable,
and still more so when their forces were joined by the Saxons in the
fourth century. The jealous policy of the Romans had disarmed the
Britons, and the people afterwards known as the Saxons had little
difficulty in establishing themselves on the coast from Northumberland
to Thanet. Mutinies occurred among the troops, the Picts burst
through the Wall, and at last, in the year 410, the Roman emperor
formally released the Britons from their allegiance, and withdrew every
soldier for the defence of the empire, which was now assailed on
all sides by the barbarians. Some Roman settlers remained behind,
but in the year 418 they also departed. Then, says the Saxon
Chronicle, " the Romans collected all the hoards of gold that were in
Britain, and some they hid in the earth, so that no man afterwards
might find them, and some they carried away with them into Gaul."
For 1400 years these treasures have remained hidden in the earth,
in our neighbourhood at least, for arable land was till recently little

Roman Rings
and Beads
found on the
Wadfield Farm.

Glass Pendant,
Saxon Iron Spear,
and
Bronze Fibula.

Fragment of Roman Tomb
found in stancomb wood.

Fragments of Roman Statue
found on the wadfield farm.

Roman and Saxon Ornaments, &c.

chap, n.] ROMAN REMAINS. 15
known in the Cotswolds. It has been the work of the ploughman in
this century, in turning over the soil, to bring some of them once
again to the surface. In this manner Roman coins are often discovered
on our hills, and we have the following at Sudeley, but many more have
been lost by the cottagers. Silver.
Consular — Cestianus. Severus Alexander, Valentinianus I., Con-
Imperial — Domitian, Hadrian, Antoninus stantius II., Magnus Maximus.
Pius, Faustina junior, Septimus Severus, Brass.
Large — Marcus Aurelius, Commodus. 3, various, Constantine the Great 8, various,
Second — Vespasian, Domitian. Crispus, Constantine II., Junior 2, various,
Third — Gallienus 5, various, Victorinus Constans 4, various, Constantius II., 2,
3, various, Tetricus Senior 6, various, various, attributed to Constantine the Great
Tetricus Junior, Claudius II., 2, various, 6, various, Magnentius, Gratian, Valens.
Numerianus, Carausius 4, various, Allectus
In Spoonley coppice we have found great quantities of tesserae, and
the remains of what must have been various apartments, each painted
in different coloured frescoes, coins, bones of animals, tusks of the wild
boar, and wood ashes. Owing to the roots of the trees having reached
the pavement, all form and pattern have been destroyed. Tesserae
have also been found in the garden of Sudeley Lanes farm, adhering
to the roots of vegetables — and in the field opposite the keeper's lodge.
In Stancombe Wood also there must be Roman remains, as there was
found the monumental stone of the Roman soldier. It is to be hoped
all these places will some day be carefully examined.
The departure of the Romans was the signal for further inroads by
Picts and Scots, soon followed by the subjugation of South Britain by
the Saxons, Jutes, and Angles. With these last we have most to do ;
for while the Saxons and Jutes gradually established themselves in
other parts of the country, the Angles settled in the midland region, or
Mercia, the capital of which Winchcombe soon became. The name by
our county historians is derived from the Saxon Wincel, a corner, but as
combe is a mere corruption of the British word cwm, a valley, it is an
open question whether it may not really be of older date than the

1 6 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ii.
coming of Hengist and Horsa. Nothing like it, however, occurs in
the lists of British towns given by Nennius and other early authors.
Hitherto, this part of the country had been the chief seat of the
Dobuni, a people who, inhabiting for the most part a plain and
valleys encompassed with hills, derived their name from the British
word Dwfn, deep or low. When the Saxons became masters of
Britain the name of Dobuni was lost, the conquerors attaching to the
people of this country that of Wiccii, which, as Wic in the Saxon
tongue signifies the creeks of a river, is supposed to have been derived
from their dwelling in the vicinity of the Severn. It soon came to be
called The March or Boundary, and was the sixth and last formed
division of the Heptarchy.

CHAPTER III.
" What do you call the place ?
A plague upon 't, it is in Gloucestershire.''
Shakespeare.
THE Mercian kingdom seems to have been founded about a.d.
584, by Crida, an Anglian chief, whose descent is traced from
Woden. Penda, his grandson, appears to be the first con
nected with the history of this particular neighbourhood, and we may
reasonably suppose that Winchcombe was then the seat of royalty.
Not only when Penda fought at Cirencester with the West Saxons
(a.d. 628), but after many more of his constant strifes and battles, it
is not difficult to imagine him triumphantly returning to his Mercian
capital ; still it is almost impossible to realise that our present quiet little
town, though still retaining marks of its Anglo-Saxon origin, should ever
have witnessed those semi-barbarous, regal, and warlike triumphs.*
We read that Winchcombe was once a distinct sheriffdom or county
within itself, which was probably the work of the great Penda, till united
to Gloucestershire in the reign of Canute. In 655 Penda was slain in a
memorable battle at Wingfield, on which occasion, it is said, no less
than thirty royal persons perished with him, some of whom were kings.
After this, adds the Chronicle, the Mercians became Christians. The
first fruits of their new religion were remarkably manifested in the
next few years by the sons of Penda combining with his conqueror,
Oswy of Northumbria, to erect a minster to the glory of Christ and the

* Near Sennen Church, in Cornwall, a few yards from the roadside, is a stone called the Dining-table
of the Saxon Kings ; it is three feet high and seven long. The tradition says that seven kings once met
there to see the Land's End, and that one of the seven was Penda, of Mercia : Merlin, escaped from the
oak, appeared among them, and prophesied that a still larger number would assemble there one day ; but
the meeting has not occurred yet. D

1 8 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. hi.
honour of St. Peter. The building is now represented by Peter-
, borough Cathedral. This was accomplished with much regal and
ecclesiastical pomp in the presence of innumerable grandees and the
Northumbrian and Mercian kings. Christianity had now taken firm
root, and was spreading in the land. Paganism was waning before the
light of Christianity, and the gods of the heathen were giving place to
the saints of the Eastern world. Canon Lysons in his Lecture on " The
Romans in Gloucestershire," gives good reason to believe that the great
Apostle to the Gentiles was the first to sow the seeds of Christianity
in Gloucester. When Aulus Plautius was vice-emperor at Gloucester,
a noble Christian lady married Pudens Rufus, who was converted
to Christianity.* In Rome they lodged the Apostles Peter and Paul,
and it was at their suggestion that St. Paul first visited Britain.
Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Theodoret affirm that "the
tent-maker" with others revealed the Gospel to the Britons, and as
Gloucester was then the seat of government, Canon Lysons naturally
concludes St. Paul would there reside and preach. If such was the
case, may we not go a little further, and imagine that he may have
extended his work even to Winchcombe, within so short a distance of
Gloucester, and which, to judge from the numerous surrounding Roman
villas and stations, must have been a place of no small importance ?
When Christianity was fully established, Rome, Constantinople,
Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria had each a patriarch, or pope.
But Rome being the capital of the whole empire, claiming the greatest
antiquity and the chair of St. Peter, assumed supreme power over the
others, and so, gradually, over the whole of Christendom. Rome in
those days appeared to hold in her hands the keys of life and death ;
blessings and anathemas emanating from the Eternal City carried with
them a power for weal or woe not to be realised in the present day.
He who could accomplish a pilgrimage to Rome, kneel at the shrine
of St. Peter and receive the Benediction from the Pope, was ranked
among the highly favoured of heaven, and envied by his fellow men.
So it came to pass that many churches and religious houses were

A monumental tablet, ascribed to Pudens, was discovered near Gloucester in 1S25. Lysons

p. 24.

Copied from Cotteniiam MS., Claud. I), vi. F. 3. (14111 Century).

offa.] FOUNDATLON OF WINCHCOMBE NUNNERY. 1 9
erected in the land for the benefit of those who could not attain to such
high privileges; and so meritorious was it then considered to do honour
to St Peter, that we find nearly all the principal churches of those
early centuries were dedicated to him, as was, later on, our own Church
of Winchcombe.
As before stated, it was to King Offa, in a.d. 787, that Winchcombe
was indebted for the founding of a nunnery. In those days the
greatest benefit was conferred on a town or neighbourhood by him who
established there a religious house ; for round it soon clustered other
dwellings. Encouragement was given to industry and agriculture,
followed by further advantages which only in later years were super
seded by the prosperity accompanying trade and commerce. As Offa
was considered the most powerful of the Mercian kings, it will be
interesting here to gather together such of the records of his life and
reign as are to be gleaned from the ancient Chronicles.
The first notice that we shall give stands thus : " a.d. 757. Bernred,
king of Mercia, reigned but a short time and unprosperously, for King
Offa put him to flight and assumed the government, which he held
thirty-nine winters.''" This Bernred is described as deserving the title
of " tyrant " in the worst acceptation of the word, as he ruled Mercia
according to his will and not according to law ; so when the whole
population rose against him, Offa, who was of the right royal line, was
joyfully acknowledged as king.* The nobles rallied round him, and
the usurper Bernred was expelled. It was not without much blood
shed that Offa established himself in the kingdom of Mercia, and
when this was accomplished, in about the sixteenth year of his reign,
he turned his attention to his neighbours, and " Offa the Terrible " soon
subjugated the people of Sussex and Kent.
In 774 he gained a complete victory over the Kentish king at
Otford, and this was followed by his obtaining the papal sanction to
raise Lichfield to the dignity of an archbishopric, in violation of the
rights of Canterbury; but this was set aside in the reign of his successor
Kenulf. Offa was almost constantly at war ; his acquisitions were
* Offa's pedigree, copied from "Annales de Winchcomb," appears in the Cotlonian MS., Tiberius,
E. iv., fo. 13. It is also given in the Saxon Chronicle, a.d. 755. D 2

20 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. nr.
numerous, and to render them secure the celebrated Dyke, which bears
his name, was cast up. He caused his son Ecgfrith (who is also called
Egbert) to be anointed during his own lifetime, and he was called King
of Mercia as long as Offa lived ; this was doubtless in the hope of
securing the succession, which in those days belonged not by right
to the eldest son, but was decided frequently by the election of the
Witenagemot. The Chronicles supply us with stories which give a terrible insight
into the character of Offa's wife and daughter, revealing deeds of
treachery and murder which, read more like fiction than reality. A
peculiar interest is added to the incidents, when we bear in mind that
the Mercian kings had then a royal residence in Winchcombe, and that
therefore we may suppose most of those personages must have actually
resided here ; and who can tell how many of those stirring events may
not have been enacted in the streets of Winchcombe, and on the very
spot where stood, according to tradition, the Palace of the Mercian
kings ?
Of Ouendrida, his queen, the story goes, that when Ethelbert, the
king of East Anglia, was a guest at their court, having come to ask
their daughter in marriage, she, Jezebel-like, suggested his murder, at
which Offa was very indignant. The day was passed in music and
dancing, but at night when the young king retired to rest, he was
precipitated into a pit-fall and smothered by her treacherous servants.
Offa, on hearing of the murder, " shut himself up in a certain loft, and
for grief, tasted no food for three days." Nevertheless, though he
wished to be counted guiltless of the king's death, he sent out a great
expedition and united the kingdom of East Anglia to his own.
Eadburga, his daughter, was the wife of Brihtric, king of Wessex,
whom she poisoned. Being in consequence driven from Britain, she
repaired to the court of Charlemagne, and was by him placed as abbess
of a nunnery, but being expelled for her profligacy, she ended her life
as a common beggar in the streets of Pavia.
The murder of Ethelbert was committed a.d. 792, and soon after, in
the hope of expiating the foul deed, Offa turned his thoughts and
liberality to the Church. It was about this period of his life that he

offa.] PILGRIMAGES TO ROME. 2 1
founded the Abbey of St. Albans, raising the buildings out of the ruins
of the old Roman town of Verulamium. The story runs that Offa had
been specially warned by an angel to seek for and disinter the body of
the saint, which had been out of sight and mind for three centuries and
more. This was accomplished, and the shrine of the martyr, which
was placed behind the High Altar, was richly adorned with gold and
silver ornaments and with precious stones and gifts from Offa. Nearer
home we find him making various grants to the Church of St. Peter at
Gloucester, " when Eva was abbess, the last of the three Mercian
queens, who in succession presided over that monastery." In Bishop's
Cleeve, a small fraternity of monks was established which became
subject, and their revenues annexed to the see of Worcester ; and in
Winchcombe he had already founded a nunnery.
Among other pious acts of Offa must be mentioned his two pilgri
mages to Rome ; the first took place in 790, and he died on his way
back from the second in 796. One tradition says that he expired
in Sheppey among those Kentish men to whom his' ravages and
tyranny had rendered him so odious ; another, that he died at Offley,
in Hertfordshire : the place of his burial also is disputed. He so
liberally endowed the English School at Rome, that he is often spoken
of as its founder ; but this honour really belongs to Ina, king of
Wessex, who died in 728. Pilgrimages to Rome probably began
soon after the conversion of the Saxons by Augustine, and the
impression made on their simple natures by " the glories of majestic
Rome" is well stated by the Venerable Bede, in a passage thus
paraphrased by Lord Byron : —
" ' While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand ;
When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall ;
And when Rome falls — the World.' From our own land
Thus spake the pilgrims o'er this mighty wall
In Saxon times, which we are wont to call
Ancient; and these three mortal things are still
On their foundations, and unalter'd all ;
Rome and her Ruin past Redemption's skill,
The World, the same wide den — of thieves, or what ye will."*

" Childe Harold," canto iv., p. 145.

22 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. hi.
For the support of the school* Offa granted a tax of one penny on
every household in his dominions — called Peter-pence in after times,
and he also gave one-tenth of his property to the Church on the
approach of death. This liberality has caused the monkish author of
the " Lives of the Two Offas " to extol him unduly ; but we may
charitably hope that our Winchcombe benefactor, if indeed guilty of
the blood of Ethelbert, did not die with his sin unrepented of.
Unfortunately Winchcombe cannot lay claim to having found him a
quiet resting-place, as she did to his successors, Kenulf and Kenelm.
Some think he was buried in a chapel on the Ouse, at Bedford ; but a
Gloucestershire tradition favours the idea that he was entombed in this
county, and Rudder gives a description of the camp near Almsbury,
which is considered to be the work of Offa. In 1650 a huge stone
coffin was dug up at Over, in the same parish ; it contained a skeleton
of unusual size, and was so cleverly cemented together, that no jointing
was discernible. This coffin tradition claims to have held " all that
could of him die," our first known benefactor, the great and powerful
King Offa !
According to the Chronicler, Florence of Worcester, "Ecgfrith
succeeded to the glory of his father Offa's kingdom, but only reigned
141 days." Ecgfrith was a worthy successor to the great Mercian king ;
pious and noble, he followed his father in all that was good, confirming
and adding gifts to St. Albans, and restoring to other religious houses
whatever had been wrongfully withheld for the secular advantage of
the kingdom. Among these we may reasonably include Winchcombe,
and infer that he gave his warm support and patronage to the nunnery
so recently established by his father. It is also very probable that he
was buried in Winchcombe, as there has always been a tradition to that
effect. After Ecgfrith reigned Kenulf, king of Mercia, and as he, perhaps

* It was burnt about fifty years after, and was rebuilt by Ethelwulf, the father of Alfred, who added to
its endowments. "This school still exists in Rome and is known by the name of S. Tommaso degl'
Inglesi. The church, which was also founded by Offa, was destroyed and afterwards restored by King
Egbert. The present college is for the education of young Englishmen for the Roman Church, and
attached to it is an institution for receiving clergymen who have seceded from the Church of England and
preparing them for that of Rome."— Murray's " Handbook for Rome."

kenulf.] SAXON WINCHCOMBE. » 23
even more than his predecessor Offa, was connected with Winchcombe,
it will here be interesting to collect together all that can be gleaned
from history, and extract all we can from the romantic, but too often
vague and contradictory pages of the ancient Chroniclers. Historians
all concur in describing Kenulf as a magnificent prince — son of Cuth-
bert, great-great-grandson of King Wibba, and married to Alfritha,
Offa's daughter, by whom he had a son Kenelm, afterwards king and
martyr, and two daughters, Quendrida and Burgenilda.* Speed thus
writes of him : " Kenulf, not so neer in blood to King Egfryd as he
was like him in all virtuous conditions, by him was ordained to succeed
in his dominions, whereby he became the thirteenth King of the Mer
cians, and the eighteenth monarch of the Englishmen, a.d. 797 
At home hee was an example of pietie, peace, and religion, and set the
scales of justice without respect to all alike ; abroad temperate, humble,
and courteous ; in warres he was stout and victorious ; in peace studious
to enrich his subjects ; briefly, at all times so carrying himself that
envy could not touch him with her tongue." Kenulf is also thus
described : " Religious at home, and victorious as a lion in war,
thereby adding a lustre to the diadem of his kingdom. Then came
to him Athelhard and Eanbald, archbishops of Canterbury and
York, to confer with him respecting the lost dignity of the church of
Canterbury." As at that time Winchcombe was in the zenith of her power and
magnificence, it is very much to be regretted that no faithful record
tells us of all the illustrious personages who must in those stirring
times have enlivened this ancient town with their presence. It is not
easy now, as we saunter through its quiet streets, to realize that there
on one hand, stood a Mercian Palace, fitting residence of kings and
queens ; and on the other, an Abbey, stately, and worthy of those reli
gious times when even the workman laboured as much for devotion as
for profit. Nor is it easy to change the quiet scene of to-day with its
few unpicturesque passers-by, to that of soldiers hurrying to and fro,
the coming and departure of the king, grand religious ceremonies,
* Saxon names are very variously spelt by different authors ; thus the Cwendritha of the Chronicle
is called Quendrida, Quenride, or Quendred, and Burgenilda, LSorwenilda, in some MSS.

24 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. hi.
monks in their Benedictine robes ever and anon gliding on through the
Abbey gates on errands of mercy to the poor or suffering. Supposing
Winchcombe to have been the scene of the conference, great must have
been the excitement when the two dignitaries of the Church arrived
after their long and tedious journeys from York and Canterbury, and
how must their hearts have rejoiced,* when Kenulf, on learning from
them what great wrong his predecessor, King Offa, had done in muti
lating the province of Canterbury, with ready zeal restored it to its
ancient standing. Sending letters from himself and all the English
bishops to Pope Leo,"(" Adrian's successor, and Archbishop Athelhard
personally discharging the office of envoy, he obtained his request ;
wherefore it is recorded, far more to the praise and glory of that arch
bishop, that he restored the ancient dignity of the see, than that he
merely maintained it in the condition in which he found it.
The attention of Kenulf was next directed to the state of Kent.
More than twenty years prior to this, the Mercians and the men of
Kent had been at war, "even in the year 774, when a red cross
appeared in the heavens after sunset, and wonderful serpents were
seen in the land of the South Saxons." % They had ever since
borne the Mercian yoke uneasily, and when the terrible Offa was
dead, they made a determined effort to shake it off. The throne was
by the popular voice adjudged to Eadbert, surnamed Pren, one of
the royal blood, who had been ordained, but who forsook his holy
calling in answer to the appeal of his countrymen. Athelhard the
archbishop beheld this elevation with sorrow ; and Eadbert, treated as
an apostate, resented the archiepiscopal opposition. The discipline of
the Church was at stake, and to prevent further confusion the clerical
king was excommunicated by Leo III., who also threatened that if he.
did not return to his priestly profession, he would exhort all the inhabi-,
tants of Britain to unite in punishing his disobedience. Kenulf, taking
advantage of these circumstances, marched into Kent, and ravaged the
country called Merscwarum (supposed by Camden to be Romney
Marsh). Eadbert, seeing that resistance was useless, endeavoured to
* Roger of Wend over.
t " Annales de Winchcomb," Cottonian MS., Tiberius, E. iv., fu. 18. J Saxon Chronicle.

kenulf.] EADBERT, PREN. 25
hide himself and escape the pursuit of the enemy, — but in vain. He
was captured and led bound into Mercia, where, according to one copy
of the " Saxon Chronicle,"* Kenulf permitted them to pick out his eyes
and cut off his hands. Dr. Ingram, in his translation of the " Saxon
Chronicle," denies this wanton act of barbarity, asserting that it only
existed in the depraved imagination of the Norman interpolator of the
Saxon annals — that others had repeated the idle tale, but he had not
hitherto found it in any historian of authority. | Independently of this
lack of historical authority, we cannot impute to Kenulf the acting so
cruel a part by one, usurper though he was, to whose crown he himself
could lay no claim. True it is, he was brought bound and detained a
prisoner in Mercia, that Kenulf seized the crown, caused himself to be
proclaimed King of Kent, which henceforth became tributary to and
part of Mercia, and that the government of the same was placed in the
hands of his brother Cuthred ; so far all was fair in war, but, as the
sequel will prove, Eadbert was brought, not to grace a Saxon holiday,
but to exhibit to the Christian and heathen world one of the most
splendid deeds on record, considering the semi-barbarous spirit of the
times, of generous magnanimity.

* Cottonian MS., Domitian, A. viii., apparently written in the twelfth century.
+ See note, p. 82, of his edition of the Sax. Chron.

CHAPTER IV.
" In order due,
The holy Fathers, two and two,
In long procession came ;
Taper and host, and book they bare,
And holy banner, flourished fair
With the Redeemer's name.'' Scott.
AS before stated, Offa had founded a nunnery in Winchcombe.
Indeed, at that time religious houses for both sexes abounded
in the land, the monks hardly exceeding the nuns in number,
for " the weaker sex hath ever equalled men in their devotion ; " but
those troublesome and warlike times afforded little protection to nuns ;
their holy precincts were so often violated, and became the scenes of
such sad and scandalous events, that though laws were enacted of the
most severe and searching character, in many instances it was thought
advisable to abolish their religious houses, which were of the Benedic
tine Order or Black Nuns, and the wealth appertaining to them, for
they were richly endowed, was transferred to other foundations, in
some instances for the maintenance of secular priests, and in others of
monks.* These latter were chiefly of the most ancient Order, taking their
name from St. Benedict, their head, who was born in Italy, a.d. 480,
and educated in Rome, but retired while quite a youth to live the life
of a recluse, disgusted as he was with the vices of the age. From this
seclusion he was withdrawn by the monks of a neighbouring monastery,
who elected him as their abbot ; but their lives not agreeing with his,
he again retired into solitude, where he was followed by many persons

* See Fuller's "Church History,'' p. 101.

kenulf.] THE BENEDICTINES. 27
wishing to place themselves under his direction. He founded no less
than twelve monasteries. The history of his life, disfigured though it
is with miracles and legends, is the most interesting of that period.
During the fourteen years he lived at Monte Cassino he wrote his
" Regula Monachorum," and gave to the monastic world the rules
which stamped a definite form on his Order, and which comprised the
vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Added to these was that of
manual labour ; and the vows once taken were binding for life. With
marvellous rapidity did the Order spread through the length and
breadth of Europe. The Benedictines were the missionaries of their
age and the light of the world. They stood with the people and the
poor against the tyranny of the feudal system ; they were the sole
depositories of learning and the Scriptures, the preservers of great
portions of the works of Pliny, Sallust, and Cicero, the originators of a
school of music, the first intelligent agriculturists, carrying the plough
wherever they planted the cross. When this Italian monachism took
such a firm hold in the English Church, the rich vales of Gloucester
shire offered great inducements to the enterprising Benedictines, and no
doubt the little river Isborne had its attractions as well as the greater
streams to which it is but a tributary. To their credit also it must be
added they cultivated waste places, and such poor lands as were often
bestowed upon them because they were not worth the keeping. All
these good works enable us more readily to understand the great
benefit conferred upon Winchcombe when King Kenulf abolished the
nunnery and substituted in its stead a monastery of this high religious
order. It has been said that all the churches and monasteries of
that time were built of timber, or at least that those of stone were
only of upright walls without pillars or arches ; this latter, however,
is a disputed question. That some at least had glass windows in
the seventh century we learn from the statement of the Venerable
Bede, that Benedict Biscop brought from Italy workers in stone and
glass. In a.d. 789 Kenulf laid the foundation of a stately Abbey, wherein
at its first foundation no fewer than 300 monks were maintained. In
811 it was dedicated with great pomp to the Virgin Mary, and was

28 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. iv.
consecrated by Wulfrid, archbishop of Canterbury, and twelve other-
bishops, in the presence of kings, dukes, and many noblemen. The
munificence of Kenulf on that occasion seems to have been unbounded,
and never in the annals of Winchcombe can there have been so great
a festival as this. All who had any petition to prefer were received,
and their requests granted ; gifts were showered on all, according to
their rank or need : upon the nobles, steeds, raiments, utensils of
precious metals ; to all who had no lands a pound in weight of gold ;
a mark of gold to every presbyter ; a noble to every monk, a shilling
to every priest, besides innumerable gifts to the people who had no
other claim upon the royal bounty than that of dwelling 'neath the
shadow of the Palace, or within hearing of the Abbey bell. So the
church resounded with plaudits, and the streets with the rejoicing
voices of the multitude !
But the greatest and most acceptable gift is yet to come. There is
a pause in the holy ceremonies, voices are hushed, the crowd hustles
still closer together — heads are eagerly bent forward, and all eyes
strained towards the High Altar, whither the king is leading his once
royal captive, and there in the presence of the King of kings and of
his own subjects he presented the subdued Eadbert ; and on that most
holy occasion solemnly restored to God, to the Church, and to the
communion of his fellow men the unfortunate priest, who, lured from
his cell by worldly ambition, so soon found his brilliant success followed
by defeat and excommunication. This power of absolving from ex
communication shows what great authority in ecclesiastical matters
must in those times have appertained to royalty. This is further
proved in a very remarkable manner by Kenulf's charter to Richine,
abbot of Abingdon, wherein he acquitted him from all episcopal juris
diction, and promises that the inhabitants of a certain place specified,
should thenceforth be never oppressed by the bishop or his officials.
This charter was quoted in the time of Henry VIII. to prove that in
those earlier days ecclesiastical jurisdiction was invested in the imperial
crown of England, and that, therefore, the statute made in his reign
(25 Henry VIII., c. 21), concerning the king's spiritual authority, was
not the introduction of a new law, but only the declaration of an old

ttlur tun
no ufrfoct
mcaraaaof
acce-ffMn
*wcaone.jcm).

Portrait of Kenulf King of Mercia,
Attached to a Grant of Lands given by him to the Abbey of Abingdon. An Enlarged Copy
from the "Historic et Cart.* Abbatms Abbendunensis," Cott. MS. Claudius B VI., Folio 9b.

kenulf.] BURIAL IN CHURCHES. 29
one.* Even before Kenulf's time, so early as a.d. 758, the king,
Ethelbert II. of Kent, authorised Cuthbert, archbishop of Canterbury,
to revoke an ancient custom of the Church relating to the burial of the
dead. Up to that time no prince or prelate was permitted burial
within the precincts of the church ; but Cuthbert gaining this sanction
from the king, was himself buried in the church he had built, f " Thus
began corpses to be buried in the churches, which by degrees brought
in much superstition ; especially after degrees of inherent sanctity were
erroneously fixed in the several parts thereof : the Porch saying to the
Churchyard, the Church to the Porch, the Chancel to the Church, the
East-end to all, ' Stand farther off, I am holier than thou.' And, as if
the steps to the High Altar were the stairs to Heaven, those souls
were conceived in a nearer degree to happiness whose bodies were
mounted there to be interred.''^ At this time another great change in
monasteries had been made by the sole authority of the king, viz., in
the diet, and King Ceolwulf (formerly a monk) sanctioned ale and
wine to his convent, as substitutes for milk and water originally ordered
by the founder. So when the Winchcombe monastery was established
the less austere rules in these respects were allowed. Doubtless the
new rdgime, and St. Paul's admonition to Timothy, " Drink no longer
water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thine often
infirmities," found willing disciples in the monks of our cold, bleak
Cotswold district. It is well known how famous the cellars, and
kitchens too, of the monasteries afterwards became ; but in the
beginning it was not so, and these good things were received with
religious moderation. King Kenulf endowed the monastery with great
revenues. He gave to it the manors of Sherborne, Stanton, Twining,
Cow-Honiborn, Snowshill, Charlton Abbots,§ and many others.
And now, the great day of dedication over, the religious ceremonies
ended, which probably included the public baptism of Kenelm, the heir
to the throne, and then but an infant of a few months old, the bishop

* Fuller's "Church History," p. iSi.
T Thus also Kenulf and Kenelm were interred in the Abbey church of Winchcombe.
% Fuller's "Church History," p. 103.
§ The chapel was afterwards devoted to the use of anv monk of Winchcombe who became a leper, and
he had a house, with a leper's curtilage, given him to dwell in. Reg. Magn. de Winchc. 127.

30 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. iv.
having knocked at the Abbey door with his pastoral staff, emblem of
his authority, the procession having passed within and without, the
Altar consecrated, the precincts purified with holy water, the eucharist
administered, the list enumerated of the lands with which the church
was endowed, and the gifts from high and low presented, the hospi
talities peculiar to those times commenced. For three days, accord
ing- to custom, the festival lasted, and curious it is to think that the
religious festivities of to-day date their origin from those early times,
when Gregory the Great instructed St. Augustine not to destroy the
Pagan temples of the people among whom he taught, but the idols
only; the feasts hitherto held in honour of their gods were to give
place to festivals in honour of the Saint to whom the church was
dedicated, so that the people might assemble as before in green bowers
round their favourite edifice and enjoy something of their former
festivity.* This was the origin of our country wakes, rush bearing,
and Church ales.
All this accomplished, the king naturally turned his attention, for the
amusement of his royal, noble and ecclesiastical guests, to more exciting
entertainments. Readily, in the mind's eye, the scene changes ; what is
still the most open and spacious part of Winchcombe, " The Abbey
Terrace," becomes thronged and alive with preparations for the chase.
The neighbourhood of Winchcombe was at that time extensively
wooded — for in the Saxon period forests were preserved adjacent to
cities and to their chief residences, not so much for hunting, as for the
better security in case of incursion or defence : the forest in one
direction alone extended from Sudeley to Charlton — and such woods
even in more peopled localities abounded in wolves, boars, bulls and
even bears. Hunting and hawking were indispensable accomplish
ments — it was hardly possible for a man of rank to stir out without a
hawk upon his wrist. So highly esteemed was the wild boar for the
chase, that "the young nobles were trained to hunting after their school
days of Latin, and kings and princes would endanger their persons in
the pursuit." Wolves were the terror of the sheep and shepherd ; and

; Archfcologia," vol.

KENULF.]

A ROYAL HUNT.

31

that the brown bear was an inhabitant of this country, at least in early
times, is proved by its having been exported to Rome for the cruel
amusement of gladiatorial shows. And so, according to the custom of
those times, hunting terminated this great event ; forth streamed from

-iiv

mi-

Huddlestone's Table.
the Palace and Monastery gates guests and followers. Tradition says
Kenulf accompanied his guests ; that they finally parted on Cleeve
Cloud, he returning to his Winchcombe Palace, and they to Kent ;
Sired to act as king, or rather viceroy of Kenulf, and Eadbert to
return to holy obedience and monastic life, liberated as he was from
the Papal anathema, and once more restored to the bosom of the
Church. A stone was erected to commemorate this event — plain and
square, as if simply hewn from the quarry — in size about three feet each
way. Camden describes it as having a rude inscription nearly in the
middle of the upper side. On the same side, and seemingly not long

32 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. iv.
since, has been cut with a tool, in' Roman characters : " Huddlestone's
Table." The situation is magnificent, commanding the most extensive
and glorious view of the neighbourhood, comprising hill and valley,
towns and villages, stretching far away even to the Welsh hills, and
the Bristol Channel.
The monument that marks the spot, though not the original stone
erected in the ninth century, is at least 300 years old, and was erected
by the Delaberes of Southam, a facsimile of the one destroyed. It is
much to be regretted there is no protection to this interesting historical
relic, and which, from its proximity to the Cleeve stone quarries, runs
every chance of soon meeting with a similar fate to that of its
predecessor. Standing on this spot of surpassing loveliness, it is impossible to
prevent the mind from wandering back to the November day of a
thousand years ago, and repeopling the scene with that crowd of actors
— Saxon kings, earls, ecclesiastics, huntsmen, dogs, and slaughtered
game. And still further back the mind must needs rove to those
remote and misty times, when it is so probable that the plateau on
which we stand was the favoured spot of the Druids, and that it had
already become hallowed by assembled worshippers ; such a high
solitary spot, backed by precipitous rocks, was precisely what was
deemed the fitting residence of the gods, and the far-spreading prospect
naturally suggests the appropriateness for the superstitious rites of
sacrifice and auguries. This is no fanciful hyperbole — people and
religions grow. As we of to-day are forming the characteristics of the
coming generation, and as out of our religion will theirs, be moulded,
so was ours gradually developed from that of the past. The cry of the
human heart for a God, for a superior mysterious Spirit from whom
that heart could receive strength and sympathy, has been universal.
Father of all, in every age
In every clime adored,
By saint, by savage, and by sage,
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord.
So, the stone erected by Kenulf may have been appropriated from

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J. Rushton.
Foundation Charter of Winchcombe Abbey, Gloucestershire.
Copied from an Early Transcript in the British Museum.

kenulf.] CHARTER OF THE ABBEY. 33
some ruined temple of a former religion, and the antiquary will cluster
round it a hundred associations belonging to an age long sunk into
oblivion. Little more is known of the history of King Kenulf as connected
with our locality. The active interest he took in the early English
Church was not confined to Winchcombe only. We find he was him
self present at the second of three religious councils held a.d. 803, at
Cliff Hoo.* And he was also a great benefactor to Abingdon, as we
see from the Chronicle of that monastery, published in the Record series.
In Vol. I. are to be found the charters of King Kenulf to that
monastery, and attached to the one entitled " Privilegium Kenulfi,"
a.d. 82 1, is an illumination of the king, from which is taken the facsimile
here given. f On page 18 of the same volume we find a charter
headed " De Sororibus Kenulfi," giving a description of the piety of
these two holy virgins, and how they also were benefactors to and
were connected with the monastery.
There seems to be no other record of the death of Kenulf beyond
the mention by Matthew of Westminster that he died a.d. 822, after
having reigned twenty-five years, and " was solemnly buried in the
church of the Monastery of Winchcombe aforesaid, which he himself
had founded." Doubtless the ceremony was conducted with funereal
pomp worthy of those times and of the great Mercian king whose
glorious reign was thus terminated.
FOUNDATION CHARTER. +
The Charter of the most glorious King Kenulph, concerning the first Foundation of the
Monastery of Winchcombe.
In the 8nth year of the incarnation of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of
the world, who reigned in the heavens from all eternity, in the fourth year of the
indiction, and in the sixteenth year of our reign by the grace of God, and on the ninth
day of November, I, Kenulph, King of the Mercians, by God's favour and assistance,

* Camden's "Britannia," p. 156.
t The portion given is to be read thus : " Privilegium Kenulfi. In nomine Dei et Domini nostri
Jhesu Christi, veri Redemptoris mundi. Anno vero Dominicse."
X Atkyns' "Gloucestershire," p. 828.

34 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. iv.
did begin an imperfect work at a place called anciently by the inhabitants Wincel-
combe, in the province of the Wixes. It is now a noble church, and not inglorious in its
first design. It was dedicated by Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, to the honour of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and the blessed Mary, His mother, who held Him in her bosom,
whom heaven and earth could not contain, where I intend to lay my body to rest in the
Lord. It seemed good to me to invite all the great men of the kingdom of Mercia, all
bishops, princes, earls, deputies, and my own kindred, as also Cuthred, King of Kent,
Sired, King of the East Saxons, with all those who were members of our Synod, to be
present and witnesses at the dedication of the said church, which church I have built to
the honour and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the love of heaven, and for the
expiation of my sins, and for procuring a blessing on my endowment, and to secure those
privileges which the Roman bishops, by authority of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles
have indulged to me.
I, Kenulph, by the favour of God, King of the Mercians, out of gratitude for then-
good will, who by the authority of the Apostles have strengthened and confirmed the
grants and decrees of my Synods to the security of my endowment, by me granted to the
Monastery of Wincelcombe, and particularly fori, the confirmation of my endowment, made
by the authority of Pope Leo, and afterwards by Pope Paschal, by the authority of his
power, and farther confirmed in three Synods of the men of Mercia, with their unanimous
consent, whereby the grant of the endowments by me made for the good of myself and
my heirs is corroborated ; and also all my gifts, which with a free heart I gave to the
great men of the kingdom of Mercia, and of the other kingdoms, in gold, silver, and
other utensils ; and also in choice horses given to them, according to their ranks and
qualities, and a pound of pure silver to those who had no lands, and a mark of gold to
every priest, and one shilling to every one of the servants of God ; and all these gifts
were becoming our royal dignity, and were in number so many, and in value so great,
that they are inestimable. All which I bestowed to procure that the endowment by me
granted to the said Monastery might be firm and irrecoverable, and might be settled for
ever for the good of me and my heirs.
I, Kenulph, King of the Mercians, have also obtained the banner of the holy cross
on which Jesus Christ our Lord did suffer, that it might be a safeguard and protection of
my soul, and of all my temporal affairs, and of all my heirs, against the designs of the
wicked one. And if any person whatsoever, be he great or small, shall attempt by
violence to do wrong to this holy banner, let him be excommunicated and accursed, and
by God's just judgment let him be severed from any benefit thereof, unless he shall make
amends to the said Church by full satisfaction. And know ye, that all this is corroborated
by the favour of the blessed Trinity, and by the protection of angels, archangels,
patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, and all saints. And I, Kenulph,
and all the great men who were present, and witnesses hereof, in our great synodical
councils, do ordain and decree, thit if any person who has forfeited his life, or is guilty
of any other crime, open or secret, and shall escape to the bounds of my inheritance by
me granted, and shall enter the church, and demand the holy banner of the cross, such
person shall find entire safety and protection ; and that no person presume to be so bold,
or to entertain any wicked thoughts to embezzle anything for fear, or to sell, give, or
mortgage any of the lands of my endowment, unless for a certain time, and for the life

kenulf. J 'ABBOTS OF WINCHCOMBE. 35
only of one person. But let all things continue inviolably, and remain for ever as we
firmly decreed the same in three general synods.
Witnesses of the truth hereof, and confirmed by them under the sign of the cross, as
followeth :
I, Kenulph, King of the Mercians, do establish this decree with the • sign of the cross.
I, Cuthred, King of Kent, do agree hereunto, and do affix the sign of the holy cross.
I, Sired, King of the East Saxons, do confirm the same, and sign it with the holy
cross.
I, Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, do agree and subscribe.
I, Aldulf, bishop [of Lichfield *], do agree and subscribe.
I, Denebert, bishop [of Worcester], do agree and subscribe.
I, Werenbrith, bishop [of Leicester], do agree and subscribe.
I, Wulfhard, bishop [of Hecanas (now Hereford)], do agree and subscribe.
I, Tilferd, bishop [of Hexham], do agree and subscribe.
I, Ethelwolph, bishop [of the East Angles], do agree and subscribe.
I, Eadulph, bishop [of Crediton f ], do agree and subscribe.
I, Alchbert, bishop [of the South Saxons], do agree and subscribe.
I, Ethelnoth, bishop [of London], do agree and subscribe.
I, Wiberte, bishop [of Sherborne], do agree and subscribe.
I, Beormod, bishop [of Rochester], do agree and subscribe.
I, Wignoth, bishop [of Exeter], do agree and subscribe.
I, Eambert, duke. I, Aldred, duke.
I, Heardberht, duke. I, Wulfred, duke.
I, Beonoth, duke I, Heahfeth, duke.
I, Cynhelm, duke. I, Colvearth, duke.
I, Ceolbert, duke. I, Heatferth, duke.
I, Plesa, duke, do agree and subscribe.
ABBOTS OF WINCHCOMBE.
The list of Abbots is very imperfect in the earlier part, and the following names,
abstracted from Dugdale's Monasticon,J are all that have come down to us.

Livingus, witness to a charter, a.d. 851.
Germanus, circa 985.
Godwine (or Eadwine), probably 1044
to 1053.
Godric, 1054 — displaced and imprisoned
at the Conquest.
Galandus, 1066 — 1075.

Radulphus, 1077 — 1095.
Gymund, 1095 — 1 122.
godefrid, 1122 — ii38 (?).
Robert, 1138 — 1152.
William, 1152 — 115 7 (?).
Gervase, 1157 — 1171.
Henry, 1171 — 1181.

* The names of the sees are filled in in a comparatively modern hand, and, in some instances, wrongly ;
for instance, the see of Crediton was not founded until the tenth century, nor that of Exeter till the eleventh.
+ Probably Bishop of Lindsey.
X Edition by Caley, Ellis, and Bandinel, folio, 1819, vol. ii., pp. 297-99.

36

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. iv.

Crispin, 1181 — 1182.
Radulphus II., 1 183 — 1 1 94.
Roeert, 1 1 94 — 1 22 1.
Thomas, 1221 — 1232.
Henry de Tudinton, 1232 — 1247.
John Yanworthe (or Yarmouth), 1247
—1282.*
Walter de Wickwar, 1282 — 1314.
Thomas de Shireburn, 1314, 1515.
Richard de Idebury, 131 5 — 1339.
William de Shireburn, 1340 — 1352 (?).

Robert de Ippewell, 1352 — resigned
1359-
Walter de Winfortun, 1359— 1395.
William Bradeley, 1395— 1422.
John Cheltenham, 1423— 1454.
William Winchecombe, 145 i — 1474.
John Twynnynge, 1474 — 1488.
Richard Kyderminster, 1488— 1531.
Richard Ancelme (or Mounslow), 1534
— surrendered the Monastery to the
King, Dec. 3, 1539.

* He then resigned his office, and died in 1284.

Stone Coffin, presented by Mr. Richard Baker of the Abbey, Winchcombe, in whose
grounds it was found, 1874 ; now placed on the south side of Sudeley Church.

Copied from Cottenham MS., Claud. D. vi. F. 3. (14TH Century).

CHAPTER V.
" I cannot tell how the truth maybe ;
I say the tale as 'twas said to me."
KENULF was succeeded by his young son, Kenelm, too young
almost to be acknowledged king where children were excluded
by law from the throne. By some of the Chroniclers his name
is not even recorded, but that of his uncle Ceolwulf, his father's brother,
is given as successor to the kingdom of Mercia. Others tell us
that " Kenelm succeeded to the Mercian kingdom, but not to the
monarchy of the English, King Egbert, the West Saxon king, being
then grown too great, and in the same year that he began his reign
by the treason of his unnatural sister, he was murdered, and first ob
scurely buried, but afterwards solemnly removed and reposed near to
his father, in the onastery of Winchcombe."
Several legends of St. Kenelm are well known ; the one most
familiar being found in the " Legenda Aurea, or Golden Legend."
The life of the young king, however, which is here given, is selected
as not having been hitherto published, and is translated from the
Saxon MS. in the Bodleian Library.*
LIFE OF SAINT KENELM.
Saint Kenelm, the young king, that good martyr is,
King was in England of the Marches in Wales ;
Kenulf was his father, that was king there also,
And founded the Abbey of Winchcombe, and let monks live there.
After his death he was there buried, and still he lies there
In the Abbey that yet stands, that he himself set there.

* Trin. Coll. MS., No. 57.

38 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. v.
Great City was Winchcombe then, and rich enough,
Of all that half in England as far as his land went.*
King Kenulf was a very good and holy man.
Saint Kenelm was his son and also his heir ;
Borwenilda and Quenride were his two daughters.
In the four-and-twentieth year of his kingdom
Kenulf went out of this world and to the joy of heaven came.
It was after that our Lord in His mother alighted,
Eight hundred and nineteen years \ by right counting.
Saint Kenelm, his young son, in his seventh year,
Was made king after him, though he were young.
His sister Borwenilda loved him enough,
And in every way to holy life and to goodness drew.
And Quenride, that other sister, of her manner was not,
For she turned to crime and wickedness all her thoughts.
She saw that her young brother was not of experienced years,
Was made king of all that land that her father had before.
Of him she had great envy that he should be so rich,
And heir of her father's land, and richer than she.
She thought that if she might that child kill,
That she would be of the heritage queen by lawful right.
All her thoughts, night and day, were to think of some outrage
That this child should be killed, and she have the heritage.
She provided for her crime strong poison
To give the young child, and slay him so with woe.
Though the poison was given it was all for nought,
For though that child had drunk it never the worse it was,
For our Lord would not that he should so easily be martyred.
If the queen would prosper, other she must be,
For she thereof cast ambush as she thought another thought,
When she saw it was for nought that the poison was brought.
This young child had a master that was his guardian,
He was called Askobert : great treachery was here also ;
For no man can to another more treachery do
Than he that is nearest him and he most trusts to.
This wicked queen thought of a wicked trick,
For they say, there is no crime that woman cannot think of.
With this Askobert she spake to destroy that child,
And she promised him good reward, and of her his will ;
So that these two wicked persons were at one counsel,
And thought how they might best do this wicked deed.

* Sixty-seven lines are here omitted, being irrelevant to the life of St. Kenelm.
+ This is an error, as is shewn by Kenulf 's charter (p. 33) bearing date S21 ; but all through the Anglo-
Saxon chronology a difference of some years occurs between the various copies of the Chronicle.

chap, v.] LIFE OF ST. KENELM. 39
At the time when they both spoke of killing that young child,
The dream the young child had, that I will tell you of.
He thought that there was a tree right before his bed
That went right to the stars and well wide spread ;
This tree was fair and noble, and shined very brightly,
Full of blossoms and fruit, and many a rich bough
Burning wax and lamps, very thickly burned and gave light ;
So noble a tree was there never one, nor that shone so bright.
He thought he climbed up this tree, and to the highest bough on high,
And looked about into all the world and prayed enough I saw.
While he stood upon the tree and looked so about,
He thought that one of his best friends, that he most trusted in,
Stood beneath on the ground and smote atwo that tree,
That it fell to the ground, and that pity it was to see.
To a little bird he became, no fairer might not be,
And began with joy enough into heaven to fly.
He awoke, and was in thought hereof night and day.
Though that child met thus at Winchcombe it lay,
It knew not what it was to betoken, the more was his thought.
Before he hear of something new he could not be cheerful.
His nurse, that had fed him and with her milk brought him up,
To her that child trusted most, Wolwene was her name.
That child told her in private of the dream that he had.
When the nurse had heard the dream that was told her,
She began to cry sore and stood in thought :
" Alas ! " she said, " that I should this day abide,
That my child, my sweet heart, should such things betide !
Alas ! my child, my sweet food, that I have brought forth,
Thy sister bespeaketh thy death, and to kill thee hath thought ;
But the bird that thou becamest to heaven that did fly,
That was thy soul that thither shall go after thy life's end."
This dream was true enough, that he found at last,
For his sister and Askobert bespoke his death very fast.
This Askobert said, one day, that this child should go
Hunting to play with him near the end of the wood.
They went to the wood of Klent, as it were to play,
And he with him to guard him, as was right, by the way.
As they went by the wood, as God gave the grace,
A goodwill came on that child to sleep in that place.
It laid down very gently there, and soon began to sleep.
Askobert thought not that he would thence go.
Besides in a dark place he began to dig fast
A pit, to slay that child, and therein it to cast.
That child began soon to awake, as it were by chance,
After his master he looked, and saw not where he was ;

40 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. v.
But our Lord gave him the grace, though he knew not of the deed,
That he spake to his master, and these words said :
"Thou workest there for nought, and thy time thou dost waste,
For in another place I shall die, wheresoever is God's will,
And the rod that here is the token thou shalt see,
When thy wicked will may be done that I martyred be."
Forth went this wicked master and this child also,
Until they came to another place where this deed was done.
Askobert took this rod and set it in the ground :
It began to bear leaves soon, and to grow in a short time,
And a great ash became afterwards, and yet stands in that place,
To show the might of our Lord and Saint Kenelm's grace.
This wicked man took this child in the wood of Klent,
And led him, as they do a thief, to receive his judgment.
He led him into a secret place, all out of the way,
Between two high hills in a deep valley.
That child through the Holy Ghost, though that other would not tell him,
Knew well his wicked thought, and that he meant to kill him.
Then he tarried a little time this wicked deed to do.
That child said mildly, " What thou doest, do soon.''
He began to sing what they sing in Holy Church by day,
That was Te Demit laudamns, before he laid down,
And then he came to a holy verse that therein was, and is,
All the other was written in Latin, and in English is this :
" The white company of angels, Lord, they hear thee."
Right as he had said the verse, as the book tells me,
This wicked man smote off his head under a hawthorn tree,
As it was God's will that he should martyred be.
A dove, white as any milk, out of him did flow,
And right was even seen into heaven to go.
He was scarcely seven years old when he was martyred.
Altogether true was his dream, as you might there see.
This wicked man that slew him began to dig fast,
And made a deep pit, and therein that child cast,
And buried it quick enough, that it should not be found,
And went again forth his way and let him lie there.
To Quenride, his wicked sister, soon he did go,
And told her that wicked adventure from the beginning to the end.
The queen was then glad enough ; about she went soon
To seize all the land and the manors each one,
And made herself queen of all the Marches, as her brother was king.
A shrewd lady she became, and a wicked one in all things,
And went about into all the land to receive her homage,
And began sternly to hold her men in sorrow and wretchedness.
Now in the queen's part must she ride from town to town

chap, v.] LIFE OF ST. KENELM. 41
And falsely as she came on high also she fell there down.
She gave command in all the land that no man should be so mad
To mention once her brother's name, for love nor for fear.
And if they did of any learn that it were not followed,
He were soon taken and his head cut off.
Thus went the wicked queen, and stirred her very fast,
That none durst her brother name, so sore they were aghast.
Ever lay that holy body buried so still,
That no man dare once mention him against the wicked queen's will :
So long that it. was all forgotten, when they dare not of him speak.
But it was not so that our Lord would not avenge him at last,
When no man that was wise would on him ever think,
Our Lord would not that it were all quite forgotten.
When no man that was wise had memory of him,
A dumb beast, without sense, and against nature, remembered him :
For a widow had a white cow that lived there beside,
That went daily to fetch her food in the wood's side
Where Saint Kenelm was buried, in the wood down there.
Each day would this white cow, when she came from the town
To fetch her food with other kine, she would go alone
Into the valley there beneath, and leave her companions each one,
And sit about this holy body all the whole day till the evening,
As it were to do him honour, for he lay there alone.
And so she sat without food all day to that end,
And when it was evening homeward she would go ;
And in the evening when she came home fat and round she was,
And so full of milk that men wonder'd at that circumstance,
For there was none of all the kine that half so much milk gave ;
As full she would be on the morrow though she were milked in the evening.
Whom so had such kine truly he need not be poor,
Though his larder were almost empty, and his summer pasture lean.
The people that the wonder saw, great heed they took with awe,
And watched well all day where this cow went,
And they saw her sit all day in the valley there down
Without food, still in one place, till she went back in the evening to town,
And when she lay there so much they could not learn anything.
And in their hearts they thought well that it was some token,
For this cow went there so much, and each day drew thereto.
Cowbacke they call the valley, and yet they call it so.
In Cowbacke this holy body lay many a year,
Where they knew not thereof, as I told you before,
For his sister was so furious, and in such pride brought,
And such threatening she made, they dare not mention him.
Though this holy body must not be made known in England,
Our Lord that knew all things thereto sent his messenger. G

ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. v.
For as the Pope stood at Rome, and sung his mass one day,
At St. Peter's Altar in church, as all that people say,
A dove whiter than any milk flew down from heaven,
A little writing upon the altar laid, and afterwards went to heaven,
And flew up on high again, as our Lord willed it.
That writing was white and shined brightly, the letters were of gold.
The Pope took this holy writing when the mass was done,
And thank'd Jesus Christ, and all that people also.
He knew not what it did signify, he could not learn,
For he knew not English, and in English it was written.
He caused to be called all kinds of men of divers lands,
If any could of this holy writing anything understand.
There were three men of England that knew what it said,
And understood well that writing when they heard it read ;
That writing was in English as they read it there,
And to tell it without rhyme these words they were :
" In Klent, in Cowbacke, Kenelm, King's child, lieth
Under a thorn, his head taken from him.''
This writing was nobly learnt and kept,
And held as a great relic, and still it is also
The noblest relic, it is one of the best in all Rome,
As it ought to be, who so understood rightly whence it came
For when it out of heaven came, and from our Lord's hand.
What more noble relic might there be, I cannot understand.
Therefore Kenelm's day, as the Pope made his command,
At Rome they hold highly and make great feast.
Then the Pope knew what was the token.
He sent his messenger into England with his news ;
To the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was then Wolfred,
Letters he sent that he should such things see to,
And seek out of the wood of Klent, if any man might know
Such an hawthorn in Cowbacke, as it was in the writing called,
And seek out that holy body that secretly lay there,
And do it great honour, that it should be enshrined.
When the letter from the Pope to the Archbishop came,
Of bishops and clerks his counsel thereof he took ;
So that in the wood of Klent, that is in the shire of Worcester,
He let seek this holy body and found it truly,
Under the thorn of Cowbacke, as the writing said at Rome.
And for the greater miracle of the cow, the sooner thereto they come.
For the countrymen there beside that understood the circumstance,
Knew well where it was, for the miracle was so clear.
Anon as this holy body they took up, a well sprang up there,
In the place that he lay on, that still is clear and good.
For there is a well fair enough, and ever since hath been

chap, v.] LIFE OF ST. KENELM. 43
In the place where he lay, as you may there see,
And they call it Saint Kenelm's Well, that many a man hath sought,
That many out of great sickness through that water have been brought.
Of the city of Worcester and the country there beside,
The men were chiefly that sought to let that body abide,
For the bishops had looked that it should thither be borne,
And enshrined where his father lay that founded that house before.
These men took up this holy body that of Gloucestershire were,
And nobly towards Winchcombe with procession bore it.
Then the people of Worcestershire that dwelt there beside
Took them to counsel, many a one, to make that body abide ;
They swore they would have it, no man should take it from them,
For in the shire that it was found, there it should be left.
In the water of Pershore these two shires met,
They contested for this holy body and fast together set,
So that they took a form of peace to do God's grace,
If God would show His will before they went from the place,
For fatigued they were so sore that they must needs sleep each one,
They made a form that they should lie down and sleep anon,
And whichever of these two shires soonest should awake,
All safe should go forth and that body with them take.
Still they lie and sleep fast both these two shires,
And rested for their weariness, our Lord would have it so,
So that those of Gloucestershire began each one to awake
At one time, as God would have it, and of Worcestershire not one ;
In peace they went forth their way, and that body with them took,
Five miles they were gone before the others awoke.
These others saw themselves beguiled, anon they began to awake,
And they began to follow these others fast that they could not them overtake.
These men towards Winchcombe this holy body bear,
Before they could it thither bring very weary they were,
So that they come to a wood a little from the east of the town,
And rested, though they were so near, upon a high down ;
Athirst they were for weariness, so sore there was no end,
For Saint Kenelm's love they bade our Lord some drink send.
A cold well and clear there sprung from the down,
That still is there clear and cold, a mile from the town,
Well fair it is now covered with stone as is right,
And I counsel each man thereof to drink that cometh there truly.
The monks since of Winchcombe have built there beside
A fair chapel of Saint Kenelm that men seek wide.
Quenride the wicked queen at Winchcombe then was,
She knew not that her brother was so nigh, nor of that circumstance.
She sat in Saint Peter's church beside the gate
On the east side, and looked out thereat.

44 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. v.
Then saw she all that great people up on the down
Come towards Winchcombe right under the south ;
She asked what kind of men it was, and what they sought there,
They said that they to church would go and her brother bear.
Then was the queen sorry, in great trouble and in fear,
Her Psalter she took in her hand as she simple were.
Of the Psalter the first psalm that before even-song is
Of cursing of wicked men, of cursing made is.
Deus laudem it is called ; this psalm the queen read,
For to curse her brother's body and all that him led.
As she came to the nineteenth verse as the cursing endeth truly,
That Hoc opus eorum in Latin called is,
That saith what men it should be that should receive their deeds,
Upon her own head it came when she that verse began to read;
For right as that verse she read there burst out both her eyes,
And fell down upon her Psalter as many a man saw,
And that I think was well done, though what it should mean,
They sought not out her treachery, hereby it was seen.
The Psalter is still at Malmesbury, and whoso will come thereto
Therein may see where the deed was done.
The holy body was borne forth with great honour and fine
To the Abbey, as it lieth still in a noble shrine.
This wicked queen died afterwards in wretchedness enough,
Her body a cursed wretch drew in a foul ditch,
In the foulest ditch there was near therein they threw it ;
But her end was sinful truly, it was with woe.
Now God for Saint Kenelm's love His sweet grace us send,
That we may come to that joy that he is now in.

The Golden Legend continues the story, by adding that after the
miserable death of Quenrida " the holy body of Saint Kenelm was
layd in an honourable shryne, whereat our Lorde sheweth dayly many
a myracle."* A chapel was built on Sudeley hill near the Holy Well,
for the benefit of pilgrims who were attracted thither by the miraculous
healing property of the water. In course of time, in consequence of
these miracles and the increased wealth the relics of the young king
brought to the Monastery, he was canonised. "It is scarcely credible,"
says Camden, "in what great repute this Monastery was, for the sake of

* Among other authors who refer to this legend are William of Malmesbury, Higden in his " Polychro-
nicon,'' Alban Butler in " Lives of the Saints," Tyrrell Cowper in " Life of St. Werburge," &c.

chap, v.] ST. KENELM'S WELL. 45
the religion of King Kenelm, who was by that age added to the
number of martyrs."
In many of the ancient charters the chapel of St. Kenelm is named
and confirmed to the Monastery of Winchcombe. The words in
letters of gold on the MS. which fell on the high altar at Rome were
thus read by the Saxon youths :
" In Klento coubathe Kenelme kyne beam
Lith under thorne haevedes bereaved."
The old Latin translation was :
" In Clent sub spinea, jacet in convalle bovina,
Vertice privatus, Kenelmus rege creatus."
In English : " In Clent cowbatch under a thorn
Lies the young prince of his head off-shorn."
Clent is in the northern part of Worcestershire, near Hagley. The
story told is, that the body was discovered by the lowing of a cow on
the spot where it was buried, and that a spring of water rose, over
which the chapel or shrine of St. Kenelm was built. This church
stands at the head of a ravine, and within the memory of man a stream
flowed from the east end down into the hollow. Originally there
appears to have been a well-house of some dimensions at the spot
where the water issued from the church ; but no traces of the building
remain, and it is to be regretted the ravine has been partially filled
near the church. The water was at once declared to have miraculous
powers, and pilgrims resorted thither as to the Sudeley Well. The
Reformation destroyed the belief in the efficacy of the water, and a
village of considerable size, called Kenelmstowe, which had sprung up
round this church, also declined when pilgrimages ceased.* The
church was restored in 1848 by the Lyttelton family, and was made
the parish church of a township in the parish of Halesowen in which
it stood. The Rev. Howard Kempson, whose information is here

* In Camden's "Britannia," vol. ii., reference is made to St. Kenelm's Well.

46

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. v.

quoted, was the first resident rector, and built the rectory there.
Before these alterations it was a private chapel, though endowed with
the great tithes of the township which afterwards became its parish.

Clent Church.
During the restoration, the water, which up to that time had flowed
from the eastern end of the church, was in some way diverted, and the
well is now some yards from the building, a change which is much to
be regretted. The rude sculpture of the Saint on the wall is evidently
of very ancient date, though there is no particular history attached to
it. A view of this chapel is given in the Gentleman 's Magazine for
1797; also mention of a wake held there, called St. Kenelm's wake,
alias Crab's wake, " at which there is a singular custom of pelting each
other with crabs, and even the clergyman seldom escapes going to or
from the chapel." *

Vol. Ixvii., p. 73S.

chap, v.] KING KENULF 'S DAUGHTER. 47
Dr. Plot remarks that, " Half a mile north-north-east of Clent
church or thereabouts, there is a list of grass greener than ordinary,
called St. Kenelm's Furrow, running up Knoll Hill a great length,
that still remains, the grass whereof is indeed somewhat more verdant
and luxuriant than at other places, which they intend for the furrow
made by the oxen which ran away with the woman's plough, and were
never again heard of, who in contempt of the feast of St. Kenelm
would make them work on that day, losing her eyes into the bargain,
as the legend says." *
Of the wicked Ouenrida we may conclude her end was miserable.
Sometimes in the ancient Chronicles her name appears associated
with the title of Abbess, which might lead us to suppose she assumed
the habit of a nun to expiate the murder of her brother ;
" Some seek devotion, toil, war, good or crime,
According as their souls were form'd to sink or climb ; "
or we may more probably suppose she died when " her eyes fell out,"
from the shock on finding that her crime had been so miraculously
discovered. For want of more authentic information we must rest
content with the description given of her death in the following poem,
penned by a Winchcombe bard.f

KING KENULPH'S DAUGHTER.
King Kenulph he died, as kings have died,
The will of the Lord be done !
And he left to the care of his daughter fair,
Queen Quendred, an infant son.
The daughter gazed at her brother king,
Her eye had an evil mote ;
And then she play'd with his yellow hair,
And patted his infant throat.

* "Natural History of Staffordshire," p. 413. " Such," says Hugh Miller, "was the odour of sanctity
which embalmed the memory of St. Kenelm, that there was no saint in the calendar on whose day it was
more unsafe to do any thing useful."
T The original, signed " P. S.," is among Mr. Smith Wood's MSS.

48 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. v.
And then she muster'd a bloody mind,
And whisper' d a favour'd slut,
While patting the infant monarch's throat,
" It would not be much to cut."
The favour'd gypsy noted the hint,
And she thought it not amiss ;
She hied to the infant's governor,
And gave him a loving kiss.
The kiss of woman's a wondrous juice
That poisoneth pious minds,
It worketh more than the wrath of hell,
And the eye of justice blinds.
So they cut the infant monarch's throat :
They buried him in the wood,
The Mistress Quendred lived as a queen,
And they thought the deed was good !
Now mark, how ill is a crime conceal'd,
Bad deeds will never accord ;
The murder never beheld at home,
Was to light elsewhere restored.
They wash'd their hands in the monarch's blood,
And the world roll'd on the same,
Till swift to the holy shrine at Rome,
A fluttering dove there came.
A dove, a peaceful, timorous bird,
That carried a parchment scroll,
And in letters of gold, the crime it told,
That blasted a sister's soul.
That fluttering dove flew round the shrine,
Where the Pope by chance was led,
And he let the scribbled parchment fall
On his Holiness' bald head.
Now the Pope was very sore perplex'd
At the words the dove had scrawl'd,
For he could not read the pig-squeak tongue,
Which is now Old English called.

chap, v.] KING KENULPH S DA UGHTER. 49
He question'd the French ambassador,
The news of that scroll to speak,
Who, bowing, observed, " It was not French :
He neyer had learn'd the Greek.''
He ask'd a monk from Byzantium,
A monk as fat as a tench ;
He merely remark'd, " It was not Greek :
He never had learn'd the French.''
He question'd the grave Lord Cardinal,
He order'd the monks to prayers ;
The monks ne'er cared what language it was,
When they saw it was not theirs.
But there chanced to be an Englishman
At Rome, on a trading hope,
The tale of blood, and the letters of gold,
He read to the holy Pope.
'Twas how King Kenulph an infant son
Bequeath'd to his daughter's care,
And how the daughter slaughter'd the son
It clearly mention'd where.
Then the Pope cried, " Heaven's will be done ! "
And a loud Hosanna sung,
The incense fumed to the lofty dome
Like ray-beam drapery hung.
And they canonized the holy dove,
Like the soul of a martyr dead ;
The deed is still in the Calendar,
In capital letters red.
Now when to Britain the tidings came
Of her island's perish'd hope,
The monks took hatchets to Winchcomb wood,
And they glorified the Pope
And after many a night of toil,
They struck at the infant's bone
Beneath a tree, where an awful owl
Was screeching a midnight groan.

5Q

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. v.

They bare the bones, by the moonlight ray,
To the convent's holy shrine ;
And from the Psaltry sang a psalm —
The psalm one hundred and nine.

aTitit kenelm = %ftu)e (FIYlartyr /—
Vshoag bortteto  j. f ' l <'-¦¦
WiTtcl)ccomhc -witlj — ^anrr
oretc^olc mpnite .whereat ' I
%\s wicked Sxjstcr Civendrede^i^.
her vjycnbootr) fell ovrtofhcr'licad.

Mm

The Murdered King carried to Winchcombe.
The queen she hearken'd the pious tones
As they pass'd the Palace by,
It seem'd the saints and the morning stars
Were chorussing in the sky.
But when she hearken'd the deed was known,
And her coming hour of strife,
And how they had found the royal bones,
From which she had taken the life,

She got King David's Psalter book,
And turn'd to the psalm they sung,
And began to read it contrariwise,
Though it blistered on her tongue.

chap, v.] KING KENULPH S DAUGHTER. 51
And she mock'd the monkish melody
With a heart like boiling pitch,
And the clouds went shuddering as they heard,
Like a broom beneath a witch.
When she had gotten to verse the twelfth,
'Twas the twelfth verse from the end,
Her breast upheaved a horrible groan,
And she gave the psalm a rend.
The lofty turret quiver'd with fear,
The floor of the chapel shook ;
Her eyeballs fell from her burning brow,
And bloodied the Psalter-book.
And thrice she groan'd and thrice she sigh'd,
And thrice she bow'd her head ;
And a heavy fall, and a lightning flash,
Was the knell of a sinner dead.
And forth from her eyeless sockets flew
A furious flame around ;
And blood stream'd out of her spirting mouth
Like water upon the ground.
The magpie chatter'd above the corpse,
The owl sang funeral lay,
The twisting worm pass'd over her face,
And it writhed and turn'd away.
The jackdaws cawed at the body dead,
Exposed on the churchyard stones ;
They wagg"d their tails in scorn of her flesh,
And turn'd up their bills at her bones.
The convent mastiff trotting along,
Sniff'd hard at the mortal leaven,
Then bristled his hair at her brimstone smell,
And howl'd out his fears to Heaven.
Then the jackdaw screech'd his joy,
That he spurn'd the royal feast,
And keen'd all night to the grievous owl
And the howling mastiff beast.

52 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. v.
Loud on that night was the thunder crash,
Sad was the voice of the wind ;
Swift was the glare of the lightning flash,
And the whizz it left behind.
At morn, when the pious brothers came
To give the body to ground,
The skull, the feet, and palms of her hands,
Were all that they ever found.
Then the holy monks, with ominous shake
Of the head, look'd wondrous sly,
While the breeze that waved their whiten'd locks,
Bore a prayer for her soul on high.
Leland says : * " Avery, Parson of Dene, tolde me that he had redd
that Askaperius, the murtherer of St. Kenelm, was marid to Quindred,
sistar to St. Kenelme, and that he reynid two or three yeres after
Kenelme, untyll suche tyme that a kinnesman of Kenelmes put him
downe. But loke bettar for this mattar" — as if Leland himself
doubted the fact.
Kenelm's patronage and influence after his canonization must have
extended far and wide, beyond Sudeley and Clent, over the midland
counties. Kenilworth is supposed especially to derive its name from
this Saxon king, and a palace there is said to have belonged to him.
"In after time he was enrolled by the Church of Rome in the calendar
of its saints — wherefore as a martyr it were hard to explain ; since
none have ever represented that he fell a sacrifice to the steadfastness
of his faith in Christ, — that he was slain for the word of God, or for
the testimony of Jesus. But in that day, to prayer for him would be
added the blind folly and sin of praying to him, and here on this Spot,
(Clent Church) that offence against God must have been committed
through many generations." f But apart from the error of the Church's
teaching in those times, it is very pleasant to imagine the picturesque
groups of devout worshippers and gay holiday lads and lasses which

* Vol. viii. p. 98.
+ Archdeacon Hone's Sermon preached at St. Kenelm's church, in the parish of Romsley, Aug. 7th,
1857.

:SfhJ$t^: a

J. Rushton.

Kenelm's Church.
From a Drawing by Edm. T. Browne, Esq., before its demolition in 1830.

Kenelm's Well Conduit H„

chap, v.] WORSHLP OF FOUNTAINS. 53
must have then assembled on St. Kenelm's day (July 17th) even
round our Sudeley Well and Chapel. It may be right in this matter of
fact, prosaic, and scientific age to condemn such superstitions as we are
now recording, but when there was more of nature and less of dogma
in religion, it seems hardly surprising that a beautiful fountain of clear
water, ever flowing, ever fresh — no one then knowing whence it came,
or whither it flowed, should inspire the worship of the people.
" There's something in that ancient superstition,
Which, erring as it is, our fancy loves.
The spring that, with its thousand crystal bubbles,
Bursts from the bosom of some desert rock
In secret solitude, may well be deem'd
The haunt of something purer, more refined,
And mightier than ourselves."*
So thought even the wise of old : " Where a spring rises or a river
flows," says Seneca, "there should we build altars and offer sacrifices."
The reader of Horace will remember " O Fons Blandusise, splendidior
vitro," and the traveller to Rome will not forget Egeria, and the
cave where she was so enthusiastically worshipped : —
" Egeria ! sweet creation of some heart
Which found no mortal resting-place so fair
As thine ideal breast ; whate'er thou art
Or wert, — a young Aurora of the air,
The nympholepsy of some fond despair ;
 Whatsoe'er thy birth,
Thou wert a beautiful thought, and softly bodied forth, "f
And when Paganism was an the wane, as it was but the natural
policy of the Christian priesthood not to wrest from the people all their
former duties without substituting others in their place, so nymphs and
naiads became saints innumerable — and thus, doubtless, Sudeley's
sacred fountain became St. Kenelm's holy well ! So much was it in
vogue at that time to associate saints and miraculous healing powers
with certain springs, that even as late as the tenth century King Edgar
thought it necessary " to forbid the worship of fountains."' Notwith-
* Old Play. t "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," canlo iv., 115.

54

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. v.

standing this, the custom continued, and must have had a firm hold on
the people, for we find two hundred years later the Canons of Anselm
laying it down as a rule " that no one is to attribute reverence or
sanctity to a fountain without the bishop's authority. " * But all these
idle superstitions were swept away from our Church by the glorious
Reformation, and now, henceforth, may the pilgrim, whoever he may
be, as he rests awhile in the picturesque conduit house which pro
tects and covers our beautiful spring, thank God for our purer and
simpler faith, and be ready to exclaim : " Oh ye wells, bless ye the
Lord, praise Him and magnify Him for ever ! " f

* "Book of Days," vol. ii., p. 6,
t The following analysis of St. Kenelm's Well water was made in September, 1863, by Mr. Horsley,
of Cheltenham: —
Total of dry solid contents per imperial gallon, 5 grains, consisting of —
Carbonate of lime and iron.
^Sulphate of lime .
Muriate of lime and traces of nitrate ....
Vegetable extractive matter ... . .

grains
. 0.20 1.30
2.25 1.25

5.00

Window of St. Kenelm's Chapel, preserved in the present Farm House.

CHAPTER VI.
" Those Knights are dust,
And their good swords are rust ;
Their souls are with the Saints, I trust."
LORDS OF SUDELEY.
Goda, daughter of Ethelred II. tc 1052 =p Walter of Mantes.

Ralph the Earl, t 10*56 =p

Harold, t. Will. I. =r= Maud, d. of Earl of Chester.
I
John, t 1165 =f Grace, d. of William Tracy.
Ralph, t 1192 =p Emma, d. of William de Beauchamp.
1

I 1
Otuer,* tc. 1195 Ralph, tc. 1204 =p
I  '
Ralph, t 1267 =j= Ismenia, d. of Roger Corbet.

Bartholomew, t 1274 =f= Joan, d. of William Beauchamp.
John, t 1336 =f  , d. of Lord Say.

Bartholomew, ob. v. p. =j= Matilda, d. of John de Montford.

John, t 1340 =j= Eleanor, d. of Lord Scales.
I  1
John, t 1367 Joan =y= William Boteler.
! 
Thomas Boteler =j= Alice, d. of John Beauchamp.
I  '  '
Ralph, created Lord of Sudeley, 1441 ; t 1473 =j= Alice Deincourt
I  -

John, ob. v. p.
FTER the death of Kenelm, Ceolwulf, his uncle, succeeded to
the throne ; he reigned but two years, and was then driven
out by Beornwulf, who, in his turn, was defeated by Egbert
in a great battle at Ellandune, now called Wilton, and whose
* So spelt in his deed, mentioned at p. 87, but called "Ottivvell" by some writers.

A

56 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. vi.
victorious arms were rapidly deciding the fate of Mercia : Mercia,
which in the previous reigns appeared to be taking the lead of all
the other kingdoms in Britain. This, however, was not to be, and
henceforth Mercia and her " chiefe cittie," Winchcombe, began to
decline and to be " of very little account;" or, as Fuller in his " Church
History" quaintly speaks of Egbert and his successors: "they were
but petty kings, yet they shined but dimly (as the moon when the sun
is risen), and in the next age were utterly extinguished."
The story of Egbert's battles and his successes, his repulse of and
defeats by the Northmen, would occupy here too much space. Suffice
it to say that he nominally united the Heptarchy in one state, con
centrating in himself the supreme power, taking, as stated by some, for
the first time, the title of King of the Angles or of England. *
Sir Richard Atkyns, in his " History of Gloucestershire," states that
Egbert was buried in Winchcombe ; but other historians say Win
chester received the royal remains. f Atkyns fails to give his
authority, but assuming him to be correct, we can only suppose that
Egbert was eventually removed from Winchcombe to Winchester.
We know that Egbert's Mercian predecessors were buried in Winch
combe, and it is easy to conjecture how, a short time later, finding that
the glory of Winchcombe was departing, and that of Winchester
increasing, the town, monks, and people would eagerly claim the king
in death. Although Egbert asserted a supremacy over the other
kingdoms, he did not incorporate the Mercians into his own dominion,
but they became tributary to him ; he did not even appoint their
kings, and the reigning family continued in possession, acknowledging
him as Supreme, or Bretwalda. This was 400 years after the first
coming of the Saxons to this country.
It must have been about this time that Winchcombe Abbey suffered
severely from the sacrilegious hands of the Danes, known as pirates or
Vikings, who were daily becoming bolder, carrying their cruel devasta
tions all over the land, sparing neither age nor sex. The Mercians
were constantly engaged in fierce and sanguinary conflicts with these

* According to Hume the title was first assumed by Alfred's son, Edward the Elder.
t Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, William of Malmesbury, and others.

edgar.] WINCHCOMBE ABBEY REFOUNDED. 57
new adversaries, from whose ruthless hands not even the sacred build
ings could be saved. It is believed that not only was the Monastery
greatly inj'ured, but that its spiritual power was considerably decreased,
from its passing into the hands of secular priests. It was not till
the reign of Edgar that the restoration of both was effected. Edgar
was the tool of the monks from the age of sixteen, when he became
king through the instrumentality of Dunstan, the celebrated primate.
Edgar has ever been lauded as a saint by the monks, though the
impartial student of history cannot fail to observe how unscrupulously
he broke all laws, both human and divine.
One good custom of Edgar was to take an annual expedition
through his provinces, in order to redress grievances and see that
justice was administered. No doubt in one of these excursions he
must have observed how Winchcombe Abbey needed restoration, for,
says the king in one of his charters, "all the monasteries of my realm
are to the sight, nothing but worm-eaten and rotten timber and
boards." So, like his royal predecessors with crimes to expiate, he
forthwith gave sanction to his favourite, Oswald, bishop of Worcester,
in whose diocese it was, to begin the good work. Oswald was a Dane
by birth, and obtained the bishopric through the influence of Dunstan,
who had resigned it for that of London. Speedily then did he set to
work to reform its discipline and to recover the lands of which it had
been defrauded ; he also restored the monastery to the Benedictines,
in whose possession it remained till the dissolution.0
At this time the religious state of the north of England, says Simeon
of Durham, was deplorable. After the devastation of that country by
the Danes, who reduced the churches and monasteries to ashes,
Christianity was almost extinct ; very few churches (and those only
built with hurdles and straw) were rebuilt ; but no monasteries were
refounded for almost two hundred years after ; the country people never
heard the name of a monk, and were frightened at their very habit,
till some monks from Winchcombe brought again the monastic way of
living to Durham, York, and Whitby.t

* Germanicus is stated to have been the first Abbot of Winchcombe upon Oswald's foundation ; he had
before been Prior of Ramsey. \ Grose's "Antiquities." I

58 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. vi.
From Edgar and the monks we turn to Sudeley and its owner,
whom we find to be none other than King Ethelred himself. That
Sudeley had hitherto been royal property we can only surmise, for
little or nothing is positively known as to particular properties in this
county till the great register was made by William the Conqueror.
Ethelred, however, possessed Sudeley, which he granted to his youngest
daughter, the Countess Goda, whose husband, Walter of Mantes, held it
in right of the king.* A very important place and valuable property
was Sudeley in those days, when a forest of oaks extended three miles
south, and two from east to west. A park also there was, according to
the custom of the Saxons. We read that parks were in existence
before the Conquest, and that bishops had them to hunt in ; some were
fifteen miles round, girt with a " stone wall, and a manor-house in the
middle." Every seat of consequence had two parks, a large one, gene
rally consisting of 300 acres, and a small one of about 80. Before
deer were introduced, studs of horses were kept in them. So we find f
" there had been a manor-place at Sudeley before the building of the
Castle, and the platte is yet seen in Sudeley Parke where it stode."
Though the deer-park has long ceased to exist, several very interest
ing remains of both the " outer " and " inner " park walls are still
to be traced. Of the former a specimen is to be found in the south
side of the road leading from Winchcombe to Lower Guiting ; another
commences in the Lime-kiln Plantation and runs on the south side
of the horse-road leading to Hawling, to Limehill Wood, where it is
lost, in all a distance of about one mile. Of the " inner " park wall a
relic is to be seen near to the Hollow Barn on the west side of the
road leading to the Park's Cottages, at the bottom of a field called the
Round Hill. Another of the remains commences in the boundary of a
field called the Dog Kennel, which surrounds Sudeley Lodge, continues
close to the Park Cottages, and thence to Spoonley Cottage, where all
further trace is lost.
Leland J also notices a " praty lake which runneth out of Sudeley
Park, down by the Castle and into Esseburne brook, at the south side

* Speed, p. 424. f Leland's "Itinerary." + Vol. iv., p. 76.

One of the Last of the Forest, on Sudeley Lodge Farm; 26 feet 2 inches in circumference.

[To face p. 58.

Rkmains of " Inner Park " Wall, near to the Hollow Barn.

ethelred.] EDRLC STREONA. 59
of Winchcombe." The spot where the Manor- House once stood (as
named by Leland) has always been traditionally indicated in the raised
broken ground in the field called the Hop-yard, and is distinctly visible
from the East Terrace. Early in the spring of 1875, under the super
vision of Canon Lysons, cuttings were made into the ruins, which
resulted in the discovery of foundations of house, road, and walls bear
ing the stamp of Saxon times.
There was a beautiful feeling among our forefathers that brave men
and stalwart arms sufficed for all necessary protection, and they dis
dained the idea of falling back upon stone buildings and strong
fortifications.* Sudeley was not a Castle in those times, but consisted
only of the Manor-House or Court described above. Indeed in Saxon
times there were very few defensible places such as we now call castles
(that being a French name), so that though the English were a very
brave and warlike people, yet for want of such strongholds they were
unable to resist the Norman foe.
But to return to Ethelred, whose reign was marked by the terrible
inroads of the Danes. He hoped by his marriage with Emma, sister
of the Duke of Normandy, who for her beauty was called " the Flower
of Normandy," to increase his power, and gain a strong protector for
his kingdom. On the contrary this union laid the foundation for the
future claims of William the Norman to the English crown, and at once
brought in Emma's train a troop of foreigners and favourites who,
placed in authority and trust, either joined with the enemy or deserted
their posts. Finally, when Sweyn was received as King of England,
Ethelred was obliged to quit the country and escape to. the court of his
Norman brother-in-law.
Many of the troubles of this reign were greatly increased by the
treachery and perfidy of Edric Streona, whose character must here be
noticed, inasmuch as under Canute it was he who effected such great
changes in Winchcombe. Edric belonged to the old royal family of
Sussex, which had been driven out by Egbert two centuries before,
and its members reduced to such poverty, that Edric held only the
* In classic times this feeling prevailed in some places, for Lycurgus raised no fortifications around
Sparta, avowing that he preferred ' ' a wall of men. " I 2

60 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. vi.
humble position of a shepherd when he first came under the notice of
Ethelred. He soon grew into favour, was appointed ealdorman of
Mercia, and married Edgith, the king's daughter. According to the
Saxon Chronicle, his life was one long series of rapine ° and treachery,
and it seems certain that he was alternately the partisan of Ethelred, of
Sweyn, and of Canute, as his own interest prompted him. He is said
to have been gifted with a subtle genius and persuasive eloquence, and
he is charged with surpassing all his contemporaries in malice and
perfidy, as well as in pride and cruelty. In short, adds one of the
Chroniclers, "he was the very dregs of man, the dishonour of the
English, a wicked destroyer, a subtle knave, whose nobleness had not
obtained him wealth, but his bold language, — he always lay in wait
to deceive, was ready prepared to cheat. He attended the king's
councils as a faithful person, but disclosed them like a traitor. Being
often sent to the king's enemies as a mediator for peace, he kindled
the flames of war, whose perfidiousness appeared on all occasions in
this and the succeeding king's days."
When Canute obtained the crown of England, a.d. 1017, the govern
ment of Mercia was given to Edric Streona. Up to this time Winch
combe had enjoyed the distinction of being a county and sheriffdom in
itself, a distinction which doubtless was conferred upon it for its com
manding position and its containing a royal residence. While Edric
was governor, Winchcombe was deprived of her high honours, and was
incorporated with the county of Gloucester, and placed under the same
jurisdiction, t This union was of course highly advantageous both to
Winchcombe and the county ; though it is easy to imagine the feelings
of discontent which pervaded the loyal hearts of the Winchcombites
when they found themselves deprived of their distinguished position,
* His appellation " Streona " signifies "the Acquirer," so that he maybe uncomplimentarily styled
"Edric the Plunderer."
t The division of England into counties is commonly ascribed to Alfred, but is evidently older, as the
scyrgerefa (sheriff) is mentioned in the laws of King Ina (about a.d. 700). Whilst the alderman was the
governor of each county, the sheriff was the king's officer, who had to levy the fines and forfeitures, and to
account for the rents of the royal property. The name reeve is derived from the Saxon "reafaii," to seize.
It is probable that hundreds and tithings are of even greater antiquity than counties. In Gloucestershire
there are four great divisions of this description, and, according to the political arrangement of the county,
Winchcombe and Sudeley were placed in the southern division of the hundred of Kiftsgate, which com
prised the north and north-eastern parts of the county.

EDWARD THE CONFESSOR.] RALPH THE EARL. 6 1
and figuratively reduced to a level with their neighbours, for it is
recorded that Gloucester had been deprived of its title of " Cittie " a
few years before, when Winchcombe boasted that of being the fairest
in Mercia ! We can hardly give Edric Streona the credit, and we may
be sure he had none at the time, for making this great change from any
good motive — it was possibly to humiliate Winchcombe, " the faire and
chieffest cittie of Mercia," and to take revenge on her loyal sons, who
had always proved so true to the king !
The end of Edric Streona was worthy of his career. Canute
ordered him to be slain in his palace, saying with irony, that as Edric
wished to please him, so he would advance him higher than all the
noblemen in England, and thereupon ordered his head to be cut off
and placed on a pole on the highest gate in London, to be seen by all
beholders. His body was ignominiously cast without the city walls.
In glowing contrast to this wicked earl stands the noble Leofric, his
successor, created Earl of Mercia by King Canute, who always treated
him with great confidence and kindness.
When the time came (a.d. 1042) for the restoration of the Saxon
line by proclaiming Edward (afterwards the Confessor), the son of
Ethelred, as king, Leofric gave him his warm support, as the following
events testify, which are particularly interesting, as they bring before
us the first Lord of Sudeley, who was the nephew of the king, and the
commander of his Norman mercenaries.
Ralph the Earl,* as the Saxon Chronicler calls him, was the son of
the Countess Goda by her first husband, Walter (or Drogo) of Mantes.
The countess's second husband was Eustace. I., count of Boulogne,
who in a.d. 105 1 came to England to visit his royal brother-in-law.
At Dover, his retinue seeking too roughly for quarters, killed one of
the townsmen, when a general fray ensued, in which women and
children were trampled to death ; but at last Eustace and his men had
to flee for their lives, and with difficulty reached Gloucester, where the
king then was.
* The real name of his earldom is doubtful. He is often styled Earl of Hereford, but Sir Francis
Palgrave maintains that he should be called Earl of the Welsh Marches, and that the title of Hereford was
first given after the Conquest to William Fitz-Osborne.

62 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. vi.
Godwin, the father of Harold, was Earl of Kent at the time ; and
Edward, by whom he was both hated and feared, eagerly threw the
blame on him. Godwin replied, that the foreigners alone were to blame,
and absolutely refused to take vengeance on the townsmen as ordered.
He was then summoned to appear at a Witenagemot at Gloucester.
He repaired thither with the forces of his earldom, whilst the king
called Leofric of Mercia and Siward of Northumbria to his aid, and his
nephew mustered all the forces he could command. Once again we
may be sure Winchcombe re-echoed the martial clamour. A deadly
combat seemed imminent, when the noble Leofric, considering that all
the greatest men of the land were there assembled, and would have been
uselessly destroyed, advised that hostages should be given on either
side, and the matter left to be settled in London by arbitration. Thus
did Leofric by his prudent counsel avert the pending evil, and thus
were the lives of our brave Cotswoldians saved.
An admirable description of the Witenagemot which assembled in
the Hall of Westminster to discuss this matter is given by Bulvver in
his story of " Harold." Ralph was there as one of Godwin's foes,
and when Godwin stood up with his six sons at his back, " you might
have heard the hum of the gnat which vexed the smooth cheek of
Earl Ralph the moment before Earl Godwin spoke." In his eloquent
defence the whole story is graphically given, a defence which had all
the greater effect upon an audience already prepared to pardon him.
" The memorable trial," continues Bulwer, " ended by the banishment
of the king's favourites, to whom was imputed the blame of the late
dissensions — all but a few varlets, and one named Richard, son of
Scrob, or Fitz-Scrob, as he was called by the Normans. This same
Fitz-Scrob, who settled in Herefordshire, was supposed to have been
one of Ralph's retainers, and when the Norman landed in 1066, he
became one of his chief supporters in that district."
Ralph appears to have received uniform kindness from the king,
being appointed on various occasions to posts of importance and trust.
But the last occasion in which he was thus placed proved fatal to his
cause and honour. It was in a battle against Alfgar, son of the noble
Leofric, who more than once was banished from his country for his

EDWARD THE CONFESSOR.] RALPH THE EARL. 63
spirit of rebellion and too great love of adventure. In a.d. 1055 he
was outlawed, and fled to Ireland, but he soon returned with eighteen
ships as a pirate, and invited Griffith, prince of Wales, to take part with
him against the king. Griffith immediately assembled a numerous
army, and having joined forces, they entered Herefordshire, with the
intention of laying waste the English marches.
On the other side, Ralph having assembled an army, fell in with
the enemy two miles from the city of Hereford (24th October).
He ordered the English, contrary to their custom, to fight on horse
back ; but just as the engagement was about to commence, the earl,
with his French and Normans, were the first to flee. The English
seeing this, followed their leader's example, and nearly the whole of the
enemy's army going in pursuit, four or five hundred of the fugitives
were killed, and many were wounded. Having gained the victory,
King Griffith and Earl Alfgar entered Hereford, slew seven of the
canons who defended the doors of the principal church, and burnt the
monastery built by Bishop Athelstan, that true servant of Christ, with
all its ornaments, and the relics of St. Ethelbert, king and martyr, and
other saints. Having slain also some of the citizens, and made many
others captives, they returned laden with spoil. Alfgar eventually
returned to court, and was restored to his earldom ; the king no doubt
being only too glad to remove all disgrace from the son of his much
beloved friend Leofric. Ralph died about a year after his flight from the
field, and was buried at Peterborough. He was succeeded by his son
Harold as Earl, and as Lord of Sudeley, who lived to enjoy the favour
of the Norman king, and is, like his father, mentioned in Domesday.
In the reign of Edward the Confessor, Winchcombe was made a
borough, presided over by a borough or port-reeve — a system to
facilitate local government originated by the Romans, who established
in this country the municipia, or town community. In a few years the
borough-reeve was changed by the Norman conquerors for bailiffs of
their own.* Their chief office at first appears to have been to collect
taxes for the conquerors, and it must have been as unpopular as that of

* Bailiff is from the French word bailli, which signifies a trust or superintendence.

64 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. vi.
the Jewish tax-collector in Palestine in the time of the Romans. But
this was gradually changed, and when the local authority was vested
in the hands of two bailiffs and twelve burgesses, as was the case in
Winchcombe, " they were appointed by the lord of the manor as his
agents (generally by an authority under seal), to superintend the
manor; collect fines and quit-rents; inspect the buildings; order repairs;
cut down trees ; impound cattle trespassing ; take an account of wastes,
spoils, and misdemeanors in the woods and demesne lands ; and do
other acts for the lord's interests."*
There are still extant charters of the Saxon kings, conferring certain
privileges on various boroughs, one of which was that of exclusive
jurisdiction. To these charters was attached the royal seal. The
earliest known Saxon seals were en placard and lead ; that of Edward
the Confessor, which must have been attached to the Winchcombe
Charter, was in wax. In the course of the last eight hundred years
so many important changes have been made in jurisdiction and in the
laws of the land, that in the present day the office of our two bailiffs
and twelve burgesses exists but in name.
We learn from Domesday that the borough of Winchcombe paid
a yearly rent of £6 in the reign of King Edward the Confessor,
whereof Earl Harold had the third part. The borough had three
Hundreds annexed to it, and thus it paid ,£28 yearly in the reign of
King William.
About this time (a.d. 1054) the name of Winchcombe Abbey
appears for a moment on the page of the Saxon Chronicler, in con
nection with Aldred, bishop of Worcester. Godwin, abbot of Winch
combe, having departed this life, Aldred kept the Abbey in his own
hands for nearly a year, and then appointed Godric, son of Goodman,
chaplain to Edward the Confessor, to be Abbot of Winchcombe. It
was this same Aldred, afterwards archbishop of York, who crowned
the unfortunate Harold, and again, so soon after, the conqueror William
The appointment of Godric to Winchcombe Abbey was made on the
feast of St. Kenelm, very probably at the instigation of the king himself,

* Bacon's Abridgement, "Bailiff."

william i.] THE COUNTESS GOD A. 65
or that of his sister Goda,* who must, naturally, at her brother's court,
have often been in the society of the royal chaplain.
Not only in Winchcombe did the monks flourish, but on all sides in
our neighbourhood. In Evesham, Pershore, Tewkesbury, Hailes,
Cleeve, Cirencester, and Gloucester were they sooner or later esta
blished. Of all the counties in England, Gloucestershire, says Fuller,
in his quaint language, was the most pestered with monks, giving rise
to the common saying : '"As sure as God is in Gloucestershire,' a
wicked proverb deserving to be banished out of the country, being the
profane child of superstitious parents, as if so many convents had
certainly fastened His gracious presence to that place." \

* The Countess Goda, as she is called in Domesday, died about 1052. She had lands in Bucks, Mid
dlesex, Notts, Surrey, and Sussex, which need not be particularized ; and in Gloucestershire she held Aston
Subedge, near Campden; Horsley, Yanworth in Haslet on and Hampton, and Hawling, which adjoins
Sudeley ; and I have no doubt that she was also the mistress of Sudeley Manor-house.
+ Canon Lysons, in his Lecture, " The Romans in Gloucestershire," maintains that the proverb alludes
rather to the fact of Gloucester having been one of the first cities in Britain to embrace Christianity, than
to its numerous monastic establishments in the middle ages.

CHAPTER VII.

; Over hauberk and helm
As the sun's setting splendour was thrown,
Thence they look'd o'er a realm —
And to-morrow beheld it their own."
Campbell.

THE tide of events was now rapidly setting in which was to
cause so great a change in England. The country, though no
longer divided as in the days of the Heptarchy into hostile
states, was, owing to the pitiable weakness of the king, who was only
fit for a monk, really in the hands of Godwin, his sons, and a few other
powerful and unscrupulous men. Edward had no child to succeed him,
and, probably with the hope of averting a civil war at his decease, he
took the unwise step of promising the succession to the crown to his
kinsman, William of Normandy, when visited by him soon after the
quarrel about Eustace of Boulogne.
It is in his account of this visit that Bulwer in his " Harold " brings
together in conversation the Duke, Ralph of Sudeley, and Fitz-
Osborne, the celebrated Norman knight. The three are supposed to
be standing at an open lattice in the new Palace at Westminster, the
Duke gazing over the river on to London, when he suddenly interro
gates Ralph (or Rolf according to Bulwer) on the wealth of the London
traders. In his reply he described their riches in glowing terms, and
how wealth took precedence to rank ; that a ceorl to-day, let him be
rich, may be earl to-morrow, and the son of princes, if he become poor,
sinks at once into contempt and out of his state. " Wherefore," con
tinued Ralph, " gold is the thing here most coveted ; and by St. Michael,
the sin is infectious." The Duke again put the question to his " gentle

william i.] HAROLD, LORD OF SUDELEY. 67
Rolf: " " This London must be rich ? " " Rich enow," was his answer,
" to coin into armed men, that should stretch from Rouen to Flanders
on the one hand, and Paris on the other." " When I depart, Rolf,"
concluded the Duke, " thou wendest back to thy marches. These
Welsh are brave and fierce, and shape work enow for thy hands."
" Ay, by my halidame ! poor sleep by the side of the beehive you
have stricken down ! " " Marry then," said William, " let the Welsh
prey on Saxon, Saxon on Welsh ; let neither win too easily. Remember
our omens to-day : Welsh hawk and Saxon bittern, and over their
corpses, Duke William's Norman falcon ! " And so it came to pass,
when Edward died, and Harold reigned, the Norman returned to make
good his claim.
Fierce raged the battle on the fatal field of Hastings (October 14,
1066) from early morn till far into the night; and not till the noble
Harold fell did the English despair ; with him all was lost, and the
flower of the nation perished. When the Norman retired from that
Lake of Blood, 16,000 of his men were left dead upon the field ; the
numbers of the vanquished were not known.
It is not recorded whether Harold, the Lord of Sudeley,* was
among the combatants, but his kinsman Eustace of Boulogne was
there, of course fighting on the Norman side. The English performing
almost superhuman feats of valour, held their ground so well, that
Eustace fell back, and was in the act of advising William to sound the
signal of recall, when he was struck between the shoulders by one of
the English pursuers, and was carried dying, as it was believed, from
the battle-field. Some indeed assert he was then killed. Guy, bishop
of Amiens, recounts that Eustace was one of the knights who cruelly
mutilated the wounded Harold. Wace, however, makes no mention of
it, which, if true, he probably would have done in his celebrated
" Roman de Rou " (a metrical history of the Dukes of Normandy), and
which was written when those events were comparatively fresh in
mens' minds. After the death of the Countess Goda, his first wife,
which happened about a.d. 1052, Eustace married Ida, the daughter of
* Milles, in his "Catalogue of Honour," erroneously states that King Harold had by his concubine a
son of his own name, Lord and first Baron of Sudeley, from whom the rest of the Barons have descended.
K 2

68 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. vn.
the Duke de Bouillon, and received the castle of Bouillon for her dower.
The second of their three sons was the celebrated Godfrey of Bouillon,
King of Jerusalem, born a.d. 1060 ! * Thus by marriage was the great
hero of the eleventh century connected with the then Lord of Sudeley !
William Fitz-Osborne also was with William at the battle of
Hastings. Wace describes him as his greatest personal friend, who
fought with him in his early battles. He it was who, " humming a
tune," entered the hall where William sat moodily in the Palace at
Rouen, after hastily returning from the hunting field, where he heard
of the death of his kinsman Edward, and of Harold seizing the crown.
He it was who encouraged the knig-hts to assist William in his enter-
prise, he himself undertaking to furnish sixty ships equipped with
fighting men. No wonder then that the Lord of Sudeley found it but
prudent to relinquish the earldom of Hereford in favour of the
Conqueror's friend. Beside this honour, the Lordship of the Isle of
Wight was conferred upon Fitz-Osborne, the manor of Hanley in
Worcestershire, Salperton,f and others in Gloucestershire and else
where, which are not enumerated in consequence of his having died
before the survey was taken.
William introduced from Normandy the custom of making estates
hereditary, and the law of primogeniture. As Sudeley descended from
father to son we may consider it another proof of their sympathy and
interest lying on the Norman side. Of Sudeley, Domesday \ gives
the following particulars : — " Herald the son of Earl Radulf holds
Sudlege of the king, and Radulf his father held it. There are ten hides
taxed, and four plow-tillages in demean, and eighteen villeins, and
eight bordars, with thirteen plow-tillages. There are fourteen between
the servi and ancilke, and six mills of 52s. (rent), a wood three miles
long, and two broad."
" The same Herald holds Todington. His father (Earl Radulf)
held it. There are ten hides taxed. In demean are three plow-
tillages, and seventeen villeins, and seven bordars, and two free men,
having among them all eight plow-tillages. There are ten (plow-

The Conqueror and his Companions." f Atkyns' " Gloucestershire," p. 633.
X See also Rudder, p. 66 ; Grose's "Antiquities," vol. i.

William i.] HAROLD, LORD OF SUDELEY. 69
tillages) among the servi and ancillse, and two mills of 25J. A salt pit
pays fifty measures of salt. These two manors, Sudlege and Todinton,
are worth and were worth ,£40."*
Though when the country was reapportioned, the earldom of Hereford
was given to the king's favourite, William Fitz-Osborne, Harold still
retained great possessions ; an account of those he held in Warwick
shire may be seen in Domesday Book for that county ; f but " his
chief seat was at Sudley." Winchcombe, at the time of the Survey, was
a distinct hundred, and termed Burgum de Wincelcumbe, when Glou
cester and Bristol were the only boroughs in the county. \
By some historians Harold has been suspected of treachery to his
country, as the instances are rare where Saxons were allowed to retain
their possessions ; whilst others maintain that he must have given
some great offence to the Conqueror, who deprived him of his earldom.
We are unwilling to credit the first supposition, although Harold was
but half a Saxon, and are inclined to look on the seizure of the earldom
as a mere act of policy, it being wanted to reward a valuable follower.
It seems more reasonable to suppose that Harold was in favour with
the new ruler, with whom he became more closely allied by his marriage
with Maud, daughter of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester and nephew of
William. Otherwise William would most probably have taken both
title and possessions to gratify the demands of the avaricious Normans
by whom he was surrounded.
There is no record that William the Conqueror ever visited Sudeley
— but in all probability he did so, as it was then occupied by his
half-Norman kinsmen, and naturally it was his policy to strengthen his
influence in the country by keeping up a friendly intercourse with all
who could in any way claim affinity with him. William, however, was
* In illustration of the record it may be mentioned that Bordars were tenants of cottages and small por
tions of land, for which they supplied the lord with eggs and poultry ; Bondmen were copyholding or
customary tenants of the manor ; Villeins were attached to the soil, being bound to do whatever services
the lord commanded them ; the Servi and Ancillse were male and female bond people, and Free Men were
under the purchased protection of some great landholder. Of the measures mentioned in Domesday, the
Quarenten was 40 poles, the Hide varied from 80 to 120 acres, and 8 Hides made a Knight's fee.
t " He was possessed of the lordship of Bockenton, in Berkshire, and Wicke, in Worcestershire ''
(Dugdale's Baronage) ; also of Ewyas, in Herefordshire, where he founded a small Priory for Benedictine
monks. X Winchcombe Abbey, Domesday. Rudder, p. 71.

70 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap vii.
often at Gloucester — for it is recorded that * " as often as his affairs
would permit he kept Christmas there, and to render this assembly the
more grand and imposing and sumptuous, and that the ambassadors of
foreign nations might admire the appearance of the company, he, by
his royal edicts, was attended by all the archbishops, bishops, abbots,
thanes, and knights. He wore his crown, and made a grand and
delicate fare. The great men appeared in golden, or very splendid
robes, which were called 'festiva indumenta,' and the town found
much of his entertainment and clothing, as it did for his successors,
when at this place. He was at no time more courteous, gentle, and
kind than at such assemblies, so that those that came might see that
his bounty equalled his riches."
On such occasions we can imagine the Lord of Sudeley sallying forth
with a brilliant and becoming retinue to face the wintry winds as he
crossed the hills, before descending into the vale to receive a cordial
welcome from the Conqueror. Few among that goodly company
would rank higher than Harold, representative as he was of both
Saxon and Norman nobility.
Notwithstanding the courtesy and affability displayed by the Con
queror while holding his court at Gloucester, he failed not to lay his
heavy hand on the monasteries, which in those disturbed times were
often the depositories of great wealth, the owners thereof fondly hoping
the sacred precincts would afford protection — alas, no ! the treasures
were ruthlessly swept into the royal coffers. On the slightest pretext
or suspicion he dispossessed the dignitaries of the Church, depriving
them of their preferments in order to bestow them upon his Norman
clergy. Thus the Monastery of Winchcombe, having evinced hostility
towards the Conqueror, was deprived of a great portion of its lands, f
which were then very considerable, including Sherborn, Bladinton,
Twining, Freolinton, Abdrinton, Newton, Stanton, Charleton, Snows-
hill, Honiburge, Eddminton, Hidcote, Winrush, Bradwell, Swell,

* Rudder.
t Apparently much was restored, as in Domesday the Abbey has set down to it 73J,- hides in Glouces
tershire, 24 hides in Oxfordshire, and 6 hides in Warwickshire, which, at the average of 100 acres each,
amounts to 10,350 acres.

william i.] THE CURFEW. 7 1
Willersey, Wicwen, Weston, Stock, Hedicote, and Winchcombe.*
Godricus, their abbot, was made a close prisoner in Gloucester Castle,
and the charge of the Monastery was committed to Agelwy, abbot of
Evesham, who governed it for pretty well three years in every respect
as if it were his own. Then the king gave it to a certain abbot named
Galand, who dying shortly after, it was once more placed under the
care of Agelwy, in whose hands it continued for a long time.f A.
delightful description of this worthy man is given in the " Chronicon
Abbatiae de Evesham, "\ of how he relieved starving fugitives from the
counties wasted by the Conqueror, was a father to the poor, a judge of
widows, pupils, orphans, strangers, wards, and a most pious consoler
of all who were in affliction. At his death he left five chests full of
money, and died of the gout (dolor e plangentibus), "as became a wealthy
prelate ! "
It was the good Bishop Wulfstan, of Worcester, who reclaimed for
Winchcombe all of which she had been defrauded ; and then having
thus brayed the danger of the king's anger, he doffed his mitre, donned
his shield, and did him good service in the field by frustrating the
intentions of two rebellious earls. §
We retain at Winchcombe one institution, which dates from the
Conqueror's time, the curfew, the signal for extinguishing fires and
lights, which was justly odious to the Saxons, although it might be a
safeguard against conflagrations ; but they could hardly be expected to
credit the ruthless and avaricious Normans with kind intentions. In
most towns the curfew bell has long been discontinued, in others it has
been retained as an ancient custom ; and sometimes because provision
has been made for its continuance. In some places it is tolled all the
year round, in others, only during certain months— as in Winchcombe,
where it commences at the time of the Autumn Stow fair, and dis
continues in May at the Spring fair in the same place. The tolling
lasts about ten minutes, and is immediately followed by the deliberate
tolling out of the day of the month.

Atkyns, p. 28. f Willis's "Mitred Abbeys."
X Published under the direction of the Master of the Rolls, p. 90.
g Florence of Worcester.

72 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. vii.
THE CURFEW.
Solemnly, mournfully,
Dealing its dole,
The Curfew Bell
Is beginning to toll.
Cover the embers,
And put out the light ;
Toil comes with the morning,
And rest with the night.
Dark grow the windows,
And quench'd is the fire,
Sound fades into silence,
All footsteps retire.
No voice in the chambers,
No sound in the hall !
Sleep and oblivion
Reign over all !
Another bell, but which has long ceased to sound, was the great bell
of the Abbey, older than the curfew, and with no humiliating associa
tions for the people ; in the old days its voice was heard at every hour,
and to those simple times it was " angels' music." *
Harold of Sudeley, as before mentioned, married Maud, daughter of
Hugh Lupus, first earl of Chester. Turning to Ormerod's " History
of Cheshire," we find that Lupus had only one legitimate child, Richard,
who succeeded to the earldom. Ordericus says.f that " Lupus had also
many base sons and daughters, who were almost all swept away by
sundry misfortunes." Maud must have been one of these, though her
name is not mentioned, and there does not seem to be any other who
married a Harold.
Among Harold's numerous grants was his noble gift to the church of
St. Peter at Gloucester, so that there should always be a convent at
Ewyas serving God. He further granted the tithes of all corn,
* " Sabbaths observe — think when the bells do chime,
'Tis angels' music." — George Herbert.
+ Lib. iv., p. 522.

william ii.] ROBERT OF EWYAS. 73
venison, honey, and of such things whereof good Christians ought to
pay.* He likewise erected and occupied a castle in that locality, which
in later times was known as Longtown, of which the keep remains
frowning over an extensive sequestered valley. f Near to it is an
ancient church, which tradition assigns as the resting-place of its
founder, and hence its appellation Ewyas Harold. Harold left two
sons by Maud — John and Robert, and to this Robert some historians
ascribe the erection of Ewyas Church.
John, the eldest, succeeded him in the Sudeley estates, and took the
surname of Sutlei, under which he is mentioned as a witness to the
Charter of Margaret, countess of Warwick (widow to Earl Henry),
made in King Stephen's time to the canons of Kenilworth.J He
married Grace, daughter of William Tracy, a natural son of King
Henry I., and had issue Ralph, his heir, and William, his second son,
who assumed his mother's surname, and became the progenitor of the
family of Tracy at Toddington.
Robert, the second son, resided at Ewyas, and assumed his surname
from that place. He confirmed all the grants which his father had
made to the Priory, and added the Church of Burnham as his own gift.
The descendants of this Robert in the female line were the ancestors of
the family of Brydges, subsequent possessors of Sudeley.
In the reign of William Rufus (a.d. io9i)§ it is chronicled that
Winchcombe Church was struck by lightning, on Wednesday, the
15th of October. A thunderbolt fell with great force on the
tower of the church, making a large aperture in the wall near the
summit, and after having riven one of the beams, struck the head from
a crucifix and threw it on the ground, breaking also the right leg. An
image of St. Mary which stood near the crucifix was also struck down.
A thick smoke with a suffocating stench then burst forth and filled the
whole church, lasting until the monks went the circuit of the chambers
of the Monastery with holy water and incense, and the relics of the

* Tanner's " Notitia Monastica."
t In Dugdale's " Baronage," p. 67, the erection of Ewyas Castle is attributed to Fitz-Osborne.
X See " Regist. de Kenilw.," p. 19.
g Florence of Worcester, William of Malmesbury, Lingard. L

74 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. vn.
saints, chanting the psalms. Many of the troubles of that time are
described by the Chroniclers as tokens of the divine displeasure with
the ungodly Rufus — the unearthly suffocating smell being suggestive of
the fire and brimstone that awaited him.
The next occasion when the name of Winchcombe appears among
the Chroniclers was in the reign of Henry I., a.d. 1125, when the
abbots of the neighbouring Monasteries met at Worcester to celebrate
an ecclesiastical event of some importance. It was on a summer day,
when our hills and vales were decked in the beauty which succeeds
their May verdure and blossom, that Godfrey, abbot of Winchcombe,
must have mounted his palfrey, and, accompanied by a few of his
monks, commenced his journey to Worcester. Probably he rested for
the night at Pershore, receiving hospitality from Guy, the abbot, and
he may have been joined there by Dominic, prior of Evesham. They
too, were doubtless accompanied by some of their brethren, so that
when they again sallied forth they must have formed a goodly com
pany. How many interesting topics of the day must have been
discussed among them, as they all jogged on together. News was not
then, as now, readily spread from parish to parish, so it is almost
impossible to imagine the eagerness with which they would communi
cate and receive intelligence. There had been many deaths and
changes in the Church of late. The king's conduct would be much
commented upon ; a great alteration in the coinage,* causing food to
become so expensive that many died of starvation ; the approachino-
great Synod in London, when stricter rules were to be enforced for the
clergy, and sorcerers and fortune-tellers branded with perpetual infamy.
Good old souls ! how they must also have interchanged stories of
miraculous relics, sweating crucifixes and pictures, double moons,
blazing stars, and mysterious signs in the heavens !
But the all-absorbing subject was the object of their visit to
Worcester ; and if we had been there to see, we should have found the
streets thronged with clergy and laity from all parts of the extensive
diocese, forming into a procession to receive Simon, the newly-elected

Henry of Huntingdon.

E. L. Wedgwood.

Visions of Henry the First.
From Dibdin's Bibliographical Decameron.

henry i.] THE KING'S VLSION. 75
bishop, by whom he was conducted with great pomp to the Cathedral,
there to be enthroned. Again, on the same day, we should have recog
nised with friendly eyes and the peculiar pride of seeing one of our own
town or neighbourhood in the place of honour, our good Abbot of
Winchcombe, at the installation of his friend Benedict in the Monastery
of Worcester, he being promoted from that of Tewkesbury, where he
had been brought up. according to the monastic rule from his boyhood.
The " Chronicle of Abingdon " * associates our adjoining parish of
Dumbleton with Winchcombe at this time, lands there having been
given by Robert, earl of Mellent, to the Holy Mary of Abingdon ;
and when their Abbey chamberlain went to Winchcombe fair, the
Abbot of Winchcombe was to find him lodgings at Dumbleton, with a
horse at his service all the year round ; moreover, the Dumbleton men
were to carry for him his purchases, cloth being particularly mentioned
as an important item.
In the MS. of Florence of Worcester which was written about
1 150, and which is preserved in the library of Corpus Christi College,
Oxford, there are illuminations,! representing visions said to have
disturbed Henry I. during his abode in Normandy. These visions
are ascribed to the year 1 1 30 ; and the writer of the Chronicle
reports that he heard Grimbald, the king's physician, relate them to
Godfrey, abbot of Winchcombe, from whom, it may naturally be
inferred, the illuminator received descriptions which enabled him to
depict these visions of the king, and this work exhibits some of the
most curious illuminations of the twelfth century. The following is an
abbreviated account of the visions from Trevisa's version of " Higden's
Polychronicon," according to Caxton's edition of the same, 1482, folio.
" Mold, the emperyce, was soone forsake of her husband Geffroy, and wente to her fader
in to Normandy, there the kyng sawe thre wondre syghtes, Fyrste, he sawe in his sleepe
many clerkes assayle hym with toles and axe of hym dette, Este, he sawe a Route of

* Vol. ii., p. 102, 300, 327, 393. In the Cottonian MS., Augustus ii., 48, is an early copy (12th cent.)
of a charter of King Ethelred (a d. 995), giving lands in Dumbleton to Abingdon.
+ The MS. is marked D. iv. 5. Facsimiles of the illuminations are given by Dibdin, in his "Biblio
graphical Decameron," p. Ixxvii. In a note he says, among other matters for which we have not space,
"I am indebted to my excellent friend, Mr. II. Petrie, for the ensuing account of the very curious and
precious MS. The visions (which have not occurred in any other MS.) are mentioned as having taken
place a.d. 1 130." l 2

;6

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. vii.

]\Ien of Armes that wold rese on hym with al maner wepen, the thyrde tyme he sawe a
grete company of prelates manace hym with theyre croyses and at every tyme the kyng
start up of his bed and caught his swerde and cryed help, as though he wold slee somme
men, but he myght no man fynde. Also a phisician, Grymbald by his name, sawe alle
these syghts, and told hem to the kynge erly in the morrow," &c*

'Liber Septimus," fol. cccxlviij. rev.

yjt^-":

West View of Low Embattled Tower. From a Photograph by M. Brocklehurst
in 1852.

CHAPTER VIII.
" War is a game, which, were their subjects wise,
Kings would not play at."
DURING the civil wars in the following reign of Stephen,
Winchcombe suffered severely ; for, as in those in the time
of Charles I., it was often the meeting point for the con
tending parties. The accumulated treasures of the preceding reigns
were frittered away in this; 1115 castles, it is said, were built."
Sudeley, up to this time only a Manor-House, was one of them.
No traces of the original Castle now remain, unless it is the low
embattled tower under " Katherine Parr's room," forming part of the
present cellar, facing east and west, and which Sir Gilbert Scott, when
planning the restoration of the chapel and the west side of the quad
rangle in 1854, considered to be the only part left of the period of
Stephen ; the stone arch to the west was then quite bare, but now is
hidden from the antiquary's eye by a thick covering of luxuriant ivy.
Sudeley must have had its tournament or tilting-ground in ..those
days, a fashion just borrowed from the French, and the remains 'of
which may be discerned among the uneven and broken ground in the
vicinity of the old Manor-House, measuring about sixty by forty paces,
the usual space allotted to the amusement. As the houses of the
gentry up to this time, and to a much later period, were built chiefly,
if not wholly, of wood, we were not surprised when excavating, in the
summer of 1875, the traditional site of the ancient Manor-House, to
find only debris of foundations and walls.

* Most of them were what were styled " adulterine castles," that is, erected without the royal licence ;
and these were pulled down in the next reign.

78 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. viii.
In 1 1 36 Stephen held a council at Northampton, which again brings
Winchcombe Abbey before the reader. Thurstan, archbishop of
York, and all the bishops, abbots, earls, barons, and nobles of England,
took their seats at it ; various ecclesiastical appointments were made,
and two abbeys also were given away — that of Winchcombe to a monk
of Clugny, named Robert, a relation of the king, and ordained abbot of
that monastery by the venerable Simon, bishop of Worcester, to
whose consecration eleven years before we saw his predecessor and
others journeying* Monks of the order of Clugny were of stricter
discipline than the Benedictines, and doubtless the abbot was then
appointed to effect a reformation ; all the more needed from the ever-
increasing riches and power of the Winchcombe Monastery.
All this occurred while John was Lord, and Grace Lady of Sudeley.
Owing to this marriage great trouble fell upon Sudeley, as will be seen
by the sequel. The father of Grace, as before stated, was a natural
son of Henry I. ; so was also the Earl of Gloucester, whose landing
in 1 1 39 with the Empress Matilda filled the heart of Stephen and all
England with dismay. The connection on his lady's side would
naturally cause the owner of Sudeley to favour Matilda. The empress
was for two months at Bristol, receiving homage from all as Oueen of
England, under penalty of the greatest cruelties and tortures. Then
followed the sacking of the city and cathedral of Worcester, so gra
phically told by the Chronicler. Crowds of the citizens, on hearino- of
the enemy's approach, hurriedly carried their goods into the cathedral,
which became a warehouse of furniture. The chant of the clero-y
mingled with the cries of women and children, the relics of St. Oswald,
their most gentle patron, were carried from place to place in suppliant
procession ; the men of Worcester made a brave resistance, but all in
vain — the enemy came in like a flood, burnt, plundered, and carried
many off into miserable captivity.
A few days later the earl (Waleran it is supposed, earl of Mellent
and Worcester), seeing the ravages of the flames, grieved over the
city, but lost no time in taking his revenge. Having heard that John

* John of Worcester, who continued the " Chronicle " after the death of Florence in 1118.

«n< J(t

IT- Ti

Postlip Chapel and Door-wav.

Stephen.] THE CIVIL WAR. 79
Fitz-Harold had revolted against the king and joined the earl at
Gloucester, he hastened to Sudeley, where he committed such cruelties
as, the Chronicler writes, are scarcely fit to record : the story of
plunder was repeated, people were taken prisoners, and with their
goods and cattle carried off next day to Worcester. This was in
November : early in the following year, Milo, constable of Gloucester,
who had espoused Matilda's cause, assaulted Winchcombe, burnt the
greatest part of the place, and carried off those whom he had robbed,
to rob still more by cruelly exacting from them heavy ransoms.
Thence he diverged to Sudeley, but whilst he was meditating an
attack, the royal garrison of the place fell on him, and forced him to
retreat, leaving, as it is reported, two of his men dead on the spot, and
fifteen taken prisoners.
From all this we may infer that Sudeley fell during those turbulent
times into Stephen's possession. Otherwise it could not have been
designated " a royal garrison." There is no record of how it was
restored to its rightful owners ; but we may easily imagine with what
sorrow they returned to their castle, devastated by fire and sword, and
how the prisoners returned to their Winchcombe homes impoverished
by the ransom money cruelly exacted for their deliverance.
It was about this time that the beautiful little Norman church of
Postlip was built by William de Solers at the request of his tenants,
who hoped to find therein a refuge from the terrible ravages com
mitted in the neighbourhood, as also a more secure place of worship
than Winchcombe or Hailes, the country being then infested by
robbers and characters of the worst description, such as ever follow in
the trail of civil war. The church was dedicated to St. James ;
William de Solers gave to the Abbey of Winchcombe the tithes of
the demesne of Postlip ; his tenants also gave tithes ; and the monks
in return supplied a chaplain to do full duty on Sundays, holidays,
Wednesdays, and Fridays. These agreements were confirmed by
Simon, bishop of Worcester, and Roger, son of the founder.*
In 1 142 Stephen laid siege to the Castle of Oxford, where Matilda
* A list is given in Rudder, p. 827, of those who owned lands in Winchcombe, or held them for the
Abbey, from the reign of Stephen to that of James I.

8o ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. viii.
was residing, and from the relative position of Winchcombe and
Sudeley to the eastern and western counties, it may be supposed
how again and again they suffered from the contending parties, their
griefs only ending with the wars. During this troublous time Ralph
de Wircestre, who had seized almost the whole of the country,
fortified a castle in Hailes, built a church, and sent for the Bishop of
Worcester to consecrate it. To this the monks of Winchcombe
vehemently objected, because the manor of Hailes was part of their
parish ; but Ralph deprived them of their necessary supply of
provisions till they came to a settlement, which they did after many
long and dry fasts. Then Hailes became a mother church.*
Winchcombe Abbey Church, like many others in this and foreign
countries, was soon surrounded by various buildings and cottages,
In these wars they were considered a protection and fortification ; but
unfortunately what was deemed a precaution proved its ruin, for the
cottages being set on fire, burned the church and all the charters,t
which accounts for all the scantiness alluded to by Willis. \ This
was on the 4th of the kalends of October (September 28), 1151 ;
four months later died Robert the abbot, probably heart-broken by the
destruction of his abbey ; he was succeeded in the same year by
William, a monk of Christ Church, Canterbury!
In 1 165 (in the reign of Henry II.) Ralph, son and heir of John de
Sudeley, succeeded to his father's estates, and became a liberal
benefactor to religious houses. He founded the Priory of Erdbury in
the vicinity of his lordship of Griffe,|| in Warwickshire, and endowed
it with lands in Derset, Radway, Chilverscoton, and Herd wick,
beside which, in the 31 Henry II. (1185), he gave other lands, lying
in the two last-named places, to the Knights Templars. He also gave
Toddington to his brother William, upon condition that he should hold

* An interesting and learned paper on Hailes was read by Mr. Loftus Brock at the Congress of the
British ArchEeological Association at Evesham in 1875.
t Reference is made to the Winchcombe registers in Fosbroke, vol. ii., p. 345. Later on they are
referred to as the Winchcombe Cartulary, a copy of which we received from Sir Thomas Phillips, entitled
" Cartularium Monasterie de Winchcombe in com. Glouc. Abbreviatum per Joh. Prynne, Arm." This
was lithographed at Middle Hill, 1854.
X "Mitred Abbeys."
§ For list of the Winchcombe Abbots, see p. 35. || Dugdale's " Warwickshire."

henry ii. J THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. 8 1
it by the service of one knight's fee. Ralph married Emma, the
daughter of William de Beauchamp of Elmley, in the county of
Worcester, by whom he had two sons, Otuer and Ralph, beside other
children. The order of Knights Templars, to whom the Lord of
Sudeley gave these lands, originated in the Crusades ; they were also
called the Soldiery of the Temple, as it was their office to protect it, to
assist against the infidels, and succour pilgrims. They began by
taking vows of poverty and chastity, but in less than half a century
they were notorious for their wealth, pride, and licentiousness.* In
the previous reign Gilbert de Laci had granted to the Knights
Templars three burgages in Winchcombe. Again Roger de Wateville
was seized of houses in Winchcombe, which he granted to the Master
of the Knights Templars in the reign of Edward I.
In the neighbourhood of Winchcombe they had a grant of a court-
leet, with waifs and felons' goods, in Greet and Gretton from
Henry III., which grant was allowed in the proceedings on a writ of
Quo Warranto, 15 Edward I. (1287). They had very considerable
property in Temple Guiting, from which the place partly took its
name. Upon the suppression of their order these lands, as also many
others, were granted to the Knights Hospitallers, and finally at the
general dissolution to the dean and chapter of Oxford. At the period
when Ralph made his grant to the order, the Templars had their chief
seat in London, as it is supposed in the Old Temple, near the present
Southampton Buildings, f Ralph also built a Benedictine Priory to
the honour of St. Mary and St. John Baptist at Alcester.J
Beside owning lands and other property, we find the Knights
Templars frequently associated with the possession or making of mills —
fulling-mills. Thus in this county, the earliest mention of them is of
two which the Templars made, before 1175, at Barton, in Temple
Guiting, one of which was rented for 32^. and the other for 12s., very
high rents, as Fosbroke says, for those times. The use of these mills

* Dugdale's " Monasticon ; " Rudder's "Gloucestershire."
T For further particulars, with interesting woodcuts, see Lacroix' "Military and Religious Life."
X Tanner's " Notitia Monastica ; " Dugdale's "Monasticon," vol. i., p. 470; Dugdale's "Warwick
shire," p. 574. The foundation charter is preserved in the Bodleian Library. M

82 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. viii.
was to save the expense of fulling by the foot, and to perform those
operations which are effected by the teazel, as appears by the following
passage from an old poem of two centuries later : The Visions of Piers
Plowman : — " Cloth that commeth from the weving is not comely to wear,
Till it be fulled under fote, or in fulling stocks,
Washen well with water, and with tasels cratched,
Touked and teynted, and under taylours hande." *
John de Hastings covenanted with the Abbey of Winchcombe not to
change a grist-mill into a fulling-mill ; and in a lease granted by the
same Abbey in 1309, the lessee agrees, at the expiration of his twelve
years, to leave the premises cum alveo ct fornace.\ Of the antiquity of
mills who can say ? or when weaving was first introduced ? Job
compares life to the weaver's shuttle ; so its antiquity must at least be
contemporary with the time of Moses. In our own country the art was
known to the Britons, but the Normans introduced vast improvements
in the manufacture of cloth, and it is probable that we owe our fulling-
mills to them.
Associated with this period is leprosy ! that dreadful disease brought
from the East by the Crusaders, and which, by the call that it made
upon charity, helped to develop the institution of hospitals, particularly
of the order of St. Lazarus. Henry II. founded many lazarettos in
England ; and the Hospitallers (afterwards known as the Knights of
St. John), who commenced by tending the lepers, soon extended their
help to all varieties of sickness and misery.
We find there was a leper's house attached to the Abbey of Winch
combe, at Charlton Abbots, according to the custom of having
one provided in or near towns of any size or pretension. % In those
times, fish was much more an article of food than it is now, especially
with the poorer classes, for fish was plentiful, and they could often have

* Fosbroke's "History of Gloucestershire, " vol. i., p. 36.
t Fosbroke.
J This at Charlton Abbots is in the Winchcombe Cartulary attributed to Kenulf's wholesome provision
and provident deliberation, but it must have been in later years that, as already mentioned, it was appro
priated to any monk who suffered from leprosy, and it was ordered that he should be removed and live at
Charlton till his death.

henry ii.] SEVERN SALMON. 83
it for the catching. Salmon was considered particularly conducive to
the spread of leprosy, and the abundance of Severn salmon was deemed
so pernicious, that in later days it was part of the indentures of a
Gloucestershire apprentice that he was only to eat salmon three times a
week ! On fast days, fish of all sorts supplied the tables of the
monastery, and that of Winchcombe did not lack, thanks to the well-
stocked stews and fish-ponds which then existed in the immediate
vicinity of the monastery, and in the Almsbury fields. The monks
fared sumptuously every day, but, unlike the rich man in the parable,
they gave to the poor, and liberally distributed of their abundance.
Then, as now, fashion led the day, and when we read how the monks
of St. Swithin at Winchester threw themselves prostrate at the feet of
the king, and with many tears complained to him that the bishop of
their diocese had withdrawn from them three of their usual number of
dishes, ten only remaining, we may suppose that in this respect Winch
combe was not far behind her wealthier sister, but also maintained her
proper number of dishes. Of wines they had great abundance,
including claret and mulberry, mead, ale, and other strong liquors ; to
which must have been added in Winchcombe the wines mentioned by
the Chroniclers, made from the apple and the pear. " The best wine,"
says Holinshed, " was called Theologicum, because it was had from the
cleargie and religious men, unto whose houses manie of the laitie would
often send for bottels filled with the same, being sure that they would
neither drinke nor be served of the worst, or such as was anie waies
mingled or brued by the vintner : naie, the merchant would have
thought that his soule would have gone straightwaie to the divell, if he
should have served them with other than the best."
During this reign Winchcombe seems to have been exempt from
further war and rapine. Allusion is made to " a fire in which the town
was burned in the time of Henry II.,"* but no particulars are recorded.
At or before this period there was a Castle in Cole Street, on the south
side of the Church of St. Peter ; there was also a tenement in Mill
Lane called the Ivy Castle, j" In this -reign, a great change was made in

* Winchcombe Cartulary, p. 19. f Ibid, p. 374.

84 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. viii.
the payment of our farm rents, which up to this time had been paid in
food and certain things necessary for human life, which rent was called
a Feorm (to feed), and though henceforth rents were paid in money
instead of victuals, the old names of farm and farmer were retained.*
Eight years of Henry's reign were passed in the contest between
Church and State — in a struggle for supremacy between the king and
the arrogant Thomas Becket. On one occasion, when Becket had
issued letters of excommunication against the Archbishop of York
and the Bishops of London and Salisbury, they complained to the
king, saying, " There is a man who sets England on fire, marching with
troops of horse and armed foot, prowling round the fortresses, and
trying to get himself received within them." " How ! " exclaimed
the king, "a fellow that hath eaten my bread — a beggar that first
came to my court on a lame horse, dares insult his king and the royal
family, and tread upon the whole kingdom, and not one of the cowards
I nourish at my table, not one will deliver me from this turbulent
priest ! " Such suggestive words fell not unheeded on the ears of
four of his knights, who henceforth resolved to take vengeance on
the proud and insufferable prelate. One of these was no other than
the Lord of Sudeley's brother, William de Tracy, who with his com
panions entered the Cathedral at Canterbury with armed men while
Becket was at vespers. Not even with death before him would
the haughty prelate yield to their demand to absolve the bishops,
whose offence had been to take part in the young Henry's coronation
in lieu of himself, who was under the king's displeasure ! Becket not
only gave a decided refusal, but added insulting language, on which the
knights finished their work, and the tragedy ended by de Tracy placing
his foot upon the dead prelate's neck, exclaiming " Thus perishes a
traitor ! " Becket's biographers, says Rudder, pretend that all those
persons concerned in his death died miserably in three or four years
afterwards, as it should seem by some particular interposition of Provi
dence in his behalf. Florence of Worcester says that the murderers
retired to the vill of Hugh de Moreville, at Knaresborough, where they

Rudder, p. So.

henry ii.] THE TRACY LEGEND. 85
lived alone, as no one would sit at their table ; the fragments of their
repast were thrown to the dogs, which, having tasted, even they refused
to devour. " See here," continues the Chronicler, " manifestly the just
vengeance of God, that they who despised the anointed of the Lord
should be even spurned by dogs ! " Other historians say, the murderers,
finding themselves shunned by persons of all classes and conditions,
spent their last days in penitence at Jerusalem, and when they died
this inscription was written upon their tomb : " Here lie the wretches
who murdered St Thomas of Canterbury."
Little or no credit, however, is to be given to monkish writers in
matters that affect the reputation of their favourite saints and the
champions of papal authority. The matter is not free from doubt, but
the most probable account seems to be that given by Dean Stanley,
which is, that they suffered no other penalty than excommunication.
Tracy, he thinks, attempted a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but the
stories told of his surviving the murder for more than fifty years, and
serving against the Welsh in 1222, have arisen from his being con
founded with a son or grandson.* A Devonshire tradition represents
Tracy as finding refuge in a cavern near Ilfracombe, where he was
fed by his daughter, and a fourteenth-century tomb in the adjoining
church of Morthoe is gravely stated by Camden to be his, although the
figure is in priestly vestments and holding a chalice ; it is really that
of a William de Tracy, who founded the church in 1322.! Another
tradition, received in Somersetshire, is, that a tomb at Kewstoke, near
Weston-super-Mare, is his, and to this belief we incline.
Fosbroke, among his Gloucestershire proverbs, quotes : "The Trades
have always the wind in their faces," which he thinks was probably
taken from Sir William Tracy's intended pilgrimages to Jerusalem for
penance, which were ever crossed with adverse winds. This may also
receive another interpretation, viz., that ridding the realm of so turbu
lent a prelate was not so heinous a crime for that period, and Heaven
sent winds to prevent the unnecessary pilgrimage and penance !
Thomas Becket was canonized soon after his death by Pope

" Historical Memorials of Canterbury," p. 93. + Murray's " Handbook for Devon.;

86

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. viii.

Alexander III., who had so strenuously taken his part in his contests
with the kingf. o
Henry, formerly Prior of Gloucester, was Abbot of Winchcombe at
this time,* and through his instrumentality we may presume that the

Seal of William de Tracy. t

Pope issued a bull confirming to the House all the churches, towns,
and rents belonging to it. This interesting document was rescued
from Richard Kyderminster's work \ before its destruction by fire. By
it the Monastery was taken under the protection of St. Peter, with all
its belongings, including the Church of St. Kenelm, with the Chapel of
St. Peter. A list of the possessions given by King Kenulf to the
Monastery was preserved at the same time, a translation of which will
be found in Atkyns' " Gloucestershire."
The same bull also confirmed to the Convent the " power to receive
any laymen who were flying from the world to conversion, and when
once their profession was made they could not leave the Monastery
without the Abbot's sanction, and power they had in the time of general

* Annal. Wigorn., in Angl. Sacr., torn, i., p. 477.
+ This seal is appended to a confirmation of William de Tracy to the Abbot and Convent of Gloucester,
of lands which had been given them by his brother Ralph de Sudeley. — Lysons' " Antiquities," p. 8.
X See pp. 138, 145.

RICHARD I.]

PRLVILEGES OF THE ABBEY.

87

excommunication to celebrate divine service, but without ringing of
bells, with closed doors, and in a low voice." The Roman Pontiff had
in fact supreme power over all monasteries, and to the more important
ones, as St. Albans, Christ Church and St. Augustine's and Winch
combe, he granted such special privileges that their abbots could set at
defiance any orders or restrictions from bishop or archbishop.
Ralph, Lord of Sudeley, died in 1192, and was succeeded in his
possessions by Otuer, his eldest son. Emma, his widow, was buried
in Winchcombe Abbey, and on the day of her sepulture, her son
Otuer " quit-claimed for himself and heirs the surplice, botes, and one
corrody of a monk," for the sustenance of a monk whom they received
that day, and which was to be for the good of the soul of his mother
Emma, and for the good of the souls of his ancestors and heirs. In
the British Museum there is preserved a deed* of his relating to land
at Blakepit, from which we here engrave his seal.

Seal of Otuer de Sudeley.

We find in the fourth year of the reign of Richard I. (1 193), Otuer
paid for his relief twenty marks ; and upon levying the scutage for the

* Sloane Charter, XXXIII. 3.

88 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. viii.
king's redemption in 1195, sixty shillings; but dying without issue,
Ralph, his brother, became his heir, and in 1198 gave 300 marks to
the king for livery of his lands. In this sum sixty marks were
included which had been imposed upon his brother Otuer as a fine
for the defect of a soldier, whom he ought to have maintained in
Normandy. The reign of Richard was almost entirely absorbed by his personal
adventures and wars wagfed ao-ainst the infidels. The fire of his zeal
spread through the length and breadth of the land ; and when Richard
met Philip, the king of France, on the plains of Vezelay, on the outset
of their expedition to the Holy Places, they mustered no less than
100,000 men. In that noble army was Ralph of Sudeley. The follow
ing poem is founded on the tradition of the family, that he perished by
the hand of one of the emissaries of the Old Man of the Mountain
after his return from the Crusade.*
THE LEGEND OF RALPH DE SUDELEY.
I.
It was good Ralph de Sudeley come
Back from the Paynim wars,
And he bore the title to his fame
Scored in a hundred scars.
The child of Baron de Botelour
Was sweet-faced Alianore ;
And though the knight loved fighting much,
He loved the lady more.
She too had favourite horse to pat,
And favourite bird to feed,
But one short hour with Ralph surpass'd
Whole days of hawk and steed.
From this beginning, made by love,
But one result could spring,
And 'mid their nuptial guests they look'd
For England's Lion-King.
* A story from Sir Bernard Burke's " Anecdotes of the Aristocracy," versified by Patrick Scott.

Richard i.] THE LEGEND OF RALPH DE SUDELEY.
And wishes for that time to be
Were felt by neighbours near ;
Felt partly for the happy pair,
And partly for the cheer,
De Sudeley, when in foreign lands,
Had often heard recount
What deeds of ill the Assassins did —
Those murderers of the Mount.
And long his soul had treasured wrath
Against the sect which slew
Conrad of Montferrat, and men
As good as he and true.
And ever and anon he raised
His voice in bitter mirth,
And swore he'd count it Christian sport
To hunt them from the earth,
But he has gone from the Baron's hall,
Forth on his way to ride ;
The Baron grasp'd his hand and smiled,
But Alianora sighed.
" Come back, come back ; when thou art gone
The day is dark to me."
" The day will not more surely dawn,
Than I come back to thee ! "
II.
The chaplain sat with the Baron bold,
Drinking the Rhenish wine ;
And he deem'd of the gifts of God to man
The grape was most divine.
Drinking the Rhenish wine they sat
In the torch-lit Castle hall,
And they drank brave Ralph de Sudeley's health,
And a merry time to all.
What thing is that at the Castle gate
Howls 'mid the stillness round ?
" Good angels guard us from all ill—
'Tis Ralph de Sudeley's hound ! "

90 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. viii.
The chaplain and the Baron both
Have started to their legs,
And left a pint of wine undrunk —
Good wine above the dregs.
" Warder ! unbar the gate ! " — 'tis done ;
And in the brave dog springs,
And runs to Alianora's feet,
And howls till the chamber rings.
Women and men they have all rush'd forth,
And search'd both vale and hill-;
Men and women, and old and young,
And the stag-hound howling still.
But they who kept their wit most clear
Upon that troublous night
Follow'd where Leo led the way,
As quickly as they might.
Now shut thine eyes — 'tis not a scene
For thee, young Alianore ; —
They have forced her off, that she might not see
The burden which they bore.
'Twas a human form — and the chaplain pray'd
That the soul had gotten grace ;
And the Baron shook as the high-held torch
Flash'd on De Sudeley's face.
A dagger's point was in his back,
And, graven on its blade,
" Hoc propter verba tua " — This
For words which thou hast said.
III.
There are strangers in an ancient church,
Steep'd in a holy gloom,
Where many a restless spirit sleeps
Within a stone-bound tomb.
And a lady, with a silent foot,
Is pacing down the aisle,
As one might pace whose lips had ceased
For two long years to smile.

Richard i.] THE LEGEND OF RALPH DE SUDELEY. 91
And close behind, as if one fate
Their different souls had bound,
With solemn step and hanging head
There treads a noble hound. ,
With folden hands, and turban'd brow,
A man of swarthy face
Is gazing at the effigies
A warrior's tomb do grace.
And if you ask what honour'd name
The marble record bore,
It was the name of him who died,
So dear to Alianore.
Why lifts that aged hound his head ?
Why doth his eye glare so ?
Why springs he forth with one sharp growl,
As singling out a foe ?
That turban'd head is in the dust —
The brave dog knows it yet —
And deeply in the Pagan's throat
His deadly teeth are set.
And dragging him with wondrous force,
Where Alianora stood,
The growl that rattled in his jaws
Was drown'd half-way by blood.
Nor could they loose his hold until
The stranger's life had paid
Just penance for the secret hate
That urged the murderous blade.
Now kind Heaven grant to all of us
A life with quiet blest,
And shield from foul assassin's knife
The warrior's gallant breast.

CHAPTER IX.
" Old Kick went out upon a prowl,
And came to Winchcombe, that dark hole,
But got fast stuck in Sudeley lane,
So swore he'd never go there again."
FROM Ralph, in the chivalrous times of Richard, we turn to
Winchcombe in the turbulent reign of John, and glean from
ancient records* the few following facts : That there was a
Castle, as before named, standing in Cole Street, and which then
formed a private estate. An old Castle on the south side of the
Church of St. Peter.f There were lands of Gamier under the old
Castle. The Abbey, in the third year of this reign (1201), bought
lands of Baldwyn de Stanway for ten marks which he had purchased of
Richard of the Castle, son of William, held of the fee of William de
Saveeli by \6d. rent lying between the fee of the king and Thomas de
St. Wallery ; which estate the Abbey aliened to Walter de Trive for
5 j. rent and exoneration from the i6d. rent. There was also a tene
ment, as before stated, in Mill Lane called the Ivy Castle. In this
reign Ralph de Sudeley granted the monks leave to make a ditch, which
brought the water to their mill in a straight course, and John Blundell
had 8d. given him for damage to his fulling-mill thereby sustained.
The Abbey was supplied with water by charter from Postlip and
Sudeley. These facts show that even in those early times it was
necessary to protect the rights of water, and that damage done by
diverting the course of a stream demanded compensation.^
* Mainly the Winchcombe Cartulary.
+ MS. Parsons, p. 2S3.
X Mention is made of an earlier date, when Robert the Abbot " procured an aqueduct whereby excellent
spring water did continually run under the earth in leaden pipes from Hanwell to our Monastery."

john.] THE GREAT FEUDAL BARON. 93
In the reign of John, our thoughts naturally turn to the Barons and
their wars with the King. As the Lord of Sudeley was one of them,
we will bring him before the reader, and after the lapse of 600 years,
in an age of improved laws and impartial justice, we will contemplate
him as a great Baron of the period, through the graphic description
given by Hume.
" The great baron was one who considered himself as a kind of sove
reign within his territory ; and was attended by courtiers and depen
dants more zealously attached to him than the ministers of state and
the great officers were commonly to their sovereign. He often
maintained in his court the parade of royalty, by establishing a
justiciary, constable, mareschal, chamberlain, seneschal, and chancellor,
and assigning to each of these officers a separate province and com
mand. He was usually very assiduous in exercising his jurisdiction ;
and took such delight in -that image of sovereignty, that it was found
necessary to restrain his activity, and prohibit him by law from holding
courts too frequently. It is not to be doubted but the example set
him by the prince, of a mercenary and sordid extortion, would be
faithfully copied ; and that all his good and bad offices, his justice and
injustice, were equally put to sale. He had the power, with the king's
consent, to exact talliages even from the free citizens who lived within
his barony ; and as his necessities made him rapacious, his authority
was usually found to be more oppressive and tyrannical than that of
the sovereign. He was ever engaged in hereditary or personal animo
sities or confederacies with his neighbours, and often gave protection
to all desperate adventurers and criminals who could be useful in
serving his violent purposes. He was able alone, in times of tranquil
lity, to obstruct the execution of justice within his territories ; and by
combining with a few malcontent barons of high rank and power, he
could throw the state into convulsions. On the whole, though the
royal authority was confined within bounds, and often within very
narrow ones, yet the check was irregular, and frequently the source of
great disorders ; nor was it derived from the liberty of the people, but
from the military power of many petty tyrants, who were equally
dangerous to the prince and oppressive to the subject."

94 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ix.
In the meantime, the vices of the king, his licentiousness, ingratitude,
and cruelty, were gradually bringing upon the whole Church, including,
therefore, Winchcombe Abbey, the country and society at large, that
most formidable weapon of those times, the Pope's interdict. When
the cruel mandate was sent forth by Innocent III., the Abbey was
closed, the bells were mute, and laid on the floor as dead, the relics of
saints and everything which the Church ordered to be venerated,
crosses, images, and such-like, were all laid with their faces to the
ground. Mass was said with closed doors for the priests only; the
dead were deprived of Christian burial ; marriages were solemnized in
churchyards, and mourning and woe hung like a shadow over all. The
unhumbled John met this by confiscating the lands belonging to those
of the clergy who conformed to the papal orders, and to expose them
to the severest ridicule, ordered all their concubines to be thrown into
prison ! * His conduct to the barons is too well known to need to be
repeated, save to make us comprehend how and why we find Sir
William Tracy and, without doubt, his elder brother of Sudeley, joining
in the wars of the barons against the king. Although, owing to the
unfortunate destruction of Winchcombe annals by fire, there is no
record existing, there can be little doubt that the town, castle, and these
brothers must have been among the sufferers when the king marched
from Dover to Berwick carrying devastation, fire, and misery every
where, laying the country desolate on every side, and treating as hostile
all that did not actually come under the name of his own property.
No wonder that his people could only account for such mad conduct
by his being under the power of some enchantment or witchery !
The same pope, Innocent III., who placed our Church and country
under his ban, introduced a new system in the payment of tithes.
Hitherto, they had been paid by the laity according to their respective
wishes, to religious houses, poor, or to other purposes ; henceforth,
they were to be paid to the parish priest, and though this country was
not bound by his decree, yet as it was judged reasonable, it became
customary here, and the custom in time grew into a law.f

Matthew Paris. + Rudder, p. 12.

HENRY III.]

RALPH LORD DE SUDELEY.

95

There is an interesting story in the " Evesham Chronicle," a.d. 1213,*
of an abbot of Evesham, who in the presence of the Lord Legate,
the Abbots of York, Selby, St. Martiro of Tuscany, Gloucester, and
Winchcombe, was deprived of his Abbey, possessions, and authority.
The trial over, it fell to the office of Robert, the Abbot of Winch
combe (who always had befriended him), by order of the Lord Legate,
to lead out the unfortunate ex-abbot on his return from the chapter
house. The next owner of Sudeley we find was Ralph, who succeeded his
father Ralph, and who "in the sixth year of Henry III. (1222),
paying an hundred pounds for his relief, had livery of his lands." In
the British Museum is preserved a charter of this Ralph granted to
Gilbert de Ruainges,f with his seal appended. He married Ismenia,

Seal of Ralph de Sudeley.

the daughter of Roger Corbet, by whom he had issue Bartholomew, his
son and heir. Of this Ralph we find little recorded. He seems not
to have taken any part in the wars, but to have remained at home
vexing the good Abbot of Winchcombe ; for a writ of the king's was

Record Series, No. 29, p. 24

t Additional Charters, 20,395.

96 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ix.
directed against him, commanding him to do justly to the Monastery,
especially referring to the land of Cotes, and he was not to vex the
Monastery unjustly in regard to ways and paths through the wood.
Indeed it looks as if our Lord of Sudeley was drawing back land and
privileges granted by his ancestors, and encroaching on their rights ;
and very hot must have been the struggle on both sides, for the king
thus to issue his writ ; and he further adds that if Ralph did not attend
to these orders, the sheriff of Gloucester, or the justices of these parts
would.* Sir Bartholomew de Sudeley succeeded his father, and had
livery of the estates granted to him in 51 Henry III. (1267). This,
like the preceding reign, was fraught with disturbances for Church and
country. The barons, having learnt their own power and importance
by the concessions extorted from John in Magna Charta, strenuously
resisted all encroachments on their rights. The power they assumed
at one time, threatened almost the crown itself. Guided by Simon de
Montfort, they forced the weak King Henry to accept the Provisions of
Oxford, which, among other things, enacted that a new sheriff should
be annually elected by the votes of the freeholders in each county,")" and
that the sheriff should no longer have the power to let his county out
to farm, which had led to intolerable extortion by bailiffs and other
inferior officers.
Sir Bartholomew de Sudeley was constituted sheriff of Hereford
shire, and governor of Hereford Castle in the latter part of Henry's
reign, and again sheriff two years later.
Sudeley had a manor at this time, in common with other Castles, and
a market or fair was held here, in the Forbury, which is the name of
the land lying between the Castle and the Tithe-barn. Twenty-four
market towns are named in Atkyns' History as belonging to this
county, Winchcombe being one of them, and Saturday as market day.
In places that had not attained the dignity of boroughs, markets were
frequently granted to lords of manors ; in early times they were held
chiefly on Sundays and Church festivals, for the convenience of the

* Winchcombe Cartulary.
t Up to this time they had been appointed by the king, commonly held their counties for many years in
succession, and are very generally accused of practising great oppression.

henry hi.] FLOURISHING STATE OF WLNCHCOMBE. 97
many assembled for divine service. This was soon turned into an
abuse, so much so, that only a few years later it was forbidden to hold
fairs in churchyards.
We said Bartholomew was constituted governor of Hereford Castle,
and we will hope that he was not guilty of the cruelty and oppression
in which that class of officials too often indulged, as we see from the
Public Records of the time. The Plea Rolls of Henry III. and the
Hundred Rolls of Edward I. abound in complaints of men arbitrarily
fined or imprisoned by the castellans or the lords of manors (all of
whom had a gaol on their lands) ; and to check this, the Parliament
provided that no great man should be a justice of the peace in the
county where his own castles stood. Even as late as the time of
Henry IV., a statute was passed, forbidding imprisonment in any other
than the common gaol, showing that they were in the habit of tyran
nising over those against whom they had a grudge, and of seizing
and imprisoning them unlawfully. Further to curb the power of
the castellans, it was ordained that neither they nor their bailiffs
should take corn or aught else from the people, but that, on the
contrary, the people should be as much as possible protected from their
rapacity ; and indeed they needed the strong arm of the law, when
barons were so tyrannical as even to shelter bands of robbers to ravage
the property of their enemies.
Winchcombe at this time was so extensive as to possess eleven
streets, with a Booth-hall and Guild-hall, and enjoyed considerable
trade, with an extensive manufacture of cloth. It was also walled
round, as Leland, who saw the remains of the walls, tells us, adding :
" Of old time, it was a mighty large towne." " The inhabitants, by the
advice of Richard de Brueria, bailiff of the Hundred, released to the
Almonry, the Bohalle under the Gildhalle, in North Street, in exchange
for a place near the Almonry, to build an aisle and altar in honour of
St. Nicholas on the north side of St. Peter's Church."* This was
perhaps at the time when the church was rebuilt, it having been burnt
in the reign of Stephen. It is recorded in the Annals of Tewkesbury,

* Winchcombe Cartulary.

98 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ix.
1239, (the year when Tewkesbury was dedicated): " Dedicatae sunt
ecclesiae Sancti Petri Gloucestriae, de Winchelcumbae, de Persora, Ma-
joris Malvernias a domino Waltero de Cantilupo episcopo Wigorniae."
This date is confirmed by the Annals of Worcester .* Winchcombe
was a mitred Abbey, and the first summons of the Abbot is recorded
in this' reign, a.d. 1265. The mitred abbots were called to Parlia
ment, and sat and voted in the House of Lords, had episcopal power
within the limits of their houses, gave solemn benediction, confirmed
the lesser orders, wore mitres, sandals, &c, and carried crosses or
pastorals in their hands, and some of their houses were exempted
from the jurisdiction even of the archbishop, and subject to the
Pope alone, f
Unlike most other great Abbeys, Winchcombe does not appear to
have been often visited by royalty. One such visit, however, occurred
in the year 1251 (not mentioned by the Chroniclers), whilst Abbot John
Yanworth held the rule, a curious record of which remains among
the . documents belonging to the Dean and Chapter of Wells. % On
the 5th of November, 1251, King Henry and his queen were present
at the dedication of the Monastery of Hailes, just founded by Richard,
earl of Cornwall, at which no less than twelve bishops assisted, and so
many great men were there, that Matthew Paris says he fears to
describe in full the grandeur of the festival, lest he should be
accused of going beyond the bounds of truth. We can but wish
that he had not entertained this scruple, and then we might have seen
whether it really exceeded the grand doings of King Kenulf and his
prelates and magnates at our own Winchcombe five centuries before.
Matthew also omits to mention, that on the following day, which was
the Feast of St. Leonard the Abbot, the whole of the bishops repaired
to Winchcombe, and in the presence of the king, came to an agreement
to send a messenger to the Holy See to ask for protection against the
visitatorial power claimed by Boniface of Savoy, then Archbishop of
Canterbury. The envoy that they chose was " the prudent and

* Mr. Brock's paper on " Winchcombe," August, 1875.
t Grose's "Antiquities."
X Historical Manuscripts Commission : Third Report, Appendix, p. 35S.

henry hi.] WINCHCOMBE FAIRS. 99
discreet man, Master John de Cheba," * and the bishops jointly gave
him ioo marks (,£66 13^. 4-d.) for his expenses, and promised him
200 marks more (£"133 6s. 8d.) as salary, if he succeeded in his
business, and also obtained letters enforcing a subsidy from the clergy,
which would seem to have fallen into arrear ; but if he did not get the
letters, his salary was to be only ,£100. " Faithfully to observe all
these things, all and singular the bishops [present], for themselves and
their successors, in the word of truth, touching their breasts, bound
themselves." As a further security they subjected themselves and
their property to the jurisdiction of Walter de Suffield, bishop of
Norwich, and William de Buttone, bishop of Bath and Wells, who
thereupon took the responsibility of payment to the said John, within
six months after his return to England, on the completion of the
business. Shortly after this time we meet with a notice of the fairs of Winch
combe on the Public Records. It is as follows : —
"Concerning Purchases made in the Fairs of Wynchecumbe.
" It was ordered to the Bailiffs of the coming fairs of Wynchecumbe that they should
be assisting and consulting with those who shall come up to Wynchecumbe on behalf of
the freemen of the King staying at Windsor, to make purchases for the use of the same
freemen in the same fairs, when they shall be required by them.
"Witness, Richard Earl of Cornwall, at Northampton, 12th July [1254]."
Close Roll, 38 Henry III., Mem. 5.
Probably to secure the good will of the Pope, immense favour at
this time was shown by King Henry to the Italian clergy — all the
chief benefices were conferred upon them, thereby giving, as may
readily be supposed, dire offence to the celebrated Bishop Grosteste,
and other patriotic Englishmen. From this, however, Winchcombe
seems to have been free, as may be seen from the catalogue of Abbots, f
On one occasion the bishop of the diocese spoke out bravely, when it
was announced that it was the Pope's and King's pleasure for the

* Probably the same as John de Cheyham, Archdeacon of Bath, who was postulated to the see of
Glasgow by Pope Alexander III., in 1259. Le Neve's "Fasti," by Hardy, vol. L, p. 163.
t See p. 35. 0. 2

100 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ix.
abbeys and bishops to meet some extravagant demand, and exclaimed
he would rather lose his life than comply.
In this reign " The town of Winchcombe, with the hundreds of
Kiftsgate, Holford, and Gretesden, were let to farm to the Abbot of
Winchcombe." * The inheritance of Winchcombe town and Kiftsgate
hundred were granted to the Abbey the same year. The Abbey of
Winchcombe purchased a charter of free warren in Winchcombe, and
that errant was allowed in a writ of Ouo Warranto, in Edward 1 1 I.'s
reign. f Honourable mention is made of one of the abbots, John de
Yanworth, who obtained many valuable additions to the possessions
of the Monastery. About this time the manor of Hawling J was given
to the Abbey of Winchcombe by one Robert Gyves, and so it con
tinued till the dissolution. Rowel also, which had belonged to the
church of St. Ebrulf, in Normandy, came into the possession of
Winchcombe on the suppression of alien monasteries in the reign of
Henry V.§
Little occurs relating to the Abbey of Winchcombe in the Public
Records. But we find among the Royal Letters one (596) of the time
of Henry III., in which J., the Prior, and Convent, present to the king
H., their sacristan, whom they had chosen as abbot ;|| and another
(1926) of the date of October 8, 1282, in which the Prior and Convent
of St. Mary and St. Kenelm at Winchcombe inform the king that their
Abbot, John de Yanworth, has resigned, and they request license to
elect a successor.
We learn from the Winchcombe Cartulary that among the various
officers appointed to the Monastery there were four principal ones,
called the Obedientiarii. These were (1), the Sacrist, whose duty
it was to look after the buildings and utensils of the church and
house, and to supply everything necessary except straw, rushes,

* Atkyns. t Dugdale's "Monasticon."
% The Countess Goda had given Hawling to the Almonry of Winchcombe.
§ These alien cells, mostly founded soon after the conquest, were usually taken into the king's hands on
the occasion of a war with France, and their inmates, if on or near the coast, removed to some great abbey
inland. On the conclusion of peace things reverted to their former state, but Henry V. suppressed them,
and gave their possessions to English houses.
II Presumably Henry de Tudinton, who was Abbot, 1232-1247.

henry hi.] THE ABBEY OFFICIALS. 101
and hay, which were to be provided by the cellarer on the vigils
of certain saints' days, with the addition of ivy at Easter. "To
every hungry man asking " it was for the sacrist to give oblatas, or
sweet cakes, and wine. (2) The Treasurer, who was responsible for
the expenses. ' (3) The Steward, for provisions. (4) The Chamberlain,
for clothes and vestments. There is a long list of the servants' of the
Monastery and their wages, numbering twenty-eight, exclusive of wood
carriers and carters. Among them were porters, serjeants of the
church sacristry, infirmary, guests' hall, refectory, tannery and locutory,
cook, buyer for the kitchen, platterer, stabler, brewer, baker, winnower,
swineherd, and carpenter who finds wedges and tubs. A list also of
the servants of the Lord Abbot, including butler, sumturer, esquire or
equerry, messenger, padgroom, chaplain's lacquey, cook, cellarers' ser
vants, marshal, the abbey smith, smith's boy, miller, carpenter, servitors
who keep manors, chamberlains and chamberlains' servants. There was
also an Almoner to distribute the alms of the Monastery, the Infirmarer
to take care of the sick, beside many other officers of inferior rank.
Much is said, in the same Register, of grants made for the providing
of wax-tapers, sometimes twelve pounds in weight, and for lamps to be
ever burning before the high altars, and money found for making " a
grange towards the Castle-brook." And there was one named Henry,
son of Baldwin Baker,, who made a grant for the finding of a light on
the morrow of St. Kenelm's, and on the day in which he took his
journey of peregrination, he sware before many and made the sign of
a cross in confirmation of the same.
-In the midst of so much piety, lighting of wax- tapers and lamps, it is
sad to see how nearly every page of the same record is marked by
accounts of disputations over these things. Thus, to give one example
among many, Bartholomew, Lord of Sudeley, had a dispute with the
Abbot of Hailes concerning common pasturage ; the story is a very
long one, but the end of it was, that they got together twenty-four good
men and swore to ratify what they said. And when it was settled, the
common was pronounced common to the men of Hailes, Piseley,
Sudeley, and Greet. This was sealed by all the parties, and each
party had a copy of the writing.

102 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ix.
Bartholomew's name appears in connection with the celebrated
Robert de Ferrars, earl of Derby, a turbulent character of the reign of
Henry III., who more than once rebelled, and was severely amerced by
the king. On one of these occasions Robert had been taken, and
remained a prisoner for three years, and on his release, the king took
certain sureties for his future conduct — that he was to resign all interest
in the castles and lands hitherto granted to him, and pay ,£50,000
to the king all upon one day ; for the payment of which the earl pro
cured eleven great barons to be bound, among whom was Sir Bartholo
mew de Sudeley, unto whom he passed, by way of counter security, all
his castles and lands.* This lord had also the custody of the estates of
Richard de Arden granted to him by Edward I., the said Richard
being an idiot and a minor. Bartholomew died in 1274. By his wife
Joan, the daughter of William Beauchamp, of Elmley, and sister of
the Earl of Warwick, he left issue; — John his heir, Joan, Ismenia,
and Mabel, which last was seized of one fourth part of the manor of
Campden in 15 Edward I. (1287). The widow of Bartholomew sur
vived her husband twelve years, and was buried in the conventual
church at Erdbury with great pomp. The bishop of Coventry and
Lichfield granted a special indulgence remitting forty days enjoined
penance to all such as, with a devout mind, should say a Pater Noster
and an Ave for the health of her soul and the souls of all the faithful
deceased. Walter de Wickwar, the Abbot of Winchcombe, took a part, along
with the Bishops of Durham, Chester, Hereford, Worcester, and Exeter,
and at least a dozen abbots, in the pompous interment of Edmund, earl of
Cornwall, in the abbey of Hailes, which his father Richard, king of the
Romans, had founded. The earl died on the 1st of October, 1300, but
was not interred until the Thursday before Palm Sunday (March 23),
1301, when King Edward himself was present.
John, the son of Bartholomew, was about twenty-two years of age
at the time of his father's death. He obtained King Edward's special
license to travel beyond sea ; he attended the king into Gascony ; and

Dugdale's " Warwickshire,'' p. 787.

henry m.] PARLIAMENTARY ATTENDANCE. 103
in the twenty-sixth year of his reign (1298), he was summoned, with
other great men of England, to be at Carlisle on Whitsun Eve, well
fftted with horse and arms to march into Scotland against the Scots.
For these services John de Sudeley received certain grants from the
king in a.d. 1300, and 1305 ; and he obtained the king's writ for levying
an aid for making his first begotten son a knight.* This first begotten
was Bartholomew de Sudeley, by the daughter of Lord Say, and we
find that he and William de Tracy are recorded among the knights of
the county of Gloucester who served under Edward in that victorious
expedition of 1298. This Bartholomew died before his father, leaving
a son, John, who was never summoned to Parliament, f
In 1299 John de Sudeley was summoned to Parliament, and he
retained his seat there till the thirteenth year of the following reign
(132 1). The customs concerning the barons attending Parliament
were originally in this wise : as they were immediate vassals of the
crown by military tenure, all, both great and small barons, were
entitled to a seat in the national council ; but, as the poorer barons
might find that a burden, it was provided, according to Magna Charta,
that their attendance should only be required on important occasions,
when called by a summons of the sheriff. After the battle of Evesham,
which struck such a blow to the power of the barons, no one was
allowed a place in Parliament unless invited by a particular summons,
and seats were, henceforth, held by writ.
Not only did the power of the barons, at this time receive a check,
but that also of the monasteries, which were becoming too powerful for
the crown ; and the statute of Mortmain was enacted (a.d. 1279), by
which grants of land to them were prohibited, unless by the king's
special license.
In turning to the Winchcombe Cartulary we find many interesting
facts referring to the Monastery and, neighbourhood in those times,
but only a few can be selected. Pope Boniface VIII. about this time,
•upon the supplication of the Abbot of Winchcombe, granted him
permission to use a mitre, ring, pastoral staff, and pontifical ensign.

* Winchcombe Cartulary, pp. 3, 4. + Rudder, p. 770.

104 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ix.
The Knights Templars for a moment come again before our notice, as
" lords of both Dowdeswells, and all their tenants there were obliged
to appear at their view of frankpledge, at Guyting." * Then there is a
quaint story of one John Palmer, who claimed an estate in the premises
of the Monastery. Being " sick " he made promises of certain grants to
the Monastery, hoping that they might propitiate heaven to favour his
recovery — his vows were heard and he was recovering, on which he
retracted and withheld his gifts — "to his damnation," says the monastic
writer ; but all ended well, for on his relapsing, the said John Palmer
gave to the Virgin Mary all his right to the premises. Here, then, in
Winchcombe, in the thirteenth century, we may perhaps find the origin
of those well-known lines : —
" The devil was sick, the devil a saint would be,
The devil got well, the devil a saint was he ! "
Then there was a dispute between the Abbot of Winchcombe and
Simon, the parson of Hailes, referring to burial fees, which was sub-
mitted to and settled by the Pope.
The Gloucestershire legend of Monk's Hole must have originated
about this time. As the story goes, a monk from Winchcombe had
occasion to visit his brethren at Hailes. The weather was wintry, and
the snow falling fast and thick ; but drawing his dark hood closer
over his head, he hurried on, unmindful of the storm, and muttering
to himself many an Ave Maria. His mission ended, and having par
taken freely of the hospitality of the Monastery, he commenced his
homeward journey ; but darkness overtook him ere he reached the
summit of the hill. The snow had driven into the hollows and hidden
all trace of a path, not very visible at any time, and the poor monk fell
into one of the snow drifts, never to rise again. He was not missed for
some days, and then his absence attributed to the inclemency of the
weather and the bad state of the roads. At last he was found in one of
the deep holes which abound in that particular part of the hill, but not
before the snow had melted. It is curious that, though hardly a vestige
* Page 133.

Stanley- Pontlarge Church, Arch and Font from interior.

edward i.] EARLY TLTHE COMPOSLTLON. 105
is left of either Monastery, the spot where the monk perished is still
clearly marked out by tradition. That part of the hill forms the
boundary, on the north, of the Sudeley estate : it is marked by a group
of trees visible from many places, and the view thence is one of the
most extensive in the neighbourhood.
Returning to the Cartulary we find great disputes continued between
the Abbot and the vicar of Winchcombe on the matter of tithes, which
were finally ended (or supposed to be so) by a pastoral letter from
Godfrey, bishop of Worcester, dated 1288, wherein he defined who
were to receive the great and who the lesser tithes.*
The same authority also gives us the origin of the separation of
Stanley from Winchcombe, dating so far back as a.d. 1307. It appears
that great disputes had arisen between the Abbot and Convent, and
the vicar of Winchcombe and the rector of Toddington with regard to
the payment of tithes ; so much so, that great scandals and even perils
of lives had ensued. Whereupon for the pleasure of peace, and wholly
to avoid those evils in times to come, the same parties (by authority of
William, bishop of Worcester, with the consent of Master William
Tracy, patron of the church of Toddington. &c, &c.) agree that the
Abbot and Convent should have for their parishioners all tenants
dwelling in the vill of Gretton who before had been in the parish of
Toddington, taking wholly living mortuaries, tithes of hay and lambs —
the vicar taking certain lesser tithes, and the rector of Toddington
taking all the tithes in both Stanleys which the vicar of Winchcombe
formerly received, &c, &c. And to this composition they all set their
seals, including bishop and patron, and " This is said to have been
done in Winchcombe on Midsummer Day, a.d. 1307." Stanley was
afterwards called Stanley Pontlarch (now Pontlarge), from Robert de
¦ Pontlarch, who held it of the Church.
One possession of the Abbots of Winchcombe was the church of
Enstone, near Chipping Norton, in Oxfordshire. The church.f which

* The Latin original is in the Registry of the Consistory Court of Worcester, MS. fol. 231, "Endow
ment of the Vicarage of Winchcombe."
+ The noble church of Minster Lovell, not many miles distant, is also dedicated to the youthful King
and Martyr.

106 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. ix.
is dedicated to St. Kenelm, was supposed to have been built origi
nally about a.d. 850 ; the present edifice, though mainly Perpendicular,
has a fine Norman doorway, and a solid stone altar at the east end of
the south aisle ; the reredos screen, with niches for figures, is still
tolerably perfect* A stone coffin, supposed to be that of an abbot of
Winchcombe, is built into the wall of the aisle, which was no doubt a
mortuary chapel. There was formerly a handsome Manor-house,
which served as one of the country houses of the abbots, and the
Rectory barn, mentioned by Dugdale, is still standing, bearing on the
outer wall an almost obliterated inscription, stating that it was built in
that year 1382, by Walter de Winfortun, the abbot of Winchcombe,
who, as we shall afterwards see, had occasion to invoke the assistance
of the Pope against the evil doings of " certain sons of iniquity."
Several years before the dissolution, the abbey was obliged to part with
Enstone to Wolsey, who bestowed it on his college at Oxford, which
still retains it.f
In the Domesday Book we have the following notice of the state of
Enstone (styled, it will be seen, " Henestan ") in the eleventh century.
" Land of the Church of Winchcombe. — The Abbey of Winchcombe hold 24 Hides in
the Henestan. Land to 26 Ploughs. There are in the Desmesne 3 Ploughs, and 6
Bondmen. And 25 Villanes and 4 Freemen, with 7 Bordars have 18 Ploughs. There
are 4 Mills of iq.v. 50 Acres of Meadow. Pasture 4 Quarentens long, and 2 Quarentens
broad. Wood if mile long, and 4 Quarentens broad. Of this land Urso has of the
Abbot 2 Hides, and therein 1 Plough. And 3 Villanes and 2 Bordars have 1 Plough."
In the ninth year of Edward II. (13 15) we find the Abbot of Winch
combe " Richard de Idebury, bought the fee of the manor of Rowell
f°r ^55°. and purchased the farm of Cotes for ever, and the assart
lands in Ennestan for 100 marks." \
John de Sudeley held land in Greet and Gretton,§ in trust for William
de Woolton. He was a liberal benefactor to the canons of Erdbury by
* These remains are figured in Parker's " Glossary of Architecture."
t " Parochial History of Enstone," by the Rev. J. Jordan, 1S57.
X Willis's Catalogue of the Winchcombe Abbots.
§ A local rhyme makes uncomplimentary mention of these places, thus : —
" Dirty Gretton and dingy Greet,
Beggarly Winchcombe, and Sudeley sweet."

•r^T'lif S

/1/yA'-'/\.

GREET CHAPEL. From a Sketch by E. T. Browne, Esq., before it was finally demolished about 1815

j. Rushton.

._"_, disused June, 1868.

edward in.] THE LAST OF THE SUDELEYS. 107
granting to them certain lands and pasturage for cattle in Derset,
Radway, and Chilberscore in Warwickshire. In 1304 he was in an
expedition then made to Scotland, and in consideration for his great
services he had pardon for all the debts he owed to the king. Having
borrowed money from the monks of Winchcombe, which he did not
pay, he gave security, viz., forty acres of meadow, to them, and released
them from fealty for all their lands in Sudeley. He was Lord Cham
berlain to the king ; and in the eighth year of the reign of Edward II.
(13 14), he received command to be at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, upon the
feast-day of the Blessed Virgin, well accoutred with horse and arms to
oppose the incursion of the Scots. He was married, as before stated,
to the daughter of Lord Say, and beside Bartholomew who died
before him, he had, by this marriage, Thomas and William who died
in infancy. Bartholomew married Matilda, the daughter of John de
Montford, which marriage brought Beldesert, Henley, and White-
church, in Warwickshire, to the family.
John, the son of Bartholomew, was thirty years of age at his grand
father's death ; and had livery granted him 10 Edward III. (1336). He
died four years afterwards, having bequeathed the Manor of Sudeley to
his wife Eleanor, the daughter of Robert Lord Scales, who held it till
her death, which took place twenty-one years after the death of her
husband. By this lady he had issue, John, twelve months old at his
father's death, Nicholas, and Margaret, who all died without issue ;
beside Joan, who married William Boteler, of Wem, in Shropshire, and
Margery, who married Sir Robert Massey, knight.
John was among the many nobles who followed Edward the Black
Prince in the expedition to France, which ended in the memorable
battle of Crecy. Dying while on the Prince's Spanish expedition in
1367, and leaving behind him no male descendant, his property was
equally divided between his two sisters, Joan and Margery ; the Manor
of Sudeley was apportioned to Joan, and by her marriage it passed to
the Botelers.

CHAPTER X.
"The painful warrior, famoused for fight,
After a thousand victories once foil'd,
Is from the books of honour razed quite,
And all the rest forgot for which he toil'd. "
Shakespeare. Sonnet:
OF the Botelers, Dugdale, in his account of the Earl of Mellent,*
advanced by Henry I. to the earldom of Leicester, says : "Of
this great earl I find that he had a butler called Raph
(Radulfus Pincerna de Legrecestria, he is written) ; who, having
obtained lands of good value here, and in Leicestershire, by the grant
of his said Lord, and finding this place (.Oversley), so eminent for its
situation, partly by reason of the woods and waters, but most of all in
regard of the natural high and steep ascent of the ground so near the
banks of Arrow, made choice thereof for his principal seat and built a
fair castle thereon, by whose ruins the strength and compass it was of,
may seem to have been of no mean consideration, and within less than
a mile distant (viz. on the north side of Alcester) founded a monastery
for Benedictine monks, whereunto, amongst other his ample conces
sions for its endowment, he added the chapel of this his castle. From
this Raph is it that the Botelers of Oversley (no less than Barons) did
deduce their descent. He was in such great esteem with the canons
of Erdburie for his munificence to them, in sundry wise, but especially
in procuring for them some valuable appropriation in Lancashire, that,
in consideration thereof, they did by their publick Instrument, ordain
that two of their convent should every day celebrate divine service, in
that monastery, for the health of his soul, appointing particular masses

' Warwickshire," p. 627.

edward m.] STATE OF WINCHCOMBE. 109
v
for each day of the week, binding themselves and their successors to
observe his anniversary after his decease, with Placebo, Dirige, and
mass of Requiem, and to spend vii-. viiid. yearly on the day of his said
anniversary in the convent, by way of pittance, over and above their
usual allowance." *
Among the numerous possessions of the new owners of Sudeley
Castle in this and the following century, were Badminton, Bodington,
and the manor of Cherington, Cold Aston, but this manor reverted
to the crown, owing to James Boteler, earl of Ormond, being attainted
in the reign of Edward IV. ; also the Manor of Morcot and the Park
and Kingsholme, Bruarne, the Barton near Gloucester, Haresford,
&c, &c.
If we turn to the history of Winchcombe at that period, the trade
and dimensions of the town appear to have been considerable. There
were, as before mentioned, a Boothall and Guildhall ; we meet
with two drapers' shops, with a gate and small place in the great
street, other shops, several mercers, clothiers, dyers, carpenters, black
smiths, &c, &c. Of streets there were the Great Street (which led
to Hailes), North Street, Bete Street, Cole Street, Mill Street, the
street towards the Ford, Hanly Street, Hare Street, Hordiff Street,
Petiorius Lane (stopped by the Abbey), Pillopus Lane, Lodeford
Street, Culles Lane, Cangers Lane, and there was the King's Moor,
and the King's Place, in North Street. f Among the names then
common in Winchcombe, which remain to this day, are : Smith,
Neighbour, Schlatter, Hughes, Andrews, Jeffries, Jackson, Russell,
Adlard, Sexty.
We know little of the actual site of the Abbey, but we learn from
the public records that Edward III., in 1373, granted permission to the
Abbot and Convent to fortify their house, and that this was at the
prayer of his beloved clerk, Master John Branketre, who was then
the treasurer of York Minster, and also the royal chaplain ; he not
improbably received a fee for thus literally acting as a friend at Court.
As before said, the Winchcombe annals are sadly imperfect, but from

* See Dugdale's "Warwickshire" for particulars regarding the different religious houses to which the
Botelers were benefactors. t Winchcombe Cartulary, p. 7.

1 10 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. x.
casual mention here and there in the Registers, we glean a few
interesting particulars.
Thus we learn that the Abbey orchard stood in or near Bete Street ;
the almoner's garden lay opposite the water ; a street led to the monks'
garden, which lay near Battesmore, and was to furnish the Convent with
potherbs, leeks, chervil, and beans, for fifteen days about the feast of
St. John. The curtilage of the infirmary was in North Street, and a
brewhouse stood in one corner of an adjoining vacancy ; two shops
were close to it, let in fee-farm to Ralph Sweet at 3s. per ann., fairs
excepted. Certain claimants of the Abbey received their rents at the
Abbey gate on the morrow of St. Kenelm. King Edward III. con
firmed to the Abbot and monks a charter granted to them by his
father, that they and their men might be free from toll in all places, and
inhibited all his ministers from requiring of them toll or any custom.*
There was a Henry le Cok de Sudeley, who made grants to John de
Maltman of Winchcombe, and to the Abbot of Winchcombe and his
successors. William, son of Richard de Sudeley, gave to the Abbey
in fee \8>d., or two wax candles of that value for the high altar, charged
on his half-yard land in Sudeley next Winchcombe.
We meet with numerous accounts of payments of fees, the purchase
of books, making of ink, and various charities ; one Richard Russell be
queathed his body to the Monastery, and half a mark annually to keep
a lamp burning before the altar of the Virgin for ever, and the sacristy
to find the lamp. As before stated, we have, every here and there,
mention of never-ending disputes respecting tithe's and payments, even
" bloudy quarels," between the Abbey of Winchcombe and the vicar
of the parish church, concerning their respective portions of tithes ;
and we find that Thomas Power, the perpetual vicar of Winchcombe,
was sued by the Abbot for not repairing the chancel or choir of the
church there, and the chancel window, by reason of his vicarao-e ;
sentence was given against him. The vicar appealed to the Pope, and
he delegated the cause to commissioners who confirmed the sentence ;
but the suit, which commenced in 1387, did not terminate till 1390,

Winchcombe First Register, p. 7.

edward m.] THE PRETTY EDONIA. 1 1 1
when the poor vicar was fined forty-five florins of gold.* We meet
with customs respecting sepulture in Winchcombe, and how legacies of
dying persons were to be equally divided between the two churches
of St. Kenelm and the Chapel of St. Peter. f The Abbot giving to
William Taillard and his heirs three consecrated fine handkerchiefs in
recognition of lands granted by him to the Monastery ; and we find
John de Sudeley confirming to Winchcombe Abbey lands in Corndean,
to be holden to them for ever by service of a yearly rent of one pair of
boots, and of one girdle of monk competent with a knife and sheath
hano-ing thereto, and one globe with a needle to the same girdle.
Also of Adam le Despenser, who was bound to pay one buck to the
Monastery at St. Kenelm's tide, obliging himself to give two within
fifteen days if he failed to send the one by the time appointed.
And there was a pretty Edonia (with so sweet a name, she must
have been both sweet and comely), who had been wife to Peter of
Cutsdean, and, moreover, the monk fails not to mention in his dry
Cartulary, that Edonia had received " a white horse and harness " in
exchange for some of her dower which lay between Upper and Lower
Cutsdean, and gave grants for her lifetime to Robert the abbot, and
the monks ; and we can fancy, when she jogged into Winchcombe on
her white palfry, how many would with pleasure turn to look at the
fair Edonia, while the monastic recipients of her bounty would draw
their cowls closer over their eyes in the vain hope thereby to shut out
unlawful visions of earthly and domestic happiness.
In the year 1366 Abbot Walter de Winfortun made a pitiful appeal
to Pope Urban VI., setting forth that the Convent had of late sustained
great losses and injuries from certain sons of iniquity, to him and his
monks unknown, who had deprived them of tithes, first fruits, rents,
revenues, lands, things bequeathed, houses, meadows, pastures, groves,
mills, vineyards, possessions, rights, jurisdictions of blade, quantities of
wine, instruments public, letters authentic, relics of saints, books, and
ornaments ecclesiastical, crosses and chalices, vessels of gold and silver,
utensils of houses, horses, oxen, cows, sheep, hogs, sums of money, and

Winchcombe First Register, p. 98. + Ibid., p. 11.

112 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. x.
some other goods of their Monastery. Back came from Rome, as fast
as the slow post of the period would permit, the pontifical thunder, and
orders were sent to the abbot of Gloucester to pronounce a general
sentence of excommunication upon all the defaulters who did not forth
with restore the stolen property. Whether the threatened excommuni
cation had the desired effect of bringing to light all or any of the
plunder is not recorded.
In the reign of Edward III. the Order of the Garter was established,
and as six owners of Sudeley Castle enjoyed that honour, their
names are here recorded, though rather anticipating events. High
on the list of members of the Order stands the name of Sir John
Chandos, so often mentioned by Froissart ; he was the younger
brother of Roger, Lord Chandos, the ancestor of Sir John Bruges,
created Lord Chandos of Sudeley, by Queen Mary.
Ralph, Baron of Sudeley, temp. Henry VI.
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards king.
Jasper, Earl of Pembroke, and afterwards Duke of Bedford, temp.
Henry VII.
Thomas Seymour, Baron of Sudeley, temp. Edward VI.
William Parr, Marquis of Northampton, temp. Elizabeth.
Edmund Bruges, Baron Chandos, temp. Elizabeth.*
Luxury, both in food and apparel, was carried to an excess in the
time of Edward III., and a formidable body of statutes was passed in
the year 1363, with the intention of providing a remedy (37 Edward
III., cc. 8—14). Many of the provisions read strangely enough now,
and it is not likely that they were ever generally enforced, although
fresh enactments were every now and then added, and the whole en
cumbered the statute book till the time of James I., when they were
all repealed in a body. Thus no man who had not ^"100 a-year was
allowed to wear gold, silver, or silk in his clothes. It must have been
a black day to the servants and retainers of Sudeley Castle, when orders
came that by act of Parliament they were prohibited eating flesh or fish
more than once a day ; and a discouraging time to the controllers of

* Milles' "Catalogue of Honour.'

Richard ii.] ROBERT THE ABBOT. 113
the kitchen, when their masters were limited to three dishes in each
course, and only two courses, and that soused meat was to count as one
of the three dishes.
In the 34th year of King Edward's reign (1360), Robert de Ippe-
welle having abdicated the government of Winchcombe Abbey in
favour of Walter Winfortun, 'steward of Worcester Monastery, who
being much distressed by the frequent disturbance of the Monastery
through the king's officers, especially those in the hundreds of Kiftsgate,
Holford, and Greton, the Monastery and its possessions lying within
those hundreds, it came into his mind how much it would add to their
peace and quiet, if those hundreds could be made subject to the Church,
and so the Church have the appointment of the officers ! For this
purpose he applied himself to the king, and by dint of entreaty, money,
intercession of friends, and perseverance, in the following reign he
obtained his desire ; for Richard II. was so indulgent to the Convent
of Winchcombe, for the love he bore to St. Kenelm the Martyr, their
patron, that he seemed overjoyed to have an opportunity of conferring
a favour on the Monastery, whereby the monks of Winchcombe might
ever retain a grateful remembrance of him.
On a certain day in the fifth year of Richard II. (1381), the historic
curtain for a moment rises over Winchcombe, and we see a beautiful
picture of a hundred of the poor being fed in the Abbey refectory.
They are waited upon by the monks, who hurry to and fro with viands
and wines. Pre-eminent among them is Robert, the late Abbot, known
and beloved by all, for was he not for many years one of them, and at
last by their general votes appointed their abbot ? a man highly to be
commended for his many virtues, and that diligence with which he
built the church and cloisters and increased their revenues. While we
wonder what may be the cause of this happy festivity, a monk with
holy joy tells us that it was instituted by their beloved Abbot, and the
hundred poor were thus regaled for the benefit of faithful souls in
purgatory, who thereby would obtain mercy and redemption! He
goes on to tell us that Robert the Abbot had so ordered it that, on the
death of one of their Winchcombe fraternity, his name was sent as
speedily as possible to all other monasteries, so that his soul might,

114 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. x.
without loss of time, be lovingly commended to God ; * and, further,
that their revenues had just been much increased by Wakefield, bishop
of Worcester, having decreed, with the consent of their Abbot, that a
certain mass, formerly said in private, should thenceforth be sung
openly by the whole monastery. We might almost fancy that the man
who thus explains these things to us, with his bright kindly eye and
broad intelligent forehead, is no less an individual than Tideman de
Winchcombe, so called because a native of the place ; who, from being
a monk in Winchcombe Abbey, became abbot in some other monas
tery, was then promoted to be Bishop of Llandaff, and, lastly, preferred
to the see of Worcester by the king's earnest importunity with the
Pope, notwithstanding that one John Green had already been elected.
Tideman was the king's physician, and very skilful ; also he was his
beloved confessor, according to the custom of the time, when the pro
fession of physic was often combined with that of divinity.
Two yearly fairs are named as already being held in Winchcombe,
one on the 25th of April, the other on the 17th of July. Sir John
Atwood was seized of markets and fairs, and of the town of Winch
combe and of the Hundreds of Kiftsgate, Holford, and Greton.f
There is a delightful little monastic story belonging to this time,
which is given as near to the original as the rather ambiguous wording
of the Cartulary will allow. The bells of the parish church of St. Peter
being contiguous to the Abbey there, by their ringing disturbed the
devotions of the Abbot. Pope Boniface IX. (a.d. 1399) sent his bull
to enjoin the vicar of the said church and all the parishioners that at all
times to come the bells might not be rune from the ringing- the Ignitege,
or coverfire bell, till the next morning after the ringing of the Monastery
bell for the first service, and this under pain of excommunication. The
bull went on to say this was done entirely at the Pope's suggestion,
* Monasteries, being mutually bound to make other houses, even those at a distance as well as those
that were near, partakers of their prayers, alms, and pious works, were accustomed, whenever any member
died, to transmit letters signifying the death of their brother, and soliciting for him the prayers of the
associated houses. To neighbouring houses these letters were sent immediately on a death occurring, but
to more distant places only once a year. Many of these Mortuary or Precatory Rolls remain, one of which
shews, by the entries made, that it had been carried to no less than 623 houses, each of which gave the
required promise to pray for the deceased. " Archaeological Institute," Norwich volume, 1847, pp. 99-1 14.
f Mr. Loftus Brock's paper on "Winchcombe," Aug. 1875.

richard ii.] THE BOTELERS. 115
not at the request of the Abbot and Convent. We may add, what a
happy Pope was Boniface to be entitled to say so with impunity ! and
thrice happy Abbot, who could thus regulate vicar and bells through
the gentle threat of a little excommunication from Rome, if ever they
ventured to clang while he was at his prayers. But those bells of
St. Peter's, possibly the vicar also, must indeed have been aggravating
before the poor Abbot could have been driven to such strong
measures !
To return to the owners of Sudeley. We find that William and
Joan had issue Thomas Boteler, who, on the partition of the estates of
his father in the forty-second year of the reign of Edward III. (1368),
had the Manor of Sudeley assigned to him, and his family thought so
highly of his maternal descent, that they on some occasions assumed
the arms of Sudeley instead of their own.* Having made proof of his
age and performed his homage in the fourth year of the reign of
Richard 1 1. (1 380), he had livery of the lands of his mother's inheritance.
Some years later he had license to travel into France. He died on
Saturday, September 21st, in the twenty-second year of the same reign
(1398). Sir Thomas Boteler possessed Wellesburne-Montford as one
of the heirs and cousins of Peter de Montford, whose ancestor was slain
at the battle of Evesham, f He married Alice, the daughter of John
Beauchamp of Powick, by whom he had issue John his heir, and
Ralph, beside two daughters — Elizabeth, married to Sir John Norbury,
and Joan, married to William Belknap. He bequeathed the Manor of
Sudeley to his widow for her life, and she died seized thereof in
20 Henry VI. (1442). At the time of Sir Thomas's death, John, his
son and heir, was only fourteen years of age. The latter died without
issue in 5 Henry V. (141 7), having, when he became of age, in
8 Henry IV. (1407), confirmed the estates to his mother, then the wife
of Sir John Dalyngrugge.
In 1404, Richard, bishop of Worcester, summoned the Abbot and
monks of Winchcombe to meet him at one of his diocesan visitations,

* The Botelers were lords of the manor of Henley in Arden, and in the church the arms of Boteler
quartering Sudeley existed in the time of Dugdale. At Chilverscoton, another possession of theirs, the
same arms appeared, but on separate shields. f Dugdale's " Warwickshire," p. 441.
Q 2

116 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. x.
there to show by what right they held their churches, endowments, and
various possessions. Their answer must have been satisfactory, as
these were all confirmed by his charter, which is given by Dugdale,
with many other interesting notices referring to the Abbey and its
offices.* Ralph, who succeeded his mother in the Sudeley property, became
one of the most distinguished owners of the Castle, and bore a
prominent part in the stirring events of the reigns of Henry V.
and VI. In the sixth year of Henry V.'s reign (141 8), we find he
was in the retinue of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, on the occasion
of Henry's visit to Troyes, when he was accompanied by his two
brothers, the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester. Then was the
treaty signed, providing that Henry should be at once entrusted
with the administration of France, should espouse the Princess Cathe
rine, which he did a few days later, and succeed to the imbecile
Charles VI. at the death of that unfortunate king. Henry then turned
his army against the Dauphin, and after taking possession of several
French towns, found it necessary to return to England for a fresh
supply of men and money. With 24,000 archers and 4,000 horsemen
he soon returned and re-entered Paris. In his train was Ralph de
Sudeley, for, according to Dugdale, " he was retained by indenture to
serve the king in his wars of France with twenty men-at-arms and
sixty archers on horseback."
Again, "In the beginning of the following reign he had license to
travel beyond sea ; was again in the wars of France and of the retinue
of John, duke of Bedford." This duke, considered the most accom
plished prince of the age, from his rare talents displayed- both at home
and abroad, was appointed Protector of the kingdom on the death of
Henry V He carried on the war against the French, who were in no
humour to have an English king forced on them, and in the course of
the next seven years he reduced the young prince, who was contemptu
ously styled the King of Bourges, to what seemed almost the last
extremity. Nothing appeared wanting to complete success but the

Dugdale's "Monasticon," vol. ii., 311-12; Atkyns, p. 834.

henry vi.] RALPH, BARON OF SUDELEY. 1 1 7
capture of Orleans, and Bedford accordingly ordered that city to be
besieged in the autumn of the year 1428.
Then arose Joan of Arc ! who rekindled the dying embers of French
chivalry and roused the nation to fresh exertions. The siege of
Orleans was raised, the French were once more victorious, and their
king was crowned at Rheims. For the English, reverses followed in
rapid succession, and with a greatly reduced army the duke had no
easy work to keep his footing in France. It must have been at this
time that Sir Ralph was again " retained to serve the king in the
French wars with twenty men-at-arms and sixty archers on horseback."
It is sad to associate our Sudeley hero with the closing scene in the
short eventful life of the Maid of Orleans ; but when he returned to
France he must have rejoined his noble master at Rouen, where Joan
had fallen into his power, and there, in the market-place, no doubt he
stood, amid a concourse of spectators, to witness her cruel death by
burning !
Beside serving the king in the French wars Ralph stood firm to
the Lancastrian interest at home, and in the twentieth year of the reign
of Henry VI. (1441) was made Lord Chamberlain of the king's house
hold. He was advanced to the dignity of a peer of the realm by
letters patent, bearing date the 10th of September the same year, with
the title of Baron of Sudeley, with an annuity of 100 marks to himself
and his heirs for the better support of his dignity, to be received out
of the farm of the county of Lincoln. Moreover, upon the 7th of
July the ensuing year, he was constituted Treasurer of the King's
Exchequer, and sent ambassador with Richard, duke of York, and
some others to treat of peace with the French. In farther remuneration
for his services he had a grant of .£40 per annum during his life, to be
received out of the farms of the Forest of Dene. Likewise, holding
the great office of Lord Treasurer of England in that year, he had for
his winter-robe, against Christmas, an allowance out of the king's
wardrobe of ten ells of fine cloth, of colour violet in grain ; and for its
lining 300 bellies of minever. In the following year he was again sent
ambassador (with the Archbishop of York and others) to treat of peace
with the French. In 1447 he was associated with John Viscount

I iS ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. x.
Beaumont in the Governorship of the " Isles of Jersey, Garnesey,
Serke and Erme," with the priories-alien and all their possessions in
those islands ; to hold during the minority of Ann, the daughter and
heiress of Henry, duke of Warwick. But this was a brief employ
ment, as the young countess died in 1449, and soon after he was joined
in commission with James, earl of Wiltshire, and some others, in the
Governorship of the town and castle of Calais, the Tower of Rysbanke,
and Marches of Calais, for the term of five years ; and in the year
following appointed (with John Lord Stourton) to conduct all those
men-at-arms and archers to Calais, which were then raised for the
defence of that garrison. Furthermore, in the thirty-sixth year of the
same reign (1458), the king, acknowledging his great services done to
the king his father, and to himself, in France and Normandy from the
time of his youth, gave him a general pardon for all offences whatever.
But upon the fall of King Henry VI., the scene being altered, he
excused himself from coming to Parliament, by reason of his age ; and
he found so much favour, notwithstanding his former services to the
House of Lancaster, that he obtained the new king's letters patent for
exempting him from that attendance during his life.
In the intervals of his active service, but especially when the war
with France came to an end by the defeat and death of Talbot in
Gascony, Ralph devoted himself to the re-edification of his ancestral
home. He rebuilt the Castle of Sudeley, the original having been
constructed in Stephen's reign, and he did it at the cost of his enemies.
He had captured in naval engagements several ships laden with con
siderable riches belonging to the French, and tradition says that the
Portmare Tower was so called from the French admiral, who was
taken prisoner by him, and to whom the king gave his ransom ; this,
with the considerable booty he otherwise acquired, enabled him not
only to build the Portmare Tower, but to reconstruct the Castle, many
parts of which are still standing, though in ruin. It was raised
in a style of uncommon magnificence for that age, and built, according
to custom, of the stone of the country, the oolite. In Leland's words :
" Ralph was a famous man of war, and an admiral on sea, whereupon
it was supposed that the Castle was partly built ' ex spoliis Gallorzim,'

{To face p. 11S.

The Portmare Tower. From a Photograph by Marianne Brocklehurst

henry vi.] SUDELEY CASTLE REBUILT. 119
that Lord Boteler made it a fundamcntis ; and when it was made it
had the price [prize] of all the buildings in those days. It is also said
that part of the windows were glazed with berall."* Skelton, who lived
half a century later, described the workmen of those days as : —
" Building royally
Their mansions curiously,
With turrettes and with towres,
With hawles and with bowres
Stretching to the starres ;
With glass windows and barres :
Hanging about their walles
Cloths of gold, and palles,
Arras of ryche arraye,
Fresh as flowers of Maye."
Lord Boteler was also a munificent benefactor to the churches,
erecting St. Mary's, Sudeley Manor, and liberally aiding the
parishioners of Winchcombe to restore their parish church. Sudeley
Chapel was built in the style of that period, viz., Perpendicular. One
could almost imagine that the Lord of Sudeley, in his enthusiastic love
of his king, had even gone so far as partially to imitate in small propor
tions the chapel founded by Henry VI. in his College at Cambridge,
and to which, it has been frequently observed, Sudeley Chapel bears
no small resemblance.
Previous to the erection of St. Peter's in Winchcombe, the church of
St. Nicholas, which stood in the east part of the town, was the parish
church, but it had fallen into decay, and the parishioners attended the
services in the Abbey Church. To remedy this inconvenience, the
Abbot William caused the erection of St. Peter's, which to this day
continues the parish church. Some of the contributors to its erection
may be determined from the arms carved on a piscina preserved in the
south wall of the chancel. They represent those of Winchcombe
Abbey on the east, Lord Boteler on the west, and the Abbey of
Gloucester in the centre. The inhabitants had subscribed ^"200, with
which they began the edifice, and the residue was completed by the

* Beryl, a coarse variety of the emerald, of a greenish-blue colour.

120

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. x.

Lord of Sudeley, and the Abbot William ; the latter defraying the
cost of the chancel. In Camden's Britannia* reference is made to the

Piscina, Winchcombe Church.

Abbey of Winchcombe. Abbey of Gloucester.

Lord Boteler.

* Page 279.

Winchcombe Church before the late Restoration,

Winchcomhe Church as Restored 1873,

DRAWN AND LITHOGRAPHED BY J. DRAYTON WYATT.

henry vi.] WINCHCOMBE CHURCH REBUILT. 121
parish church being built at the west end of the Abbey, where had
been a chapel of St. Pancras. The new church was assigned to the
use of the parish, and the larger one reserved for that of the Abbey.
By a decree made in Chancery the impropriators were obliged to pay
towards the repair of the chancel.
From the midst of these interesting works at home, Ralph was
summoned once more to gird on his sword for the king, and with
other lords marched to St. Alban's against the duke of York. A
battle ensued, in which the king was taken prisoner. This occurred
in May, 1455. Fallen into the hands of the duke of York, Henry
was treated with every mark of respect, his one hardship being
that of giving up all regal authority to his rival. Thus, the Lord of
Sudeley was present at the first battle in the disastrous Wars of the
Roses. In this reign we find the Lord Abbot of Winchcombe assisting at
a solemn funeral at Tewkesbury, for no less a personage than the
Countess Isabelle, the widow of Richard, earl of Warwick, who was a
great benefactor to the Abbey, bequeathing to the church of Tewkes
bury her ornaments, habits, and jewels, to the value of 300 marks.
The death of this pious lady seems to have been caused by grief for
the loss of her husband, who died in 1439, while governor of France and
Normandy. On returning to England with the body of her husband,
she received a visit of condolence from the king/"" when she took
occasion to request that six monks might be added to the number at
Tewkesbury, to pray daily for her soul, and for the souls of her
ancestors. The king having concluded his visit, parted from her with
these words : " May God, whom you worship with an upright heart,
grant that your petition may be fulfilled to your entire satisfaction."
It came to pass, that soon after, a messenger arrived in haste at our
Winchcombe Abbey gate, bringing the sad intelligence of the death of
the Lady Isabelle, and requesting the Abbot to attend in person on the
13th of January, for on that day she was to be buried. The summons
was responded to by the abbot, who performed the solemn ceremony,
* The earl had been the king's governor in his early years ; from his proficiency in every accomplish
ment, alike of camps and courts, he was styled " the father of valour and courtesy."

R

122 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. x.
aided by her confessor, the Abbot of Hereford, and William Bristow,
abbot of Tewkesbury, in the presence of a vast concourse of people,
and many noblemen.
Before turning to the reign of Edward, when such sad reverses
awaited Sudeley Castle and her noble owner, it may be interesting to
glance at a few slight incidents connected with Winchcombe Monastery.
For example, there was a controversy between Winchcombe and
Evesham relating to the Chapel of Honeybourne and certain tithes.
It appears that it was the annual custom at Whitsuntide, for the
dwellers in Honeybourne and Winchcombe, one out of each house, to
go in procession to the Monastery of Evesham, with a cross erect and
flying streamers, and there make a certain payment for every house
hold. But owing to quarrels arising between them by the way, and
tenants of Winchcombe Monastery residing in other places, it was
necessary to call upon no less a personage than Pope Eugenius IV. to
settle their disputes, which he designated " enormities," and like a wise
" Papa " settled their quarrel by taking away their playthings ;
henceforth they had to pay their farthing for each house, but without
procession or banners flying.
On another occasion we find the Abbot and Convent of Winchcombe
supplicating the Pope to allow them to wear caps of black skin, they
being sufferers from the cold by reason of their heads being shaved.
This request was referred by the Pope to the Bishop of the diocese to
act therein as he judged expedient. The cloisters, no doubt, were cold
and draughty, so let us hope that the poor monks gained their modest
request. Then there was one Robert of Alney, in the parish of Kemerton,
who gave lands to Winchcombe, with the consent of his wife and son.
In return for this gift he was to receive hospitality from the monks
whenever he should come to the town, and have bread and ale as much
as would be the portion of one monk, and they gave his wife a muff,
and his son a coat.
The Cartulary gives some curious items as paid for rent ; such as a
pair of gloves or a penny at Christmas ; Agnes Dungeden, in Clevely,
gives as an annual rent a pair of spurs or 2d. at Christmas ; John and

Processional Cross, formerly belonging to the Abbey of Evesham, now the property of
George Eades, Esq., of the Abbey. From a Sketch by E. L. Wedgwood.

124 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. x.
Isabella Chaloner render a clove gillyflower on St. Kenelm's day. A
pound of pepper also seemed a favourite grant.
But to return to the Lord of Sudeley. The wheel of fortune had
turned, Edward IV. was in possession of the throne, and the very first
act of his first Parliament placed all the Lancastrian party at his mercy;
for he was allowed to resume all grants made by the Henries — "pre-
tensed Kings," they are styled — to any one whom he "reputed and held
for his rebels or enemies." He "took full advantage of this compre
hensive clause, and transferred lands, and privileges, and offices to
his active supporters to such an extent, that hundreds of Lancastrians,
not so compromised as to forfeit their lives, were yet reduced to abject
poverty."* Among them was the veteran Boteler, though, for some
reason not now known, he was not interfered with for some years. In
Leland's words : " King Edward bore no good will to the Lord of
Sudeley, whereupon by complaints he was attached, and going up to
London, he looked from the hill of Sudeley, and said, ' Sudeley Castle,
thou art the traitor, not I ! ' After that he made an honest declaration,
and sold his Castle of Sudeley to the king."f
The following extract^ from the Records shows to whom the unfor
tunate Ralph signed away his property : —
" Know all men present and to come, that I, Ralph Boteler, Knight, Lord Sudeley,
have given, granted, and by this my present charter have confirmed to Richard Earl
Rivers, William Earl of Pembroke, Antony Wydevile, Knight, Lord Scales, William
Hastings, Knight. Lord Hastings, Thomas Bonyfaunt, Dean of the Chapel Royal,
Thomas Vaughan, one of the Esquires of the King's body and Treasurer of the King's
Chamber, and to Richard Fowler, the Castle, domain and manor of Sudeley, with all its
belongings, in the county of Gloucester, and also all lands, rents, &c, in Sudeley,
Toddington, Stanley, Greet, Gretton, Catesthorp, and Newnton, and also the advowson
of the church or chapel of Sudeley, to hold the same to them and their heirs
assignees, &c, &c. Dated 23 Feb., 8 Edw. IV. [1469]." — Close Roll, 8 Edw. IV.,
No. 3, dorso.
Thus was this great nobleman, by one cruel stroke, deprived of all
he held most dear. The law in those times was very severe against

* "Annals of England," p. 250, 8vo edit. f Itinerary.
% I am indebted to Wilfrid Cripps, Esq., author of the "Royal Gloucester Militia," for this and other
ext;acts, translated from the originals in the Public Record Office.

X m

yvLs

Label Terminations on Sudeley Chapel.

1. Heads on South Windows.
3. Ornaments on Chantry Door.

2. St. George and the Dragon on West Window.
4. King and Queen on West Door.

edward iv ] HOUSE OF YORK IN THE ASCENDANT. 125
any who might, justly or unjustly, be suspected of treason. For all
lands then were, in law, supposed to be held by gift from a superior
lord, subject to certain services and conditions, upon failure of which,
the lands could be recalled by the original donor. Thus in the case
of Ralph, all was seized for his having served the House of Lancaster,
which was treason to the House of York ; and in those days such an
offence involved also what was called " corruption of his blood," which
cut off his heirs and their posterity from all property or honours
possessed by him, or which any of them might have afterwards in
herited through him from a more remote ancestor.
When from the summit of the hill Ralph Boteler looked back for
the last time on his fair domains, bidding a long and sad farewell to his
Castle and all that had so deeply interested him in his later years, with
a bitterness of heart at the cruel injustice hard to be realised in these
more merciful days — how must he have felt the truth of the Psalmist's
warning : " O put not your trust in princes, nor in any child of man ! "
With a sorrow too deep for words must he have mourned his severance,
not only from his newly erected Castle, with her lordly towers, peaceful
mementos of his warrior life, but that no longer might he kneel in
Sudeley Chapel or Winchcombe Church, which with pious hands he
had raised to the honour of God and for the convenience of his poorer
neighbours. All was seized by the powerful and grasping hand of the
king. Notwithstanding old age and much servitude were earnestly
pleaded as reasons for allowing him to end his eventful life in the
quietude of Sudeley, amid works of usefulness and charity, the boon
was denied. This was in 1469. Next year, on the temporary revival
of the Lancastrian party, many of these attainders were reversed, but
ere Sudeley Castle could be restored to Ralph, the House of York was
again in the ascendant.

CHAPTER XL
Where Avon's friendly stream with Severn join,
Great Tewkesbury's walls, renown'd for trophies, shine,
And keep the sad remains, with pious care,
Of noble souls, the honour of the war.
WE have seen that when Ralph surrendered Sudeley, it was
not to the king, but to Earl Rivers and others. They,
of course, were not meant to keep permanently so valu
able a possession, and they very soon transferred it to Richard, duke
of Gloucester, by an instrument of this tenour : —
" To all to whom this Indenture shall come, We, Wm. Hastings, &c, &c, have been
seized as of fee of the Castle and Manor of Sudeley, &c, &c, for the use of the most
illustrious King Edward, by the grant and concession of Ralph Boteler and Alice his wife.
We, Hastings, &c, have handed over the said Castle, Manor, lands, and advowson, to
Richard, duke of Gloucester, to have and to hold to him and his heirs male, remainder
to the king on failure of such heirs male, &c. Dated 14 Nov., 9 Edw. IV. [1469]." —
Close Roll, 9 Edw. IV, No. 12 dorso.
While owner of this fair domain we find Gloucester fighting at the
battle of Tewkesbury, naturally on the side of the king, his brother,

Spur from Tewkesbury Battle-Field.
who commanded one of the lines, Richard commanding another.
After this battle, so fatal to the Lancastrians, and where Margaret was

4r" A0- <:^:: ";-.£\
4T 

S-  '¦' ' / \

m<a|im# m#

j

Richard Duke of Gloucester.
From a Painting in Glass belonging to Trinity College, Cambridge.

edward v.] RICHARD, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER. 12J
taken prisoner, it was, according to the received account, Richard,
duke of Gloucester, who, with others, dispatched the unfortunate young
Prince Edward with their daggers ; and who, a few days later, killed
with his own hands, Henry VI., then a prisoner in the Tower\
For nine years Sudeley Castle remained in the Duke of Gloucester's
hands. Then it was exchanged for Richmond Castle, in Yorkshire,*
as shown by the subjoined extract from the royal grant : —
" The King to all whom, &c, health. Know ye that We, of our special grace, have
granted to our very dear brother Richard, duke of Gloucester, our Castle of Richmond,
and fee farm of our town of Richmond, &c, &c, in the county of York, &c, &c, in
exchange for the Castle, manor, or domain of Sudeley, with its appurtenances, in the
county of Gloucester, &c, &c. Given at Westminster, 5 March [1478]. — Patent Roll,
18 Edw. IV, Part I., No. 2.
Ralph, Lord Boteler, died in 1473, and there is nothing more to
record than that in him the male line became extinct, his only
son, Sir Thomas, having died before him. His heirs were his two
nephews, Sir John Norbury and William Belknap, sons of his sisters
Elizabeth and Joan. There is an interesting petition, preserved among
the MSS. in the British Museum, f from them, addressed to Henry VII.,
praying him to restore the Manors of Sudeley, Beaudesert and
Henley, which had been wrongfully taken from their kinsman Ralph
(whose heirs they were), reminding his Majesty of his true and faithful
allegiance to Henry VI. during those troublesome times, of how he
" was taken and set in prison, in the Tower of London, in the time of
Edward IV., was on the point of losing his life, and there remained
a great season ' in full streyte prison and cowde,' and never to be
delivered till he was agreeable to make a state of the said Manor of
Sudeley, because it was builded and pleased the king, and which he
did only for dread of his life and cohertion of that imprisonment."
The date of the petition does not appear ; but we know that its prayer
was not granted.
On the death of Edward IV., his young son Edward was proclaimed

* Richmond Castle reverted to the Crown when the Earl of Richmond became king, as Henry VII.
f A copy is among the Sudeley MSS.

128 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xi.
as king ; but his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, took effectual steps to
secure the crown for himself. The Woodvilles and their friends were
seized and put to death, and the king's favourite mistress, Jane
Shore, obliged to do public penance. Immediately after, 'Dr. Shaw,
the brother of the Lord Mayor, preached a sermon at Paul's Cross
upon the text, " The multiplying brood of the ungodly shall not
thrive, nor take deep rooting from bastard slips, nor lay any fast
foundation " (Wis. of Solomon, iv. 3). The doctor proceeded boldly
to state that the two young princes in the Tower were illegitimate,
inasmuch as Edward, their father, in the very beginning of his reign,
before he met Elizabeth Grey, had clandestinely married the Lady
Eleanor Butler, the widowed daughter-in-law of James Butler, earl of
Wiltshire ; hence he inferred that their uncle Richard was the real
heir to the throne, and this view being generally accepted, he was
received as king four days after.
The marriage was alleged to have been celebrated by Robert
Stillington, afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells. Edward's mother
is said, even by Halle, the Tudor writer, to have strongly opposed his
marriage with " Dame Elizabeth Grey," on the ground that he had a
wife already ; Halle asserts, that when closely questioned, the lady
(whom he calls Elizabeth Lucy) confessed that she was only his
mistress. Marriages in those days were contracted with very slight
ceremony, and of course could be easily disavowed, if it suited either
party to do so.
Edward IV. granted a charter to Winchcombe for holding fairs, the
time being regulated by those of Stow, which was afterwards confirmed
by James I.
When Richard, duke of Gloucester, came to the throne, Sudeley
Castle was crown property ; so that for the second time, we may say,
it passed into Richard's hands.* After his coronation he made a
solemn progress through the land for the purpose of personally
watching and controlling the administration of justice, much as, five
centuries before, Edgar took, with the same object, an annual circuit
* John " Hudilston," esquire of the royal body, was appointed steward and bailiff of Sudeley, March 8,
14S4.— Patent Roll, I Ric. III., Part 5, No. 148.

Richard in.] THE ROYAL PROGRESS. 1 29
of his kingdom ; thereby encouraging and gratifying his partisans by
his presence, and making them participators in his triumph. From
Windsor he journeyed to Oxford, thence to Gloucester. Doubtless
during this part of his travels, he made Sudeley Castle his resting-
place,* it being on the high road between the two cities. And we can
imagine on the morrow as he passed over the brow of our hills, he and
his retinue halting to scan the glorious scene which suddenly breaks
upon the view. Gloucester in the distance, whither he was going to
bestow new privileges on the fair city whence he had drawn his title ;
then to the right, the beautiful tower of Tewkesbury Abbey Church
stood out clear amid the little town nestling so picturesquely in the
vale. If we were to believe all that Tudor writers tell of him, dark
thoughts must have passed over his lowering brow, and little was his
soul in harmony with the surpassing beauty that lay spread before and
around him on that lovely summer's morn. Associations of battle and
murder arose to mar it all, and the tempter must then and there have
whispered in his ear, Were there not yet other young lives interposing
between his own and the right to sit upon the throne ? Success had
followed the foul murder of the young prince after the battle in yonder
plain, and why not should he once again imbrue his hands in the blood
of innocents who were all too feeble to grasp or hold the crown ?
Whether he was guilty of the death of his nephews is a point that
probably can never be positively settled, but the tale, like other crimes
charged against him, is now by no means so generally believed as it
once was.
However this may be, the royal party journeyed on to Gloucester ;
and Richard, amid festivities and every arrangement to secure his
popularity, continued his pompous progress. But a few months later
'and the scene changes. Henry, earl of Richmond, returns, having
planned an invasion in concert with "high-reaching Buckingham," with
Jasper, his uncle (afterwards Lord of Sudeley), who twelve years
before had so narrowly escaped with their lives after the battle of

* In the Harleian MS. 433, 2187 is a warrant for 135^. sai. to be paid to Nich. Spicer, for " reparacion
of the Castle of Sudeley, and 20 tonnes. of wine conveyed to the Castles of Sudeley and Kenilworth. Yeven
at Kenilworth, 6th June, A° 2° Ric. III."

130 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xi.
Tewkesbury, and who had so long been detained in honourable
captivity in France. " On the western coast
Rideth a puissant navy ; to the shore
Throng many doubtful, hollow-hearted friends,
Unarm'd, and unresolved to beat them back :
'Tis thought that Richmond is their admiral ;
And there they hull, expecting but the aid
Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore."*
This attempt failed, but their next effort, in the year 1485, landed
them safely in Wales. The battle of Bosworth Field soon followed.
Richard acted up to his own exhortations :
" Fight, gentlemen of England ! fight boldly, yeomen !
Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head !
Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood ;
Amaze the welkin with your broken staves ! " \
At last, seeing his rival in the field, he set spurs to his horse, and
shouting, " Treason, treason, treason ! " fought his way till he came
to Richmond himself. The earl received him gallantly, and held him
at bay, until Sir William Stanley coming to the rescue with his men,
the king was slain, fighting bravely to the last, and his surviving
followers taken or put to flight. The crown which Richard had worn
was brought by Lord Stanley and placed on the head of the Earl of
Richmond amid joyful acclamations of " King Henry, King Henry ! "
Thus ended the Wars of the Roses, and once more Sudeley Castle
passed into fresh hands ; for in the first year of the new reign it was
granted by the king to Jasper, his uncle,J who had on all occasions and
in his long wanderings proved himself so true a friend and staunch a
partisan. This Jasper was one of the most distinguished noblemen of the day ;
and as Leland § states, " was allowed the use of the Castle, and kept

* Richard III., Act iv., Scene 4. t Richard III., Act v., Scene 3.
X ' ' The King to all, &c. , &c. Know ye that Wc, of our special grace, have granted to our very dear uncle
Jasper, duke of Bedford, the Castles and domain and manor of Glamorgan, &c, &c, and have also granted
him the Castle and domain of Sudeley, in the county of Gloucester, to have and to hold with all their rights
and appurtenances to the said duke and his heirs male for ever, &c, Given at Westminster, 2 March
[i486]."— Patent Roll, I Henry VII., Part II., No. 21. § Itinerary.

henry vii.] JASPER, DUKE OF BEDFORD. 131
household here." He was styled Jasper of Hatfield, from having been
born there ; also Earl of Pembroke and Duke of Bedford. His father
was Owen Tudor, and his mother, Catherine, daughter of Charles VI.
of France, and widow of King Henry V. of England. He was
created Earl of Pembroke by his half-brother, King Henry VI., in
1453. Naturally an adherent of the Lancastrian party, he took an
active share in the War of the Roses. After the battle of Barnet Field,
where Edward was victorious, Jasper, with others of his party, repaired
to Margaret, who was then at Cerne Abbey, whence she despatched
him into Pembrokeshire, there to raise all the forces he could ; but he
did not arrive in time to render her assistance at Tewkesbury. There
upon he retreated to Chepstow, but was so closely pursued, that he
narrowly escaped with his life to the court of the Duke of Britanny,
where he remained in safety, notwithstanding Edward's many efforts
to get him into his power. Richard used even subtler means, and
once unhoused him so far that he nearly fell into his hands.
When Richmond became king he rewarded his faithful relative, who
accompanied him to London, and on the occasion of his coronation, in
order to heighten the splendour of that spectacle, the king bestowed
the rank of knight banneret on twelve personages, " but for creations
he dispensed them with a sparing hand. For notwithstanding a field
so lately fought, and a coronation so near at hand, he only created
three, Jasper, earl of Pembroke, his uncle, being one, and who was
then created Duke of Bedford."* At the same time he was constituted
one of the commissioners for exercising the office of High Steward of
England, and made one of the Privy Council. The same year he was
appointed Justice of South Wales, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, for
the space of two years ; and for his better support and also in reward
for his many services, he obtained a grant of a long list of castles in
England and Wales, given in full by Dugdale, and ending with
" Sudeley Castle, in Gloucestershire." The king fearing that new
commotions might arise through the turbulent spirits of some adherents
of Richard's party, Jasper was sent with 3000 men to quell any

Life of Henry VII., by Lord Verulam, &c, 1622.

132 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xi.
insurrections ; and again, in that headed by Lambert Simnel, he was
appointed joint general with the Earl of Oxford, of the forces raised for
its suppression. He was again one of the High Stewards of England
at the queen's coronation, his Lieutenancy of Ireland was renewed, and
again he was made joint general with the Earl of Oxford, of the forces
sent into Flanders in aid of the Emperor Maximilian against the
French. " After that," continues Dugdale, " no further mention can we
find of him till the eleventh year of Henry's reign (1495) ; when, by his
testament bearing that date, he bequeathed his body to be buried at
Keynsham, in this county." The exact date of his death is not known,
but it was, according to the best authorities, some time in the same
year.* So actively employed as he was, we can hardly imagine that
he found much time to " keep household " at Sudeley Castle. Possibly
while he was absent in court and camp, his wife may have found here
a peaceful retreat. She was Catherine, daughter of Richard Wood-
ville, the first Earl Rivers, sister and co-heiress of Richard Woodville
the younger, the widow of Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham, and
sister to Elizabeth, the queen of Edward IV. \ Leaving no issue,
Sudeley Castle reverted to the crown, in which it continued until
granted by Queen Mary to Sir John Brydges, created Lord Chandos
of Sudeley, in 1554.
One motive with many to support Richmond was a promise that he
made to espouse the Princess Elizabeth of York, a marriage which
more than anything else seemed likely to reconcile the rival Houses ;
but, rendered arrogant by victory, he postponed the fulfilment till after
his own coronation. When the marriage took place, January 18, i486,
it gave such intense satisfaction to the nation, whose sympathy was
strong for the House of York, that the rejoicings surpassed those at
his coronation. This so excited the jealousy of the king, who had a
profound distrust of all the Yorkists, that he treated his queen with
a severity which destroyed her domestic happiness. Of Elizabeth
herself, surnamed " The Good " by her loving people, we may say she
was beautiful, gentle, and accomplished. She was mother to seven
* Lord Bacon wrongly says that he lay sick at the time of the battle of Blackheath, in 1497, and died
soon after. t Milles' Catalogue of Honour.

Malmw Piiirt

MARRIAGE OF HENRY THE VIItii.
From the Original Picture at Sudeley Castle.

JYuin an Knurnniiti hy Vrrtii

CHILDREN OF HENRY VII.
/¦rum the Original at Sudeley Castle. (Foi mrrly in the Strawberry Hill Cullrtiou. )

henry viii.] BURIAL-PLACE OF THE BOTELERS. 133
children, of whom Arthur died in his youth, Henry became king,
Margaret, Queen of Scotland, Mary, wife of Louis XIII., and the
others died in their infancy.
The king and queen standing in such near relationship as nephew
and niece to the noble householders of Sudeley Castle, the picture of
their marriage is one of peculiar interest among the present Sudeley
collection of paintings. That by Mabuse is considered the most
valuable as containing portraits of their majesties. The ecclesiastical
personage standing by the king is supposed to be Cardinal Bourchier*
who officiated at both the coronation and marriage. The saint
standing by the queen is that of her patron saint, or possibly the
titular saint of the day. This painting, as a work of art, ranks as one
of the finest specimens of that rare master. It is mentioned in Horace
Walpole's "Anecdotes of Painting" as a celebrated picture in his pos
session. It was bought for ,£200, by Henrietta Louisa, Countess of
Pomfret, and hung for some years at their seat at Easton Neston, in
Northamptonshire, whence it was sold after the late Earl's death. We
have also at Sudeley a picture from Strawberry Hill, which was pro
nounced by Horace Walpole and Vertue to be the children of Henry
VII. (Prince Arthur, Prince Henry, and Princess Margaret), notwith
standing its being called in the Westminster Inventory, a.d. 1542-7,
" Thee childern of the Kynge of Denmarke." The fact of there being
four replicas in England, and not one abroad, favours this opinion. f
There were figures, at this time, in the fourth bay of the Winch
combe choir, for Thomas Boteler, Lord of Sudeley, and his four sons,
John, William, Thomas, and Ralph ; and for Alice, wife of Ralph, Lord
of Sudeley ; % doubtless these were all destroyed during the reforma
tion in the following reign. Rudder § mentions several chantries and
chapels as belonging to Winchcombe church. The chapel of St. Nicholas
belonged to the Botelers of Sudeley, and was their burial-place. This
also, doubtless, soon fell to decay, when the Botelers ceased to hold
possessions or interest in the locality. There was another chapel

* He was first Bishop of Worcester, then of Ely, then Archbishop of Canterbury, and finally advanced
to the purple by Pope Paul II. + Vide Archa;ologia, vol. xxxix. p. 255.
X Leland 's "Itinerary." § page 829.

134

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xi.

dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and curiously ornamented. The bailiff
and parishioners presented to a rich chantry in this church, a.d. 1503.
Once again, and for the last time, the name of Sir Ralph appears
on the page of history ; * not this time connected with deed of chivalry
for king or country, but when peacefully reposing in his "narrow home"
— in this wise : one John Beaufitz, esquire, died, and bequeathed his
body to be buried in the Monastery of Kenilworth ; and he gave to
the Abbot a basin and ewer of silver to serve at the high altar, and
he was to be prayed for daily, as well as the soul of Sir Ralph Boteler
de Sudeley and his Lady.

Dugdale's " Warwickshire," p. 708.

It *

•

Alms Chest, Winchcombe Church — with three keys for Vicar and Churchwardens,
according to the Injunction of Edward VI., 1547.

CHAPTER XII.
" The sacred tapers' lights are gone,
Grey moss has clad the altar stone,
The holy image is o'erthrovvn,
The bell has ceased to toll.
The long ribb'd aisles are burst and sunk,
The holy shrines to ruin sunk,
Departed is the pious monk,
God's mercy on his soul ! "

A

ND now we arrive, not without regret, at the reign of
Henry VIII., which brings to an end our monastic annals,
and, as it were, closes in death the eyes of the great Abbey,
which had been for so many centuries the
mainspring of the life and prosperity of the
neighbourhood. Winchcombe was not only a mitred but a
" Peeral Abbey," and was one of the three in
Gloucestershire, which held a place in Par
liament. A list is given by Tanner,* of all
the monasteries in the order they went to
Parliament in the third year of this reign
(i 5 1 1) ; Winchcombe standing thirteenth on
the listf At no time was the Abbey in so
flourishing a condition. It was receiving
tithes " from Aston Somervil, Aston Subedge,
Battesford, Bledington, Broadwell, Buck-
land, Charlton Abbots, Condicut, Cow Honiborn, Frampton Coterell,
Hasleton, Yanworth, Hawling, Roell, Longborough, Long Marston,

Winchcombe Abbey Seal.

Notitia Monastica.

T Grose's "Antiquities," p. 92.

136 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xn.
Mickleton, Naunton, Norleach, Adminton, Saintbury, Seisincot, Sher
borne, Snowshill, Staunton, Swidley, Upper Swell, Twining, Weston
Subedge, Whittington, Winchcombe, Coats, Withington." *
The following extract from the Patent Roll of 2 Henry VIII.
relating to Sudeley will be found interesting.
" The King, &c Know ye, that whereas our late dear father, King Henry VII. by
letters patent, &c, dated 30 March, 24 Henry VII. [1509] granted to Richard Keder-
minster, Abbot of the Monastery and Convent of Winchcombe, his Manor of Sudeley,
with its appurtenances, &c, the Castle buildings within the moat being excepted and
reserved, at an annual rent of J,(>o, without the liability of the repair and maintenance of
the Castle ; and also granted them the custody and office of custodian of the said Castle
by themselves or proper deputy; and whereas the said Abbot and Convent agreed with the
said king that they would maintain 300 head of deer for the king's and his heirs' hunting
at their pleasure ; and whereas the said Abbot and Convent wish voluntarily to deliver up
the said letters patent to be cancelled in order to obtain other letters patent in form
following, we considering these, &c, for the honour of the Omnipotent God, &c, and
for our own soul's health and our said father's soul's health, &c., have granted, &c, to
Richard Kederminster, &c, the Manor of Sudeley, &c, also our domain of Sudeley and
the advowson of the church or chapel, also all lands and rents, &c, formerly the
property of Ralph Boteler and Alice his wife, (our Castle of Sudeley, its buildings, within
the ditch, t the great barn and stables outside the wall and our park, &c, &c, always
excepted) at an annual rent of ^£50, and without the liability to repair the Castle or the
payment of the annuity to John Huddlestone, Knight, under a former grant of King
Edward IV. ; and besides we grant to the said Abbot, &c, three bucks and three does,
out of our said park, and we remit all arrears of rent, &x., &c , giving the said Abbot,
&c, liberty to hunt in the said park. Given at Oxford, 6th December [15 10]."
On the 13th of the same month, William Compton, Esquire, was
appointed constable of the Castle, \ master of the hunt and park-
keeper, with an annuity of ^"30, which was confirmed five years later
by fresh letters patent, the annuity to be paid out of the fee-farm of the
manor of Sudeley, by the hands of the Abbot of Winchcombe. S

* Atkyns' " Gloucestershire."
t The ditch was the same as the moat, the remains of which are still called by that name. Originally
it must have surrounded the Castle, but the only vestiges will be seen indicated in the ground plan. When
Leland wrote, he said : " There runneth a pretty lake out of Sudeley Park down by the Castle, and runnith
into Esseburne Brooke, at the south syde of Winchcombe." Indications of one or more lakes are visible
in the swampy ground on the south and west of the Castle.
X Patent Roll, 2 Hen. VIII., mem. 2, No. 9.
§ Patent Roll, 7 Hen. VIII., Part 2, mem. 21. Dated at Oxford, 20 Sept. In * volume of Sudeley
MSS. copied from the Public Record Office, &c, in Sudeley library, will be found the valuation of the
Castle of Sudeley, annual rent from Playles Abbey, from various tenements, Barton, Babysmoore, Home

*

JZlu Attott of Ms.
J^orcl J^-w . Cafnjjyon.

Add, MS. 22, 306, "The Parliament 3rd year ok Henry VIII.'

henry viii.] ABBOT KYDERMINSTER. 137
Finally when Sir William Compton died, he bequeathed to the Abbey
20 marks and his wedding gown of tinsel satin to make a vestment,
to the intent that they pray for his soul, his ancestors, and all Christian
souls.* At no time, perhaps, was the Abbey in a more flourishing condition
than about this date. It was presided over by Richard Kyderminster,
its last Abbot but one, and the most distinguished man who ever held
the office. He was educated in Gloucester Hall, Oxford, where there
was an apartment belonging to the Abbey called Winchcombe Lodging,
to which, from very early days, the convent had been accustomed to
send promising youths, f This is probably the structure which Dugdale
speaks oi,\ on the south side of the court, "having over the door
this rebus on a shield, with a mitre over it, viz., a combe and a tun,
with the letter W. which might signify William or Walter Compton,
the founder perhaps of (or at least benefactor to) the building, or
else it might partly serve for a rebus (for Winchcombe) supposing the
W. to stand for Winch. Besides which are three cups on another
shield, surmounted by a ducal coronet." In 1822, these were still
remaining upon the old building of Gloucester Hall, portions of which
are incorporated with the modern structure of Worcester College.
Willis says : " He was a learned man, and by his wise government, and
his encouragement of virtue and good letters, made the Monastery
flourish so much that it was equal to a little University." In 1500 he
travelled to Rome, and afterwards became a celebrated preacher. He
expended large sums on the church, and inclosed the Abbey towards
the town with a main stone wall, ex quadrato saxo.

Park, a garden called Belknap, underwood from Stancomb, &c, &c , temp. Hen. VIII. Also a royal
letter confirming indentures made between Henry VII. and the Abbot of Winchcombe.
* Collins' "Peerage," vol. ii., p. 209.
+ The bull of Pope Alexander III., dated the 2nd of the Ides of July (July 14), 1 175, among other
matters, confirms to the Convent of Winchcombe the possession of a mansion-place in Oxenford. "In the
acts and constitutions of the chapters of the Benedictine order there be frequent provisions for scholars
to be maintained, one out of every twenty monks, at the University, with inquiries into defaults, and
penalties imposed for them. They had a prior of students to govern all the novices of their order at
Oxford and Cambridge, where they had a doctor in each faculty of divinity and common law, under whom
their inceptors were to commence at the public charge of their respective monasteries. The general
colleges for this order were Gloucester in Oxford, and Monks' College (now Magdalene) in Cambridge. " —
Bishop Kennett's "Parochial Antiquities," voh i., p. 303.
X " Monasticon," vol. iv., p. 404.

138 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xn.
Alas ! as pride goeth before a fall, so did the inordinate pretensions
advanced by Richard Kyderminster, her famous Abbot, tend to bring
about the destruction of Winchcombe ; and he must be reckoned
among those lordly Churchmen who by their arrogant pretensions
did so much to impress on the laity the necessity of a reformation.
A law had been passed * that priests or clerks convicted of certain
crimes should be burnt in the hand, with other penalties, which the
clergy considered as encroaching on their privileges ; and when, in
1 5 1 2, another act t was passed by which sub-deacons, acolytes,
exorcists, and other holders of the minor orders, were made liable
to trial by the laity, the pulpits rang with declamations against it,
and our Abbot of Winchcombe preached a remarkable sermon at
St. Paul's Cross, London, showing that it was against the law of
God, who, by his prophet David, says : " Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm," declaring that all persons, whether
spiritual or temporal, who had assented to that infamous act, had
incurred the censure of the Church. He also published a book to
prove that the persons of clerks, of all ranks, were sacred, and could
not be punished by the laity for any crimes. This attempt of the
clergy to emancipate themselves from the restraints of law, and from
punishment for crime, exasperated the temporal lords and the com
mons, who petitioned the king to repress their insolence, and the
matter in dispute was debated in his presence, but no decision was
given upon it. J This great contest between the civil powers and the
Church was terminated by the Reformation, but this, Richard did
not live to see. He wrote a valuable History of the foundation of his
Monastery, together with the lives of the Abbots, from Germanus to his
own time. This book was unfortunately lost in the fire of London,
a.d. 1666. Dugdale, however, had previously made some extracts
from it. Wood states that he was the author of a " Tractate contra
Doctrinam M. Lutheri," published in 1521, and adds: "As for our

* This is the statute of 4 Henry VIII., sess. 2, chap. 2, by which benefit of clergy is taken from
murderers and felons.
t Mortimer's " History of England," vol. ii., p. 4^2.
X Lambert's " History of London," vol. i., pp. 475-6.

henry viii.] LETTER TO CARDLNAL WOLSEY. 139
learned and curious author, Richard Kyderminster, he gave way to
fate, to the great reluctancy of all that knew the virtue and piety of the
man, in 1 53 1, or thereabouts ; and was buried in his own church at
Winchcombe." A letter which the Abbot wrote in the year 1520 to Cardinal Wolsey
is preserved in the Public Record Office,* and is here given as a curious
example of the style then used in addressing a great dignitary of both
Church and State. It is also of interest as shewing the high esteem
in which our Severn lampreys were then held.
" Lord Jesu have mercy upon us.
" Most Reverend Father and Lord in Christ, the splendor and grace of Cardinals, with
my most humble duty, made with all reverence and submission.
" It is now nearly a year (most worthy father) since I sent any letters to your sacred
lordship : — not because I was forgetful of you (which the Almighty forbid) or that I
thought I ought not to write to you as frequently as possible, considering how your great
benefits and kindnesses towards me (which I will not further particularize) clearly demand
that I should not only, if it were possible, address letters to you day by day, but should
place myself entirely at your disposal like a purchased slave. The reason of my silence
has been that I understood that your most sacred lordship was so involved in sacred
cares and occupations concerning the State as well as the Church, that I deemed my
letters would be rather a cause of weariness than of pleasure to you. However that may
have been, (most reverend father and most sacred master) I could no longer forbear, but
that at the present time I should send some letters by means whereof I might be ascer
tained more certainly whether you were as I hoped in good health, and touching your
goodly success which how much I wish for I cannot (I take the living God to witness)
easily put in words. Nor am I unmindful (my most revered lord and master) nor shall I
ever forget with what charity, what love, what clemency, what inward tenderness your
lordship has ever most graciously surrounded me a poor man, your most unworthy servant,
and all my affairs in all times of trouble with the greatest charity and piety for which I promise
(until I shall be able to find some other method of showing my gratitude) to be and to
continue throughout my life a constant petitioner to the most high and merciful God for
your continuous health and prosperity, offering and for ever pledging myself to do for
your most gracious lordship whatever man can perform. Moreover, in this place, (glorious
Cardinal and Prince) I am able to inform your holiness of many things relating to the
public commendation of your holiness and singular praise of your virtues : unless indeed
I ought to understand that your resplendent divine virtues are of that nature that they
ought rather to be held in veneration and wonder, than set forth through the preaching of
men, whilst if through their dignity and merit they ought to be reckoned up and declared

* State Papers, n & 12 Henry VIII., Vol. xxi., No. 20S.

140 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xii.
(so great truly is their number) they could not be shown forth in a short epistle, but ex
quisite eloquence, much time, and undoubtedly a huge volume should expound them for
that reason. Lest therefore by prolixity of speech in explaining your sacred virtues, I
should offend your most gracious ears (which heaven forefend) I will spare you from
further talk at the present time.
" I send moreover to your sacred lordship, most gracious father, by the present
bearer, in token of my love and faithful service towards you, eight lampreys distributed
in four pasties, with certain other things cooked in an oven after the manner of the
country. I should have sent a larger number, both now and frequently heretofore, if
either by prayers, money, or any other way I had been able to do so ; but those
persons who are near to the fish ponds where this kind of fish is taken are in the habit
of taking what they want themselves before they will permit those who live at a dis
tance from the Severn to take anything out of them. And so may your sacred lord
ship live and prosper most happily in our sweet Lord Jesus and in all the Saints.
From the cloister of the Monastery at Winchcombe, post haste, the day after the nones
of March [March 8, 1520]. " The humble servant of your Excellency, Richard, a most
unworthy servant of the Monastery of Winchcombe."
(Indorsed). " To the Most Reverend father in Christ, the Lord Thomas, Cardinal
Priest of St. Cecilia, and most worthy Legate of the Apostolic
See, and also the most meritorious Chancellor of the whole realm
and my most respected Patron, give these."
Soon after the death of Abbot Kyderminster the king's supremacy
became one of the great questions of the day. Atkyns * shows that it
had been an ancient doctrine of the Church, and that the clergy almost
all at that time (1534) did submit to it, also that Richard Ancelme,
abbot of Winchcombe, was one who signed the Articles of Religion in
the Upper House of Convocation ; when all the bishops did the same
except Fisher, bishop of Rochester.!
Richard Ancelme, or Mounslow, was the last Abbot of this celebrated
Monastery. He and twenty-four of his monks subscribed to the king's

* " Gloucestershire," p. 43.
t The portrait here given of Henry VIII. is from a carving in hone-stone by Holbein, and is considered
to be one of the finest portraits of the king. In Vertue's Catalogue of King Charles Ist's Collection of
Pictures, &c, London, 1757, this is described on page 4, No. 12, as carved in King Henry VIII.'s time:
" Item. A picture carved in a grey soft stone, representing King Henry VIII. at length, an entire figure,
in a curious little carved frame, which the king had when prince." In the index of the same work, it is
erroneously said to be a model in terra cotta. it was purchased by Horace Walpole at the sale of Lady
Elizabeth Germaine's property in 1777 (not " 1707," as stated by Mr. Scharf in his "Painters Cotem-
porary with Holbein," p. 11), having formerly belonged to the Arundel Collection. In 1842 it was sold
at the Strawberry Hill sale to J. Coucher Dent, Esq., of Sudeley Castle.

[To face p. 140.

^y Holbein. From the Strawberry Hill Collection.

HENRY viii.]

SURRENDER OF THE ABBEY.

141

supremacy, August 25, 1534 ;* but, soon after, the great change came,
and he surrendered his Abbey into the hands of the king's com-
missioners.t

Seal of Abbot Richard Ancelme.

A cold sad day was it, that 3rd of December, 1539, when Ancelme
and his monks met for the last time within the sacred precincts of the
Abbey for prayer and praise, and sorrowful must have been their
parting, when hand grasped hand with a grief too deep for words, ere
they left for ever their quiet cloister life. They were not, however, all
turned out to starve, as is the popular impression. The Public Records
show that pensions were granted to certain members of the house,
which were as follows :

* It is remarkable that not one of them, except the Abbot, appears to have received a pension on the
dissolution of the Monastery.
t Leland was one, as Atkyns expresses it, of the chief and most understanding of these commissioners
who took the value of all religious houses for the king.

142 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xn.
£ s. d.
Richard Mounslow, the Abbot  120 o o
John Handcock  800
William Bradeley  ¦ 6 13 4
Walter Cope  6 13 4
Richard Bowdon  6 13 4
George Roe  6 13 4
William Blosson . . . . . . .6134
Richard Parker  600
William Trentham  600
William Harwood  600
Richard Williams ....... 600
Walter Turbut  600
Christopher Chamface . . . . . . .600
^197 6 8
Atkyns says that the last Abbot of Winchcombe became the first
Dean of Westminster ; but this is a mistake, for we see on the Public
Records, that William Boston, alias Benson, the late Abbot of West
minster, was appointed the first Dean.*
The revenues of the Abbey were valued at the Dissolution at
^"759 1 1.?. gd. per annum. The manor of Winchcombe continued in
the Abbey until its dissolution. On that event the bulk of the Abbey
property remained for a while in the hands of the crown, but some was
parted with, for we find in the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth years of the
same reign (1543, 1544), that a toft and lands in Winchcombe late
belonging to the Abbey, were granted to Richard Andrews and
Nicholas Temple, and other lands in Winchcombe belonging to the
Abbey were granted to Richard Andrews and Thomas Hysley.f
From a document in the Public Record Office,| we extract the
following particulars :
The Manor of Sudeley with its members — £ s. d.

Grete. — Fixed rents .....
Rents of the customary tenants
Grctton. — Fixed rents of the free tenants .
Fixed rents of the customary tenants

2 o 8
S !3 -i
1 6 ok
8 17 10

* Le Neve's "Fasti," vol. iii., p. 346. + Willis's "Mitred Abbeys."
X Ministers' Accounts, 32 Henry VIII. (1540), formerly in the Augmentation Office.

Old House in High Street, Winchcombe, showing Initials on Barge Board
of Richard Kyderminstf/r
From a Drawing by E. T. Browne, Esq., befor

henry viii.] MONASTIC PENSIONS. 1 43

Sudeley. — Fixed rents of the free tenants
Rents of the customary tenants
Farm 
Perquisites of the courts .

£

s.

d.

2

iS

2 1

14

7

11

34

10

8

0

iS

6

£l° 7

The first-fruits and tenths were granted to the crown in 1534, and
were enjoyed by Henry VIII. and Edward VI., but Mary, by act of
Parliament, relinquished the first-fruits and made over the tenths to a
body of commissioners, who were to pay out of them the pensions that
had been granted to the monastics, and any other sums for which the
dissolved houses had been responsible. Accordingly, in 1556, a formal
agreement, or Indenture, was drawn up between her and King Philip
on the one part, and Cardinal Pole, as the papal legate, on the other,
which is now preserved in the Public Record Office. It is a large
handsomely written volume, and from it we extract a translation of the
part relating to Winchcombe. It will be seen that " vested interests "
received more consideration at the Dissolution than is generally sup
posed. Officers received compensation under the name of " fees ; "
persons who perhaps had lent money* to the house, were repaid by
" annuities ; " and such of the monastics as recommended themselves
to the examining commissioners by their ready submission, received a
share of the " convenient charity " which the crown authorized them to
dispense ; these are the " pensions " of the following list. Probably
some who were denied this " charity " at first, were afterwards admitted,
as the list of 1556 shows fourteen names, or one more than that of
1539- The Late Monastery of Winchcombe.

Fees.

£

Anthony Ayleworthe, receiver of all the possessions of the
said late Monastery, per annum . . . . ,968
Thomas Gwente and Richard Hyde, for their annuities
from the said Monastery, per annum . . . . 100 o

* It was very common for persons to lend or give sums of money to the monasteries, thereby securing
for themselves or their nominees, sometimes an annuity, sometimes board, lodging, and attendance in the

144

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xii.

Annuities.

£

Edward Draicote, per annum
Thomas Sherle, per annum .
William Badger, per annum
John Bridgeman, per annum
Roger Jervys, per annum .
William Edwardes, per annum
Thomas Gwente, per annum
Edward Swallowe, per annum
Thomas Belle, per annum .
Clement Throgmorton, per annum
William Charity, per annum
Louis Craker, per annum
Thomas Bailie, per annum
Henry Polstede, per annum .
Christopher Smythe, per annum
William Freman, per annum .
Robert Throgmorton, per annum
Humfrey Dicke, master of the
per annum . . . .

s.

d.

40

0

40

0

40

0

26

8

33

4

40

0

0

0

40

0

20

0

66

8

'3

4

!3

4

40

0

0

0

4°

0

4°

0

26

8

game ('' ludi mag'ri "),

Pensions.
Richard Mounslowe, late Abbot of the same, per annum .120 o o
John Hancock, per annum . . ....800
William Bradeley, per annum . . . . .6134
Richard Freman, per annum . .6134
Richard Parker, per annum . 600
William Trentham * . . 600
Walter Coop, per annum . 6134
William Whorewoode, per annum . 600
Richard Williams, per annum . .600
Walter Turbutte, per annum . 600
Richard Boydon, per annum . 6134
George Rooe, per annum . . 6134
Christopher Chaunsfatte, per annum 600
William Blossome, per annum . .6134

As before stated, Abbot Kyderminster wrote a History of his
Abbey, and his reasons for doing so are well stated in his Preface,
which runs as follows :

house. Many documents of this kind remain, and they often do credit to the shrewdness of the parties in
making a bargain. * " Per annum" no doubt accidentally omitted.

henry viii.] HISTORY OF THE ABBEY. 145
" Whereas most of the ancient records of the first Institution of the Monastery of
Winchcombe, and of the Endowment of our Church, perished in a great fire which hap
pened in the reign of King Stephen, formerly king of England, which by the blessing of
God shall hereafter be more particularly declared; and whereas many other ancient writings
through age are become so obscure that they are scarce legible ; others by the carelessness
of men are daubed and torn ; and what is "most blame-worthy, our predecessors, and those
who were formerly monks of this- Monastery, took no care to transcribe the old writings,
and were negligent in entering the new : Therefore we, lest what yet remains of our
old and ancient Charters should be lost in like manner through our negligence, and the
names and account of our founders and benefactors should be quite forgotten, which
God forbid, have purposed to collect into one volume the history of our first Founda
tions, and such Antiquities as are confusedly dispersed in our ancient Charters and
Registers ; and we intend to observe this method. First, to set down an account of
our sacred foundation, and the praises of our first Founders; secondly, the Privileges,
Pensions, and Portions of tithes made to them; thirdly, the Royal Charters and Privileges
granted by kings ; fourthly, the several Lands and Possessions given at any time to the
said Monastery by any kings, princes, and other good Christians, and the times of their
donations ; lastly, we will faithfully, through the blessing of Our Lord God, recount the
names of the several Abbots, and the good they have respectively done to this Monastery,
beginning at the time when King Kenulph did first lay the foundation of our Church.
And if in any place I shall happen to say too little or too much, I beg the prudent and
intelligent reader either to add or strike out as he pleases." *
Beside the Cartulary, or Register of Winchcombe Abbey, Tanner
notices a Book of the Possessions of the Abbey by Inquisition temp.
Henry VIII. then preserved in the Remembrancer's Office in the
Exchequer. He also mentions the three following MSS., together with
several original charters, as in the possession of Sir John Dutton, Knt.,
of Sherborne.

« n

: I. Registrum dom. Joan. Cheltingham abbatis Wynchelcombe, factum per eundem
Abbatem, a.d. 1422, continens cartas 515, paginas 505. Foi. in pergam.
" 'II. Rentale maneriorum Monasterii Winchcombiae, factum a.d. 1455.
" ' III. Rentalia dominiorum, maneriorum, rectoriarum, firmarum, terrarum, et
tenementorum pertinentium ecclesise B. Virginis Marise et S. Kenelmi regis et martyris
de Wynchecombe, renovata ad.festum S. Michaelis archangeli, anno regis H. viii. prime'
The first of these, called Liber A, with another register marked Liber B, are still preserved
amongst the MSS. at Sherborne Lodge."?
The much to be regretted fate, more than a hundred years after the
Dissolution, of one of these invaluable works, is thus recorded : \
* Atkyns' "Gloucestershire."
t I have learnt from Lady Sherborne that these were lost or stolen in the time of the late Lord
Sherborne. + Wood's " Athena?."

146 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xii.
" The Register of Winchcombe, containing at least five books, or parts, came, after
the dissolution of the Abbey there, into obscure hands. At length it being produced by
an ordinary farmer at an assize held at Gloucester, for the proof of some matter then in
question, at which Sir William Morton, lord of the site of Winchcombe Abbey, was
present ; he by some device got it out of the farmer's hands, as belonging more properly
to him, and kept it some time in his house at Kidlington in Oxfordshire, and sometimes
in his lodgings at Serjeants' Inn, in Fleet Street, London. But so it was, that the said
Sir William, who was one of the justices of the King's Bench, being in his Norfolk circuit,
at what time the dreadful conflagration in London happened (1666), the said book with
other of his goods, and the Inn itself, was totally consumed to ashes."
Dugdale* gives an interesting note on this work, quoting Wood's
Athenae, and refers to several extracts which Dugdale had made
before the destructive fire. Dr. Samuel Fell, of Christchurch, Oxford,
had a copy of this work, written either in vellum or parchment, about
1630. Another book, once belonging to Winchcombe, is a fine folio
copy of the Works of Augustine, of the twelfth century, written on
vellum, which is in the possession of the Rev. Sir W. Cope, of
Bramshill.f Most of the religious houses kept Registers, in which were entered
both public and private transactions, including the deaths of kings,
bishops, nobles, and benefactors, and the births and marriages among
the upper classes are often found recorded in Missals and Psalters.
As the intended suppression of the monasteries would cause the
Registers to cease, Lord Cromwell, in September 1538, as visitor-
general, ordered Registers of births, marriages, and deaths, to be kept
in every parish. The usefulness of the measure was not then seen; it
was regarded as meant as the instrument of some new taxation; \ and
very limited obedience was given. Our Winchcombe Register, how
ever, commences in the year 1539, the first entry being: — " Julii 6°.
Thomas filius Gulielmi Skinner baptiz."
In the reign of Elizabeth injunctions were repeatedly issued, im
pressing on the clergy the duty of keeping up the Registers, and at last,
in 1593, formal transcripts on vellum of all existing ones were
directed to be made. Our oldest Register is of this kind ; but the
* "Monasticon," vol. ii. p. 299.
+ Historical Manuscripts Commission, Third Report, p. 242.
X Such a taxation was actually imposed in 1694, to assist in carrying on the war against France.

J. Rushton.
Whipping Post and Ducking Stool, Duck Street, Winchcombe.

henry viii.] WHIPPING-POSTS AND STOCKS. 147
direction was long neglected, as we find this note on the first page,
" Hie liber descriptus fuit in Augusto Anno Dmi 1602."
After 1602 the entries are original ; they are all in Latin down to the
year 1630, when they commence in English.
The overthrow of the Monasteries was, no doubt, a needful step, as
they had outlived their usefulness in this country ; but this fact must
not make us forget the benefits that they had conferred on it in earlier
days. They were almost the sole depositories of learning, and the
instructors of youth ; and their help to the sick, the needy, and the aged,
even their enemies cannot deny. The immediate effect of the change
was very disastrous to the poor, who, beside all the customary hospi
tality, and relief in want and sickness being suddenly stopped, too
often found themselves thrown out of employment, by the new land
lords turning the lands they used to cultivate into pasture. No wonder
then, that thousands were forced into vagrant habits, to check which
severe laws were passed,* and whipping-posts and stocks everywhere
set up, and were in common use for punishing " vagrants and sturdy
beggars," both men and women, up to the end of the last century.
In Winchcombe the whipping-post was still in existence a.d. 1800,
when Mr. Castle, of North Street (now in his ninety-second year)
recollects one in front of the Town Hall, a post fixed in the ground
with iron rings, screwed in with hinges, leaving just sufficient room for
the arms and legs to pass between the iron and the post ; they were
locked in, and then the whipping commenced. Mr. Castle saw six
women flogged there in the year 1800; they were stripped to the waist
and flogged till the blood ran down their backs ; their offence was
" hedge pulling." The man who whipped them was Frank Crow ;
he also recollects the names of some of the women, but as their
descendants are still living in Winchcombe it is but right to withhold
them. Sometimes the stocks were combined with the whipping-
* One, that of 1547 (1 Edward VI., u. 3), directs vagabonds to be branded with "V" on the breast
with a hot iron, and to be given as labourers for two years to any one who would receive them, and would
feed them on bread and water, or any refuse, and punish them by beating and chaining '; if they attempted
to escape, they were to be again branded, with "S," and to become slaves for life. This atrocious
statute failed through its own severity, and was repealed in 1549. The foundation of our present poor
laws was laid in the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth, when overseers of the poor were first appointed
(43 Eliz., c. 2).

148 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xii.
post ; but gradually the punishment went out of practice, and now our
Winchcombe whipping-post has altogether disappeared, the stocks alone
remaining in remembrance of bygone days, and are to be seen in
gloomy shadow under the present Town Hall.
The ducking-stool was another instrument of torture in Winch
combe, and which was remembered by some of the oldest inhabitants
(of 1850) to have existed at the bottom of Duck Street, which,
probably, thence received its name. The ducking-stool was generally
established in some favourite rendezvous of a town, or where the
women were in the habit of drawing water ; so, when any unfortunate
culprit was carried to the brook, it is not difficult to imagine the scene
of commotion and excitement that followed ; all Winchcombe turned
out to see the poor woman dipped and the ardour of her tongue
cooled. With pity we turn from the poor suffering women, and thank
God that the law of the land has now abolished punishments made a
hundredfold more cruel by their publicity.*
Among the various great ecclesiastical changes made at this time,
one was to remove Winchcombe and Sudeley from the diocese of
Worcester, and to place them in that of Gloucester, which henceforth
became a distinct bishoprick, or rather was restored to that ancient
dignity, as, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, "Episcopus Cluviensis"
was among the British bishops. 7
Strange to say, there is no description extant of the Monastery and
Abbey Church. It is, however, supposed that the latter was situated
between the house now occupied by Henry Plumbe, Esq., and the
Abbey wall, called the Abbey Terrace. % All was demolished very
soon after its surrender by the first proprietor, Lord Seymour of
Sudeley. How many hearts have here grown cold,
That sleep these mouldering stones among \
How many beads have here been told !
How many matins here been sung !

* The cucking-stool, mentioned in Domesday, was used to punish bad brewers in Chester (pity 'tis the
custom is extinct), and brawlers in Stockport. The Clicking was superseded by the ducking-stool.
+ Camden's "Britannia," p. 262.

P-
\ For the Charter, see Atkyns, p. 44.

~v^

^k

T

From a Cottage in Gloucester Street, Winchcombe.

<

,  XJJi!
Parish Stocks, Town Hall, Winchcombe.
Winchcombe Abbey House.
From a Sketch by E. T. Browne, Esq., before its demolition in 1815.

henry viii.] THE ABBEY BUILDINGS. 1 49
The site of the buildings being levelled and turned into ploughed
fields, orchards, and gardens, we can only conjecture that they stood on
the east side of the present church ; * their ruins must have formed a
quarry for the workmen of the neighbourhood. Beautiful specimens
of stone carving have been found from time to time below the surface
of the soil, and in drains on the Sudeley estate. Though so few traces
of the ancient Monastery now remain, the memorial is yet preserved in
the name of Abbey Demesnes, of which the present " Abbey " forms
part. It is a popular belief that at the time of the Dissolution monastic
houses were recklessly destroyed by misguided religious zeal, but the
papers of the Augmentation Office show this to be quite a mistake.
In many instances, Evesham for example, and we may fairly presume
it was so in the case of Winchcombe, the destruction was carried on in
the most systematic manner, the buildings being divided into " the
necessary to be preserved, and unnecessary to be pulled down." "f" In
the course of time, however, all has been pulled down, and the site of
the once magnificent Monastery is now a mere matter of conjecture !
At the meeting of the members of the British Archaeological
Association at Evesham (Aug., 1875), Mr. Loftus Brock, in his in
teresting paper on Winchcombe Abbey, doubted that all traces of the
site could have so utterly disappeared, but on inspection he found it
to be so. Two buildings occupied by Mr. Arthur Smith were part of
the Abbey buildings and fifteenth century work. The whole of the
ground east of the church, up to Cow or Chapel Lane, the meadow
between the north wall of the church and Back Lane, are full of irregu
larities, indicating foundations of extensive buildings, and a high bank,
like an earthwork, runs parallel to Back Lane for about forty yards.
To E. T. Browne, Esq., of Winchcombe, we are indebted for the
drawings of the "Abbot's House," which for many years had been
used as the parish workhouse, and was entirely demolished by the
* As before stated, the Monastery was supplied with water from Sudeley and Postlip in the reign of
King John. If the spot could be ascertained where the waters met, its site might with certainty be
established. There can be little doubt, however, that the Abbey stood on the east side of the present
parish church.
X Mr. Batt's paper on "Evesham," read Aug. 1S75, before the British Archaeological Association.

150 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xn.
proprietor, Mr. Williams, of the Abbey House, in 1815. Mr. Browne
used all his influence to save the house from destruction, but without
success. Thus Winchcombe lost one of the most interesting relics of
her past history. About the same time Mr. Williams made extensive
excavations and minute search for materials and antiquities on what
was supposed to be the site of the ancient Abbey.
" The deep and massive foundations of the church were clearly traced, and several
ponderous stone coffins, containing remains of human skeletons, were then discovered ;
but the circumstance which attracted most particular attention arose from the examination
of a small stone coffin, which was found at the east end of the interior of the church, close
by the side of another, of the usual size. Upon the removal of the flag-stones which
covered it (and which took place in the presence of the writer of this article*) there
appeared a skull, with a few of the other larger bones, and a very long-bladed knife, which
had become a mass of rust, and fell to pieces on being handled. The bones also
vanished, like a vision from their sight, immediately they were exposed to the air. Speed
says, as before observed, 'that Kenelm was interred in the monastery, near to his father;'
and no two coffins, except those before mentioned, were found near together. This
circumstance, therefore, combined with that of the knife, which it is possible the murderer
left with the body, and which might have been removed and deposited with it, induces a
celebrated antiquary f to form the conclusion that the largest coffin was Kenulph's and
the smaller Kenelm's."
Dr. Phythian, of Winchcombe, was also present at the opening of
these graves. His daughter, Mrs. Lees, living at an advanced age,
in a letter to us states that she perfectly remembers, when quite a child,
hearing her father's description of the state of preservation in which
the bodies were discovered, even to the fleshy tints on the cheeks ; but
that, while they gazed, all returned to dust. The coffins were presented
to her father, and also the murderous knife found in that of St. Kenelm
— and which likewise soon crumbled away. When the family left their
house (the one now occupied by Dr. Newman), the coffins were still
in the garden, in a rosary walk leading to Mrs. Phythian's grotto ; no
one had any right to dispose of them — therefore when they were sold
by the sexton to the late Mr. Gist, of Wormington Grange, it was
without permission ; and it is to be hoped they will some day be
restored — Kenulf's coffin to Winchcombe Church, and Kenelm's to

* E. T. Browne, Esq.
t Fosbroke, who was with Mr. Browne at the opening of these coffins.

Stone Coffins of King Kenulf and St. Kenelm,
in the Garden of Wormington Grange, near Winchcombe.

HENRY VIII.]

KING KENULPH 'S PALACE.

I51

Sudeley, where his chapel stood, and where the Holy Well that still
bears his name will for ever keep fresh the legend of his untimely fate.
Leland says that, " There laye buried in the east part of the church
of the Monastery of Winchcombe, Kenulphus and Kenelmus, the
father and sonne, both Kings of Merches." Leland further says of
Winchcombe, that " there was once an hospital in this town, but now
the name of Spittle only remaineth ; * the town building was much
toward Sudeley Castle, and that there yet remain some tokens of a
ditch and the foundations of a wall, and that there be tokens of another
way up a pretty way beyond the High, Street above the church where
the farm of Cornedene is : so that of old time it was a mighty large
town. The Monastery was set in the best part of all the town, and
hard by it, where the parish church is, was King Kenulphus' Palace.
Winchcombe is set in the roots of Cotswolds."
Of this Palace Mr. Browne thus wrote, in 1857 :
" Nothing beyond what rests merely on oral tradition as to its site, can now be told.
This is said to have been on the south side of the top of the present High Street, and
some of the aged inhabitants who were living within the last twenty years could remember
there the remains of an apparently very ancient pile, which they saw demolished to make
room for the present large brick residence [now occupied by Dr. Newman]. These they
described as consisting of arches and oddly-shaped architectural masses ; and affirmed
that their forefathers had been accustomed to point to the spot and observe that " there
stood King Kenulph's Palace."

* There is a field still called Spittle Leys.

Initials of Richard Kyderminster, over the Doorway of the George Inn.

CHAPTER XIII.
" Such a man
Might be a copy to these younger times."
Shakespeare.
IN the reign of Edward IV. was born in Winchcombe the distin
guished worthy, John Winchcombe, better known as Jack of
Newbury. His real name was Smallwood ; and from small
beginnings he rose to a position of dignity. Fuller describes him as
the most considerable clothier (without fancy or fiction) England ever
beheld. Reference was made to his birth-place by the late Rev. Charles
Kingsley about twenty years ago, when the Berks Archaeological
Society met at Newbury ; * and to corroborate this fact an inquiry was
made by the Rev. Wm. Milton, curate of Newbury, which resulted in
the discovery of the following entries in the parish register of Winch
combe, which show that his family kept up the connection with his
native place : " Anno Dni. 1539.
Junii 28. Robertus filius Johannes Smallwode, sepult.
Anno Dni. 1541.
Novembris 27. Margareta Smawlwode, purific."
When John left Winchcombe it was to find employment at Newbury,
as an apprentice to a wealthy clothier, whose good opinion he soon
won. Not only was he esteemed by his fellow-workmen, but soon
became a favourite with all, rich and poor, young and old, and was
familiarly called "Jack of Newbury." Though but an apprentice he
was fit company for gentlemen, and when his master died and his dame
* •' Worthies of Newbury," by H. Godwin, F S.A.

henry viii.] A WINCHCOMBE WORTHY. 1 53
became a widow, ancient but comely, she placed under his superinten
dence all the works and apprentices. For three years everything
prospered by reason of his discretion and industry, and she began to
consider so faithful a servant was deserving of promotion. She con
sulted him about her numerous suitors, and gave many hints of her
preference for himself, but which he feigned not to comprehend.
She related to him a pitiful dream in which she found her heart
bleeding in her hand, and a hog rustling among the looms ; so she
awoke "all in a sweat, and very ill and groaning, so that he must
needs have heard her." Not a bit of it, for he was too sound asleep,
he said.
Then for a few weeks she became wondrous sad, and was in nowise
cheered by seeing her man John give a pair of gloves to a buxom maid
at Bartholomew fair, who modestly returned the fairing with a kiss.
Then she invited her lovers to supper, the tanner, the tailor, and the
parson, at which John was serving man. After supper they in turn
renewed their offers, but she refused them all. The tailor, because he
was too late, she was already promised ; the tanner she would like to
see wed, but not to herself; the parson, because parsons were only
newly allowed to have wives, and she would have none of the first
head. So they departed. John, unlike Othello, even upon that hint,
spake not ; though in his own mind he had resolved not to lose so
great a prize. Next morning she ordered him to carry a link before
her into church, where priest, clerk, and sexton were awaiting her.
But there was no bridegroom ; and, after waiting some time, feigning to
be very angry at his non-appearance, said she would stay no longer,
but bade John put aside his link and give her his hand, as she would
be wed to none other than him.
The dame was too fond of gossip and gadding about to please her
steady mate, who would gently remonstrate with her ; but this she did
not take in good part, thinking he who had been her servant, had now
no right to act as master. An event soon occurred which, though
ludicrous in itself, caused them henceforth to be better friends. The
dame, according to custom, being out one night very late, her husband
shut the doors and went to bed. About midnight she came home and

154 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xm.
knocked for admittance, he went to the window and told her to go
away and find a bed at the constable's : she ought to take a lesson from
the spider, the frog, and the fly, which always returned home at night
fall. In a very humble tone she again begged admittance, promising
the like should never occur again. At length, moved with pity, he
slipped on his shoes, went down in his shirt, and opened the door.
When she entered, and he was on the point of re-locking, she said, very
sorrowfully, she had dropped her wedding-ring outside, and implored
him to help her to find it with a candle ; he fell into the snare, and while
looking for the ring, which was not there, she locked the door, took the
key upstairs, and went to bed. It was then his turn to stand out in the
cold and beg for admittance, while she stood at the casement, and
pretty well repeated his own words — then, hoping it would be a
warning to him in the future, cried " Catch — there's the key ; come in
at thy pleasure, and go to bed to thy fellows, for with me thou shalt
not lie to-night." Next morning she rose betimes, merrily made him
a caudle, and they lived happily as long as she lived.
After the death of his ancient dame he might have mated with any
lady in the land, but he took to wife one of his own servants, who for
two years had been well tried in the guiding of his house. The de
scription is exquisitely pretty and poetical : — " The marriage day being
appointed, all things were prepared for the wedding, with royal cheer ;
and most of the lords, knights, and gentlemen thereabout were invited.
The bride being attired in a gown of sheep's russet, and a kirtle of fine
worsted, her head attired with a billiment of gold, and her hair, which
was yellow, hanging down behind, curiously pleated according to the
manner of those days, she was led to church between two sweet boys,
with bride laces and rosemary tied about their silken sleeves ; the one
was son to Sir John Parry, the other to Sir Francis Hungerford. A
bride-cup of silver, gilt, was carried before her, wherein was a branch
of rosemary, gilded, hung about with ribbons of all colours ; and next
followed musicians, who were playing ; after the bride came the chiefest
maidens of the country, some carrying great bride-cakes, and others,
garlands of wheat, curiously gilded, passing in this manner unto
church."

henry viii.] A WINCHCOMBE WORTHY. 1 55
For the expedition to Flodden Field John marched with one hundred
of his own men ("as well armed and better clothed than any," says
Fuller), for which he received high commendation from the queen
(Katharine of Aragon). A few years later Henry VIII. and his queen
were magnificently entertained by John Winscombe (as his name is
spelt by Fuller) at his own house in Newbury.; banquets were prepared
for the king and queen, their cortege, and all the domestics ; the king
was presented by the dame with a richly gilt bee-hive, the bees therein
were of gold, and it was also decorated with various precious ornaments,
emblems of the wealth and industry of the clothiers. Songs were sung
to the king by the weavers at their looms, and the women at their
spinning and carding. On quitting this hospitable house, the king
would have knighted John Winchcombe, but he modestly declined,
begging to remain a humble clothier. The queen then greeted his wife
with a princely kiss, presented her with a costly gift, and so they
departed. The clothiers of this and other counties were suffering greatly at
that time from the suspension of traffic with merchants of other
countries. For this, blame was attached to Cardinal Wolsey, then lord
chancellor, and when the king received John Winchcombe's gift of the
golden bee-hive, he meaningly willed the cardinal to look thereon, com
manding it should be sent to Windsor Castle. In their difficulty John
invited deputies from all parts to join him in London ; then, one day
when the king was walking in St. James's Park, they all fell on their
knees and implored him to redress their grief. The petition was
handed to the cardinal, who ordered all the clothiers to be imprisoned.
In four days, however, they were released, through the instrumentality
of the Duke of Somerset ; * they gained their desire, and in a short time
clothing was again flourishing, with plenty of work found for the poor.
Such is a meagre outline of the life of our distinguished Winchcombe
hero, taken from a republication of Delaney's " Pleasant and Delightful
Life of Jack of Newbury," which was first printed in 1596.!
* So says our author, but wrongly, as there was no duke of Somerset at that time. In all probability
Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, the king's favourite and brother-in-law, is meant.
T For this entertaining little volume I am indebted to Miss Slatter of Newbury, sister to Mr. Slatter of
Winchcombe, the worthy bailiff to the County Courts.

156 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xm.
In his will he described himself as "John Smalwode the elder, als
John Wynchcombe," and over his tomb in Newbury Church his descen
dants placed a brass inscription, with the words :
" Off yo charitie pray for the soule of John Smalwode als Wynchcom and Alys hys
wyfe. John dyed the xv"' day of February, Ao dni. mcccccxix [1520]."
We have seen by the register that one of his sons (or grandsons),
Robert, was buried in Winchcombe, and we find in the " History of
Newbury" * that John, his eldest son, in 1549 had a grant Of arms, "for
that he was well worthye from henseforth to be, in all places of honour
and wourshippe amonges other noble parsons, accepted and reputed
into the noumber of and company of auncient gentell and nobell men."
He purchased the manor and advowson of Bucklebury, and some
5000 acres of land in that and the neighbouring parish.")"
The portrait here introduced was taken by the kind permission of
Mr. Hartley, of Lye Grove, Chipping Sodbury, in whose possession is
the original painting by Holbein. It is generally supposed to repre
sent John Winchcombe, the founder of the family; but as he died in the
year 1520, it doubtless represents his eldest son, "John Winchcombe,"
the date on the picture, 1550, being the year after the latter received
his grant of arms, and was raised to the rank " of gentell and nobell
men." The arms painted on the left hand corner of the portrait
appear a further corroboration. On the top of the picture are the
words :

and underneath

In Respect of Things Eternall
This is Veari Vayne and Mortall.

Spend Well Thi mortal Life Therefore
That Thou Maist Leve for Evermore.

His descendants made noble alliances, but the family became extinct
in the male line in 1703, the last heir having been created a baronet by
Charles II. He died, leaving three daughters; Frances, who married
Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, Secretary of State ; Elizabeth,

Page 149. f II. Godwin's "Newbury."

^Wir^r^iFrffyj^jSS^^ rf&&!3WF&rt$'J&&~' ffv^ri-ef if <?i*y-fr .f

ssss

Holbein, pinxt.]

John Winchcombe, fl/wj Jack of Newbury.

[J. Rushton, deit.
[ To face p. :

henry viii.] A WINCHCOMBE WORTHY. 1 57
who died young, and upon whose death the following lines were penned
by Phillips : " Such heats prevail'd when fair Eliza, last
Of Winchcomb's name (next thee in blood and worth,
O fairest St. John) left this toilsome world
In beauty's prime, and sadden'd all the year.
Nor could her virtues, nor repeated vows
Of thousand lovers, the relentless hand
Of death arrest : she with the vulgar fell,
Only distinguish'd by this humble verse." *
Maria, the third of these, married, in 1699, Robert Packer, of Shilling-
ford, and their daughter became wife of Dr. Hartley, a physician of
Bath, whose great-grandson is the present proprietor of the estates at
Bucklebury and Donnington."|"
During the religious persecution of Mary's reign, we find that the
son J of our Winchcombe worthy was an adherent to the old creed, and
was one of five commissioners before whom was arraigned for heresy
a young gentleman named Palmer, a fellow of Magdalen College,
Oxford. The story of the trial is interestingly given, but as this is a
digression, allusion must be made only to John Winchcombe, whose
heart was sorely touched by Palmer's youth and earnestness ; and
yearning to save his life, he said : " Take pity on thy golden years and
pleasant flowers of lusty youth, before it is too late." " Sir," was the
young martyr's reply, " / long for those springing flowers that shall
never fade away ! " Palmer, then a Romanist, had not long before
witnessed the deaths of Ridley and Latimer, and, like them, gladly,
on the following day, he welcomed the crown of martyrdom. This,
however, anticipates the chronological line of our local story, and we
must return to the reign of Henry VII I.

* Phillips's poem on "Cider."
f H. Godwin's "Newbury," and " History of Newbury.'"
X Mr. Godwin says "grandson," but this is in all probability a mislaid

CHAPTER XIV.
" Oft have I wander'd by the moon's grey light,
And climb'd with thoughtful step the lofty height
Of Sudeley's Towers, where erst the widow'd Queen,
And Seymour too, oft graced the beauteous scene.'-
J. C Dent.
MANY of the chief events of Henry's reign were connected
with the wish, alike of himself and his people, to see him
gifted with a male heir, so as to avert a possible civil war
on his death ; and when at last the long-wished-for prince was born,
the happy event again places Sudeley Castle on the page of history.
Leland describes it about that time as "going to ruin, more the
pitye." Still it had a succession of constables, one of whom was Sir
John Brydges, who in the reign of Mary was made a peer, and of whom
we shall have much to say hereafter.
The death of Henry VIII. brings before us the most interesting
occupant of Sudeley Castle, viz., Queen Katherine Parr. The story of
her life and the eventful times in which she lived would fill a volume ;
we must therefore hurry over her early history, and state only that she
was born in 1 5 1 2 at Kendal Castle, which then belonged to her father,
Sir Thomas Parr. Her first husband was Lord Burgh, who died about
1529, and her second, Lord Latimer, who died in 1542 ; thus she was
twice a widow before reaching her thirtieth year." On the 12th of
July, 1543, she became the sixth wife of Henry VIII., the ceremony
being performed in the Queen's Closet at Hampton Court, in the
presence of their principal relatives, including the Princesses Mary

* Dugdale (" Baronage,'' p. 313) states that she had a son and a daughter by Lord Latimer; but this
is a manifest mistake as to one at least, as Lord Latimer's only son, John, was summoned to Parliament in
1543 ; so could not have been many years her junior.

H1ENEKWS VK

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From a Carving in Boxwood, by Holbein,
at Sudeley Castle.
Formerly in the Strawberry Hill Collection.
henry via.] QUEEN KATHERINE PARR. 159
and Elizabeth.* She was nearly related to royalty, indeed almost
within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity, being descended from
John of Gaunt, fourth son of King Edward Ill.f After her elevation
to the throne Katherine displayed all the highest qualities ; her discre
tion saved her from the machinations of Gardiner, and her learning
and piety suited her to her high and dangerous position, securing the
love and confidence of her capricious husband. On the 7th of July,
1544, Katherine was appointed Regent of the kingdom during the
absence of Henry in France. Boulogne surrendered in September,
and on the king's return she received the highest commendation for
her conduct during the brief period when sovereign power was placed
in her hands.
Katherine was the first Protestant queen; "the nursing mother of
the Reformation ;"| a good friend she proved to Cambridge when the
revenues of the University were threatened, and in every way that
discretion permitted did she encourage learning and the reformed
religion. There is every proof that the kindest feeling existed between
herself and the young prince and the princesses. In a letter to her from
the prince, he expresses his thanks for her loving and tender letters,
full of comfort and encouragement, and prays that God will enable him
to satisfy her good expectation of him. In a letter from her to Mary,
the princess is encouraged to publish a translation of Erasmus's
Paraphrase of St. John's Gospel § under her own name; the Princess
Elizabeth, when eleven years of age, translated from the French a
small work entitled " The Mirrour or Glasse of the Synnful Soule," and
which she dedicated thus : " To our most noble and virtuous Queen
Katherine, Elizabeth, her humble daughter, wisheth perpetual felicity
and everlasting joy." ||

* Miss Strickland's "Life of Queen Katharine Parr," from which much of the following information is
taken. T "The Parrs of Kendal Castle," by Sir George Duckett, bart, read at Appleby, July 2S, 1875.
Art. xix.
X So styled in the Preface to Udal's translation of Erasmus' "Paraphrase."
§ This was afterwards published by Udal in his own name, and dedicated to Queen K. Parr. In the
preface he gives great praise to the virtuous, noble, and most studious Princess Mary, and all merit to the
Queen for the encouragement she gave to the translation of the Paraphrases into the vulgar tongue, and for
which England can never render thanks sufficient.
|| This letter is preserved in the Bodleian Library.

160 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
The queen retained the love of her husband to the last ; and when
for the third time she became a widow, on the 28th of January, 1547, the
king's will bore testimony to his high estimation of her many virtues ;
he bequeathed to her ^3000 in plate, jewels, and stuff of household
goods, with such apparel as she should be pleased to take, ^"1000 in
money, and the amount of her dower as was agreed in parliament.
After the death of the king, Katherine was paid all the honour due
to a queen-dowager, and she took up her residence at a beautiful
mansion at Chelsea, on the banks of the Thames. Here she soon
received the clandestine visits of her former ardent lover, Seymour,
who had withdrawn his first suit on finding his rival to be none other
than the powerful, and not to be gainsaid, king.
As Seymour from this time assumes an important position in our
Sudeley chronicles, it will be well here to glance at a few of the
principal events in his life prior to the king's death. He was the
fourth son of Sir John Seymour, and descended from a long line of
distinguished ancestors. On the marriage of his eldest sister with
Henry VIII., he was soon brought into contact with the dangerous
element of the court. Dugdale has described him as beino- " in fashion
courtly, in personage stately, and in voice magnificent." Possessed of
these attractive powers, no wonder he gained so great an influence
over both the Princess Elizabeth and Queen Katherine Parr, even to
beguiling the latter from that strict propriety for which she had
hitherto been so highly distinguished. In 1537 Seymour was
appointed one of the gentlemen of the Privy Chamber ; his promotion
was rapid, nor was the death of his sister followed by any diminution
of the king's favour. In 1538 he was knighted. His great attraction
in person and manner gave rise to a popular belief that he was
possessed of some magic art in gallantry. About this time it was
proposed that he should unite himself to the daughter of Thomas
Howard, duke of Norfolk. There is an interesting letter on this sub-
ject from Sir Ralph Sadleir to the Lord Cromwell in Haynes' State
Papers. This marriage, however, did not take place, and Ave know
that his daring ambition subsequently led him successively to aspire to
the hand of the Princess Mary and the Princess Elizabeth. So high

edward vi.] LORD SEYMOUR OF SUDELEY. 161
did he stand in the estimation of King Henry VIII., that we find him
constantly engaged in visiting the various courts of Europe, sometimes
with the delicate mission of making proposals of marriage, sometimes
to carry on the more dangerous negociations for war. In the war with
France, Seymour was placed in positions of great trust, having at one
time 'the command of the whole army. A few months later he was
Master of the Ordnance, and the following year Admiral of the king's
Navy. With his usual energy he entered into all these various and
arduous duties, and must have continued to the last in the possession of
his royal master's esteem and confidence, for after Henry's death his
name was found to be among the Privy Council appointed to assist the
executors in carrying out the king's will. Sir William Paget, the
Secretary of State, asserted that it was the king's intention before he
died to create some peers ; consequently many new titles were con
ferred, and in accordance with this wish, Sir Thomas was created Lord
Seymour of Sudeley. His brother, as is well known, received the title
of Duke of Somerset, and was also appointed Protector of the young
king and his kingdom.
Most of the new-made peers obtained grants of Church lands to
support their titles, and to none perhaps did a larger share of this
plunder fall than to the Seymours. Sir Thomas had already received
abbey lands in the counties of Wilts, Berks, Oxford, Gloucester,
Somerset, and Middlesex, from Henry VIII. (1541) ;* now he had a
further grant of no less than nineteen manors in Gloucestershire alone.
Among them are the familiar names of manors and parishes in our
own immediate neighbourhood : the site of the Monastery of Winch
combe, Hailes Abbey f and manor, the manor of Teddington and
parish of Ashchurch, Cirencester Abbey, and Didbrooke ; tithes in
Dumbleton, Hawling, Rowell, Horsley, Postlip, Aston-Somerville,
Aston-Subedge, Southam, % Painswick, Lidney, Pinnock, Stow and
Nethercot, and Tewkesbury ; lands in Greet and Gretton and Bishops-
cleeve, and tithes in Saintbury and Weston-Subedge belonging to

* See Particulars for Grants, in the X. Report, Public Records, App. II., pp. 268, 269.
t Lor Hailes Abbey, see Mr. Loftus Brock's paper, British Archaeological Association, Aug. 1875.
X Rudder, p. 370. v

1 62 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.

From Hailes Abbey. Brought to
Winchcombe in 1800 by Mr.
Baldwyn, Steward to C. H.
Tracy, Esq., of Toddington.
Presented by Mr. R. Castle.

the Abbey of Winchcombe, also a portion
of tithes in Snowshill, the manor having
been previously assigned to Katherine
Parr in part of her dower by Henry
VIII.; at her death it was granted by
Edward VI. to John, earl of Warwick.
Stanton Rectory was also part of her
dowry. When the young King Edward first
went in state to Westminster, after his
father's death, Seymour, as Lord High
Admiral, was prominent in the proces
sion among officers of state, ambassa-
dors, nobles, knights, and gentlemen. On
the following day at the coronation, he
was assisting as train-bearer with the
Earl of Warwick and the Marquis of
Northampton. Again, on the day fol
lowing, royal jousts were held against all
comers, and foremost among the chal
lengers was Lord Seymour. "At night
they returned in goodly order as they
came to my Lord Admiral's house, where
they had a goodly supper prepared for
them, with great feasts and knowledge.""
Immediately after the king's death
Seymour had the assurance to make pro
posals of marriage to the Princess Eliza
beth, doubtless encouraged by her gover
ness, Mrs. Ashley, who affirmed that if
the king had lived a few days longer she
would have been given in marriage to

* For further and very interesting details see " Life of
T. Seymour," by Sir John Maclean, published in 1869, from
State Papers and other authentic documents.

"A

t

0^ Sntyifg'xW

cV

f

f

;/

Facsimile of Katherinil Parr's Letter to Seymour of Sudeley,
accepting his offer of marriage.
(Formerly in the Collection at Strawberry Hill).

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERINE PARR. 1 63

0

Seymour. His letter of proposal is dated February 26th, 1547, and
in Elizabeth's reply, dated the 27th, she tells him that she has neither
the years nor the inclination to think of marriage at present, and that
she intended to mourn for the king, her father, two years.* Four days
after this refusal, Seymour was the accepted lover of Queen Katherine
Parr. The following letter from the queen to Seymour will best
explain this particular period of her history. f
THE QUEEN TO THE LORD ADMIRAL.
" My Lord,
" I send you my most humble and hearty commendations, being desirous to
know how ye have done since I saw you. I pray you be not offended with me in that
I send sooner to you than I said I would, for my promise was but once in a fortnight.
Howbeit the time is well abbreviated, by what means I know not, except the weeks be
shorter at Chelsea than in other places. My Lord, your brother hath deferred answer
concerning such requests as I made to him till his coming hither, which he saith shall be
immediately after the term. This is not his first promise I have received of his coming,
and yet unperformed. I think my Lady hath taught him that lesson ; for it is her custom
to promise many comings to her friends, and to perform none. I trust in greater matters
she is more circumspect. And thus, my Lord, I make an end, bidding you most heartily
farewell, wishing you the good I would myself. — From Chelsea.
" I would not have you to think that this mine honest good will towards you to pro
ceed of any sudden motion or passion ; for as truly as God is God, my mind was fully
bent the other time I was at liberty, to marry you before any man I know. Howbeit God
withstood my will therein most vehemently for a time, and through His grace and good
ness made that possible which seemeth to me most impossible ; that was, made me to
renounce utterly mine own will, and to follow His will most willingly. It were too long
to write all the process of this matter — if I live I shall declare it to you myself. I can say
nothing, but as my Lady of Suffolk saith, ' God is marvellous man.' By her that is yours
to serve and obey during her life.
" Katherine the Queen, K. P." \
Seymour persuaded Katherine to marry him secretly, early in 1547;
but as this appeared shamefully soon after the death of the king, it

* Leti's Life of the Princess Elizabeth.
t The spelling is modernized.
X This letter was purchased at the Strawberry Hill sale, by John C. Dent, Esq., and is now in the
Sudeley Castle collection, it has two indorsements. One, in the handwriting of her time, " The Queen's
letter from Chelsea to my Lord Admiral. The answer to the Lord Admiral of her former loves ; " the
other, in a modern hand, " Q. K. Parr's letter, wrote the year she died, which was 1548, to her consort
Thomas Seymour, Lord High Admiral of England."

164 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
was carefully concealed, and he even induced young Edward to plead
for him, as if the matter was yet unsettled. A letter also remains
from the Princess Mary to Seymour, showing that she also must
have been importuned to further his suit with the queen (though
they were already married), which she delicately declines to do.
These things were urged against him at a subsequent day, in the
bill of attainder through which he lost his head. After the death
of Henry VIII. the Princess Elizabeth was consigned to the care
of Katherine Parr, with whom she then took up her abode at Chelsea.
The Princess Mary was particularly offended with this hasty mar
riage, and was very desirous for her sister to withdraw from their
protection. Then it was that Katherine Parr's happiness was so
soon disturbed by the indiscreet conduct of her husband, full particu
lars of which, and of the scandalous reports which followed, are
given in Haynes' State Papers. In reading these statements, it
should constantly be borne in mind that the princess was but a child,
having just attained her fourteenth year ; that blame was due only
to the Admiral and Mrs. Ashley, her governess ; all credit being
due to Katherine Parr for so promptly removing her from further
danger. In the mean time, Sudeley Castle, which had been granted to
Seymour* by his nephew, the young king, presented a bus}- scene. In
the former reign, according to Leland, " it was going to ruin, more the
pity ! " but now the property of Seymour, it was rapidly being meta
morphosed, from the neglected uninhabited Castle, into a residence of
fitting splendour for the queen as Seymour's happy bride. From morn
till eve, and far into the night, were the workmen busily employed.
Walls were covered with scaffolding, stonemasons without and car
penters within, hurrying forward their work of preparation ; for daily
was the queen expected to take up her residence within the precincts
of the Castle. At the south-east end of the inner quadrangle the most

* This document, of which there is a copy among the Sudeley MSS., confirms the titles and gifts of his
royal father, and further grants to him, among other lands, "all our hundred of Kiftsgate, Holford, and
Greateston, and reversions, including the manor of Sudeley and the possessions of the Abbey of Winch
combe, &c. Dated Westminster, Aug. 19, 1547."

EDWARD VI.]

QUEEN KATHERLNE PARR.

165

skilled workmen were employed, setting forth their best efforts to
adorn and complete a suite of apartments which were being especially

East View of low Embattled Tower. The upper door is now a window.
prepared for the private use of the queen. These communicated with
the kitchens and servants' offices by means of a long covered corridor
or cloister, which led to the other side of the quadrangle, in the centre

1 66 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
of which was the spacious kitchen, with a fireplace measuring twelve
feet, suggestive of sheep, and even oxen, that may have been roasted
whole. From another door of the small room leading into the present
long corridor, there was a short passage, and door* communicating
with a tower, or, as some imagine, f leading by a staircase to a cloister
which connected the Castle with the family pew on the south side of
the chapel. This first quadrangle has been attributed by some to
Seymour, but the time between his becoming possessor of the Castle
and occupation, would not have sufficed for so great a work ; we must
therefore conclude it was either of a subsequent erection, or that he
magnificently restored what he found already existing. One of these
small doors led by a passage to a winding staircase communicating
with the reception room above, and the banqueting hall below. The
upper room, according to Leland, " was glazed with berall," and must
have been of great beauty, as may yet be traced in the remains of its
light architecture, elegant fan-tracery, and oriel windows. At the
time of its restoration by Seymour, it was decorated with armorial bear
ings, and the walls hung with varied coloured and foreign tapestry.
The great room, still called the Banqueting Hall, was of the same
extent as the one above ; according to the custom of the period, it
was the general resort of the occupants of the Castle, and was deco
rated with trophies of the chase and banners taken from the enemy
in war. \
When all was complete, and the queen, with the " magnificent "
Seymour and their lordly retinue, first graced by their presence this
now ruined and dismantled hall, then was realised the poet's dream :
" Illumining the vaulted roof
A thousand torches flamed aloof;
From massive cups with golden gleam,
Sparkled the red metheglin's stream :
To grace the gorgeous festival,
Along the lofty window'd hall

* This door is now replaced by a stained glass window, representing Queen Elizabeth.
t The late Earl of Ellenborough, our neighbour of Scutham, was of this opinion.
X The boundary line of this wall was preserved by the Mr. Dents, who also restored one of the
windows, which thus formed a support to the ruins above.

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERINE PARR. 167
The storied tapestry was hung :
With minstrelsy the rafters rung
Of harps, that with reflected light
From the proud gallery glitter'd bright."
The following lines by Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, cousin to the
queen, taken from the Throckmorton MS. employed by Miss Strick
land, refer to her marriage with Seymour, and the courtly state in
which she then resided :
" Her husband, fourth, was uncle to the king,
Lord Seymour, high by office, Admiral,
In praise of whom loud peals I ought to ring ;
For he was hardy, wise, and liberal ;
His climbing high, disdained by his peers,
Was thought the cause he lived not out his years.
Her house was deem'd a second Court, of right,
Because there flocked still nobility ;
He spared no cost his lady to delight,
Or to maintain her princely royalty."
The queen's establishment consisted of " a retinue of ladies in
waiting, maids of honour, and gentlewomen in ordinary, besides the
appointments for her expected nursery, and lying-in-chamber, and more
than a hundred and twenty gentlemen of her household, and yeomen
of the guard."* Here also she assembled round her several of the
most learned men among the lights of the reformed religion for her
chaplains ; and she caused divine worship to be performed twice a day
or oftener, in her house. Among the endless interesting associations
which cluster round Sudeley ; not the least is, that the glorious freedom
of the Reformation was here encouraged, and the searchers after truth
found their faith confirmed and their courage strengthened to meet the
fiery ordeal which so soon awaited them ! Here, too, was Miles
Coverdale encouraged to forward the revised translation of the Scrip
tures, afterwards known as the Geneva Bible, thereby to replace, with
grand and simple truths, the childish fables which hitherto had been
too sadly interspersed with the higher teachings of the Church. The
words of Coverdale may here be quoted, as his memory must ever be
* Miss Strickland's "Life of Katharine Parr."

1 68 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
affectionately linked with our Church and Castle ; who dead yet speaks,
and commends to our love, what Tyndal had boasted he would soon
put within the reach of every plough-boy in Gloucestershire, namely,
the Holy Scriptures in our mother tongue :
" As for the commendation of God's Holy Scripture," he wrote, " I would fain
magnify it as it is worthy, but I am far insufficient thereto, and therefore I thought it
better for me to hold my tongue than with few words to praise or commend it ; exhorting
thee, most dear reader, so to love it, so to cleave unto it, and so to follow it in thy daily
conversation, that other men, seeing thy good works, and the fruits of the Holy Ghost in
thee, may praise the Father of Heaven, and give this word a good report, for to live after
the law of God and to lead a virtuous conversation, is the greatest praise that thou canst
give unto his doctrine." *
With such like holy words must he, as chaplain, often have exhorted
in his daily sermon, not only the queen and her retinue, but the
youthful Lady Jane Grey, who was then an inmate of the Castle, placed
under the immediate care of Queen Katherine Parr, and with whom she
resided till her death. It was a cherished wish of the queen's to see
this studious, thoughtful girl united one day to the scholarly young
king who was then upon the throne. It was, therefore, with almost
more than maternal solicitude that she ever strove to influence her for
good, both in her studies and by thus bringing her into contact with
the wisest and best of the Reformed Church. The Admiral's distaste
to the pious regulations of the Castle, however, was proverbial — and he
proved a great let and hindrance to others ; for this, Latimer took an
opportunity of holding him up to public censure, comparing him at such
times to a mole getting himself away into the earth.
Far wiser had it been for Seymour to have joined his royal consort
in her holy purposes, than to have commenced thus early his downward
course of intrigue and cabal against the Protector. But so it was, and
in a gentleman of the Court, named John Fowler, he soon found an apt
and ready accomplice. In a long letter from him to the Admiral, dated
July, 1548, we find him conveying messages from the young king,
darkly insinuating distrust and fear of the Protector ; saying that, if
under less surveillance, he would write more to the Admiral, beggino-

* B. F. Westcott's " General View of the History of the English Bible."

if L K S COVE )r:.!iv ft l
DRAWN K- EflCrllAVT.D H if J. UPS IN.

FOH SAMUEL BAGSTER.AND SONS, B4TERNO 3T.KR H.OW.

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERINE PARR. 1 69
secresy, and, it may be inferred, making a request for Seymour to be
ready if needed, to supply the young king with money. This was but
one of the many intrigues which reached the Protector's ears ; bearing
in mind how subsequently the accusations thickened against him, and
the feud between the brothers increased, it is greatly to the credit of
the Protector that, in the beginning, he most affectionately warned
Seymour of the course he must pursue, in accordance with his duty
and office, if he continued to receive so many serious complaints
against him.
Among the Burghley State Papers (referring to " confessions " or
" statements " made after the queen's death, and on the occasion of
Seymour's trial) a conversation is recorded which shows that Katherine
evidently considered that, as the lands of Sudeley were granted to her
and Seymour solely from the regency, so they were held on very slight
tenure. More than this, with her keen sense of justice, and ever keep
ing at heart the welfare of the prince and princesses, she saw it would
only be due to the king to restore what had thus been so liberally
granted. The conversation is so interesting that I give it verbatim
from Robert Tyrwhit's confession : " One day at Sudley, walking in
the park, amongst many communications, the queen's grace said thus :
' Master Tyrwhit, you shall see the king when he cometh to his full
age, he will call his lands again, as fast as they be now going from
him : ' ' Marry,' said I, ' then is Sudley Castle gone from my Admiral'
' Marry, I do assure you,' answered the queen, ' he intends to offer
them to the king, and give them freely to him at that time.'" This
was nobly spoken by a noble woman, who as yet knew nothing of her
husband's avarice or treachery. She believed in and passionately loved
her handsome and fascinating Seymour ; for, whatever in other respects
may have been his faults, he too loved her, and treated her with all loyal
kindness and tender consideration, as may be gathered from the many
affectionate letters which passed between them.
Mayhap, thy spirit found deep rest,
No longer chafed by Monarch's frown,
Or empty bauble of a crown,
In this fair palace of the West ;

1 70 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
Where thou didst reign, with gentle sway,
Among thy happy sisterhood ;
Communing with the wise and good —
Meek Coverdale, and saintly Grey.
F. R. Traill.
One more occupant of the Castle may here be named, before in
imagination we turn our steps up the winding staircase to witness, alas !
the too soon closing scene of Katherine's felicity. An interesting letter
from the Princess Mary to the queen at this time, praying for health and
" a good success to her grace's condition," brings before us the Marquis of
Northampton, Katherine's brother, who had been visiting the princess,
to be the bearer, it might be, of greetings from her to his sister at
Sudeley. Miss Strickland states that " the marquis had made an
unhappy marriage with the heiress of Essex ; and his guilty wife was
placed under some restraint at Sudeley Castle, and in the keeping of
her royal sister-in-law."* This, however, is an inaccurate statement,
for, as Burnetf distinctly proves (and which is far more probable), he
was justly divorced from his first wife, Anne Bourchier, daughter of
the Earl of Essex, but, according to the ecclesiastical law of that time
divorce was only " a mensa et thoro" whilst the marquis was resolved
to marry again. The bishops took the question up as a new case,
inquiring whether she was not so lawfully divorced by the word of God
as to leave her husband free. Cranmer went into the subject enthusi
astically, examining the opinions of Fathers and Doctors so copiously,
that the collection grew into a large book, and took so long time that
the marquis cut short the difficulty by marrying Elizabeth, daughter to
Lord Cobham. This taking the law into his own hands gave great
offence to the learned divines who were studying the rights of the
case ; and they ordered that he and his wife should be parted till
they had quite decided whether this second marriage was according to
the word of God or not, and that, in the meantime, his new wife should
be placed under the guardianship of the queen-dowager, his sister, then
residing at Sudeley Castle. The case was finally decided in his favour ;
* "Life of Katharine Parr," p. 277.
t " History of the Reformation," Part II., Book I., p. 93.

[To /ace p. 171.
Exterior of Queen Katherixi: Parr's Nursery. From a Photograph by
Marianne Brocklehurst.

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERINE PARR. IJl
but four years later he was advised to have a special act of parliament
to confirm this sentence.
The account given by Miss Strickland of the preparations made
for the expected infant, and of the facts connected with the queen's
death, is so graphic, that no apology is needed for here quoting the
same verbatim :
" Katharine fitted up the apartments which she destined for the reception of her first
born with no less state and magnificence than if she had^ been still queen-consort of
England. The outer apartment, or day nursery, was hung with fair tapestry, representing
the twelve months. A chair of state, covered with cloth of gold, cushions of cloth of gold,
all the other seats being tabourets with embroidered tops, and a gilded bedstead, with
tester curtains, and counterpoint of corresponding richness. The inner chamber was also
hung with costly tapestry, specified as ' six fair pieces of hangings ; ' and besides the rich
cradle, with its three down pillows and quilt, there was a bed with a tester of scarlet and
curtains of crimson taffeta, with a counterpoint of silk serge, and a bed for the nurse, with
counterpoints of imagery to please the babe. A goodly store of costly plate, both white
and parcel-gilt, was also provided for the table service of the anticipated heir. Local
tradition still points to a beautiful embowed window, of the most elaborate Tudor-gothic
order of architecture, which commands the fairest prospect and the best air, as the nursery
window, par excellence ; but the inventory of ' the plate and stuff as belongeth to the
nursery of the queen's child,' enumerates carpets for four windows, whereof this surviving
relic retains, after the lapse of three centuries, the unforgotten name of the nursery-window.
It looks upon the chapel-green, and towards another scene sacred to the recollections of
England's royal dead, — St. Kenelm's wood."
On the 30th of August, 1548, Katherine Parr gave birth, at Sudeley
Castle, to the infant whose appearance had been so fondly anticipated
both by Seymour and herself. It was a girl, and though both parents
had confidently expected a boy, no disappointment was expressed.
On the contrary, Seymour, in a transport of paternal pride, wrote so
eloquent a description of the beauty of the new-born child to his
brother, the duke of Somerset, that the latter added the following
kind postscript to a stern letter of expostulation and reproof, which
he had just finished writing to him when he received his joyous
communication : *
" After our right hearty commendations.
" We are right glad to understand by your letters that the queen, your bedfellow,
* The spelling is modernized.

1 72 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
hath had a happy hour ; and, escaping all danger, hath made you the father of so pretty
a daughter. And although (if it had so pleased God) it would have been both to us, and
we suppose also to you, a more joy and comfort if it had been this the first a son ; yet the
escape of the danger, and the prophecy and good hansell of this to a great sort of happy
sons, the which, as you write, we trust no less than to be true, is no small joy and comfort
to us, as we are sure it is to you and to her Grace also ; to whom you shall make again
our hearty commendations with no less gratulation of such good success. Thus we bid
you heartily farewell. " Your loving brother,
" E. Somerset.
" From Sion, the 1st of Sepr. 1548."
From this letter, it is evident that Lord Thomas had been casting
horoscopes and consulting fortune-tellers, who had promised him long
life and "a great sort of sons." It is difficult to imagine that the
Admiral, however faulty his morale might be on some points, could
cherish evil intentions against her who had just caused his heart to
overflow for the first time with the ineffable raptures of paternity.
The charge of having caused the death of the queen by poison can
only be regarded as the fabrication of his enemies, neither is there the
slightest reason to believe that the unfavourable symptoms which
appeared on the third day after her delivery, were either caused or
aggravated by his unkindness. On the contrary, his manner towards
her, when she was evidently suffering under the grievous irritability of
mind and body incidental to puerperal fever, appears, from the deposi
tion of Lady Tyrwhit, one of the most faithful and attached of her
ladies, to have been soothing and affectionate. Let the reader judge
from the subjoined record of that sad scene in the chamber of the
departing queen. It is called the " Confession of Lady Elizabeth
Tyrwhit," and exists among the Burghley papers ; evidently a deposi
tion of one of the ladies in waiting when the bill of attainder was being
prepared against Seymour.
" A two days before the death of the queen, at my coming to her in the morning, she
asked me where I had been so long, and said unto me, she did fear such things in herself
that she was sure she could not live ; whereunto I answered, as I thought that I saw no
likelihood of death in her. She then, having my Lord Admiral by the hand, and divers
others standing by, spake these words, partly as I took it, idly, ' My Lady Tyrwhit, I am not
well handled, for those that be about me careth not for me, but standeth laughing at my
grief; and the more good I will to them, the less good they will to me;' whereunto my

fflB*iiiili

sMiiiiisls!

[To face p. 172.
Interior of Queen Katherine Parr's Nursery. From a Drawing by E. L. Wedgwood.

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERLNE PARR. 1 73
Lord Admiral answered, ' Why, sweetheart, I would you no hurt ; ' and she said to him
again aloud, ' No, my lord, I think so ; ' and immediately she said to him in his ear, ' but,
my lord, you have given me many shrewd taunts.' Those words I perceived she spake
with good memory and very sharply and earnestly, for her mind was sore unquieted.
My Lord Admiral, perceiving that I heard it, called me aside, and asked me what she said,
and I declared it plainly to him. Then he consulted with me that he would lie down on
the bed by her, to look if he could pacify her unquietness with gentle communication ; where
unto I agreed. And by that time he had spoken three or four words to her, she answered
him very roundly and shortly, saying, ' My lord, I would have given a thousand marks
to have had my full talk with Huyck * the first day I was delivered, but I dared not for
displeasing of you : ' and I hearing of that, my heart would serve me to hear no more.
Such like communication she had with him the space of an hour : which they did hear
that sat by her bedside. " Elizabeth Tyrwhit."

On the very day when the scene occurred thus described by Tyrwhit,
Katherine Parr dictated her will, which is still extant in the Prerogative
Office ; it is dated September 5, 1548, and is to the following effect:
" That she then lying on her death-bed, sick of body, but of good mind
and perfect memory and discretion, being persuaded, and perceiving
the extremity of death to approach her, gives all to her married espouse
and husband, wishing them to be a thousand times more in value than
they were, or been." There are no legacies; and the witnesses are
two well-known historical characters, Robert Huyck, M.D., and John
Parkhurst. This is a nuncupative or verbal will ; it was not signed by the
dying queen, which we find was usually the case with death-bed
royal wills of that era. The witnesses were persons of high character,
and even sacred authority in a sick chamber, being the physician
and chaplain. Parkhurst was then rector of Bishop's Cleeve in this
neighbourhood, having been previously presented to the living by
Lord Seymour, when it came into his patronage among the numerous
other church preferments already mentioned. Katherine Parr ex
pired on the seventh day after the birth of her child. She was
only in the thirty-sixth year of her age, having survived her royal
husband, Henry VIII., but one year, six months and eight days. Her

* Robert Huyck, M.D., afterwards physician to both Mary and Elizabeth.

1 74 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
character is thus recorded by a contemporary, quoted by Strype : " She
was endued with a pregnant wittiness, joined with right wonderful
grace of eloquence, studiously diligent in acquiring knowledge, as
well of human discipline as also of the Holy Scriptures ; of incom
parable chastity, which she kept not only from all spot, but from all
suspicion, by avoiding all occasions of idleness, and contemning vain
pastimes." There is a curious poem, of 1 74 lines, " The Flower of Fame,"
" In prayse of the renowned Ladye, Queen Katherine Par," compiled
by Ulpian Fullwell in 1575. In it the queen is described as worthy of
fame and possessing every virtue, but it is too long for insertion.
Fuller, also, in his " Church History" speaks of her in the highest
terms of commendation.
Her remains were deposited with much funereal pomp in the chapel
of the Castle, notwithstanding that the late king had left directions for
her remains to be deposited within the same vault as his own prepared
for that purpose at Windsor.
The following details of her obsequies are extracted from a curious
MS. in the Heralds' College,* and entitled "A Boke of Bury alls of
truly noble persons." A circumstance renders this doubly interesting,
inasmuch as it is an account of the first royal funeral solemnized
according to Protestant rites.
" A Brevyate of th' entirement
of the lady Katheryn Parre
Quene Dowager, late Wiefe
to Kinge Henry th' eight, and
after wiefe to Sr. Thomas Lord
Seymour of Sudeley & highe
Admirall of Englond.
" Itm. on Wenysdaye the Vth of Septembre between ij & iij of the Clocke in the
morninge died the aforeseid Ladye late Quene Dowager at the Castle of Sudeley, in
Glocestre Shyre, 1548; and lyethe buried in the Chapell of the seid Castle.
" Itm. she was cearied and chested in leade accordinglie, and so remayned in her
pryvie Chambre until things were in a redynes.

* This is No. VI. of a " Collection of Ceremonials " made by Ralph Brooke, York herald, in the time
of James I. It is taken from a work now in the Cottonian Library, British Museum.

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERLNE PARR. 1 75
" Hereafter followeth the
P'vision in the Chapell.
" Itm. hit was hanged wth blacke clothe garnished wth schoocheons of maryages,
vizd. King Henrye th' eight and her in pale under the Crowne, her own in lozenge under
the Crowne. Allso th' armes of the lord Admyrall and hers in pale w41,out crowne.
" Itm. reyles cov'id w* blacke clothe for the mourners to syt in wth stooles and
cussheons accordinglie wthout eyther hersse mat" & vallence or tapres savinge ij tapres
whereon were ij schoocheons w01" stode uppon the corps duringe the servyce.
" Th' ordre in proceadinge
to the chappell.
" Fyrst ij conductors in blacke wth black staves
Then Gentlemen and Esquiers
Then Knights
Then officers of household wth theyre whyte staves
Then the gentlemen huisshers
Then Som'sett heraulde in the Ks cote
Then the Corps borne by vi Gentlemen in blacke gownes wth theyre hodes on
theyre heades
Then xl staffe Torches borne on Eche side by Yeomen round about the Corps and
at eche corner a Knight for essystence iiij with theyre hodes on theyre heades
Then the ladye Jane (Doughter to the lorde Mrques Dorsett) chefe mourner, ledde
by * * * * her trayne borne uppe by a younge ladye
Then vi other ladye mourners ij & ij
Then all ladyes and gentlewomen ij & ij
Then all other followinge. "The Mann' of the Service
in the Churche.
" Itm. when the Corps was sett wthin the Rayles and the mourners placid the hole
Quere began and song certen Salmes in Englishe and read iij lessons. After the iij'ltr
lesson the mourners accordinge to theyre degrees & as yt ys accustomyd offerid into the
alms boxe. And when they had don, all other as Gentlemen or Gentlewomen that wolde.
"The offeringe don Doctor Covrdall [Coverdale] the Quenes Aimer began his
Sermonde whch was verie good and godlie. And in one place thereof he toke A occasion
to declare unto the people howe that thei shulle none there thinke Seye nor spredde
abrode that the offeringe whch was there done was don anye thinge to pfytt the deade but
ffor the poor onlye. And allso the lights whch were carid and stode abowte the Corps
were ffor the honnour of the parsson & for none other entente nor purpose. And so went
throughe wth hys Sermonde and made a Godlye prayer. And th' ole Churche annswerid
and praied the same wth hym in th' ende.
" The Sermonde don the Corps was buried duringe wch tyme the Quere songe Te
Deum in Englisse.
" And this don aftre dinn' the mourners and the rest that wolde returnid homeward
agayne all wch aforeseid'.was don in a mornynge."

176 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
The beautiful alabaster monument erected in the Chapel to her
memory bore the following Latin epitaph, written by her chaplain, Dr.
Parkhurst : " Hoc Regina novo dormit Katharina sepulchro,
Sexus fceminei flos, honor, atque decus :
Hsec fuit Henrico conjux fidissima regi,
Quern postquam e vivis Parca tulisset atrox,
Thorrue Seymero (cui tu, Neptune, tridentem
Porrigis) eximio nupserat ilia viro :
Huic peperit natam ; a partu cum septimus orbem
Sol illustrasset, mors truculenta necat
Defunctam madidis famuli deflemus ocellis
Humescit tristes terra Britanna genas :
Nos infelices mceror consumit acerbus,
Inter cselestes gaudet at ilia choros."
Of which the following is an elegant translation :
" In this new tomb the royal Katharine lies ;
Flower of her sex, renowned, great and wise ;
A wife, by every nuptial virtue known,
And faithful partner once of Henry's throne,
To Seymour next her plighted hand she yields —
Seymour, who Neptune's trident justly wields ;
From him a beauteous daughter bless'd her arms,
An infant copy of her parent's charms.
When now seven days this infant flower had bloom'd,
Heaven in its wrath the mother's soul resumed."
There is every reason to suppose that this is the tomb represented
in Bentley's " Monument of Matrones " or " Seven Lamps of
Virginitie " (Lond. 1582), to which this curious woodcut forms the
frontispiece. It is in two divisions, separated by rainbow and clouds.*
In the lower division are the dead rising out of their graves, the
principal subject being the monumental figure of Katherine Parr, with
hands clasped as in prayer, lying on a mattress, on the left hand corner
of which is inscribed the words " Queen Katherine : " also in this lower
division are the words, " We must all appear before the judgment seat
of Christ." * This suggested the present east window in the restored Chapel at Sudeley.

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERINE PARR. I 77
In the upper division, which represents the Resurrection, is Christ

Facsimile from the Monument of Matrones.
on the judgment seat, in one hand holding a palm branch, in the other
a crown which He appears to be placing on the head of a female figure,

i78

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.

supposed by Herbert* to be the Virgin Mary, but, considering the
very Protestant spirit of the work, this must be erroneous, and it can
be none other than the Queen risen from the dead. This idea is
corroborated by the text which adorns the upper division of the wood
cut : " Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of
life." " Hallelujah, Hallelujah " proceed from the Queen's mouth.
Other figures represent David and Solomon, virgins with lamps,
angels blowing trumpets, and allegorical figures at the four corners.
It will be seen from the sketch here given of the only remaining
fragment of the original tomb, that the pattern of the mattress and
folds of the robe correspond with those of the monumental figure.

Fragment of Queen Katherine Parr's Monument.!
Katherine Parr not only encouraged others to write, translate and
publish, but was herself a scholar, as various Latin letters of hers
testify, particularly one to the University of Cambridge, and another
to the Princess Mary, the purport of which was to encourao-e her to
publish in her own name the translation into Eno-lish of Erasmus's
Paraphrase of the Gospel of St. John after a careful revision by Dr.
Mallet. The translation was finally accomplished by the queen eno-ao--
ing several learned men in the work, and defraying all the expenses
herself. Erasmus, the prince of scholars, by the impetus he aave to

* Ames, " Typographical Antiquities.''
t This was not originally over the remains of Queen Katherine Parr, but was part of the monument
inserted in the wall near to her grave.

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERINE PARR. 179
the cultivation of languages connected with the Scriptures, greatly for
warded the Reformation. " But for languages," said one of those
times, " the Church would still have been sitting in darkness ; the
scabbard which contains the Sword of the Spirit would have been
lost, the casket which holds the jewels, the vessels containing new
wine, the baskets of loaves and fishes for the multitudes would have
still remained unopened."
Her first composition seems to have been that entitled " Queen
Katharine Parr's Lamentation of a sinner, bewailing the ignorance
of her blind life" (London, 1542, 1563). This discourse was found
among her papers after her death, and was published by Secretary
Cecil, who prefixed to it a preface. In it she acknowledges the sinful
course of her life for many years, in which relying on external perform
ances, such as fasts and pilgrimages, she was all the time a stranger
to the true internal power of religion, which she came afterwards to
experience by the study of the Scriptures, and she prays to God for
the assistance of that Holy Spirit by whose direction they were indited.
She explains clearly the ideas she had of justification by faith, so that
holiness was its necessary consequence, and lamented the great scandal
given by many " Gospellers," a name by which those were distinguished
who gave themselves to the reading of the Scriptures.*
She also published a book of " Prayers and Meditations " collected
out of Holy works. It contained fifteen psalms in imitation of the
Psalms of David, each having its particular subject. This work was
translated the same year by the Princess Elizabeth into Latin, French
and Italian. Katharine Parr also translated and published "A Goodlie
Exposition, of the Fifty-first Psalm which Hieron of Ferrara made at
the latter end of his days ; " to this she added some smaller pieces
of her own composition.
The miniature by Holbein, from which the illustration of the Queen
is taken, was formerly at Strawberry Hill, where it was purchased, by
John Coucher Dent, Esq., when that valuable collection was dispersed.
It was greatly admired by Miss Strickland, to whom we had the

Ballard's " Life of Katherine Parr," p. 61.

180 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
pleasure of showing it in 1848. The subsequent description of it
published in her " Life of Katharine " is here given, as it is full of
detail which may interest the admirers of Holbein's works.
" The miniature is in a small oval, on a deep smalt-blue background. Her age is
stated, in gilt figures in front of the picture, to be XXXII. ; so that the likeness must
have been taken in the year 1545, about two years after her marriage with Henry VIII.
Katharine is there represented with very small and delicately marked features, hazel eyes,
and golden hair, folded in simple Madonna bands. Her forehead is lofty and serene,
indicative of talent and sprightly wit. She wears a round crimson velvet hood or cap of
state, edged with pearls, and surmounted with a jewelled band of goldsmith's work set
with rubies and pearls, which confines a long black veil, that flows from the back of the
head-dress over the shoulders. The bodice and sleeves of the dress are made of rich
gold brocade, and set tight to the shape : the bodice is cut plain across the bust, like
the corsage of a modern dress, and is edged with a row of pearls between pipes of black
and crimson velvet. She wears a double row of large pearls about her neck, from which
depends a ruby cross finished with one fair pendant pearl. Her bodice is ornamented
with a large ruby brooch, set in filigree gold  I enjoyed last summer the
opportunity of a second inspection through a powerful magnifying glass, which enabled
me, to my own surprise as well as that of every one else, to unfold an unsuspected
mystery connected with the brooch that decorates the front of the bodice. That
ornament, in actual measurement not much bigger than a large spangle, contains the
miniature portrait of King Henry, crowned and royally robed, seated on his throne under
a canopy of state, supported by pillars, holding an orb in one hand, a sceptre in the other,
having his foot on an ornamental stool : the whole is richly and elaborately decorated
with burnished gold and imitations of coloured gems, principally rubies, sapphires, and
"pearls, — in fact, it is the smallest specimen of illumination ever seen. The marvel is,
that eyes and fingers were ever formed to execute so diminutive a work of art. Perhaps
this was the veritable miniature which the Admiral, Sir Thomas Seymour, obtained from
Katharine, when he subsequently entreated her ' to send him one of her little pictures, if
she had not given them all away.' * A proof that several original miniatures of this Queen
were painted, although they are now almost as rare and difficult to identify as those of
Katharine Howard  Katharine Parr was petite in form, with remarkably small
and delicately cut features, and her complexion was that of a genuine Westmoreland
beauty, brilliantly fair, and blooming, with hazel eyes and hair of a golden auburn,
realising the beau ideal of Petrarca, when he exclaims : — ¦
' Love ! from what precious mine of gold didst thou
Bring the rich glories of her shining hair ?
Where pluck'd the opening roses, fresh and fair,
Which on her cheeks in tender blushes glow ? ' "
We have at Sudeley three locks of Katherine's hair, which quite

See letter from Seymour to the Queen, Miss Strickland's " Katharine Parr," p. 261

Katherine Parr.
From a Miniature bv Holbein.

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERINE PARR. 181
justify Miss Strickland's epithet of "golden auburn." One was given
to us in 18 1 7 by Edward Browne, Esq., of Winchcombe, another we
received from Mrs. Stocker, of Twyning Manor-House, niece of the
Mrs. Constable Maxwell who is named in Miss Strickland's " Queens "
as being in possession of some of Katherine Parr's hair; and in 1866
Mr. Samuel Lunell, of Clevedon, through Mrs. Townsend, of Bishop's
Cleeve Rectory, presented us with a third. In the paper containing it
was a note> as follows : —
"A lock of Queen Catherine Par, sent me 20th June, 1793, by my friend Miss Wills
of Cheltenham. It came with a letter (franked), and it remains in the identical strange
package in which my friend folded it up. Catherine Par, the last wife of Henry VIII.,
was buried in the Chapel of Sudeley Castle on the left of the altar as you stand facing it.
Her body, to gratify the curiosity of many, was taken up three times. I had a lock of
Catherine's, with a pin in it, just as it was taken from her head. It was given me by
Mrs. Durham of Postlip Paper Works, in the neighbourhood of Winchcombe, which
I had set (pin included, just as taken off), in a locket, and given to the celebrated
Elizabeth Hamilton."
" Scripsit Wm. Peter Lunell, 2d March, 1838."
I feel that no apology is needed for quoting so freely from Miss
Strickland's " Life of Katharine Parr." The talented authoress was
herself descended from Katherine's kinsfolk, the Stricklands of Sizergh
Castle,* and she made her life a special study. An engraving from the
miniature thus minutely described illustrates her work, but is not an
accurate copy, inasmuch as the hands are introduced, which are not in
the original. It is now preserved with the other Holbein miniatures,
also from Strawberry Hill, of Sir Thomas and Jane Seymour, in the
little apartment which still retains the name of " The Queen's
Nursery." f With these miniatures, were transferred from Strawberry
Hill to Sudeley Castle, a valuable collection of portraits, well known as
copies by Vertue from Holbein's portraits, many of which directly or
indirectly are associated with the Sudeley Chronicles.
The other portrait of Queen Katherine Parr in the same room with
the Holbeins, is a copy of an original by Holbein in Lambeth Palace.

* All who are interested in Queen Katherine Parr should take the opportunity, when at the Lakes, to
visit Sizergh Castle, one of the most picturesque castles in Westmoreland, and where several of her most
valuable relics are preserved.
T On the backs of these miniatures are the initials of Horace Walpole, in his own hand.

1 82 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.
The late Archbishop Sumner (formerly Bishop of Chester), kindly gave
us permission to have it copied by Mr. Henry Shaw, F.S.A.* At the
same time it must be observed, the portrait lacks all the characteristics
of the Queen, and is more probably, as Miss Strickland suggested to us,
that of Katherine Howard.
The portrait of Katherine Parr in the Cumnor room is treated quite
differently to that by Holbein ; it was the gift of Samuel Kent, Esq.,
of Levant Lodge, near Upton on Severn, in whose possession it had
been for many years, with the tradition that it originally came from
Sudeley Castle. It has been. engraved.
Among Katherine Parr's relics at Sudeley, the most interesting may
be considered a book called " Devotional Tracts." It is thus described
by its former owner, Dr. E. Charlton, in a communication to " Notes
and Queries," dated Newcastle-upon-Tyne, August 18, 1850.
" The volume is a small duodecimo, bound in red velvet, with gilt leaves, and it has
had ornamental borders and clasps of some metal, as the impressions of these are dis
tinctly visible upon the velvet covering. The contents of this volume are as follows : —
" 1. 'A Sermon of St. Chrysestome,' &c, &c, translated into Englishe by the floure
of lerned menne in his tyme, Thomas Lupsete, Londoner, 1534.' At the bottom of this
title-page is written, in the well-known bold hand of Katherine Parr, ' Kateryn the
Queen, K. P.,' with the equally well-known flourish beneath.
"2. 'A Swete and Devoute Sermon of Holy Saynet Ciprian.' 'The Rules of a
Christian Life made by Picus,' &c, both translated into Englyshe by Sir T. Elyot.
London, 1539.
"3. 'An Exhortation to Younge Men,' &c, by Thomas Lupsete, 1534.
"4. 'On Charitie,' 1534.
" 5. ' Here be the Gathered Counsailes of Sainte Isidorie,' &c, 1539.
"6. 'A Compendious Treatrse on Dyenge Well,' &c. Thomas Lupsete, Londoner,
i54i- " Almost all these treatises are printed by Thomas Berthelet, &c. On the fly-leaf
opposite the first page we find the following scriptural sentences, which are in my
opinion, and in that of others to whom I have shown the book, evidently written by the
hand of the Queen. It will only be necessary to give the first and last of these sentences :
" ' Delyte not in yc multytude of ungodly men, and have no pleasure in ym, for they
feare not God.'
" ' Refuse not ye prayer of one yl is in trouble, and turne not away thy face from the
nedye.' * Some peculiarities respecting the original picture are noticed in a letter to us on the subject, from
Mr. Shaw.

J. Rushton.

Seal of Queen Katherine Parr.-arch.eologia, Vol. v., p. 232.

The Parr Jug, the lid full size showing the Parr Arms,
FKOM Til!''. STK/vwnEHIlY lllll C'l H.l Iji'l Kin,

edward vi.] QUEEN KATHERINE PARR. 183
" On the opposite side of the fly-leaf are some verses of a different character, and
• which I suspect to be from the royal pen of Henry VIII. The writing is uncommonly
difficult to decipher, but it bears a strong resemblance to all that I have seen of Henry's
handwriting. A portion of the verses, as far as I can make them out,* are here
subjoined : — " Respect.
" ' Blush not, fayre nimphe, tho (nee ?) of nobell blod,
I fain avoutch it, and of manners good,
Spottles in lyf, of mynd sencere and sound,
In whoam a world of vertues doth abowend,
And sith besyd y* ye lycens giv withall,
Sit doughts asyd and to some sporting fall,
Therefoor, suspysion, I do banyshe thee.'
" Then follows a line I cannot decipher, and at the bottom of the page is —
" 'You will be clear of my suspysion.'
" Are these verses from some old poet, or are they composed, as well as written, by
the royal tyrant ? for no other would, I think, have addressed such lines to ' Kateryn the
Queen.' " 1 have only to add that the volume was given me by the sister of the late President
of the English College at Valladolid, and that he obtained it during his residence in
Spain. It is not unlikely it may have been carried thither by some of the English
Catholics who resorted to that country for education. In 1625 it seems to have belonged
to John Sherrott. "E. Charlton, M.D."
Another interesting relic is the Parr Jug, from the Strawberry Hill
Collection, said to have belonged to Queen Katherine. The arms on
the lid are those of her uncle, Lord Parr, of Horton, who, upon her
elevation to the throne, was promoted to the office of lord chamberlain.
He left no son, but the letters M. L. on the inside of the lid show
that it became the property of his eldest daughter, Maud, who married
Sir Ralph Lane.
The following is a list of the few letters preserved of Queen
Katherine : several of them have been printed by Strype, in the
Appendix to Vol. II. of his "Annals." Among these are :
Three to the King during his expedition to France in 1544 (from the Calais Corre
spondence, State Paper Office, Bundle IV., No. 411 B.).f A Latin letter to the Princess

* Some of our friends have tried to decipher them, but without success, which will not appear surprising
to any one who has seen the undoubted handwriting of the King.
¦f Now in the Public Record Office.

1 84

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xiv.

Mary (Cotton MS., Faustina). A Latin letter to the University of Cambridge. A
letter to the Lady Wriothesley, comforting her on the loss of her only son.
In other collections are the following :
To the College of Stoke, among the MSS. of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
To the Lord Admiral. In the Sylloge Epistolarum, printed by Hearne.
Two to the same. In the Salisbury Collection.
Others to the same. In the Ashmolean Collection, and at Sudeley Castle.
To the Mayor and Sheriffs at Okinge. Harl. MS. 442, foi. 297.
To her Council. In the Cottonian Collection.
Many of her letters, written to her brother, the Marquis of Nor
thampton, and her sister, the Countess of Pembroke, it is believed,
perished in the great fire at Wilton House in the 17th century. Beside
these, Miss Strickland suggests that Lord Seymour may have destroyed
as useless or dangerous many a precious letter or record from among
" the great sort of old papers belonging to the late Queen Katharine,"
and which he diligently searched when endeavouring to find a sufficient
proof for reclaiming jewels and " stuff" detained by the Protector from
his late royal consort.

Holbein.
Sir Thomas Seymour.
From a copy by Lady Lucan, formerly in the Strawberry Hill Collection, now at Sudeley Castle.

CHAPTER XV.
" There is a history in all men's lives,
Figuring the nature of the times deceased."
IN a very short period after the grave had closed over his unfortunate
wife, Seymour recommenced his importunities with the Princess
Elizabeth, and eagerly endeavoured to procure her consent to a
clandestine marriage. We read * that, on the death of the Queen, he
sent the news to the Princess ; and, on Mrs. Ashley suggesting she
should write him a letter of condolence she answered : " I will not
do it, for he needs it not." The letter, however, was written by Mrs.
Ashley, and tacit permission given to its being sent to the widower.
Shortly after he went in person to make his proposals of marriage, but
finding no encouragement from the royal lady, he endeavoured to
strengthen his cause by making friends of her attendants. So fully
bent was he on his ambitious determination to ally himself with the royal
family, that he was also reported, at this time, to be thinking of the
Princess Mary. Conversations are recorded between Seymour and Lord
Russell, in which he was warned of his danger should he attempt to
marry either of the Princesses ; whereupon Seymour argued that it
would be better for them to marry within the realm than foreigners.
Oaths followed on both sides ; but Seymour, evidently in no wise
daunted, soon after endeavoured to win favour with the Princess Mary,
by sending her an instructor of music with a letter ; this, however, was
considered only a ruse for the musician to forward Seymour's suit.f
Most historians concur in thinking that Elizabeth was deeply

* Haynes' State Papers.
t Tytler's "England under Edward VI. and Mary.':

1 86 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xv.
attached to this bold and dangerous man ; therefore all the more to
her credit must it be remembered that she never received his visits after
he became a widower. Strong-minded and of great discernment must
she have been for one so young, having but just attained her fifteenth
year ! The oft-repeated words of her step mother, "God has given you
great qualities, cultivate them always and labour to improve them, for
I believe you are destined by Heaven to be Queen of England" """ must
have sounded in her ear like a warning from above to help in fortifying
her against the persuasions of those around her, and not least the
dangerous flattering words of one twenty years her senior, and so well
versed in the art of gallantry.
It has been already stated that Lady Jane Grey was among the
attendants of the Queen at Sudeley Castle, that she was with her at
the time of her death, and acted as chief mourner at her funeral. It
was the ambitious project of the Protector to match the Lady Jane to
his son, and his daughter, the learned Jane Seymour, to the King.
This plan was frustrated by Lord Seymour's entering into private
negociations with the parents of Lady Jane Grey, who, it is said, fell
into his views on receiving a bribe of ^"500. Full particulars are
preserved f of how Seymour represented to her father his plan for
marrying her to the young King, if he would entrust her to his care.
To this an apparently unwilling consent was at last conceded by the
Marchioness of Dorset.^
On the death of the Queen, Seymour's aged mother took charge of
the Sudeley household, and Lady Jane was under her care. His first
impulse was to send her back from Sudeley to her parents ; but
thinking that having her in his hands might possibly further his
ambitious schemes, he quickly changed his mind, and wrote to the
Marquis, explaining that his previous letter was written at a time when,
overwhelmed with the sudden death of the Oueen, he thought to have
broken up his household. On further consideration, however, he had
decided it would be unnecessary, and if the Lady Jane remained under

* Miss Strickland's "Queens of England."
t Haynes' State Papers.
X " Memorials of Lady Jane Grey," by Sir Harris Nicolas.

edward vi.] LORD SEYMOUR OF SUDELEY. 187
his roof, he should retain not only all the servants and ladies-in-waiting
of the deceased Queen, but one hundred and twenty gentlemen and
yeomen always to reside in the house. To this the parents replied,
that owing to her tender age it was advisable for her to remain under
her mother's guidance, but that they should be ready to take his advice
when the time came for her to be given in marriage.
That this correspondence ended in Lady Jane leaving Sudeley, at
least for a time, is evident from an affectionate and grateful letter she
addressed to him (endorsed Oct. 1st, 1548). But after this, Seymour
was so persistent in wishing to retain her under his care, that he went
to the house of the Marquis, and would take no refusal till he gained
his consent, promising again and again that he would see her betrothed
to the King. So it ended in her returning to his house, where she
remained till he was conveyed to the Tower.
As it was during a visit of the Marquis of Dorset to Sudeley that
some of Seymour's treason was plotted, the following interesting
details are given verbatim from the Marquis's own statement : — *
" When I was with the Admiral at Sudeley towards the end of summer, he, desiring
to make me strong in my country, advised me to keep a good house, and asked me what
friends I had in my country ; to whom I made answer, that I had divers servants that
were gentlemen, well able to live of themselves. 'That is well,' said the Admiral, 'yet
trust not too much to the gentlemen, for they have somewhat to lose ; but I will rather
advise you to make much of the head yeomen and frankelyns of the country, specially
those that be the ringleaders, for they be men that be best able to persuade the multitude,
and may best bring the numbers ; and therefore I will wish to make much of them, and
to go to their houses, now to one, now to another, carrying with you a flagon or two of
wine, and a pasty of venison, and to use a familiarity with them, for so shall you cause
them to love you, and be assured to have them at your commandment ; and this manner,
I may tell you, I intend to use myself,' said he." * * * *
Another interesting conversation referring to Seymour's intrigues is
recorded to have taken place at Sudeley. This was between Nicholas
Throckmorton and one Wightman, servant to the Admiral."]'
" After lamenting the great loss he had sustained in the death of so admirable a
lady, and that it had not had the effect of withdrawing him from the world, they went on
to say, that if Seymour were in any way politic he would now make up the grudge that

* Haynes' State Papers. t Wightman's Confession, in Haynes' State Tapers. B B 2

1 88 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xv.
had existed between him and the Lady Somerset, who was jealous of the Queen's taking
precedence of her, and so had fanned the flame of discord between the two brothers :
that now it was to be hoped that Seymour ' would make him more humble in heart and
stomach towards the Protector.' They spoke with regret of his ambition and desire to
match with one of the Princesses, adding they would rather see him in his grave than
meddle with any thing so treasonable. There had been a great dispute between the
brothers touching certain of the Queen's jewels, which Seymour wished to retain ; and
Wightman concluded his statement by saying that on one occasion, when Seymour had
returned to Sudeley after seeing the Protector in London, he observed that they had
determined to have the jewel controversy settled by Parliament." *
But the subject of the Queen's jewels was soon to be absorbed by
others of more importance. The unfortunate Lord of Sudeley seemed
now to be blinded to all sense of propriety and danger, even con
templating taking possession of the young King's person. " Lounging
one morning into St. James's Palace, and seeing the gates open and
unguarded, he observed to Fowler, 'A man might steal away the King
now, for there come more with me than is in all the house besides.'
For the moment the enterprise was practicable enough, but he was
perhaps suspected, and the palace was better defended for the future." f
These plots and political intrigues were happily soon to draw to a
close. Seymour's prosperity was on the wane, as his daring ambition
and interference in the affairs of the realm caused him to be regarded
with the utmost suspicion. His most hazardous game was to under
mine the Protector in the confidence of the young King. Affairs, how
ever, were brought to a climax early in January, 1549, when he refused
to attend a summons to the Protector's house. Resistance was now
in vain, he had overshot his mark, the net was cast over him from
which there was no escape ; he was deprived of his seals of office and
committed to the Tower January 17th.
Not only were Seymour and his servants arrested, but the principal
persons of the household of the Princess Elizabeth, her governess, Mrs.
Ashley, her cofferers, and others. The Princess also was under
restraint, while examinations were carried on to ascertain how far she
herself might be implicated. An interview with the King or Protector

Haynes" State Papers. See also Depositions of the Earl of Warwick, in the same collection.
t Froude.

edward vi.] ' LORD SEYMOUR OF SUDELEY. 189
was denied her, but she wrote to the latter in a style worthy of a
King's daughter, thanking him for his kindness in requesting her to
divulge all she knew respecting the Admiral. Unhesitatingly she
gave satisfactory explanations, boldly grappled the most delicate
questions, and thus ended her letter : —
" Master Tyrwhitt and others have told me that there goeth rumours abroad which
be greatly both against my honour and honesty, which above all things I esteem, which
be these, that I am in the Tower and with child by my Lord Admiral. My Lord, these
are shameful slanders, for the which, besides the great desire I have to see the King's
Majesty, I shall most heartily desire your Lordship that I may come to the Court after
your first determination, that I may show myself there as I am. Written in haste
from Hatfield, this 28th of January, [1549]- " Your assured friend to my little power,
" Elizabeth."
Seymour's tragic end was now fast approaching. A bill of attainder
was framed against him containing thirty-three articles, which are here
summarized, as they give us a curious insight into the plots, falsehoods,
and designs in which the Lord of Sudeley was undoubtedly implicated.
"Articles of High Treason and other Misdemeanors against the King's
Majesty and his Crown, objected to Sir Thomas Seymour, Kt, Lord Seymour of Sudeley,
and High Admiral of England.*
" Article 1. He was charged with endeavouring to get into his own hands the
government of the king.
" 2. With bribing certain members of the Privy Chamber.
'' 3. With dictating a letter for the king to send to Parliament, tending to the disturb
ance of the government.
"4. For endeavouring to gain several of the nobility to join him in making changes
in the affairs of state.
" 5. For threatening to make the Blackest Parliament ever known in England.
" 6. For refusing to answer a summons to explain certain things laid to his charge.
" 7. For prejudicing the king against the protector.
" 8. For suggesting to the king to take upon himself the affairs of government.
" 9. For plotting to take the king into his custody.
" 10. For plotting that the king should apply to him alone for all he needed.
"n. For intending to control the king's marriage.
" 1 2. For confederating with discontented noblemen to make a strong party abroad,
ready to serve them when occasion required.

* Summarized from the Council Book, Vol. 236.

190 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xv.
"13. For planning that certain noble partisans should counteract those who opposed
him. " 14. For winning over the yeomanry to be ready to serve in case of need.
" 15. For strengthening his party by giving away various stewardships.
"16. For retaining in his service too great a number of gentlemen and yeomen
ready to strengthen his cause if needed.
" 17. For having 10,000 available men.
" 18. And having in readiness sufficient money to support the 10,000 for a month.
" 19. For endeavouring to bring about a clandestine marriage with the Princess
Elizabeth, second heir to the throne.
" 20. For having married the queen scandalously soon after the death of the king.
" 21. For deceiving the king and others in persuading them to plead with the queen,
they being already married.
" 22. For refusing to promote, every way, tl at was to the king's advantage, and of
so strengthening his own party by sea and land as to bring within his reach the power of
aspiring to the throne.
¦' 23. For endeavouring to obtain the public authority for his having the Mint of
Bristol, and which, by fraud, he had already got into his hands.
"24. For having aided and abetted Sir Wm. Sherrington, who was known to be a
traitor to the king.
"25. For defrauding the king of ,£2,800, having conspired for this object with Sir
Wm. Sherrington.
" 26. For extorting large sums of money from ships.
" 27. For having taken possession of goods seized by pirates.
"28. For wrongfully imprisoning those who had captured pirates.
" 29. For letting go free head pirates thus captured and brought before him.
" 30. For openly disobeying the Protector's orders for the restitution of goods taken
from pirates.
"31. For robbing foreign ships wrecked on the English coast.
" 32. For betraying the king's secret counsel.
" 33- For laying in provisions and money for a great number of men; for his
servants spreading the report the king was dead, of a riot in consequence being expected,
had it not been stopped by his apprehension and committal to prison."
The bill was immediately brought before the House of Peers, where
it was read on the 25th of February, the 26th and 27th, when it passed.
On the 2nd of March it was introduced into the House of Commons,
where it met with a strong opposition. On the 4th of March the bill
was read the third time, and on the following day received the royal
assent. These proceedings are recorded in the "Privy Council
Register," under the date of the 25th of February.
In the " Life of Sir Thomas Seymour," lately published by Sir John
Maclean, full particulars are given of this proceeding, for trial it was

II. Holbein.

From Vertue's Copy at Sudeley Castle.
Katherine, Duchess of Suffolk.

edward vi.] LORD SEYMOUR OF SUDELEY. 191
not, too long for insertion here, but well worthy the perusal of those
interested in these Sudeley Annals. The king's consent to his death
being obtained, and the warrant signed, the Bishop of Ely was deputed
to take to the Admiral the decision of the council, and to state that
his execution was arranged for the following Wednesday, March 20,
1549, and that he was to suffer on Tower Hill. Seymour requested
that the day of his execution might be postponed, that Latimer might
attend him with his counsel and prayers, and that his little daughter
might be committed to the care of the Duchess of Suffolk. The
two last requests were granted, but the day for execution was not
changed. The list of those who signed his death warrant was of
necessity headed by the Protector, though " for natural pity's sake he
had desired license to be absent at the time of the passing of the bill."*
Hayward, in his " Life of Edward VI.," describes the Protector and
Seymour as the most devoted of brothers, and the most faithful of
friends to the young king ; so that the one might well be termed his
sword, and the other his target. This continued till mischief was made
between them by Lady Anne Stanhope, the Protector's wife, who
seemed to possess every cruel and unwomanly vice. Above all was her
hatred to Katherine Parr, whose precedence as queen dowager was
gall and wormwood to her ; and even after the queen's death, when all
animosity should certainly have ceased, she insinuated to her husband
that Seymour was of the old religion, and aspired to take his place as
Protector and deprive him of life. But that the Admiral was of the
reformed faith there can be no doubt, from his requesting the presence
of Latimer at the last, and bequeathing his child to the care of a staunch
Protestant, the dowager Duchess of Suffolk, f
In Tudor times, especially when the bill of attainder was resorted to,
the offences for which men suffered were very imperfectly known, and
the people naturally saw with horror one brother sending another to
* In " Nugje Antique,'' vol. ii. p. 329, will be found " Lines written by Seymour the week before he
was beheaded."
f Katherine, the widow of Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk. She married Richard Bertie, a Lincoln
shire gentleman, and went abroad during the Marian persecution, where she endured many hardships, her
son, the famous Lord Willoughby of Queen Elizabeth's time, being born in a church porch, so destitute
was then her condition. She returned to England, and died in 1580. We have a copy, by Vertue, of
Holbein's portrait of her at Sudeley.

192 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xv.
the scaffold. " Many of the nobles cried out upon the Protector, calling
him a blood-sucker, a murderer, a parricide, and a villain." Seymour
died boldly, declaring the injustice of his doom from the scaffold.
When about to lay his head upon the block, he turned to one of the
attendants, saying : " Ayd my servaunte ; spede the thyng he wottes
of." The servant was arrested and examined ; and he confessed that
his master had obtained some ink in the Tower, and had plucked off
an aglet from his dress, with the point of which he had written a letter
to each of the princesses, which he had hidden within the sole of a
velvet shoe.*
Of his death Latimer says in one of his sermons :
" As touching the kind of his death, whether he be saved or no, I refer that to God.
In the twinkling of an eye He may save a man, and turn his heart. What he did I
cannot tell. And when a man hath two strokes with an axe, who can tell but between
two strokes he doth repent ? It is hard to judge. But this I will say, if they will ask me
what I think of his death, that he died very dangerously, irksomely, and horribly. He
was a wicked man, and the realme is well rid of him."
In another sermon he said :
" I have heard say, when that good queen that is gone had ordained in house prayer
both before noon and after noon, the Admiral gets him out of the way like a mole digging
in the earth. He shall be Lot's wife to me as long I live. He was a covetous man, an
horrible covetous man. I would there were no more in England He was an ambitious
man. I would there were no more in England. He was a seditious man." f . . . .
That Seymour's life might have been spared had he been permitted
an interview with his brother, appears probable from the following
words of the Princess Elizabeth in a letter to her sister, when charp/ed
with a knowledge of the treasonable designs of Wyatt. As she herself,
when under arrest, was refused an interview with the King or Protector,
the words seem full of unusual meaning, expressing that sympathy
which had been denied herself. After disclaiming any connection with
Wyatt's conspiracy, she continues :
" I have heard in my time of many cast away for want of coming to the presence of
their princes, and, in late days, I heard my Lord Somerset say, that if his brother had
' Tytler's State Papers. Latimer in his sermons speaks of them as of a wicked and dangerous nature,
tending to excite the jealousy of the king's sisters against the Protector Somerset as their enemy.
T Latimer's Sermons. Edition of 1549. London : by Thos. Daye and Wm. Sens.

edward vi.] LORD SEYMOUR OF SUDELEY. 193
been suffered to speak with him, he had never suffered; but the persuasions were made to
him so great, that he was brought in belief that he could not live safely if the Admiral
lived, and that made him give his consent to his death." *
It was naturally expected that the death of Seymour would greatly
affect the Princess Elizabeth ; but when the news was brought to her
she merely said : " This day died a man with much wit, and very little
judgment." Seymour had a staunch ally in Sir John Harrington ; during the
examination he revealed nothing that could criminate either his friend
or the Princess. For this he was afterwards taken into her household ;
and to the end of his life he remained faithfully attached to her interest.
When she had long been Queen of the realm he ventured to present
her with the portrait of his deceased master, which was accepted.
With the lines which accompanied the portrait we will close this sketch
of Seymour, remembering that they were penned by a devoted friend,
whilst on the other hand the articles of accusation were drawn up by
his enemies — between these two extremes a fair estimate perhaps may
be formed of his character : —
" Of person rare, strong limbs, and manly shape,
By nature framed to sea or land ;
In friendship firm in good state or ill hap,
In peace headwise, in war-skill great, bold hand
On horse or foot, in peril or in play,
None could exceed, though many did essay.
A subject true, to king a servant great,
Friend to God's truth, and foe to Rome's deceit ;
Sumptuous abroad for honour of the land,
Temperate at home, yet kept great state with stay,
And noble house, that fed more mouths with meat
Than some, advanced on higher steps to stand ;
Yet against nature, reason, and just laws,
His blood was spilt, guiltless, without just cause." \
Thus sadly terminated, a few short months after the death of the
Queen, the life of the daring, ambitious Lord of Sudeley. With pity

* Ellis's Letters, Second Series, vol. ii. p. 256.
t "The Hospitable Oake," an allegorical poem, said to have been written on the Lord Admiral after
his being beheaded. " Nuga; Antiquje," p. 330.

194 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap, xv
we turn from the parents to learn what befell their little daughter, the
Lady Mary, whom we left in the care of Lady Suffolk. All historians,
with the exception of Miss Strickland, record their belief that she died
young. Miss Strickland's authority, however, takes high rank, from
the indefatip-able and tender care with which she entered into all
researches connected with the interesting life of her mother, and the
following account of the little lady is copied almost verbatim from her
" Life of Katharine Parr."
" It is probable that Lady Jane was the godmother, as she was at Sudeley at the
time of her birth, and acted as chief mourner at the Queen's funeral. As the sole repre
sentative of both parents, the young Mary Seymour ought to have been the heiress of
great wealth ; and even if the act of attainder which had been passed on her father
operated to deprive her of the broad lands of Sudeley, and the rest of his possessions,
she was fully entitled to inherit the large fortune of her royal mother, if she had had
friends to assert her rights. According to Strype, she remained a little while at her uncle
Somerset's house at Sion ; and then, according to her father's request, was conveyed to
Grimsthorpe, in Lincolnshire, where Katharine, the dowager Duchess of Suffolk, lived.
There she was brought, with her governess, Mrs. Aglionby, her nurse, two maids, and
other servants, consonant to the high quality to which, for their own misery, her unfor
tunate parents had been advanced. Her uncle, upon her leaving Sion, promised that a
certain pension should be settled upon her for her maintenance, and that a portion of her
nursery plate and furniture brought to Sion House, was to be sent after when she went to
Grimsthorpe." These promises were never fulfilled. Miss Strickland, who gives
specimens of Lady Suffolk's letters to the "gentle Cecil," in which she
begs something may be granted as a pension for the helpless, penniless
babe, asserts that they betray " a worldly spirit and sordid temper,''
and that the little one, though the child of a lady who had honoured
the duchess with her friendship, and shielded her from persecution,
whom she regarded as a saint, had become the unwelcome recipient of
her charity. But the letters by no means warrant this uncharitable
construction. The facts, as brought out in them, only require to be
fairly represented in order to vindicate the duchess from censure. The
maintenance of the babe with her retinue, consisting of some dozen
persons, involved considerable expense, and the duchess found herself
unable, without running into debt, to support this large train, in a style
suitable to the etiquette of the times. The assistance promised by the

edward vi.] MARY SEYMOUR. 195
Protector for the maintenance of the child had been withheld ; under
these circumstances it was not unwarrantable, not a proof of ingratitude
or worldliness, that the duchess should be urgent in her endeavours to
obtain the fulfilment of Somerset's promises, especially as the little
lady had been cruelly wronged of the vast wealth which she ought to
have inherited from her parents.
If she had been befriended by her uncle, the Marquis of Northamp
ton, who then held an important position at court, she might have
retained some of her patrimony, but, on the contrary, he came in for a
great part of her possessions ; an Act of Parliament passed to disinherit
Mary Seymour, and Sudeley Castle was bestowed upon the Marquis.
Though another Act was passed for the restitution of Mary Seymour in
the same year, we do not hear of its being carried out, and it is not
known with whom she finally found a home. Strype affirms that she
died young ; Lodge that she only lived to be thirteen, but without
giving any authority ; while Miss Strickland gives her pedigree, and
states that she married Sir Edward Bushel ; that their only daughter
married Silas Johnson, whose daughter married the Rev. Francis
Drayton, of Little Chart, in Kent, where he and his wife lie buried.
From that marriage, the pedigree, down to the Johnson Lawsons, of
Grove Villa, Clevedon, seems clear and certain, and it is an interesting
fact that they possess several relics of Katherine Parr's personal
property, which have been carefully preserved in the family from
generation to generation.

CHAPTER XVI.
"A prince can make a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, and a' that ;
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Guid faith, he mauna fa' that." Burns.
THE Marquis of Northampton, who became possessor of Sudeley
Castle in the fifth year of the reign of Edward VI.,* was a
great favourite with Henry VIII., who conferred upon him
his earlier titles of Lord Parr of Kendal and Earl of Essex, and with
the young King Edward, who styled him his "honest uncle." It is said
his delight was music and poetry, and his exercise war, being a happy
composure of the hardest and softest discipline. In 1549 we find he
was engaged in Norfolk, attempting to put down Kett's rebellion ; but
the rebels were victorious, and he and others had to flee for their lives,
the fault of his being more acquainted with the witty than the warlike
part of Pallas. "j" On this he was superseded by the Earl of Warwick,
one of the best military leaders of the day, who wrote to Cecil to allow
him to serve with or under the Marquis rather than discourage him ;
together, they defeated the rebels.^ In the following year his name is
among those who took a copy of the Prayer Book to Gardiner when
imprisoned in the Tower, with an offer of pardon if he would accept it
without reserve. Again in 1 551, when King Edward was seeking to
cultivate the friendship of France by a marriage with that crown, the

* Patent Roll, 5 Edw. VI. This is, so far as Sudeley is concerned, practically a repetition of the
preceding grant of 4 Edw. VI., transferring to the Marquis of Northampton "all that our manor of
Sudeley, lately part of the possessions of Thomas Seymour, attainted."
T Fuller's "Church History."
\ The best account of this insurrection will be found in the Rev. F. W. Russell's " Kett's Rebellion,"
1858, which corrects many misstatements of Hayward and Blomefield.

°gt ' LOgJjg MAKqVE S OF NORTH 4MPTON

JJrmlilbn

From the original Portrait at Sudeley Castle.

edward vi.] THE MARQUIS OF NORTHAMPTON. 197
Marquis of Northampton was sent with a splendid embassy to treat of
the matter, and to invest Henry II. with the Order of the Garter,
which he received from the hands of the Marquis on the feast of St.
George. In Tytler's "Edward VI." there is a most interesting letter
from the Marquis and the other ambassadors to the Lords of the
Council. "The letter," as the historian describes it, "abounds with
little touches and anecdotes, which bring before us the gay court of
France, its monarch, its statesmen, warriors, carpet knights, and beau
tiful dames, more vividly than any account of the embassy to be found
in the general historians or contemporary memoirs of those times."*
In December, 1551, when Somerset was brought as a prisoner to
the bar, there among the twenty-six peers sat the Marquis of North
ampton. The prisoner, but two short years before, had sanctioned
the death of his own brother, Seymour, Northampton's brother-in-law.
Those were not the days of either justice or pity ; all seemed actuated
by personal ambition or religious fanaticism ; the trial ended, and
sentence of death was pronounced on Somerset. Thus the Protector
fell, and his rival, the Duke of Northumberland, rose to hold for a
while the reins of government.
Time was creeping on, and death with its unerring aim was prema
turely bringing the hours of the young king to a close. Under the
shallow pretence of zeal for the Protestant religion, Northumberland
worked on the fears of Edward for his own aggrandizement. North
ampton hovered about the precincts of the sick room ; keeping watch
as to who were admitted, and swearing others to secrecy as to the real
state of the dying king. " Five hundred men had been quietly intro
duced into Windsor Castle by Northampton, and it was rumoured
that he (with Suffolk and two or three others) was going down into
Hertfordshire, to form a cordon silently round Hunsdon, where the
Princess Mary was, and to take possession of her person when the
signal should be given from London." f
In the presence of Northampton the dying king was persuaded to

* It has been stated there are letters of the Marquis preserved among the Harleian MSS., but on
examination only one could be found, addressed to Lord Cobham, 24 Jan., 1549-50, about the promotion
of a servant, t Froude.

198 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xvi.
name Lady Jane Grey as his successor to the throne. Edward died,
and the plot utterly failed. " The government of Lady Jane Grey was
overthrown, not on account of its Protestantism, which was accidental
to its existence, but as being, what it was in truth, a conspiracy of a
few ambitious and daring nobles to make themselves masters of the
State."* No wonder then that Northampton was disgraced, attainted,
and Sudeley Castle taken from him, when Mary ascended the throne.
Early in Queen Elizabeth's reign he was restored to his titles and
some of his lands (but not Sudeley) f by her letters patent, bearing
date at the Tower of London, January 13, 1560 ; and in addition he
was made one of the Lords of the Privy Council, and had conferred
upon him the Order of the Garter. Advanced in years, and having
unexpectedly recovered those comforts which the close of life most
requires, he wisely resolved to apply them accordingly ; and we hear
of him after this period only as a commissioner for the pious work of
reforming the Liturgy. He died in 1571. Of his death we read the
following account : \ —
" On the 27th of Sept., 1571, Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, celebrated in St. Mary's
Church in Warwick, the French order of St. Michael, assisted and attended by the
Marquis of Northampton, the Earl of Hertford, the Lord Berkley, the Lord Dudley, the
Lord Chandos, and other noble men. Shortly after this splendid ceremony, the Marquis
of Northampton was taken ill and died suddenly at the Priory. ' Not being the richest
man in England,' as the Black Book § quaintly expresses it, he was buried at the cost of
Queen Elizabeth, who appointed Garter King of Arms and Norroy and Lancaster
Heralds to attend and direct the ceremony."
Dugdale adds, that
"The Marquis of Northampton was buried in the north side of the quire of St. Mary's
Church, Warwick, towards the upper end, as by his achievements, viz., coat of arms,
sword, shield, helm, and crest, which I have seen hanging there, appeareth ; but foras
much as there is no monumental inscription, I have here transcribed what Mr. Cambden
in his Annals of Queen Elizabeth, Anno 1571, hath said of him :
" ' Supremum vita; diem, hoc anno placide egit Gulielmus Farms, Marchio North-
amptoniae, amcenioribus studiis, musicis, amatoriis, et ceterae Aula; jucunditatibus

* Dean Stanley.
+ Only to the value of ,£500 a year, as we learn from a document in the Public Record Office, dated
November 1, 1559.
% Field's " History of Warwick."
§ A MS. belonging to the Corporation, written in the lime of Queen Elizabeth.

edward vi.] THE MARQUIS OF NORTHAMPTON. 1 99
versatissimus, qui ab Henrico octavo primum ad dignitatem Baronis Parr de Kendalia,
deinde, ad nuptias Annse Bourchierae, Comitis Essexiae unicas haeredis, et simul ad
Comitis Essexiae titulum, cum Rex ejus sororem duxisset ; atque ab Edwardo sexto ad
Marchionis Northamptoniae stylum et honorem provectus. Sub Maria, quod pro Jana
Greja Regina subornata arma sumpserit, Majestatis damnatus, ab eadem tamen mox
condonatus, et ad patrimonium, ut postea ab Elizabetha ad honores restitutus. Liberos
genuit nullos, sed Henricum Herbertum Pembrochiae Comitem, ex altera sorore nepotem,
reliquit haeredem.'
"The achievements hung at his funeral did remain till of late years : and where his
body, about fifty years since, being dug up, to make room for the burial of an ordinary
gentleman, was found perfect, the skin intire, dried to the bones ; rosemary and bay
lying in the coffin fresh and green. All which were so preserved by the dryness of the
ground wherein they lay ; it being above the arches of that fair vault, which is under the
quire, and of a sandy condition, mixt with rubbish of lime, as hath been related to me by
those who were eye-witnesses thereof."*
The marquis was thrice married ; first to Anne, daughter and
heiress of Henry Bourchier, earl of Essex, in consequence of which
marriage that title was afterwards conferred on him ; secondly to
Elizabeth, daughter of George, Lord Cobham ; and thirdly, to Helen,
daughter of Wolfgang Suavenburgh, a Swedish gentleman ; who, after
the marquis's death, became the wife of Sir Thomas Gorges, of Long
ford, in Wiltshire, Knt. In consequence of the infidelity of his first
wife, he procured an Act of Parliament within two years after their
nuptials, to bastardize her issue ; and afterwards, in April, 1549, a
second Act, to strengthen the former, by expressly confirming and
legalising his second marriage. These proceedings being contrary
to the canon law, which required a papal dispensation for a new
marriage whilst both parties to the original one were alive, even though
legally separated, Mary's first Parliament passed an Act to relegitimate
the issue of the first match, and to annul the second. This, in its turn,
was repealed under Elizabeth ; and the marquis, leaving no children
by his second or third wife, was succeeded in his possessions by Henry,
earl of Pembroke, his sister's son.

Dugdale's " Warwickshire

CHAPTER XVII.
" ' The crown they put upon my head was a crown of blood and sighs;
God grant me soon another crown more precious in the skies ! '
These words she spake, then down she knelt, and took the headsman's blow;
Her tender neck was cut in twain, and out her blood did flow.'' Spanish Ballad.
THE first day of Jane's short reign, if reign it may be called,
sets before us the next owner of the Castle. When she was
brought to her royal lodgings, landing at the Queen's Stair,
conducted by the great men who had made her queen, among her
other kneeling subjects was Sir John Brydges, the Lieutenant of the
Tower, the same who was appointed Constable of Sudeley Castle by
Henry VIII., resigning his office when Seymour became its lord, and
after a while receiving Sudeley as his own from the hands of the
triumphant Mary.* With Sir John Brydges was his brother Thomas,
whom he had appointed deputy-lieutenant of the Tower, and who was
then actually the prison warder. When Lady Jane's short reign was
over, and her partisans were being hurried to the Tower, Sir John
Brydges found difficulty enough where and how to lodge them all.
Northumberland was placed in the Garden Tower, Northampton in
the Develin Tower, behind St. Peter's Church, and Lady Jane was
detained in the house of Thomas Brydges, where she had her lady
attendants, and was left to her own sad thoughts, her studies, and pre-

* Among the Sudeley MSS. is a copy of this grant to Sir John Brydges, Lord Chandos. " The Queen
to all to whom, &c. Whereas King Henry VIII. granted to John Lord Chandos the site, &c, of the
monastery of Winchcombe, &c. , for a term of 2 1 years, &c. , know ye that We, to enable the said John
lirydges the better to support the dignity of a baron to which we have called him, grant him, &c. &c., and
all our lordship and manor of Sudeley and our Castle of Sudeley, &c. in as ample a manner as it had been
ever granted to Lord Seymour or Lord Northampton, to hold to him and Elizabeth his wife, their heirs, &c.
for ever." May 12, 1554. — Patent Roll, I Mar.

WARY.]

LADY JANE GREY.

201

parations for that heavenly crown which she could not but feel would
soon be hers.
It is very interesting to think that some of the brightest and sunniest
days of that short sad life must have been spent at Sudeley Castle,

Lady Jane Grey.
when the guest of Katherine Parr, whose influence over her and the
Princesses seems to have won their love and confidence
Knowing so well the beauty of Sudeley in the gay summer and
bright autumnal days, when all the flowers and golden-tinted leaves
are like jewels set against the rich sombre grey of the old Castle walls
it is pleasant to picture how that sweet young girl, even then with her
staid thoughts and power of appreciating the beautiful, must have

202 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xvii.
delighted in the peace and comparative quietude of the Castle and old
Pleasaunce, when Katherine was happy with her beloved Seymour.
What an interesting trio do we not in imagination see grouped under
the shadow of the trees ; the Queen, happier than she had ever been
since first she plighted love to man, and in the fond expectation of
soon becoming a mother ; Seymour, the handsome, gay, and fascinat
ing ; and the young and interesting Lady Jane. Alas ! how soon was
their short-lived happiness shattered ! the Queen dying so soon after
the birth of her infant, Seymour within the year disgraced and
executed, and here within the cruel precincts of the Tower is incarce
rated the sweet Princess, under the surveillance of one, soon to be the
new possessor of Sudeley, one of her fellow prisoners being the man
who had in his turn owned and forfeited the Castle.
" But in the flush of triumph, the desire for peace and to forget the
past, there was no vindictiveness in Mary's heart ; she would certainly
if possible have Northumberland spared. Northampton was certainly
to be pardoned — and as to Lady Jane, justice forbade, she said, that an
innocent girl should suffer for the crimes of others."* Northumberland
and Northampton were brought to trial. They pleaded guilty, the usual
sentence was pronounced, the Duke of Norfolk, who presided, broke
his wand, and the cold glimmering edge of the Tower axe was turned
against them ! Northumberland was executed with two of his associ
ates in August ; but the marquis was respited, and released from the
Tower ; disgraced of course ; his estates and titles were withheld from
him during the remainder of Mary's reign, "and he 'supported with
difficulty the character of a private gentleman." Lady Jane, her hus
band, and his three brothers, were brought to trial, and pleaded guilty ;f
but it. seems almost certain that none of them would have suffered had
not the mad rebellion of Wyatt alarmed the government, as even after
condemnation their imprisonment was by no means rigorous.J and the
three Dudleys were all released in the course of the next year.

* Froude.
t Guilford, Ambrose, and Henry Dudley, were tried with Lady Jane, Nov. 13, 1553 ; the fourth
brother, Robert (afterwards Earl of Leicester), by himself on Jan. 20, 1554.
X This is shown by the Privy Council Book, where there is an order, dated December 17, 1553, for
them all to have the liberty of the walks within the Tower Garden.

mary.] LADY JANE GREY. 203
Sad must have been the hearts of many in Sudeley Castle on that
cold February morning, when the news came of the death of Lady
Jane and her husband.
It may easily be supposed that as the Castle had so rapidly passed
from Seymour to his brother-in-law, and from him to the crown, there
might yet be many retainers there who had served the Queen, and
who would bring to mind the gentle girl, as she sojourned among them,
under the care of their royal mistress ; often seen in the deep shadow
of an oriel window, rapt in the study of the books she loved so well, or
listening with intense eagerness and delight to the teachings of those
early holy Reformers. We know that among Katherine Parr's friends
and chaplains ranked Parkhurst, Latimer, Miles Coverdale, Roger
Ascham, Nicholas Udal, and Dr. Mallet. Again, they would recall the
scene when the gentle girl stood as sponsor to the little Mary Seymour,
and covering with her fond caresses the hapless babe so soon, alas ! to
be left motherless — then again, but a few days later, walking sadly and
slowly, the " chief mourner" in that funeral procession which was bear
ing her royal friend to the tomb. Startling and sad would be the
news to them all ; and who could say what might be in store for
themselves ? Among the many changes that had passed over them,
the worst, perhaps, was now to come. The peaceful, studious spirit
of the Reformers was about to give place to the fiery persecuting spirit
of the Romanists, and the next Lord of the Castle would soon be
attending the great martyrdom so near his home as Gloucester.
Before passing on to the stirring events in which Sir John Brydges
took so active a part in the Tower, we would fain linger for a few
minutes over those whose memories will for ever be associated with
the Castle.
The publication of the Greek Testament by Erasmus is allowed on
all hands to have been a most important step in the early history of the
Reformation. It encouraged William Tyndal and Miles Coverdale to
undertake the translation of the Scriptures into English, which they
happily accomplished, although Tyndal received the crown of martyr
dom as his reward, and Coverdale only escaped the same fate by living
in exile until the death of Henry ; then he returned, and was made

204 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xvii.
Bishop of Exeter. On the accession of Mary, he was persecuted and
imprisoned. But finding a friend in Christian III., king of Denmark,*
he was released, and allowed to leave England. He afterwards
repaired to Geneva, where, in company with Knox, Whittingham,
and other Reformers, he laboured at the revision of the "great
English Bible" which had employed Tyndal and himself twenty
years before ; thus was produced the version of the Bible known
by the name of the "Geneva translation." He was recalled in
Elizabeth's reign, and having refused a Bishopric by reason of his age
and a recent attack of the plague, he was presented to the living of St.
Magnus, London Bridge, where he died and was buried.
" Martyrs in heroic story,
Worth a hundred Agincourts."
Campbell.
The first who died for the reformed faith in Mary's reign, who led
the way for the " noble army of Martyrs," whose going to the stake
was described by Noailles "as of one going to his wedding," was John
Rogers, a prebendary of St. Paul's. The one who next followed in his
train was none other than the bishop of this diocese, the brave, gentle,
saintly Hooper. His trial is too well known to need to be detailed
here ; we will, therefore, only take up the sad story where the Queen's
guards carried him to Gloucester, there to be handed over to the
sheriffs of the city, who with Lord Chandos of Sudeley and other
commissioners were appointed to see the sentence of death carried out.
Lord Chandos' orders were to the following effect, according to a
document preserved in the British Museum, and endorsed : " A true
copy of an old paper in my custody, which seems to be the first draught
of a letter from the Queen to the Lord Chandos, etc., Thorn. Tanner."f
" Whereas John Hooper, who of late was called Bishop of Worcester, is, by due
order of the laws ecclesiastic, condemned and judged for a most obstinate, false, detestable
heretic, and committed to our secular power, to be burned according to the wholesome
and good laws of our realm in that case provided : forasmuch as in those cities and the

* He had a brother-in-law, who was one of the Danish court chaplains, and, in consequence of his
entreaty, the king asked for Coverdale's liberty.
t Cottonian MS., Cleopatra, E. v., foi. 330.

mary.] MARTYRDOM OF BLSHOP HOOPER. 205
diocese thereof, he hath in times past preached and taught most pestilent heresies and
doctrine to our subjects there. We have, therefore, given order, that the said Hooper,
who yet persisteth obstinate and hath refused mercy, when it was graciously offered, shall
be put to execution in the said city of Gloucester, for the example and terror of others,
such as he hath there seduced and mistaught, and because he hath done most harm
there ; and will that you, calling unto you some of reputation, dwelling in the shire (such
as you think best), shall repair unto our said city, and be at the said execution, assisting
our mayor and sheriffs of the same city, in this behalf.
" And forasmuch as the said Hooper is, as heretics be, a vain-glorious person, and
delighteth in his tongue, and, having liberty, may use his said tongue to persuade such as
he hath seduced to persist in the miserable opinion that he hath sown amongst them ;
our pleasure is, therefore, and we require you to take order, that the said Hooper be,
neither at the time of his execution nor in going to the place thereof, suffered to speak at
large, but thither to be led, quietly and in silence, for eschewing of further infection, and
such inconvenience as may otherwise ensue in this part. Whereof fail you not, as you
tender our pleasure."
It was a great source of rejoicing to the good bishop that he might
die for the truth in the midst of his own people, and in sight of his own
cathedral. This was on the 9th of February, 1555, and a Saturday,
then as now the market-day in Gloucester, and 7000 people were
present. The bishop, though strictly forbidden to address the people,
was allowed to pray.* Then the box was placed before him, containing
a pardon if he would recant Imploring that the temptation might
be removed, the box was taken away, when Lord Chandos said :
" Seeing there is no remedy, dispatch him quickly." Hooper inter
posed : " Good my Lord, I trust your Lordship will give me leave to
make an end of my prayer." Then said the Lord Chandos to Sir
Edmund, his son, which gave ear before to Hooper's prayer, at his
request : " Edmund, take heed that he do nothing else but pray ; if he
do, tell me, and I shall quickly dispatch him." f
Looking at the illustration in " Fox's Book of Martyrs," there is no
doubt the principal figure on horseback watching the martyrdom must
represent none other than Lord Chandos himself, he, apparently, beino-
in command to see the order of execution carried out.
The bishop's prayer ended, he was undressed to his shirt, and bao-s of

" Why were our Reformers Burnt?" a Lecture by Rev. J. C. Ryle.
t Fox's " Book of Martyrs."

206 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xvn.
gunpowder tied to different parts of his body,* he was then chained to
the stake, and the cruel fire lighted. Let a veil be drawn over the
frightful scene. Our beloved Bishop, though dead, yet speaketh, and
it seems as if his voice were even now heard above the crackle and
roar of the flames, protesting to the last against false doctrine, de
nouncing Popery, "the real Presence," vestments, and the like. t
From Hooper, the Bishop of Gloucester, we turn to Latimer, once
Bishop of Worcester, associated with Sudeley as a friend of Queen
Katherine Parr, and also known as one of the most zealous preachers
of the reformed religion. In September, 1555, he and his friend
Ridley were sent to Oxford for their examination. Ridley was tried
first. Latimer's trial was the counterpart of Ridley's, " except that the
stronger intellect vexed itself less with nice distinctions. ' Bread was
bread,' said Latimer, ' and wine was wine ; there was a change in the
sacrament, it was true, but the change was not in the nature, but the
dignity.' " % The sad story of their burning need not be repeated.
" The horrible sight," continues Froude, " worked upon the beholders
as it has worked since, and will work for ever, while the English nation
survives." Latimer's last words to his friend were : " Be of good
comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man ; we shall this day light
such a candle by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put
out ! " words that were as the blast of a trumpet which rings even to
this day.§
Of John Parkhurst, another of the Reformers, whose name has been
already mentioned as the author of Queen Katherine Parr's epitaph, it
is recorded that he held Bishop's Cleeve, in this county, for three
years, having been presented to it by Sir Thomas Seymour in 1543.
He did much good there by his hospitalities and charities. In Mary's

* Horrible as this naturally seems to us, it was really meant as a mercy, and was recognised as such by
the sufferers themselves. Their friends often supplied the powder, the explosion of which soon terminated
their agonies.
t Ingram's House, in Gloucester, where the Bishop was lodged, is still standing. A beautiful monu
ment marks the spot of martyrdom, and the late Canon Kennaway told me he had seen, at the house of
Mr. Stuart, near Gloucester, part of the stake at which Bishop Hooper was burnt, and the chain which
fastened his body to it.
X Froude.
§ " Why were our Reformers Burnt?"

MARY.]

MARTYRDOM OF RLDLEY AND LATIMER.

207

reign he went into exile at Zurich, but was recalled by Elizabeth,
made Bishop of Norwich, and was engaged in the translation of the
Scriptures, made by command of the Queen, and known as the Bishops'
Bible, which was meant as a corrective to the anti-prelatical Genevan
version.

<o 3

The old Pleasaunce of the Castle, with pebbled walks and fountain.
discovered in 1850; the site of the present garden.

CHAPTER XVIII.
" Here the sons of Chandos, in their day
Of greatness, ruled in no ungentle sort :
Here Want was succour'd ; Sorrow here grew gay ;
And Winchcombe's Castle was no Tyrant's fort :
Here, too, the imperial Dame with Barons girt,
She who could make the crowns and Nations bow,
Relax'd, at Welcome's voice, her lion port,
And soften'd into smiles her stately brow." Quillinan.
IT has been mentioned that whilst Sudeley was in the hands of the
crown, one of its Constables was Sir John Brydges, of Coberley,
in Gloucestershire,* a man eminent in arms. He accompanied
Henry VIII. in his first expedition to France, and bore an active part
in the memorable rout of Guinegate, jocularly called the Battle of the
Spurs, from the alacrity shown by the French in running away. In
1537 he was appointed Constable of Sudeley, and in the same year he
was summoned to be present with the nobility and bishops, on the
15th of October, at the christening of the young prince. In the 34th
of Henry VIII. (1542), he had a new grant of the constableship of
Sudeley Castle, Edmund his son and heir, then one of the esquires of
the King's body, being joined with him in that trust. John was
lineally descended from Giles Brugges, Esq., son of Alice, one of the
nieces and co-heiresses to that Sir John Chandos who died in 8 Henry
VI. f (1430). The male line of this ancient family becoming extinct
in 1428, the title lay dormant, till, after some time, it was revived in

* Coberley is situated between Cheltenham and Cirencester, and came into the possession of the Bruges
in the reign of Edward III., remaining in that family till about the year 1608.— Rudder.
t See Dugdale's " Baronage " for a full account of the Chandoses, who came in with the Conqueror,
and Froissart, who so beautifully describes the heroic deeds and death of Sir John Chandos in the reign of
Edward III. See also " Lord Chandos," in Wyrley's " True Use of Armorie," London, 1592.

ARMS OF FORMER OWNERS OF SUDELEY.

\To face p. 209.

Sudeley.

Ralph, Lord Boteler of Sudeley, K.G.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, K.G.

Jasper, Duke of Bedford, K.G.

Thomas, Lord Seymour of Sudeley, K.G. William, Marquess of Northampton, K.G.

The Lords Chandos of Sudeley.

George, Lord Rivers of Sudeley.

Rlf'HAPn Tnrl AT^r^..^^

mary.] JOHN, FIRST LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 209
this Sir John Brydges, who among his possessions held the Manor of
Lugwardyn, in Herefordshire, and divers other lands by descent from
Chandos. He was one of the foremost in her train when the
Princess Mary entered London, attending her to the Tower, the charge
of which she then committed to him. His name thus became asso
ciated with many of the stirring events of the time, and with the
numerous noted characters who were committed to his care.
CHANDOS OF SUDELEY.
Sir John Bruges, of Coberley, sixth =j= Elizabeth, d. of Lord Grey of Wilton, 1 1559
in descent from Thomas, Lord
Chandos, who died 1375, created
Lord Chandos of Sudeley, April 8,
1554; t 1557 I  '  1 .
Edmund, 2nd Lord =j= Dorothy, d. of Lord Bray, Charles, of Wilton
+ 1573 T1605 5 other sons, 3 daughters
r  —  J  r  :  n
Giles, 3rd Lord =j= Frances, d. of Earl William, 4th =j= Mary, d. of Sir 2 daughters
T15Q4 of Lincoln, 1 1623 Lord, + 1602 | O. Hopton
r—J r  :  '  r  1
2 daughters Grey, 5th Lord =j= Anne, d. of Giles, 3 daughters

1 1621

E. of Derby, tc. 1629
T1647

Susan, d. of Earl of ^George, 6th =p Jane, d. of Earl William, 7th =p Susan Keere "
Rivers Lord + 167 6

Manchester, 1 1 65 2

Lord,ti6s5

crq 3-

I ft
2 daughters 3 daughters William, ob. v. p. 3 daughters 3
Whilst holding this important post he proved himself a zealous friend
of his royal mistress, and rendered her most important service. The
firm hold which he kept on the Tower prevented Wyatt from entering
the city of London, where he hoped to find many partisans, and greatly
contributed to the defeat of his enterprise. When, a few days later,
Wyatt was brought in a prisoner, Sir John could scarce refrain his
temper, but consoled himself with the reflection, that " the law would
pass upon him." To others, as the feeble-minded Courtenay and the
Princess Elizabeth, he behaved with true courtesy, and his most inter
esting prisoner, the gentle Lady Jane, in her last hour described herself
as " his friend, as the Lord knoweth."

2IO ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xvm.
As Lieutenant of the Tower it was his painful duty to attend her to
the scaffold ; it may well be imagined how such a brave and noble
gentleman must have suffered in witnessing her sad end. But she was
not unmindful of his kind and courteous manner, one of her last acts
being a grateful acknowledgment of his attention and consideration in
that trying time. She presented him, through his brother, Mr. Thomas
Brydges, with one of the prayer-books she had used in prison, and
which she carried with her to the scaffold ; a small square manuscript
in vellum, which is supposed to have been written for the use of the
Duke of Somerset when a prisoner in the Tower, and which had
passed from his daughter Anne to her brother-in-law Lord Guilford
on his imprisonment. Again, after the Duke of Suffolk's commitment
to the Tower, all communication by letter being denied them, it is
supposed the unhappy prisoners took advantage of this manual of
devotion which was allowed to pass from one to another, to write
upon the margin various little tokens of love and duty, a plain proof
this, that Sir John made the lot of his prisoners as easy as he could.
This precious volume Lady Jane presented to him, having previously,
at his request, written in it the following few lines —
" Forasmuch as you have desired so simple a woman to write in so worthy a book,
good Master Lieutenant, therefore I shall, as a friend desire you, and as a Christian
require you, to call upon God to incline your heart to His laws, to quicken you in His way,
and not to take the word of truth utterly out of your mouth. Live still to die, that by
death you may purchase eternal life ; and remember how Methuselah, though, as we read
in the Scriptures, he was the longest liver that was of a man, died at last. For, as the
Preacher saith, ' There is a time to be born, and a time to die ; and the day of death is
better than the day of our birth.'— Yours, as the Lord knoweth, as a friend,
"Jane Duddeley."5'
On the same day that Lady Jane was executed, Edward Courtenay,
earl of Devon, was sent to the Tower, the suspicion being that he
aimed at marrying the Princess Elizabeth, or rather, that he was a tool
in the hands of others, as he was of a character pitiably weak. The
Princess had, before this, been desired to attend at court, and disavow
any connection with Wyatt's rebellion, but she delayed, pleading illness,
* " Ladies of the Reformation,'1 p. 305. This interesting volume is carefully preserved under glass in
the British Museum.

3
w

mary.] THE PRLNCESS ELIZABETH. 2 1 1
and at last, officers were sent to her at Ashridge, who brought her to
the court at Westminster, whence she was sent in the usual way, by
water, to the Tower, landing at the ominous Traitors' Gate, on the
1 8th of March. Here, though it was raining, she sat down on a stone,
as if bent on not entering the prison. Sir John said to her, " Madam,
you had best come out of the rain, for you sit unwholesomely." " Better
sit here than in a worse place," she replied, " for God knoweth, not I,
whither you will bring me." She was placed in the royal lodgings, and
at first, strictly secluded ; after a short time she requested Lord
Chandos (Sir John had been created a peer in the interval), to give her
permission to take a little air and exercise. He said it was contrary
to his orders, but he applied to the Council for instruction, and then she
was allowed to walk in a little garden, but all the windows that opened
to it were to be kept shut when she took her walks, which is not to be
wondered at, when we read that her friends employed a child of four
years old to carry letters to her, under the pretence of offering her
flowers. Either in consequence of this, or because Lord Chandos was
conceived to treat her with too much consideration, she was committed
to the charge of Sir Henry Bedingfield,* who came to the Tower with
ioo armed men to remove her to Woodstock on the 19th of May, 1554.
As soon as Elizabeth was made acquainted with his arrival she sent
for Lord Chandos, to learn from him her fate ; but he could not inform
her, and she was conveyed by her new custodian to Woodstock. J
Beside the Castle and Manor of Sudeley conferred upon him by
Queen Mary, and being created a Peer of the realm (April 8, 1554),
Sir John had, among other grants of lands in this county, the Manor
and Park of Brimpsfield| (inherited by his successors), also Witcombe,§
Badgworth,|| Cranham, Bourton on the Water, Hawling, Stoke Archer,
and Minety; also the site of Winchcombe Monastery, which was
continued in the possession of his family.
He died on March 4, 1557. By his will he ordered his body to be

* Burnet's " History of the Reformation," Book ii., p. 568.
+ Miss Aikin's "Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth," vol. i., p. 171.
X Rudder's "Gloucestershire," pp. 311, 396.
§ Griffith's "History of Cheltenham."
|| Rudder's "Gloucestershire," p. 375.

2 12

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xvm.

buried in the chancel of Sudeley, according to his degree, but without
any worldly pomp or vain glory. Contrary, however, to this wish, his

Holbein, pinxt.

John Brydges, First Lord Chandos of Sudeley.

funeral solemnities were performed on the 3rd of May with great pomp,
the corpse being carried in a hearse of war, with four banners of images
and all appendages of honour. He married Elizabeth,* daughter to

* She was buried in the church of St. Faith, London, with the following epitaph, preserved in Dugdale's
"St. Paul's Cathedral," p. 125 : —
" Here buried ys Elizabeth, of honour worthy Dame,
Her husband erst Lord Shandoys was, her sonne hath now like name.
Her father was of Wilton Lord, a Grey of puissant fame ;
Her brother, left with us behind, now Lorde is of the same.

Elizabeth.] LADY FRANCES THROCKMORTON. 213
Edmund, Lord Grey of Wilton, by whom he had seven sons (two of
whom died in infancy) and three daughters— Catherine, wife of
Edmund Sutton, Lord Dudley ; Elizabeth, married to John Tracy,
of Toddington ; and Frances, wife of George Throckmorton, of
Coughton. *
This lady, who is mis-named Mary in our county histories, was in
the year 1559, in consequence of her own indiscreet conduct, accused of
attempting to poison her husband. He charged her with giving him
"such things to drink as did make him mad," caused her close imprison
ment, no one being allowed to see her but her keeper, and produced
many witnesses against her, who were examined by a special commission
appointed for the purpose. Elizabeth, the dowager Lady Chandos,
then wrote a touching letter to Sir William Cecil, beseeching him to be
" good master " to her, asserting her daughter's innocence, and declar
ing that the witnesses against her were " reprobate persons, of no
honesty nor credit," suborned by her husband by mingled promises
and threats to "affirm such matter as he had himself devised. "f In
consequence a new set of commissioners was appointed, Sir Richard
Sackvyle being the chief, to deal with all such as were suspected to be
culpable in " matters of sorcery, witchcraft, poisoning, enchantment, or
such like." They called before them such of the witnesses as were at
hand (for one was dead, and three others seem to have absconded \),
who one and all confessed that their evidence formerly given was false,
being only what Mr. Throckmorton had induced them to say. By his
direction they had sworn that she "went about his destruction, whereas
of truth they never knew or perceived in her any mind or intent to

Her vertuous lyfe yet still doth live, her honour shall remaine ;
Her corps though it be growne to dust, her soule the heavens containe.
" Quae obiit 29 die Decembris, An. Dom. 1559."
For particulars of the family of Grey, see Sir E. Brydges' "Visit of Queen Elizabeth to Sudeley," p. 32.
* Portraits of the early Barons and their wives and daughters were in the possession of the Duchess of
Buckingham, and dispersed at the Stowe sale. The 1st Lord Chandos of Sudeley, Frances, wife of Giles,
3rd Lord Chandos, and their daughters, Lady Kennedy and Lady Russell, are introduced in these Annals
through the permission of Sir H. Scudamore Stanhope, of Holme Lacy, Hereford, whose father, cousin to
the Duchess, had copies taken about the year 1830.
f Domestic State Papers, Elizabeth, Vol. vi. No. 24.
X Among these was " Father N icholas, of St. Katherine's." Probably in consequence of this, or similar
affairs, several statutes were soon after passed against "conjurations, enchantments, and witchcraft."

214 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xvm.
work the destruction or confusion of her husband." The depositions
in the case are lost, but the judgment of the commissioners remains,
and they report to the queen that " the lady being much given to give
ear to fantastical practisers of palmistry and such-like devices, desiring
to obtain her husband's entire and perfect love, had, at sundry times,
conference with sundry persons of that sort, although she denied
it, by which means her husband suspected that she went about his
destruction, and by menaces and threats [they do not mention
" promises,"] induced the several witnesses to swear to whatever he
told them."* How the cause ended we do not find recorded, but we
may hope that both George and Frances profited by their dear-bought
experience. Holding such important posts as he did, it is somewhat remarkable
that no letters from or to the first Lord Chandos are to be found in the
Public Record Office ; but, under the name of " Sir John Abridges," he
appears as one of the Gloucestershire Commissioners for the seizure of
Church goods in the time of Edward VI. j-
The notices are numerous of his successors, and of the most im
portant we have copies at Sudeley ; the facts they disclose are also
worked up in the following narrative.
Of the seven sons of his lordship, the most distinguished were Edmund,
who succeeded to the title and the manor of Sudeley, of whom here
after ; Charles, ancestor to the Dukes of Chandos,;); and who purchased
Wilton Castle from his cousin, Lord Grey ; and Henry, the fourth son,
who, according to his father's will, must have been left with very slender
means, and having in those times of peace no vent for his love of
adventure, he is said to have followed the life of a freebooter, indulo-ino-
in deeds of lawlessness and robbery almost surpassing our modern
powers of belief. We can readily imagine how the almost impassable
roads, thick woods, and broken ground of this neighbourhood must
have aided the young nobleman in his first steps as a freebooter.
Startling to the inmates of the Castle must have been the first stories

* D. S. P. Eliz., Vol. vii. No. 42.
t Seventh Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, Appendix, p. 31S.
X Sir E. Brydges' "Sudeley."

Elizabeth.] EDMUND, SECOND LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 215
which reached them of plunder, and perhaps murder ; and from time to
time, as they came to the ears of Lord and Lady Chandos, painful
indeed must have been their feelings when the horrible suspicion
became a reality, that the daring young highwayman was none other
than one of the youngest scions of their own house. We find him
afterwards living in Kent, attracted thither perhaps by a larger field
for booty, or possibly having made his own neighbourhood too hot to
hold him. He, however, eventually returned, and traditions of his
maraudings still hang about the Gloucestershire village where he lies
buried.* He married the eldest daughter of Samuel Sheppard, Esq.,
of Avening, near Minchinhampton, where in the church is a monument
on which is a figure of a man in armour, kneeling and praying,
surmounted by the family arms ; underneath is the following in
scription : —
Here lyeth the body of Henry Brydges, Esquior, Son to John Lord Chavndos
Baron of Shevdley, who departed this life, the 24th day of Janvarii, Anno Dom. 1615
[i6i6].f From the scapegrace of the family we turn to Edmund, the eldest
son, who at his father's death became the owner of Sudeley. J He
took early to arms, and served under the Earl of Hertford in France,
in the reign of Henry VIII., and in the first year of Edward VI.,
being one of the commanders in that army sent into Scotland under
the Duke of Somerset, and behaving himself with great bravery in the
battle of Musselborough, was made Knight Banneret by the duke in
the camp at Roxburgh. He was elected one of the knights of the
shire for Gloucestershire to the first parliament of Mary, and afterwards
served at the siege of St. Quintin, in Picardy. In October, 1560, he,
as lord lieutenant, wrote a curious letter to the Privy Council about
the punishment of dealers who had suddenly raised their " corne and
other victuells " to excessive prices, of which we have a copy at Sude
ley. § An interesting account is given by AtkynsJ of how Lord
Chandos had, at a later period, to aid the mayor and aldermen of
* Sir E. Brydges. t Bigland's Collection.
X Collins's "Peerage," vol. i., part 2, p. 686. § D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. xiv., No. 20.
|| " Gloucestershire," p. 123.

216 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xvm.
Gloucester in making due inquiry as to the whole number of men
who were fit for service, and how he certified that there was to be
levied in the shire of Gloucester 20,000 able men.
"The certificates of Edmund Lord Chandos," writes Mr. Cripps* "as
commissioner of musters for the levies of 1569 and 1570,! as destined
for service in Ireland and in the north, are amongst the best preserved
of the returns of those days relating to Gloucestershire with which the
Public Record Office is so richly stored, to the advantage of the
historian. From the former may be gathered that the total number of
able men in the county was 6,520, and that they must have constituted
a formidable contingent, for, adds the certificate, " the greatest part have
been trayned by captains and others of good skill appoynted for that
purpose." In 1570 he was active in procuring conformity to the reformed
worship, being one of the commissioners for the purpose of enforcing
the observance of the Act of Uniformity ; his letter and certificate on the
subject is in the Public Record Office, as also his returns as to raising
men to send to the north against the Earls of Northumberland and
Westmoreland ; with warm local feeling he describes the men, horses,
and armour, as " mete to serve under any prince's banner in Christen
dom ; " and he furnishes lists of the " gentilemen and men of lese
welthe," who may be called on to supply others ; of all these interesting
papers we have copies.+
In September, 1 571, he was associated with the Earl of Leicester and
other noblemen in a pompous ceremony at Warwick in honour of the
French Order of St. Michael ; and on the 16th of January, 1572, he
was one of the peers who sat on the trial of Thomas Howard, duke of
Norfolk. Soon after Queen Elizabeth appointed him a Knight of the
Garter in the place of the first Marquis of Winchester, then lately
deceased. He was installed at Windsor, the 17th of June, 1572, as
appears by a plate yet remaining in the Chapel of St. George at
* " Royal North Gloucestershire Militia," p. 20.
t Among the Sudeley copies from the originals in the British Museum, there is a letter from Edmund,
Lord Chandos, to the Earl of Sussex, referring to the restitution of certain county armour, dated Sudeley,
Jan. 13, 1570.
X U. S. P., Eliz., Vol. lxvi., Nos. 12, 12 I. ; Vol. lxvii., Nos. 30, 36.

SVD LEY
CASTLE

From Tapestry Map in York Museum.

Copy of Card attached to the Tapestry Maps in York Museum : —
" These three Maps formerly lined the Hall of Weston in Warwickshire, the seat of William
Sheldon, Esq., who first introduced Tapestry weaving into England, of which these Maps were the
earliest specimens; 1578. They were purchased by the Earl of Oxford, and given by him to the
Earl of Harcourt, on whose death they came into the possession of the Archbishop of York, by
whom they were presented to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society in the year 1827."

Elizabeth.] EDMUND, SECOND LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 217
Windsor, in the ninth stall on the Prince's side.* We have a copy of
the very interesting account of the ceremony drawn up by W. Penson,
Lancaster Herald, from which it appears that the Duke of Mont
morency, the Earl of Essex, Lord Burghley, and Lord Grey of Wilton,
were installed with him. The fees and rewards paid by the new
knights are duly set forth : for the Earl of Essex they amounted to
£\$ \\s. 2d. (the duke probably more), for the Lord Chandos and the
other barons ^"41 4^. 2d.\
But before this, on the 1st of March, 1572, being then sick, Lord
Chandos made his last will and testament, wherein he ordered his body
to be buried in the parish church of Sudeley, and bequeathed to the
poor of that place and of Winchcombe, £13 6s. Sd., as also £3 to tne
poor of High worth, and ^3 to the poor of Cricklade. He bequeathed
to his most faithful and loving wife (Dorothy, daughter of Lord Bray,)
for her obedience, truth, and faithful love towards him, as that he had
aliened and sold some of her inheritance, his manors and lordships
of Blunsdon-Ansdrowe, Blunsdon-Gayebrode, Blunsdon Wyddel, West
Wyddel, Haydon Strutton, Pirton Keynes, and Sevenhampton in
the county of Wilts, for term of life, paying William Brydges, his
youngest son, ,£40 per annum, and after her decease to remain to the
said William and his heirs male, and in default to Giles Brydges,
his son and heir, and heirs male ; remainder to the right heirs of him
the said Edmund Lord Chandos. And that the residue of his manors,
lordships, &c, should descend to Giles Brydges, his son and heir, and
the Lady Frances, his wife, and their heirs ; in default to his right
heirs. He further wills to Eleanor his daughter ^2000. To his
beloved nephew John Tracy, Esq., the best gelding he will choose
among all his geldings. To his cousin Thomas Throgmorton, his
next best gelding. To his friend Edward Ferrys, his own gelding
he was wont to ride on, called Turner ; and to his neighbour and
friend Humphrey Dyke, his grey nag called Eaton. He makes his
lady Dorothy, his well beloved wife, sole executrix, and his son-in-

* It was originally in the 13th stall on the Sovereign's side, as stated by Dugdale ; the period at which
it was removed is unknown.
T D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. lxxxviii., No. 20.

2l8

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap, xviii.

law William Lord Sands, his brother Charles Brydges, his nephew
John Tracy, and Thomas Throgmorton, Esq., overseers. It further
appears by his will, that he was a generous friend, a noble housekeeper,
and a bountiful master, and had many gentlemen, his retainers and
servants, to whom he left annuities for their lives, if they did not refuse
to serve the Lady Dorothy, his wife, and Giles, his son and heir.

The Chandos Mantel-Piece.
The initials of Edmund Lord Chandos are clearly cut on the mantel
piece in the room which bears the Chandos name, " E. C," and the
family motto " Mainteine le droit." It is supposed by some that
this was only a restoration, otherwise the exterior of the chimney would
prove that it was built at the same time with the Castle ; others are of
opinion that the Chandos room was never completed, or, if so, that in
subsequent years the floor was destroyed, for at the time of the late
restoration of the Castle this mantel-piece was the only uninjured part

r /wife ,Uj

J. Rushton.

Window of Inner Quadrangle, Sudeley Castle,
Surmounted by Leopard's Head, with the Initials and Date, E. C, 1572.

Elizabeth.] EDMUND, SECOND LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 219
of the interior building ; the flooring was gone, and it could only be
seen through the beams from the rooms below, which were then cow
houses, or otherwise used for farm purposes. The same initials " E. C."
are found over the ruined window near the western gateway in the
quadrangle, with the date 1572.
It appears by the inquisition taken after his death at the castle of
Gloucester, on the 17th of September, in the 15th Elizabeth (1573), that
he died on the nth of September, 1572, seized of the castle and manor
of " Sudley," the house and site of the monastery of Winchcombe, the
manors of Coberly, Blysfield, Norton, Harsfield, Burton, Badworth,
Stokechard, with lands in Myntie,* also a wood called Depwood, and a
wood called Hemlyehoo (now Humblebee Howf), in Winchcombe
which had lately belonged to the Abbey.J all in Gloucestershire ; and
that Giles, his son and heir, was then twenty-five years of age. He had
also another son, William, and two daughters : Catherine, wife to William,
Lord Sands ; and Eleanor, who afterwards married George Giffard, of
Chillington, in Staffordshire, Esq.§ One of these daughters (we cannot
say which) was among the maids of honour who accompanied Queen
Elizabeth on the occasion of her visit to the University of Oxford in
1566, where she stayed seven days, and was entertained with orations
and banquets. In the course of these festivities the maids of honour
were highly eulogized ; and the fair daughter of the House of Sudeley
thus : " Bridges is a blessed wight,
And prayeth with heart and voice,
Which from her cradle hath been taught
In virtue to rejoice." |

* Rudder, p. 549.
t The weather-gauge of the neighbourhood : —
" When the clouds Humblebee touch,
There will be rain little or much."
Again : — " When Humblebee Hoo puts on his cap,
The weather ere long is sure to be wet ;
But when on Humblebee the sun do shine,
You may expect fair weather for a time."
X Dugdale's " Monasticon."
§ Rudder, p. 549.
|| Miss Strickland's "Queens of England."

220 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xvm.
The following poem in praise of the eldest daughter, by George
Gascoigne, was brought. back into notice by Dr. Percy in his Ballads.*

IN PRAISE OF THE FAIR BRIDGES, AFTERWARDS LADY SANDS,
ON HER HAVING A SCAR IN HER FOREHEAD.
" In court whoso demands
What dame doth most excel ;
For my conceit, I must needs say,
Fair Bridges bears the bell.
" Upon whose lively cheek,
To prove my judgment true,
1'he rose and lily seem to strive
For equal change of hue.
" And therewithal so well
Her graces all agree,
No frowning cheer dare once presume
In her sweet face to be.
" Although some lavish lips,
Which like some other best,
Will say, the blemish on -her brow
Disgraceth all the rest ;
" Thereto I thus reply,
God wot, they little know
The hidden cause of that mishap,
Nor how the harm did grow.
" For when Dame Nature first
Had framed her heavenly face,
And thoroughly bedecked it
With goodly gleams of grace :
" It liked her so well,
' Lo here,' quod she, ' a piece,
For perfect shape, that passeth all
Apelles' work in Greece.

* Vol. ii., p. 150, ed. 1765.

Elizabeth.] THE FAIR BRIDGES 22 1
'" ' This bait may chance to catch
The greatest God of Love,
Or mighty thund'ring Jove himself,
That rules the roast above.'
" But out, alas ! those words
Were vaunted all in vain,
And some unseen were present there,
Poor Bridges, to thy pain.
" For Cupid, crafty boy,
Close in a corner stood,
Not blindfold then, to gaze on her :
I guess it did him good.
" Vet when he felt the flame
'Gan kindle in his breast,
And heard Dame Nature boast by her
To break him of his rest,
" His hot, new-chosen love,
He changed into hate,
And suddenly, with mighty mace,
'Gan rap her on the pate.
" It grieved Nature much
To see the cruel deed :
Meseems I see her, how she wept •
To see her darling bleed.
" ' Well yet,' quod she, ' this hurt
' Shall have some help, I trow ; '
And quick with skin she cover'd it,
That whiter is than snow.
" Wherewith Dan Cupid fled,
For fear of further flame,
When angel-like he saw her shine,
Whom he had smit with shame.
" So thus was Bridges hurt
In cradle of her kind ;
The coward Cupid brake her brow
To wreak his wounded mind.

2 22 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap, xviii.
" The scar still there remains ;
No force, there let it be :
There is no cloud that can eclipse
So bright a sun as she."
The Lady Dorothy, their mother, was the fifth daughter and co-heiress
of Edmund, Lord Bray. She married secondly Sir William Knowles,
Lord Knowles, Knight of the Garter, and died on the 31st of October,
1605, Grey Brydges, Lord Chandos, her grandson, being found heir to
the estate, and at that time twenty-one years of age.* It was this Lady
Dorothy who founded the almshouses in Winchcombe, containing twelve
apartments for as many poor persons. They are yet standing, and
appropriated to their original use ; over the entrance door the Chandos
arms are carved in bold relief.

Collins's " Peerage," vol. i., p. 686.

Chapel Bell, St. Mary's, Sudeley Manor.
Sancte Georgi ora pro nobis.
Ladie Doratie Chandos widdowe made this. 1577."

^^MkA

^ in

J. Rushton

c. v^  .- 4

jWWiP^PjfiMT'

¦:; ; |] FOUNDE? BY :;,
iI'lAW Dorothy CHuNuo?,
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1|fifUpELEY CA^ne.ABOUT THE WM;'
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||| I VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION

II.

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J. KUSHTON.

^f)L"taj*^4=

L. Broadmead.

:ld House in Winchcombe.
:„et to the Chandos Almshouses.

CHAPTER XIX.
" Ho! strike the flagstaff deep, Sir Knight: ho! scatter flowers, fair maids:
Ho ! gunners, fire a loud salute : ho ! gallants, draw your blades :
Thou sun, shine on her joyously : ye breezes, waft her wide ;
Our glorious semper eadem, the banner of our pride.''
Macaulay.
WE now pass on to Giles, third Lord Chandos, the eldest son
of Edmund, who was born in 1547, and was in the lifetime
of his father elected to Parliament for the county of
Gloucester, in the fourteenth year of Elizabeth (1572). He married
Lady Frances Clinton, daughter of Edward, Earl of Lincoln, and Lord
High Admiral of England. He it was who had the honour of enter
taining the Queen at Sudeley on no less than three occasions, and
which he did in a manner worthy of those times. The first visit was
in August or September, 1574, in her progress westward to Longleat,
Bristol, and Wilton. It was on this occasion that " the old Lady
Shandowes " (Dorothy, widow of Edmund Brydges) presented a jewel
with a gold chain to the queen. It was a falcon or parrot, the bod}7
crystal, the head, tail, legs and breast of gold, fully garnished with
sparks of rubies and emeralds, hanging by a very short and small chain
of gold.* John Tracy, whose mother, as before mentioned, was second
daughter of the- first Lord Chandos, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth
in her progress to Bristol, f
The queen's second visit to Sudeley was in 1575, on her way to
Woodstock. She slept at Elmley Castle on Saturday and Sunday.
August 20th and 21st, and was then on her way from Worcester, passing

* Nichols' " Progresses of Queen Elizabeth." + Ibid.

224 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.
" through Battenhall Park, by made ways, with a great train, both
before and behind." On the Monday the Mayor and Aldermen of
Worcester, with a large company of nobility, attended the queen on
horseback from Elmley to the borders of the county on her way to
Sudeley Castle.*
Soon after this visit we find Lord Chandos seriously at variance with
the Council of the Marches of Wales^f so much so that a formal com
plaint of his " insolent and contemptuous bearing " to the court was
forwarded to the Privy Council in April, 1577, with what result does
not appear,^ but probably not unfavourable to him, as he does not seem
to have lost the royal favour. Indeed the complainants were in bad
odour at the time, and among the Public Records of the year 1576 are
many heavy charges of abuse, to remedy which Secretary Walsingham
drew up a Memorial of things to be reformed in Wales.§ It is there
fore not unreasonable to suppose that their case against Lord Chandos
is a great exaggeration. As they stated it, it is very serious.
According to them, he appears as the haughty feudal baron, who
resented any complaint against his retainers as an insult to himself.
One John Yate, his servant, it seems, was " vehemently suspected " of
having murdered a man, and Lord Chandos attributed the spreading
of this report to one Thomas Bushell, a neighbouring gentleman,
who was called in to view the dead body. " Conceiving that his
man's trouble grew by Bushell's information," he not only supported
Yate in vexatious actions against him, but sent him the followino-
peremptory epistle : —

* " History of Elmley Castle," by Rev. Hugh Bennett ; Prattington MS., belonging to the Society of
Antiquaries. T The Council was established in 1543 by Henry VIII. on the model of the Star-chamber, but it had
also Chancery jurisdiction. There was a Lord President and a Justice, who were bound by oath to reside
in the castle of Ludlow, and were not at any time to quit their district without special leave. The sum of
£10 per week was allowed for the " diet " of themselves and the officers of their court. The direction as
to residence was soon disregarded, the Lord President very frequently absenting himself, but still drawing
the major part of the "diet." The officers thus left without control, and poor, according to representations
made to Sir Francis Walsingham, remaining among the Public Records, managed all cases with a view to their
own profit, or "according to affection." The court was very unpopular, and the English border counties
frequently petitioned to be exempt from its jurisdiction. Its Star-chamber powers were taken away in 1641,
when the English Star-chamber was voted down, and the court was abolished in 1689, very shortly after
the Revolution.
X D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. cxii., No. 51. § D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. evil., No. 7.

GILES BRYDGES, THIRD LORD CHANDOS.

Elizabeth.] GLLES, THLRD LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 225
" To Thomas Bushell give this.
" Thomas Bushell, Whereas thou hast made thy boast, that thou hast laid fast one
of my knaves, and now dost provide for another, these are to let thee understand that
the worst in my house is good enough to be thy fellow, and for that thou hast wrongfully
and falsely accused them, thou shalt justly and truly be answered in the Starchamber.
Thus, as one that I care not for, I bid thee farewell.
"From Cobarkeley, the 13th April [1577],
" By me, Gyles Chandoes."
Other charges are made against Lord Chandos, as of encouraging
fraudulent suits to deprive Bushell of land that he had purchased,
and of threatening to " pull the white hairs from the face " of Mr. Justice
Smith, of Campden, beside styling him " knave," the occasion of his
fury being a quarrel between their servants about " a wine quart pot."
Being duly summoned by the Council, he refused to appear, contemned
their authority, and wrote letters in which he assumed the air of the
injured party. In one of these letters he complains bitterly that a
nobleman should be dealt with " like a common subject," and with his
mind full, no doubt, of the late royal visit, he tells the Council that he
will appeal to the queen, " who, of her gracious goodness, will have due
consideration to the complaints of her poor nobility."
We next meet with him as the recipient of a letter from Secretary
Walsingham, dated in 1578, from which it appears that the com
missioners for causes of piracy for Gloucestershire had neglected to
make their return, " which is marvellous to the Council," and he is to
call on them to be quick in doing so.*
It was between the second and third visits of the queen to Sudeley
Castle that the country was threatened by the Spanish Armada, t Lord
Chandos was then appointed to issue out commissions of array, and to
model a standing militia. He was made Lieutenant of the county, and
had to send considerable bands of trained men into Wales, as a defence,
if necessary ; 3000 men and 250 horse were in readiness. The Severn
* D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. cxxiii., No. 36.
t Among the archives of the Corporation of Gloucester there is a MS. book of the date of 29th of
Queen Elizabeth (1586) having reference to the threatened invasion. In this is entered a certificate by the
Lord Chandos of Sudeley, with names of able men meet for the war, &c, &c, of the beacons to be set
up on Robin Hood's Hill, Cleeve Hill, Tewkesbury, and near Cheltenham, the seat of Lord Chandos.
— Mr. R. H. Fryer's Paper on the Gloucester Archives.

226 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.
also had to be guarded, as a part of the Armada was to penetrate to
the Forest of Dean for the purpose of destroying as many as possible
of the young oak trees, which supplied timber in abundance to the
English merchants *
Several of Lord Chandos' letters of this period are preserved in the
Public Record Office. On the ist of April, 1588, he writes from
Sudeley, that he has exhausted the stock of powder levied on the
county in training men, who are not as perfect as he could wish, and
he asks authority to raise more money for the purpose, f On July 21
of the same year he writes to say that his forces are much diminished,
many being summoned to other places, and he knows not how to raise
more. His uncle, Anthony " Brugges," the bearer of the letter, has
acted as his muster-master, and he begs Sir Francis Walsingham to
procure him a "fee for his labour." He writes a second letter on the
same day, saying that the gentry of the shire have agreed to raise
300 more men " very serviceably furnished." \ There was a limit,
however, to the resources of the county, and in June, 1589, we
learn that he had memoralised the Government, setting forth the
poverty of the shire, " by the murrain of cattle, the rot of sheep, and
the [lack of?] vent for cloth and corn," as reasons for asking the abate
ment of ^1000 of the ^"4000 required for the loan in the county of
Gloucester. §
It was on the occasion of the queen's third visit to Sudeley that the
most extensive preparations were made for her reception. Early in
September, 1592, she was again in Gloucestershire, where she visited
John Higford, Esq., of Dixton, lord of the manor of Alderton, and
upon whom she conferred the honour of knighthood.
Then it was that Sudeley Castle became all astir to give becoming
welcome to so great a queen. The poet's wit (probably Gascoigne's)
was in requisition to compose verses to her honour, to conceive some
classic scenes which might express through fiction the compliments
they designed to pay to her or to her government.
The lord and lady of the Castle prepared emblematic and costly
* Mr. Cripps' "Royal North Gloucestershire Militia." t D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. ccix., No. 60,
X D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. ccxii., Nos. 74, 75. § D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. ccxxiv., No, 106.

ELIZABETH.]

THE ROYAL VISIT

227

gifts ; shepherds and shepherdesses, Cotswold sheep and locks of
wool, gods and goddesses, were all introduced to play their part in the
pageant. Speeches and holiday clothes were prepared, dogs and bears

Al. Gerrakd, pinxt.
Frances Clinton, Wife of Giles, Lord Chandos.
trained, mummers rehearsed, colours were hoisted, nobility and gentry
from far and near assembled, the poor were all excitement to see their
queen, hoping to participate in the largesse which it was then the
custom to distribute in the form of roasted oxen and barrels of beer

228 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.
and ale, set in the thoroughfares for all passers by. According to
Strype, beer was then fabulously cheap — in the preceding reign it was
sold for sixpence the barrel (the cask and all), and three great loaves
for a penny. Wine too was in abundance for the rich, for on this great
occasion the inhabitants of Tewkesbury presented Lord Chandos with
a hogshead of claret, then worth £6.
But let us, in imagination, join the crowd on that bright September
morning, and hurry on with them to see the procession start. At this
time of the year our country is decked in its fairest and richest hues ;
and as we push forward with the crowd, we cannot but notice the
beauty of the scene. Woods on either side stretching far away over
the hills and along the vales ; white colossal clouds towering over the
dark tree tops, chasing each other up the woodlands in quick succes
sion ; in many of the fields the golden sheaves still waiting to be
housed so soon as the great holiday is over and the reaper can return
to his work.
Our fancy carries us on to Dixton, where the cavalcade is already
forming ; the queen is mounted, surrounded by a brilliant escort,
composed of her own retinue and the e'lile of the neighbourhood.
Foremost among them all are her host, Sir John Higford, the newly
created knight, and Lord Chandos, whose guest she soon becomes.
But now the cavalcade is in motion ; the queen, always a little in
advance of her attendants, rides alone. What the road must have
been by which the procession passed it is impossible to imagine ; most
probably a mere path or track, such as the highways then were, leading
from one place to another. We may be sure there was no turnpike
road ; for though Gloucestershire boasts of having had the first in
England,* we may be pretty certain it was not in this remote district.
Through Stanley Pontlarge, skirting the woods at the foot of the hills,
they wend their way, that brilliant glistening cortege, the air ringing
with the voices of the good people of Gretton and Greet as they press
forward ; for it is the first and possibly the last time that so great a

* Such is the statement of Rudder (" Gloucestershire," p. 44), but it is a mistake, as new and improved
roads were made in the Weald of Kent by the authority of Parliament as early as 1523 (stat. 14 & 15
Henry VIII., c. 6). — Furley's " Weald of Kent," vol. ii., p. 490.

Zuccaro, pinxt.]
Queen Elizabeth. From the Bernal Collection; now at Sudeley Castle

[Edith L. Wedgwood, deit.
[To face p. 228.

Elizabeth.] THE ROYAL VLSLT. 229
queen will ever pass that way. Soon they enter the Borough of
Winchcombe, where the bailiff and burgesses await them. Gratefully
they remember a former visit, with its grant of market and fair. Thus
accompanied, they arrive at Winchcombe, passing on through the gay
but narrow streets, till they reach Sudeley, Lord Chandos' own domain,
where he dismounts, and, bareheaded, leads the queen the short in
tervening distance ; and then, still mounted on her superb charger,
through the throng of her loving Cotswold subjects, amid the roar of
their hearty acclamations, the sound of trumpets, and cannons thunder
ing from old Sudeley's ever-loyal walls, the daughter of a hundred
kings, our noble Tudor Princess, passes beneath the ancient gateway,
alights, and graciously accepts the warm reception by Sir Giles and the
Lady Frances ; thus for the third time is their Castle honoured by
their Sovereign's presence ! Soon the signal is given for the pageant to
commence ; silence is commanded, and an old shepherd is introduced
who gives the following oration : —
" Vouchsafe to hear a simple shepherd ; shepherds and simplicity cannot part.
Your Highness is come into Cotswold, an uneven country, but a people that carry their
thoughts level with their fortunes : low spirits, but true hearts ; using plain dealings, once
counted a jewel, now beggary. These hills afford nothing but cottages, and nothing can
we present to your Highness but shepherds. The country healthy and harmless ; a fresh
air, where there are no damps, and where a black sheep is a perilous beast ; no monsters ;
we carry our hearts at our tongues' ends, being as far from dissembling as our sheep from
fierceness ; and if in anything we shall chance to discover our lewdness, it will be in over
boldness, in gazing at you, who fills our hearts with joy, and our eyes with wonder. As
for the honourable Lord and Lady of the Castle (the Lord and Lady Chandos), what
happiness they conceive, I would it were possible for them to express ; then should your
Majesty see that all outward entertainment were but a smoke rising from, their inward
affections, which as they cannot be seen, being in the heart, so they cannot be smothered,
appearing in their countenance. This lock of wool, Cotswold's best fruit, and my poor
gift, I offer to your Highness ; in which nothing is to be esteemed but the whiteness,
Virginity's colour : nor to be expected but duty, shepherds' religion."
According to the custom of the period, various amusements followed
this speech of welcome, such as bear and bull-baiting, mummers, jousts,
and feasting. Fireworks having ended the day's entertainment, the
queen retired to the apartment in the Castle to which tradition has
ever since attached the name of " Queen Elizabeth's bed-room." It

230 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.
was then a comparatively small apartment, but at the time the Castle
was restored, part of an adjoining room was added to it, which intro
duced the second north-east window, and made it its present size.
When the noise of the boisterous festivities had died away and the
queen was left to her own thoughts, sad feelings, we may imagine,
must have passed through her mind as she pondered upon the vicis
situdes of life, feelings which the Castle would have a peculiar power
of inspiring in her heart. For within her own memory, had it not been
in the gift of her father, Henry VIII. — and her brother, Edward VI.
— the residence of her stepmother, and of Lord Seymour, whom the
world had said was her first love ? After so long a lapse of time — for
the queen was then nearly sixty years of age — did she give a thought
to the handsome Lord High Admiral of her youth, whose ambitious
aspirations to an alliance with her had brought him to the block ?
Did she remember with regret, perhaps with shame, the thoughtless
indiscretions of those times when she had allowed him to take the
unbecoming liberties which caused so much anxiety to Katherine Parr ?
With sorrow and gratitude must the thoughts of the good old queen
have gone forth towards one, who, lying in her grave in yonder chapel,
had so tenderly guarded her reputation in those young and thoughtless
clays ! And then would follow the too sad remembrance of her youthful
companion, the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey ! and of William Parr, her
father's favourite — he, too, in his grave at Warwick, once the owner of
the Castle, but disgraced by Mary. With a smile would she recall to
mind her own narrow escapes, and of the wet, cold March morning
when she was taken to the Tower, sitting on the steps in the rain
rather than enter the "worse place." Yes, he too, who then be
friended her, was at that time Lord of Sudeley. And last of all,
when committing herself to the safe keeping of the King of kings,
we can imagine how her thoughts would be filled with the remem
brance of the early reformers and martyrs whose spirits still seemed
to linger where once they so bravely taught, and thanking God for
having made her His instrument to extinguish fire and faggot,
would at last sink to rest, overcome with so great a crowd of painful
reminiscences.

Elizabeth.] THE ROYAL VISIT. 231
" The mystical twilight deepens,
And the shadows darker grow,
Till the stain'd and pictured casement
Loses its crimson glow, —
Till the scenes on the ancient arras
A sombre veil assume, —
Till the stern old warriors' portraits
Fade away in the gathering gloom."
In this apartment (the present Oriel or drawing-room) now hang
several pictures which recall many associations connected with
Elizabeth as she rested there nearly 300 years ago. Among the
portraits, are her own, taken when in her prime, Lord Seymour,
the Marquis of Northampton, and Sir Francis Walsingham ; but
the most interesting is the painting* by Sir Antonio More, which
represents Henry VIII. seated on his throne, presenting his sword of
state to Edward, who kneels beside him. On one side is Mary bringing
in Philip of Spain and an allegorical figure of War ; on the other side
is Elizabeth introducing also allegorical figures of Peace and Plenty.
As this picture possesses much artistic as well as historic interest, it
will be a pardonable digression from the main story here to add the
following quaint lines taken from an engraving of this painting in the
British Museum : —
" Behold the figure of a Royal King,
One whom sweet Victory ever did attend,
From every part where he his power did bring,
He homeward brought the Conquest in the end,
And when the fates his vital thread had spun,
He gave his glory to a virtuous son.
" Now prudent Edward dying in tender youth,
Queen Mary then the royal sceptre swayed,
With foreign blood she match'd, and put down truth,
Which England's glory suddenly decayed ;
Who brought in war and discord by that deed,
Which did in commonwealth great sorrow breed.
" But sorrow, care, and civil broils likewise
This sacred Queen Elizabeth exiled ;

* Purchased at the Strawberry Hill sale by J. C Dent.

232 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.
Falsehood. did fall before her gracious eyes,
And persecution turn'd to mercy mild ;
Plenty and Peace throughout her days are seen,
And all the world admires the Maiden Queen." *
On the frame of the picture are painted in gold letters :
" A Face of muche nobilitye loe in a little roome,
Fowr states with theyr conditions hear shadowed in a showe,
A father more than valyant, a rare and virtuous son,
A zealous daughter in her kind what els the world doth knowe,
And last of all a virgin queen to England's ioy we see,
Successively to hold the right and virtues of the three."
and in smaller letters at the foot of the picture :
" The . Qveen . to . Walsingham . this . Tablet . sent. *
Mark . of . her . peoples . and . her . own . contente. * "
To return to Sudeley and its festivities. The day after the queen's
arrival was Sunday, but this seems to have interposed no obstacle to
the amusements. Though no mention is made of the queen's having
attended divine service, most probably she did so, and then, as at
Kenilworth, the remainder of the day was spent in dancing among the
lords and ladies. Our present strict observance of the Sunday had
not, as yet, been generally received by Protestants, and plays were
performed in the presence of the queen. Here, at Sudeley, there was
a wonderful display ; but again Nicholls must be quoted, as he gives
at length the details of the scene, which commenced with Apollo
running after Daphne, a shepherd following, uttering this : —
" Nescis temeraria : nescis
Quem fugias : ideoque fugis.
" A short tale, but a sorrowful : a just complaint, but remediless. I loved (for shepherds
have their saints), long I loved (for Beauty bindeth 'prentices) a nymph most fair, and
as chaste as fair, yet not more fair than I unhappy. Apollo, who calleth himself a god
(a title among men, who when they will commit injuries term themselves gods), pursued my
Daphne with bootless love, and me with endless hate ; her he wooed with fair words, the

* This was engraved by W. Rogers about the year 1585, and was sold in 1842 for ^22 ior. Only three
engravings of this picture are known. One is in Paris, one in the Queen's collection at Windsor, and this
in the British Museum.

¦ • ' v - mf// ' - ~ % i

!t&

Oak Bedstead from cumnor place, with carved

PILASTER REMOVED FROM BEFORE A SECRET CRUCIFIX.

Small Table, said to have been used by

Queen Elizabeth on her visits to Sudeley Castle.

Elizabeth.] THE ROYAL VISIT. 233
flatteries of men ; with great gifts, the sorceries of gods ; with cruel threats, the terrifying
of weak damosels. Nee prece nee pretio, nee movet ille minis. Me he terrified with a
monstrous word metamorphosing, saying that he would turn me into a wolf, and of a
shepherd make me a sheep-biter : or into a cockatrice ; and cause mine eyes, which
gazed on her, to blind hers, which made mine dazzle ; or to a mole ; that I should hear
his flattering speech, but never behold her fair face ; Tautane animis coelestibus inz ?
" Sometimes would he allure her with sweet music ; but harmony is harsh when it is
Lust's broker ; often with promise of immortality, but Chastity is of itself immortal ; ever
pursuing her with swiftness ; but Virtue tying wings to the thoughts of virgins, swiftness
becometh surbated. Thus lived he 'twixt love and jealousy ; I 'twixt love and danger ;
she 'twixt fear and virtue. At last and alas, this day, I fear of all my joys the last, I
cannot as a poet (who describing the morning, and before he tell what it is, make it
night) stand on the time ; Love coineth no circumlocutions ; but by the sun, a shepherd's
dial, which goeth as true as our hearts, it was four of the clock, when she flying from his
treason, was turned into a tree ; which made me stand as though I had been turned into
a stone, and Apollo so enchanted as wounded with her loss, or his own cruelty; the
fingers, which were wont to play on the lute, found no other instrument than his own
face ; the golden hair, the pride of his head, pulled off in locks, and stampt at his feet ;
his sweet voice turned to howling ; and there sitteth he (long may he sorrow !) wondering
and weeping, and kissing the laurel, his late love, and mine ever. Pleaseth your Majesty
to view the melancholy of Apollo, my distress, and Daphne's mischance ; it may be the
sight of so rare perfection will make him die for grief, which I wish ; or Daphne return to
her old shape, which must be your wonder ; if neither, it shall content me that I have
revealed my griefs, and that you may behold his."
This speech ended, her Majesty saw Apollo with the tree, having
on the one side one that sung, on the other one that played :
" Sing you, play you : but sing and play my truth ;
This tree my lute, these sighs my notes of ruth :
The laurel leaf for ever shall be green,
And Chastity shall be Apollo's Queen.
If gods may die, here shall my tomb be placed,
And this engraven, ' Fond Phoebus, Daphne chaste.' "
After these verses, the song :
" My heart and tongue were twins, at once conceived :
The eldest was my heart, born dumb by destiny ;
The last was my tongue, of all sweet thoughts bereaved,
Yet strung and tuned to play heart's harmony.
. Both knit in one, and yet asunder placed,
What heart would speak, the tongue doth still discover ;
What tongue doth speak, is of the heart embraced,
And both are one to make a new-found lover :

234 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.
New found, and only found in gods and kings,
Whose words are deeds : but deeds nor words regarded,
Chaste thoughts do mount, and she with swiftest wings,
My love with pain, my pain with loss rewarded :
Engrave upon this tree, Daphne's perfection,
'That neither man nor gods can force affection.'"
The song ended, the tree rived, and Daphne issued out ; Apollo ran
after her, with these words :
Nymplia mane, per me concordant carmia nervis.
'' Fair Daphne, stay, too chaste because too fair,
Yet fairer in mine eyes, because so chaste :
And yet because so chaste, must I despair ?
And to despair I yielded have at last.
Shepherd, possess thy love, for me too cruel,
Possess thy love, thou knowest not how to measure :
A dunghill cock doth often find a jewel,
Enjoying that he knows not to be treasure.
When broomy beard to sweep thy lips presume,
When on thy neck his rough-hewn arms shall move,
And gloat on thee with eyes that drizzle rheum,
When that his toothless mouth shall call thee love,
Nought will I say of him, but pity thee,
That beauty might, but would no wiser be.''
Daphne, running to her Majesty, uttered this :
" I stay, for whither should Chastity fly for succour, but to the Queen of Chastity ? By
thee I was interred in a tree, that by craft, way might be made to lust : by your Highness
restored, that by Virtue there might be assurance in Honour. These tables, to set down
your praises long since, Sybilla's prophesies, I humbly present to your Majesty ; not
thinking that your virtues can be deciphered in so slight a volume, but noted. The whole
world is drawn in . a small map, ' Homer's Iliads ' in a nutshell, and the riches of a
monarch in a few ciphers ; and so much odds betwixt the explaining of your perfections
and the touching, as is betwixt painting and thinking : the one running over a little table
in a whole day, the other over the whole world in a minute. With this vouchsafe a poor
virgin's wish, that often wish for good husbands ; mine only for the endless prosperity of
my Sovereign."
These verses, written in the tables which were given to her Majesty :
" Let Fame describe your rare perfection,
Let Nature paint your beauty's glory,

Elizabeth.] THE ROYAL VISIT. 235
Let Love engrave your true affection,
Let Wonder write your virtue's story :
By them and gods must you be blazed :
Sufficeth men they stand amazed."
The third day the High Constable of Cotswold should have been
presented to her Majesty, but the weather was so unfit, that he was
not But this it should have been ; one clothed all in sheep-skins, face
and all, spake this by his interpreter : —
" May it please your Highness, this is the great Constable and Commander 01
Cotswold : he speaks no language but the Rammish tongue ; such sheepish governors
there are, that can say no more to a messenger than he (bad). This, therefore, as
signifying his duty to your Majesty, and all our desires, I am commanded to be his
interpreter, or shepherd's star, pointing directly to Cotswold, and in Cotswold to Sudeley,
made us expect some wonder, and of the eldest ask some counsel ; it was resolved
by the ancientest, that such a one should come, by whom all the shepherds should
have their flocks in safety, and their own lives, all the country quietness, and the whole
world astonishment. Our Constable commands this day to be kept holiday ; all our
shepherds are assembled and if shepherds' pastimes may please, how joyful would
they be if it would please you to see them ; which if you vouchsafe not, as pastimes
too mean for your Majesty, they mean to call this day the shepherds' black day. In
all humility we entreat, that you would cast an eye to their rude devices, and an ear
to their harsh words, and if nothing happen to be pleasing, the amends is, nothing
shall be tedious."
After this speech, her Majesty was to be brought among the
shepherds, among whom was a king and queen to be chosen, and
thus they began : —
Melibceits. Nisa. Cutter of Cotswold.
Mel. Cut the cake : who hath the bean, shall be King ; and where the peas is, she
shall be Queen.
Nis. I have the peas, and must be Queen.
Mel. I the bean, and King : I must command.
Nis. Not so : the Queen shall and must command : for I have often heard of a
king that could not command his subjects; and of a queen that hath commanded
kings. Mel. I yield : yet is it within compass of my authority to ask questions : and first
I will begin with you in love, I mean shepherd's love : for I will not meddle with
gentlefolk's love : which is most constant, the man or the woman ?
Nis. It is no question, no more than if you should ask, whether on a steep hill, a
square stone or a globe stood most steady.

236 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.
Mel. Both loving, which is most loving ?
Nis. The woman, if she have her right ; the man, if he be his own judge.
Mel. Why doth the man ever woo the woman, the woman never the man ?
Nis. Because men are most amorous and least chaste; women careless of fond
affections, and, when they embrace them, fearful. But, unless your questions were wiser,
I command you to silence. You, sirrah, that sits as though your wits were a wool
gathering, will you have a question, or a commandment ?
Cut. No question of a Queen, for they are hard to be answered : but any com
mandment, for that must be obeyed.
Ni . Then sing. And you, sir, a question or commandment ?
Cut. A commandment I ; and glad that I am !
Nis. Then play.
Cut. I have played so long with my fingers, that I have beaten out of play all my
good fortunes. " THE SONG.
" Herbs, words, and stones, all maladies have cured ;
Herbs, words, and stones, I used when I loved ;
Herbs, smells, words, wind, stones, hardness have procured ;
By stones, nor words, nor herbs, her mind was moved.
I ask'd the cause : this was a woman's reason —
'Mongst herbs are weeds, and thereby are refused ;
Deceit, as well as Truth, speaks words in season,
False stones by foils have many one abused.
I sigh'd, and then she said my fancy smoked ;
I gazed, she said my looks were Folly's glancing ;
I sounded dead, she said my love was choked ;
I started up, she said my thoughts were dancing.
O, sacred Love ! if thou have any Godhead,
Teach other rules to win a maidenhead."
Mel. Well sung, and well played ; seldom so well among shepherds. But call
me the Cutter of Cotswold, that looks as though he only knew his leirpoop ; amorous he
is, and wise ; carrying a sheep's eye in a calf s head.
Nis. Will you three questions, or three commandments ?
Cut. Half a dozen of each. My wits work like new beer ; and they will break my
head, unless it vent at the mouth.
Nis. Sing.
Cut. I have forsworn that since cuckoo-time ; for I heard one sing all the summer,
and in the winter was all bald.
Nis. Play on the lute.
Cut. Tailor's craft; a knock on the knuckles will make one fast a fortnight ; my
belly and back shall not be retainers to my fingers.
Nis. What question shall I ask ?
Cut. Any, so it be of love.
Nis. Are you amorous ?
Cut. No : but fantastical.
Nis. But what is love ?

Elizabeth.] THE ROYAL VISIT. 237
Cut. A single accidens. In love there are eight parts.
Joy, \ Sorrow, \
"°P^* I All tolerable. f "f r' I All intolerable.
Truth, j Jealousy, l
Constancy. ' ' Despair. '
These contain all till vou come to the rules, and then, in love, there are three concords.
1. The first, betwixt a bachelor and a maid.
2. The second, betwixt a man and his wife.
3. The third, betwixt any he and she that loveth straggling.
Nis. The fool bleeds : it is time to stop his vein ; for having wet his foot, he careth
not how far he wades. Let us attend that which we most expect : The star that directs
us hither. Who hath an almanac ?
Cut. What mean you, a starmonger, the quipper of the firmament ? Here is one.
I ever carry it, to know the highways to every good town, the fairs, and the fair weather.
Mel. Let me see it. The seventh of September, happiness was born into the
world : it may be the eleventh is some wonder. The moon at the full, 'tis true, for
Cynthia never shined so bright ; the twelfth, the weather inclined to moisture, and
shepherds' devices to dryness : the thirteenth, summer goeth from hence ; the sign
in Virgo : Vivat clarissima Virgo. The diseases shall be melancholies : some proceeding
of necessity, some of superfluity : many shall be studying how to spend what they have ;
more beating their brains to get what they want. Malice shall be more infectious than
the pestilence ; and drones more favoured than ants ; as for bees, they shall have but
labour for their pains, and when their combs be full, they shall be stilled ; the war shall be
'twixt hemlock and honey. At four of the clock this day, shall appear the world's
wonder, that leads England into every land, and brings all lands into England.
Then, espying her Majesty, he and all the shepherds, kneeling, con
cluded thus : —
"This is the day, this is the hour, this is the star; pardon, dread Sovereign,
poor shepherds' pastimes, and bold shepherds' presumptions. We call ourselves kings
and queens, to make mirth ; but, when we see a king or queen, we stand amazed.
The sun warms the earth, yet loseth no brightness, but sheweth more force; and
kings' names that fall upon shepherds lose no dignity, but breed more fear. Their
pictures are drawn in colours ; and in brass their portraitures engraven. At chess, there
are kings and queens, and they of wood. Shepherds are no more, nor no less, wooden.
In theatres, artificers have played emperors; yet the next day forgotten neither their
duties nor occupation. For our boldness in borrowing their names, and in not seeing
your Majesty for our blindness, we offer these shepherds' weeds : which if your Majesty
vouchsafe at any time to wear, it shall bring to our hearts comfort, and happiness to our
labours." During the Queen's visit to Sudeley the following letter was written

238 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.
by Sir Thomas Heneage, her chamberlain, to the Lord Keeper
Puckering : —
" My good Lord,
" Upon the receipt of your letters I acquainted her Majesty with your joy of her
so well passing so long a progress, and your great desire to know how her Highness did,
now at the furthest of her journey, the good news thereof (being so far divided from her
Majesty) did give you life and most contentment. I also showed her Majesty (as this
gentleman the bearer hereof told me) how your Lordship had been in Waltham forest,
and was not pleased to take your sport alone, but would have the company of the
Ambassador, whom you waited to dinner, and made partner of your pastime. Touching
the first, her Majesty willed me to tell you, that she found by your often sending, your
love and care of her. And for the next, she bad me say, that she found you would not
only speak well, but also do well, and perform things with judgment and honour, praising
you to me exceedingly. For I could not use any one word of just commendation of your
Lordship, that she gave not allowance of and adding to of her own gracious conceiving.
Whereof I (that will never be found to deceive you) can assure your Lordship you have
great cause to take comfort. This is the best news that I can now, or at any time, send
your Lordship. But as soon as any come out of France or Italy, worthy the writing, I
shall send your Lordship a brief of them. And so, with my hearty commendations, rest
assuredly at your Lordship's commandment,
"T. Heneage.
" At the Court at Sudley, the 12th Sept., 1592."
Mr. Edward Jones, secretary to the Lord Keeper Puckering, in a letter
dated Stepney, Sept. 1 2th, says, " The plague increaseth in London,"
which probably was the cause of the Queen's visit at this time.*
The royal visit to Sudeley ended, the Queen departed, escorted as
before to the borders of the county, rested a few days at Woodstock,
and thence proceeded to Oxford.
We now leave this brilliant page of Sudeley's history, illumined as
it is by the splendid visits of Queen Elizabeth and her retinue, and
turn to Giles Lord Chandos,"}" who departed this life on the 21st of
February, 1594, at the early age of 47. By his last will, bearing date
23rd July, 1592, he bequeathed his body to be buried in the parish
church of Sudeley. His burial is entered in the panish register of

* In Nichols' " Progresses," pp. 451, 501, there are descriptions of New Year's gifts (1599) in money,
plate, and dress ornaments, from and to ihe Queen and Lord and Lady Chandos: "A kirtell of silver
chainlet, with silke of sondrye colors. A doublett of netwoike, tufted up with white knytworke, florished
with silver;" et cetera.
f He was, a.d. 1593, possessed of the lands of Eldersfield, which were afterwards held by Sir Henry
Spiller, Knt. The manor is now the propertv of Sir Edmur.d Lechmere.

ELIZABETH.]

LADY KENNEDY.

239

Winchcombe, but there is every reason to believe his wish was carried
out, and that he lies buried with his ancestors in the Chandos vault

Mytens, pinxit.
Elizabeth, Wife of Sir John Kennedy, eldest daughter to Giles, Lord Chandos.
He left no son, but two young daughters, Elizabeth and Katherine, of
the ages of 16 and 14, to be educated under the judicious care of the
noble Lady Frances, their mother.
Elizabeth had an unhappy history, which, though passed over by

240 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.
our county historians, is told in letters preserved in the Public Record
Office. About the year 1603 she married, evidently against the wish
of her mother, Sir John Kennedy, a member of the royal household,
who had influence enough with the King to procure from him a letter
to Lady Frances, exhorting her not to use "hard measure '' to the new-
married pair, as the gentleman was one whom he had much regard for ;
adding that he should be inclined to favour her ladyship " in any just
thing that might concern her," according as he perceived that she
attended or not to his recommendation.* What was the result of this
letter we know not, but eventually the discovery was made that Sir
John had another wife in Scotland, and " Mrs. Brydges," as she then
came to be termed, of course separated from him. Several letters
relating to this affair are preserved at Hatfield House,f but these not
being accessible, we are obliged to confine ourselves to those in the
Public Record Office.
From these we learn that in the year 1609 Mrs. Brydges was
residing in the house of Sir William Paddy, a physician, at Barn Elm.
On the 3rd of September, in the middle of the night, Sir John assailed
the house with " a band of furious Scots," and both the lady and her
protector were obliged to flee for their lives to the house of Sir Arthur
Gorges, who reports the affair in a letter to the Earl of Salisbury,:}: and
disclaims any idea of interfering between man and wife, but pleads that
the lady is his wife's cousin, and came to them in such miserable plight,
" lyker to dye than lyve," that he could not refuse her shelter until
such time as her mother shall send for her. The story is also told,
but in a bantering tone, in another letter from Dudley Carleton to
John Chamberlain. § The poor lady lived several years after in
sickness and poverty, and died in 161 7. There is a curious passage
regarding her death, in the Extracts of Letters among Birch's MSS.
in the British Museum, in these words : —
"Oct. 18, 1617. Mrs. Bridges, alias the Lady Kennedy, died at Westminster a
fortnight since, being taken with strange convulsions, which made some, perhaps, suspect
* D. S. P., Jas. I., Vol. vi., No. 65, dated February 19, 1604.
+ Historical Manuscripts Commission, Third Report, Appendix, p. 148.
X D. S. P., Jas. I., Vol. xlviii., No. 7.
§ D. S. P., Jas. I., Vol. lxviii., No. 81.

Elizabeth.] LADY FRANCES CHANDOS. 241
more than there was cause ; that she had done herself some wrong. She lived of late, and
died very poor : her maintenance being little or nothing, but as it were the judicious alms
of her friends."
There are several notices in the Public Records of Sir John Kennedy,
but none to his credit. In June, 161 5, we read of his being committed
to the Gatehouse' as a false accuser ; * at another time we have an un
dated statement of his debts,! in which he asserts that he has been at
" extraordinary charges upon herself and her friends, as is well known,"
mentioning, among other things, " money I borrowed for her when she
lay at Dr. Paddye's house, and yet by me owing, ^350 ;" ",£100 before
she lay down in childbed ;" and "in clothes, physic, and spent by her in
Christmas-times, ^"1500; to her servant Newton a copyhold worth
;£i6o." It is noticeable that he never mentions his wife's name, only
" her." He says he owes debts to the amount of ^"6200, and has suits
against him for ^5500 more. From the report of a committee for
Petitions of the House of Lords, it appears that he was dead before
May 28, 1624, and he seems to have left a plentiful crop of debts and
lawsuits behind him.;};
Katherine married Francis, Lord Russell of Thornhaugh, afterwards
Earl of Bedford, and left a son and heir, William, who became the first
Duke of Bedford. Katherine was .buried at Cheynies, in Bucking
hamshire. The Lady Frances Chandos lived during her widowhood at
Woburn, and dying there, was likewise interred at Cheynies, in the
burial-place of the Russell family. A noble monument is erected to
her memory, on the north side of the chapel, her figure, in full pro
portion, lying thereon in a recumbent posture, dressed in the habit of
the age, and underneath, the following inscription, in a black marble
compartment, in Roman letters of gold : —
" To the Memory of the truly noble and virtuous Lady, the Lady Frances Chandos,
wife to Giles Bruge, Lord Chandos, Baron of Sudley, daughter to Edward, Earl of
Lincoln, and mother to Katharine, Countess of Bedford. She died at Wooburn Abbey,
and was interred here September, 1623.

D. S. P., Jas. I., Vol. lxxx., No. 15. t D. S. P., Jas. I, Vol. xlviii., No. 75.
X Historical Manuscripts Commission, Third Report, Appendix, p. 34.

24'

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.

" This was erected at the charge of the Right Hon. William, Earl of Bedford, as well
in testimony of the great honour due from him to his noble grandmother's memory as
in execution of his noble father's last will and testament." *

•iHiHiiW: WHHHP v , IMI

Connelius Jansen, pinxit.
Katherine, Countess of Bedford, daughter of Giles Lord Chandos.
We are indebted to E. Smith Wood, Esq., of Winchcombe, for the
following abstracts of documents in our possession. The first is a con-

* Collins' "Peerage," Vol. i., part 2, p. 637.

Elizabeth.] LADY FRANCES CHANDOS. 243
veyance executed by the Lady Frances relating to old Church property
in Winchcombe and Sudeley, and is of great local interest.
24 June, 43rd Elizabeth (1601). Feoffment and conveyance from "The righte
" honorable Frauncis Ladie Chandos of Sudeley in the County of Gloucester widowe " to
one "Walter Ridelow of Winchombe,'' in consideration of £2$ then paid and of
^20. 10. o, to be paid at a day therein named "in or at the Castle of the said Ladie
Chandos in Sudeley aforesaid," of
" Twenty and foure wridges or lands of arrable grounde and the hades and meeares of
" the same landes " " p'cell of the Sextery of Winchombe " " lyenge and beinge in the fildes
" and Pishe of Sudeley or Winchombe or in one of them."
" All and singular wch said p'mises late weere p'cell of the Rectory of Winchombe afore-
" said and to the office of the Sexston of the late dissolved Monestary of Winchombe
11 aforesaid belonginge or app'tayinge wch said Rectory of Winchombe and other the said
" p'mises belonginge to the said office of Sexston of the said late dissolved Monestary of
" Winchombe lately weere by our saide soveraigne Ladie the Queene in and by her highnes
" l'rs pattents under the greate seale of England bearinge date the eighteene daie of
" December in the thirtieth year of her highnes raigne, amonngest other thinges graunted
" to one Edmond Downynge and Myles Doddinge to them and theire heires in fee, to
" hold of our said soveraigne Ladie the Queene her heires and successors as of her highnes
" Mannor of Easte greenwiche by fealtie only in free and common socage and not in
" capite yealdinge therefore to our saide soveraigne Ladie the Queene her heires and suc-
" cessors the yearly rent or fee farme of twelve poundes nyne shillings and fivepence as
" in and by the saide l'rs pattents more at large it doth & may appeare wch saide
" Fdmond Dowynge and Myles Doddinge by theire deed indented beringe date the
" Nyneteenth daie of Marche in the thirtieth yeare of the Raigne of our soveraigne Ladie
" Queene Elizabeth inrolled in her Maties high courte of Chauncery did bargaine and sell
" the said P'myses amoungest other thinges to one Arthur Swayne and Phillipe Tyse to
" them and theire heires in fee, The wch Arthur Swayne and Phillipe Tyse by theire Inden-
" ture beringe date twentithe daie of Marche in the thirtieth yeere aforesaide inrolled in
" the said courte of Chauncery did bargaine and sell the saide p'mises amoungest other
" thinges to one Charles Wedmister & Bennett his wife and to the heires and assignes
" of the said Charles for ever wch saide Charles Wedmister and Bennett his wife in and
" by their Indenture beringe date the eleventh daie of February in the seven and thirtieth
" yeere of the Raigne of our saide souveraigne Ladie Queene Elizabeth inrolled in her
" Maties high courte of Chauncery did bargaine and sell the saide p'mises amoungest other
" thinges to the said Frauncis Ladie Chandos to her and her heires for ever And the wcl1
" Bennett the wife of the said Charles Wedmister after the decease of the said Charles
" did also by her Indenture beringe date the sixthe daie of June in the nyne and thirtieth
" yeere of the Raigne of our saide souveraigne Ladie Queene Elizabeth sufficiently bargaine
" sell convey and assure her estate in the saide p'mises amoungest other thinges to the
"saide Ladie Frauncis Chandos and to her heires in fee." The deed contains the usual
covenants for title on the part of Lady Chandos, and after reciting that she had bargained
with certain other persons therein named for the sale to them of other portions of the
hereditaments belonging to the said Rectory, and to the office of the Sexton of the said

244

ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xix.

Monastery, fixes the proportion of the said rent or fee farm to be paid on the heredita
ments retained by her as £8. ii. 5, and the hereditaments so bargained to be sold at
£^- 18. o, of which 5J. id. was to be payable out of the hereditaments so sold to the said
Waiter Ridelow.

From the next it appears
(1632) :
" Gyles Ridler of Winchombe
" Clarke," and Ann Ridler of " Shudely "
combe, Yeoman, in consideration of
ground called Fullbrooke " Peece "
of Sudeley or Winchcombe and all

that on 28 Feb. 7 Charles I.

Yeoman, Walter Ridler of Campden
Widow, sold to Walter Roane of Winch
es 8, "17 Ridges or Landes of Arable
situate in a Common Field in Parish
Tithes."

Lantern, XlVth century work. Formerly
in the Strawberry Hill' Collection, now
at Sudeley Castle.

CHAPTER XX.
"And many a banner floated free,
In days when Chandos held his state,
Within the ancient Castle gate,
And woke the courts with revelry.'' Francis R. Traill.
GILES leaving no male issue, was succeeded by his brother
William, of whom personally little is recorded, except his
participation in the wild plot of the Earl of Essex ; but his
household would seem to have been a disorderly one, as we have full
details of a daring highway robbery committed by "some of my
Lord Chandos' men " on clothiers returning with .£400 from Bristol
fair, in papers in the Public Record Office.* It seems also from
letters in the British Museum, that he had a dispute with his widowed
sister-in-law about Sudeley. Lady Frances, in a letter to the Lord
Keeper (without the date of the year), complains that though she
resided in the Castle, the new lord had placed servants of his own to
keep the gates. He indulged in threatening speeches, so that her
tenants knew not to whom to pay their rents ; and, worst of all, he
spread a report that the queen favoured his side of the question. She
therefore besought his lordship to give her troubles his earnest
attention, and to arrange that the counsel on her behalf might have as
speedy a meeting as possible with their opponents. How the matter
was arranged we know not, but as before stated, Lady Frances passed
the latter years of her life at Woburn with her daughter, the Countess
of Bedford, f 
* D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. cclii., Nos. 61-64.
T There are letters in the British Museum from Lady Frances Chandos to Sir Julius Csesar, Master of
the Courts of Requests, dated " Sudeley, xxii Jan. and xth of March, 1603 [1604]," the latter endorsed by
Sir J. C, " Th' olde Lady Shandois touching an answer to a peticion of Lewes Jones, parson of Cobberley ; "
of these we have copies.

246 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xx.
Lord Chandos was in 1597 required to send up 150 men from
Gloucestershire "on the coming of the Cardinal of Austria into
France, and nearing Boulogne." In 1601 his brother-in-law, Lord
Sands, joined in Essex's schemes, and Lord Chandos accompanied
him to Essex House ; but when the earl set out for the city, Chandos,
according to the testimony of one Ellis Jones, wrapt his black
cloak about his face, aad went another way.* He seems to have
escaped without punishment, though Sands was heavily fined, and
even to have retained his official position, for we have in our pos
session an autograph letter from him to the Lords of the Privy
Council, as Lord- Lieutenant, dated from Prinknash, August 12, 1602,
informing them that he has levied threescore men out of the county,
and has sent them to the port of Bristol under the conduct of Captain
John Lewes, and that he has also sent to Sir Thomas Tasborough
.£210 for arming and apparelling the same.
He married Mary, daughter of Sir Owen Hopton, Lieutenant of the
Tower, and died late in the year 1602, leaving his eldest son Grey, heir
to the title and the Sudeley estates ; and another son named Giles, "who
died' without issue." Such is the only notice of Giles that our county
histories afford ; but among the Public Records are some documents
that give a glimpse of a passage of his private life, hitherto unknown,
which may be here told., though it belongs to a somewhat later period.
Among the "causes specially appointed to be heard "in the Star-
chamber on the 20th October, 1637, is one in which George, Lord
Chandos, is the plaintiff, and Dame Jane Bridges, William Saunderson,
Margaret Willy, Anthony Fortescue, Anne Pikede .... Richard
Davison, Anne, his wife, and James Bagg, Knt, are the defendants,
charged with " plots, practices, perjury, subornation of perjury, false and
untrue oaths and allegations, slandering of titles, troubling of posses
sions, and other offences ;" but only Jane Bridges and Margaret Willy
are proceeded against, f As is well known to students of history, but
few of the records of the Starchamber are now to be met with ; some
are in the Public Record Office, some among the Harleian MSS. in the

* D. S. P., Eliz., Vol. cclxxviii., No. 87. f D. S. P., Car. I., Vol. ccclxx., Nos. 10, 11.

J. Rushton,

Chandos Buffet, 1598.
At Sudeley Castle.

charles i.J SIR GILES BRIDGES. 247
British Museum, and others in private hands, particularly in the Duke of
Northumberland's library at Alnwick Castle ;* but in all probability the
far greater number have been destroyed. Hence we have but meagre
materials for the history of what was, no doubt, a cause cdlebre in its
day. The information exhibited in the name of George, Lord Chandos,
who was a minor, the interrogatories addressed to the several parties,
and their answers, seem to have perished, and we have only the entry
on the cause paper, and a summary of the main points in the depositions
of eight witnesses for the plaintiff; none appear for the defence.
Putting together the scattered hints, it appears that Jane Willy, the
natural daughter of one William Saunderson (probably Margaret Willy
was her mother), asserted that she had been married to Sir Giles
Bridges, and assuming the title of Lady, under that pretence cozened
one William Uvedale of jewels and clothes ; but it was not until a
year and a half after the death of the knight that this came to the
knowledge of his executors, of whom she claimed a debt. She had,
however, before this induced Thomas Writ (?), a clergymen, to swear
falsely that he had married her to Sir Giles, saying that the minister
who had married her had gone abroad, and she conquered his
reluctance to forswear himself by a promise of £5 for the service.
Her father also tampered with Edward Thurman, who had been the
curate at the Savoy in 1627, offering him 50 or 100 angels f to swear
that he had married her to Sir Giles, who was a Romanist. When
Thurman replied that he remembered no such marriage, Saunderson
explained that " a good license " had been procured, and the marriage
was celebrated at the back door of the church by a Romish priest.
Another witness, Timothy Gates, parson of Clewer (?), deposed that
" after the death of Bridges, Jane Willy brought him two blank papers
to set his hand to." Thomas Hancock deposed that " she was married
in her bed," but does not say who was the husband ; and Uvedale
further stated that Saunderson acknowledged to him that he was
forsworn for her.

* Historical Manuscripts Commission, Third Report, Appendix, p. 45.
t A gold coin, the value of which varied considerably at different times. In the reign of Charles I. it
was settled at ten shillings.

248 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xx.
The court on this occasion consisted of eleven members, and against
each name appears the measure of punishment that he recommended,
the judgment pronounced being that of the majority. Lord Cottington,
whose name appears first, was satisfied with " ^500 fine to the king —
Jane Bridges," and two others agreed with him. Lord Chief Justice
Finch evidently thought this too lenient for such an offender, and his
vote runs, " Lord Cottington's fine, corporal punishment, whipping ; "
seven others concurring, this became " the general vote " of the court,
pronounced by the Lord Treasurer. The corporal punishment, no doubt,
was inflicted on the unhappy creature, but it is not likely that the fine
could be paid. It does not appear that any judgment was then pro
nounced on Margaret Willy, but the Starchamber must have been a more
merciful tribunal than other courts at that day, if she went unpunished.
Of the three daughters of Lord Chandos, Frances married first Sir
Thomas Smith, Secretary to King James, and secondly, Thomas Cecil,
Earl of Exeter. The tomb of the earl is in Westminster Abbey, and he
is represented at full length in the unmeaning style of the period, with
his first wife laid on his right side, and a vacant place on his left for his
second wife, Frances Bridges ; but she, with the pride of the Chandoses,
declined occupying the left side, and the space is therefore left vacant.*
Her name often occurs in the State Papers of the reign of James I.,
she having been accused of attempting to poison Lady Roos, the
daughter of Sir Thomas Lake, Secretary of State. What was their
motive does not appear, but the Secretary, his wife, his son, and his
daughter, were leagued in a conspiracy against her. The cause was
in part heard by the King in person, and the proceedings were so
protracted, that they filled no less than 17,000 sheets of paper, j- At
last it was decided in the Starchamber, in February, 1619, and the
documents relating to it are in the Duke of Northumberland's library.^
The innocence of the countess was " proved very sufficiently," says the
judgment, and heavy punishment was inflicted on the accusers. The
Secretary, his wife and son, were to be imprisoned in the Tower for

* Aclcermann's "Westminster Abbey," Vol. ii., p. 181.
t D. S. P., Jas. I., Vol. civ., No. 4.
X Historical Manuscripts Commission, Third Report, Appendix, p. 64.

Van Dyck, Pinxt

FRANCES BRYDGES, COUNTESS OF EXETER,
Daughter of William, Lord Chandos.
(The Original Painting was in the Strawberry Hill Collection.)

james i.J GREY, FLFTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 249
life, to pay .£3000 as damages to the earl and countess, and to make
an open confession of their guilt in the Starchamber. The men were
to lose all offices, and being declared " infamous," could hold none in
future. Sir Thomas and his wife were to pay each a fine of ,£5000 to
the King, and Lady Roos one of 100 marks ; whilst Sarah Swarton, a
humble confederate, was to be " whipped at a cart's tail from the prison
to Westminster, there to be marked with the letters F. and A., for a false
accuser, and to be whipped to Cheapside, and from thence, on a market
day, and then to remain in prison in Bridewell during his Majesty's plea
sure." Two suits that the Lakes had brought were dismissed with
costs, as " nothing proved," and damages amounting to ^500 in one case,
and ,£1200 in the other, awarded to the injured parties ; together with
two fines of ^200 each to the King for their false accusation. Her
portrait, here given, is a copy of an old engraving by Faithorne, from a
picture by Vandyke, formerly in the Strawberry Hill Collection.
The second daughter married Sir Thomas Turvile, and Beatrice, the
youngest, became the wife of Sir Henry Poole, of Saperton. Their
son, Sir William, married Marial, daughter of Lord Tracy, and was
succeeded by his son Sir Henry Poole, who was the last heir male of
his family, and sold the Manor of Saperton in the year 1660 to Sir
Robert Atkyns, Kt*
Grey Brydges succeeded his father as the fifth Lord Chandos.
Whether he had any cause of discontent at the accession of James I.
is not known, but Brooke, one of the parties to the plot to place
Arabella Stuart on the throne, says in his confession of July 17, 1603,
" My Lord Grey did name my Lord Chandos, saying he thought he
could bring him into the action ; " f apparently he was wrong, as
Chandos evidently was in favour at court. Thus he was made one of
the Knights of the Bath at the creation of Charles, Duke of York, on
the 5th of January, 1604, tne duke and ten noblemen's sons receiving
the order at the same time ; and when waiting on the King to Oxford,
he was created Master of Arts on the 30th of August, 1605.
In 161 2, when England was plunged in grief by the sudden death of

* Rudder's "Gloucestershire." + D. S. P., Jas. I., Vol. ii., No. 69.
K K

250 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xx.
Henry, Prince of Wales, we find the Lord of Sudeley attending his
funeral in Westminster Abbey.*
A few scattered notices of Lord Chandos occur among the State
Papers, but he seems to have taken little part in public affairs, probably
on account of bad health, which occasioned him to make frequent visits
to Spa and elsewhere. In June 161 1, he wrote to the Earl of Salisbury,
thanking him for having given his name to a son of his, who, however,
did not live long to enjoy it.f In 161 3 we find a quarrel and threatened
duel between him and Lord Hay, one of the courtiers, mentioned, % and
in 1 61 6, he endeavoured to obtain the post of Lord President of Wales,
but did not succeed. § He had a dispute with Sir Thomas Lowe, a
London alderman, about a lease of some lands at Blunsdon, in Wiltshire,
and taking advantage of his opponent's compulsory absence (serving as
Lord Mayor, in 1604), forcibly re-entered on the premises without
waiting for legal process. The case was referred by the King to the
Lord Chancellor and others, and their judgment being decidedly against
him, he received a letter of severe reprimand, directing him to allow Sir
Thomas again to hold the lands until he might be evicted by due course
of law. The letter concludes, " And hereof we will you not to fail, as you
tender our favour, whereof you have already tasted to your comfort."||
Lord Chandos seems to have a right to a niche in the Temple of
Fame raised by Lord Orford in his " Royal and Noble Authors," he
being considered the author of a work entitled " Horae Subsecivae,
Observations and Discourses," published by Blount in 1620, with a
preface by the same, ending with : —
" I will hold you no longer from that to which this but introduceth : But if the book
please you, come home to my shop, you shall have it bound ready to your hand, and
remaine, " At your command,
" Ed. Blount."
A few passages from the chapter on country life may here be in
serted, as they gave an insight into the life and sentiments of a noble
* Nichols' "Progresses," Vol. ii., p. 501. f D. S. P., Jas. I., Vol. Ixiv., No. 51.
X D. S. P., Jas. .., Vol. lxxiv., No. 56. § D. S. P., Jas. I., Vol. lxxxvii., No. 57.
II D. S. P., Jas. I., Addenda, Vol. xxxix., No. 71.

vj^fy-JP?' y

J. Rushton.
DOOR-WAY BETWEEN THE FIRST AND SECOND QUADRANGLE, SUDELEY CASTLE,
Surmounted bv the Initials and Date, G.C, 1614.

james i.J GREY, FIFTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY.

2;i

gentlemen, and might serve as a worthy model for all future owners
of the Castle !
Speaking of how a man of quality is to conduct himself in a country
life, he says : —
" One of his first endeavours should be to expresse freedome and hospitality in his
house, and bountifull liberality towards his poorer neighbours : these be the true ornaments
of a country housekeeper ; an honourable custome, so peculiar to our Nation, that that
way we have outgone all others ; and howsoever of late it hath been declining and decay
ing, yet it is worthy of renovation, being so great a stay to the country, such a releefe to
the poore, so honourable for themselves, and exempilary for posterity, the very knot which
contracts society and conversation, a receptacle for ones friends and children, which be
the chiefest solaces of a man's life," &c.
" The next means of doing good in the country is in composing of differences
and discontents, betwixt neighbour or friend and another : it is the principall act of
charitie. This is the proper work of a superior power. . . . It is the best worke
wherein a man in the country can employ himselfe to bee a Peace-maker and ender of
controversies," &c.
Of country sports he says :
"All field delights, as hunting, riding, and hawking, commendable if used with mode
ration, are properly belonging only to this life, and certainly they greatly enable and
active men's bodies making the difficulty of enduring labour and other accidents, that in
time of warre a man may be subject unto, more easie than any other preparative or
imitable practise that I know."
Collins says of Grey, Lord Chandos, that he was a noble house
keeper, and by a winning behaviour contracted so great an interest in
Gloucestershire, and had such numerous attendants when he came to
Court, that he was commonly called the King of the Cotswold. For,
having an ample fortune, he expended it in the most generous manner ;
his house being kept open three days every week for the gentry, and
the poor were as constantly fed with the remnants of his hospitable
entertainments. In short, his ability and disposition were so exactly
proportioned to each other, that it was difficult to determine which had
the greatest share in his numberless acts of beneficence.
He entered into some negotiations with the Earl of Cumberland for
the hand of his daughter Anne (afterwards the celebrated Countess of
Dorset), as we learn from a very curious letter from her mother to the
Earl of Salisbury, the Master of the Wards, in the Public Record

252 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xx.
Office,* but he eventually married Anne, daughter of Ferdinando, Earl
of Derby. He died in his coach on a journey near Spa, August 10,
1 62 1, leaving George his heir, little more than a year old, and another
son, William, who eventually succeeded to the title. His body was
brought home, and although buried in Sudeley, his name is thus entered
in the Winchcombe Register, " 1621, Aug. 24th, Dominus Grayus
Chandoes sepult fecit."
Sir John Beaumont, of Gracedieu, in Leicestershire, the brother of
Francis Beaumont, the dramatist, wrote the following elegiac lines,
styling them
"TEARS FOR THE DEATH OF THE TRULY HONOURABLE,
THE LORD CHANDOS.
Let him, whose lines a private loss deplore,
Call them to weep, that never wept before ;
My grief is more audacious : give me one,
Who ev'ry day hath heard a dying groan.
The subject of my verses may suffice
To draw new tears from dry and weary eyes.
We dare not love a man, nor pleasure take
In others' worth for noble Chandos' sake :
And when we seek the best with Reason's light,
We fear to wish him longer in our sight.
Time had increased his virtue and our woe,
For Sorrow gathers weight by coming slow :
Should him the God of life, to life restore
Again, we lose, and we lament the more.
If mortals could a thousand lives renew,
They were but shades of death which must ensue.
Our gracious God hath fitter bounds assign'd,
And earthly pains to one short life confined ;
Yet when His hand hath quench'd the vital flame,
It leaves some cinders of immortal fame ;
At these we blow, and (like Prometheus) strive
By such weak sparks to make dead clay alive:
Breath flies to air, the body falls to ground,
And nothing dwells with us but mournful sound.
Oh ! might his honour' d name live in my song,
Reflected as with echoes shrill and strong !

D. S. P., Jas. I., Vol. xix., No. 9.

james i.J GREY, FIFTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY.

253

But when my lines of glorious objects treat,
They should rise high, because the work is great.
No quill can paint this Lord, unless it have
Some tincture from his actions free and brave :
Yet from this height I must descend again,
And (like the calm sea) lay my verses plain,
When I describe the smoothness of his mind,
Where Reason's chains rebellious passions bind :
My poem must in harmony excel,
His sweet behaviour and discourse to tell ;
It should be deep, and full of many arts,
To teach his wisdom, and his happy parts ;
But since I want these graces, and despair
To make my picture (like the pattern) fair ;
These hasty strokes unperfect draughts shall stand,
Expecting life from some more skilful hand."
Associated with this period and district was the " yeerely celebration
of Mr. Robert Dover's Olimpick games upon Cotswold Hills " (near
Campden), immortalised in Drayton's Poly Olbion, and in Dover's
Annalia Dubrensia, the frontispiece of which curiously illustrates the
games and pastimes, the latter being made up by contributions of
various authors, among whom were Michael Drayton, Ben Jonson, and
Thomas Hey wood. Gladly would we linger over these pleasant topics,
for our next is the saddest in the Sudeley chronicles.

Ruins of Sudeley Castle.

CHAPTER XXI.
" The King is come to marshal us, all in his armour drest,
And he has bound a snow-while plume upon his gallant crest.
He look'd upon his people, and a tear was in his eye ;
He look'd upon the traitors, and his glance was stem and high.
Right graciously he smiled on us, as rolled from wing to wing,
Down all our line, a deafening shout, ' God save our Lord the King ! ' "
Macaulay.
WITH the entrance on the stage of George, the sixth Lord
Chandos, the concluding act commences ; a darkening
shadow begins to creep over Sudeley's far-famed towers,
the hand of the destroyer is about to lay her beauty in the dust, war to
do her cruel work. But history must tell the tale !
George Chandos was born August 9, 1620; so was but an infant
at the death of his father. His mother contracted a most unhappy
second marriage with Mervin Touchet, Earl of Castlehaven, but the
young lord found a vigilant guardian in his grandmother, Alice,
dowager Countess of Derby, and after her death in Henry, Earl of
Manchester, whose daughter Susan he married. Among our papers
at Sudeley is an official transcript of a letter written by the countess
on behalf of her " poor ward," complaining of his estate being unduly
burdened with ship-money to relieve others, and she succeeded in
obtaining prompt redress.* Soon after this, Lord Chandos, still a
minor, prosecuted " Dame Jane Bridges " in the Starchamber, as
already related t and about the same time we meet with him in the
State Papers, as a petitioner to the King, craving that the tenure of some
waste ground in the forest of Braydon, Wilts, which he desired to

D. S. P., Car. I., Vol. cccxliii., Nos. 30, 57. t See pp. 246-48.

C. JanseNj pinxt. J

IEdith L. Wedgwood, deit,
[To face p. 254.

George, VIth Lord Chandos. Formerly in the possession of Lord Rivers j
now at Sudeley Castle.

charles i.] GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 255
improve, might be converted from knight's service to socage, without
which the neighbouring copyholders would not become tenants for
the same.* On the 18th December, 1637, he had licence to travel
abroad for three years, and in February, 1638, he passed over from
Dover in a king's ship,f in company with Lord Spencer, a youth of
about his own age, who was afterwards created Earl of Sunderland, and
was killed at the first battle of Newbury. Whether they travelled
long together we do not know, but it is certain that they were both
loyal noblemen, of whom Lord Clarendon speaks highly ; \ and one
lost his life, the other his fortune, in the royal cause.
When the Great Rebellion broke out, the young lord had just
attained his majority, and was in possession of an estate of ^"3120
a year, but burdened with an annuity of ^600 to his mother, who
had married the Earl of Castlehaven, ^"150 to his brother William,
and certain payments to churches, hospitals, &c, which reduced his
income to £i78g.§ The Parliament had long been demanding the
right to embody the militia from the King, and when he positively
refused to agree to this, they told him plainly, in what they chose to
style a " humble petition," that they would settle the business without
him ; and they kept their word. Without delay they issued one of
the Ordinances which afterwards became so famous, appointing fifty-
five persons as commissioners of array, who were to call to their help
all lord lieutenants and deputy lieutenants, and draw together the
trained bands, to suppress all who should levy soldiers by any com
mission from his Majesty, seize upon all horses, arms, ammunition,
money, plate, or other provision whatsoever, raised or provided for
his Majesty's service ; be ready to assist the Earl of Essex, with horse
and foot, and fight with, kill and slay all such as should by force
oppose them : they were ordered to disarm all papists and ill-affected
clergy, to take possession of the magazines, and to raise what fortifi-

• D. S. P., Car. I., Vol. ccclxxv., No. 38.
t D. S. P., Car. I., Vols, ccclxxiv., ccclxxxiii.
X " History of the Rebellion," 8vo. edition, pp. 430, 486.
§ These particulars appear in the application of Lord Chandos to be allowed to compound for delin
quency, preserved with some 2000 similar applications in the Public Record Office. Royalist Composition
Papers, Second Series, vol. xv., p. 95.

256 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.
cations should be thought fit. These directions were sent to every
county, and were obeyed or not, as either the King or the Parliament
happened to be the strongest. The King on his part issued similar
commissions, and the young Lord Chandos set himself to work in
earnest for his royal master. The active part that he took in the
early part of the war naturally links the history of Sudeley so closely
with that period that no apology is needed for introducing the following
particulars principally extracted from Clarendon's " History of the
Rebellion," and from contemporary pamphlets in the British Museum.
No county in England was so much affected or engaged in the civil
wars as Gloucestershire, which arose partly from King Charles having
made Oxford his head-quarters. South Wales having declared in his
favour, it was expedient that a clear communication should be kept
open with that country, Gloucestershire intervened, and so it came to
pass that Sudeley Castle, from its proximity to Gloucester, Cirencester,
Tewkesbury, and Evesham, was frequently attacked by the contending
parties. Shortly before the breaking out of the troubles, fearful prodigies were
said to be seen in various parts, and our neighbourhood was not without
them. Thus, the Tewkesbury carrier asserted, that as he was passing
over the Cotswold hills, with his men and pack-horses, a little before
the dawn of clay, they saw most sensibly and very perspicuously in the
air, musketeers, harnessed men, and horsemen, moving in battle array,
and assaulting one another in divers furious postures.* Soon, alas! were
these sad omens verified !
In August, 1642, about the time that the royal standard was set up
at Nottingham, Lord Chandos came down to Cirencester to execute
his commission of array on behalf of the King. The people in general
were vehemently Puritanical, and, not content with reviling him as a
traitor, they rose upon him, threatened his person, and tore his carriage
to pieces, so that it was not without difficulty that he escaped with
life. The "Perfect Diurnal "f of August 23, 1642, adds: — "From

* Howell's "Familiar Letters."
t Both parties used the printing press freely, and issued " Diurnals," &c, giving highly coloured pictures
of the events of the time. There is a very fine collection of these in the British Museum, styled, "King's

charles i.] GEORGE, SLXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 257
Gloucestershire the House of Commons received letters, intimating
that the Lord Shandois was coming into the said county with an intent
to execute the commission of array, but the whole county stands for the
Parliament, and had like to have took Sir Wm. Swig prisoner, who
came to execute the said commission."
Undaunted by this reception, Lord Chandos raised a troop of horse
at his own cost, in which his kindred served,* and joined the King, and
he afterwards added a regiment of foot.
The same paper for Jan. 30 to Feb. 6, 1643, states that Lord Chandos
was taken prisoner by the rebels, but this is clearly a mistake, as we
shall see hereafter : " Saturday, 4th .... Lord Shandois with some
troops of horse being possessed of Sudeley Castle, Cicester and
Teuxbury men, joining with the forces in Gloucester, they marched out
to Sudeley Castle and took the same, and a hundred horse and above
two hundred foot, with their arms, and many commanders and the said
Lord Shandois prisoner. The cavaliers in Oxford having notice
thereof, enraged with madness, have sent out another party of horse
against Cicester," &c. Lord Chandos is thus mentioned in the Royalist
" Mercurius Aulicus " a few days after :
" Sixt Week, Monday, Feb. 6, 1642 [1643].
" This day, in the afternoon, his Majesty rode forth to take a view of the prisoners
which were brought from Cyrencester, being in all 1187 in number, conducted by troops
of horse. The one being that of the Lord Chandoys, the other being Colonel Croker's.
Together with these prisoners, came news as acceptable, viz., that the rebels which had
put themselves the week before into Sudeley Castle — which place Prince Rupert passed
by in his march to Cirencester, as well because it might have been an hindrance to his
main design, as that he was not willing to batter and deface an house belonging to so
honourable and brave a gentleman, — did presently upon the first news that the town was
taken, betake themselves to their heels, and left the place without much injury done
unto it."
At the beginning of the war Lord Chandos had armed his tenants

Pamphlets," the catalogue of which is in twelve volumes. The " Perfect Diurnal " is on the Parliamentary
side, and is probably the best known of its class. Its statements, however, meet with strong condemnation
and contradiction from the Royalist "Mercurius Aulicus," "Mercurius Rusticus," and the "Querela
Cantabrigiensis. "
* There is an interesting letter from Prince Rupert, dated Nov. 26, 1642, referring to this, in which he
writes : " Sir Robert Tracey sent the King ,£200 this week, and his third son to serve in the Lord Chandos'
troop  My Lord Chandos also raiseth a regiment." — " Memoirs of Prince Rupert." L L

258 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.
and servants, and garrisoned his Castle, which was seated, says Loyd,
• commodiously on the meetings of the vales and woulds, to defend
and command the country, especially my Lord's three darlings, the
woods, the clothing, and the iron works." Then there was confusion
and excitement in the Castle such as had never been the case before.
The sound of war had gone forth, armour was hurriedly taken down
from the walls, the trumpet thrilled through the quadrangles. "For
the King ! " " To horse ! " was the cry. Then were the young eager for
the fray. The old and trustworthy were left in charge, the watchmen
stationed on the towers, and with the decision and energy of youth did
the young loyal Chandos away to the King at Shrewsbury, with 1000
armed men, and plate to the value of .£5000. At that time Sudeley
Castle was considered "the strongest hold" of the district, and it was left
in charge of Captain Brydges. On Friday, January 27, 1643, it was
assailed by Colonel Edward Massey, in the absence of Lord Chandos,
who, with the Princes Rupert and Maurice and others, had retired to
Oxford after a fruitless attempt on Cirencester. Captain Brydges at
first refused to yield, but Massey found means to intimidate him, and
he surrendered on the third day. In Corbet's " Military Government
of the City of Gloucester," the following description is given of this
affair : —
"About the 1st of January 1642-3, the main strength of the King's army came before
Cirencester prepared and resolved to storm it, yet they only faced the town, and after
two days were strangely taken off, either disabled by the extreme cold* on the hills,
or some sudden misfortune, or daunted by the show of the unanimity and resolution
in the people, or else clouded in their thoughts by the secret will of God in the nick
of action, that they made not the least attempt, but threatened an after-clap.
"A few days after our forces had their design upon Sudeley Castle, at that time
kept by Captain Brydges in the behalf of the Lord Chandos. Lieutenant-Colonel
Massey was entrusted with the manage of this action, who drew from Gloucester
a party of three hundred musketeers with two sakers, assisted with four score horse,
and four companies of dragoons from Cirencester, by order of a council of war held
there, and consent of the deputy lieutenants; there were in the Castle near three score
soldiers, with provision and ammunition sufficient. Our men drew up before it in the
evening, made several shots, and the cannon did some execution ; the same night
summons was given; the enemy refused to render upon quarter, but craved time till
the next day, which in part was granted ; guards were set upon them all night. The next
morning our men were drawn out to make an assault, beds and wool-packs were fetched

charles i.J GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 259

out of the neighbourhood, which they tumbled before, and saved themselves from shot ;
the horse and dragoons came up before the foot approached the wall, and possessed
themselves of a garden under the Castle, and got hay and straw which they fired,
that the smoke driven by the wind smothered the house, in the shadow of which
the ordnance were brought up undiscovered, and planted against the weakest part
of the Castle, which when the enemy perceived they sounded a parley, and immediately
rendered upon agreement. The conditions were, that all might have liberty of person, and
pass to their own houses, leaving their arms behind, and taking an oath never to serve
against the Parliament : they compounded also for the goods in the house, for which
they were to pay five hundred pounds within six days, or to leave them a free prize
to the soldiers.
" Within two days after Prince Rupert faced Sudeley with about four thousand
horse and foot, pretending an attempt to regain it, but in the mean time marched
his artillery towards Cirencester. Lieutenant-Colonel Massey made provision to main
tain the Castle by taking in water, and store of hay and corn, and having left there
Lieutenant-Colonel Forbes, with a sufficient guard, himself retreated to Gloucester.
The Prince with his forces kept the hills, and after three days fell before Cirencester,
a straggling and open town, neither well fortified nor capable of defence. The cham
paign country round about was most advantageous to the horse, in which the enemies'
strength did chiefly consist, and which was
then wholly wanting to that garrison, for their
horse and dragoons were sent to the taking
of Sudeley ; most of their officers were drawn
out upon that service except the captains of
the volunteers, and Lieutenant-Colonel Karre
was the only experienced soldier left there :
their cannoneers were quite wanting, the
common soldiers quite off the hinges, either
cowardly or mutinous."

Thus appeared for the first time
in our Sudeley history the King's
nephew — the hero of the wars,
Prince Rupert, the brave, dashing
Cavalier. He quartered, on January
30th, at two miles' distance from the
Castle, in the open field, having with
him his brother, Prince Maurice.
They had both been sent to the
assistance of Lord Hertford, who had made an unsuccessful attempt
the previous month on Cirencester. It was not Prince Rupert's inten
tion to waste his time there, when he had an undertaking of greater

Prince Rupert.

260 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.
importance before him, on the success of which the Castle would be
sure to fall. It was enough his having shown himself to keep the
garrison close, while he advanced once more to Cirencester, which,
after a contest of two hours, was taken by assault.*
Upon the news of the fall of the town, Sudeley was abandoned by
the Roundheads, as Rupert had anticipated. In the meantime they
had executed their disgusting work of desecration. Now let " Mer
curius Rusticus " say : —
"On the 28th of January, 1642-3, the Cattle of Sudeley, upon composition, was
delivered up to the rebels ; there were articles agreed on and sworn to, but as he
spake truly, Children were deceived with apples, and men with oaths, the rebels as
they swear to articles for their advantage, so they break them as easily for their
advantage, and make perjury an easy uninterrupted passage to theft and robbery,
for these rebels brake as many articles as they swore unto. They plunder not only
the Castle, the seat and house of the Lord Chandos, and Winchcombe, a neighbouring
village, to the utter undoing the poor inhabitants, but in defence of the Protestant
religion, and vindication of the honour of God, they profane His house. There is
in the Castle a goodly fair church, here they dig up the graves, and disturb the
ashes of the dead : they brake down the ancient monuments of the Chandoses, and
instead thereof, leave a prodigious monument of their sacrilegious profaneness, for
each part of the church they find a peculiar way to profane it : the tower part of it
they make their stable, the chancel their slaughter-house. Unto the pulpit (which
of all other places in probability might have escaped their impiety) they fasten pegs
to hang the carcases of the slaughtered sheep ; the Communion Table, according to their
own language, they make their dresser or chopping-board to cut put their meat ; into
the vault, wherein lay the bodies of the Chandoses, an ancient and honourable family,
they cast the guts and garbage, mingling the loathsome entrails of beasts with those
bones and ashes which did there rest in the hope of a joyful resurrection. The nave
or body of the church was all covered with the dung and blood of beasts 
Going away they left nothing behind them in the church (besides walls and seats)
but a stinking memory that part cf the Parliament army raised for the defence of
Religion had been there. Let that railing Rabshakeh, or jeering Sanballat, I mean the
author of the ridiculous pamphlet intituled ' One Argument more against the Cavaliers,'
read this story, and then tell me which are most guilty of profanation of churches,

"History of the Grand Rebellion in Verse," p. 332 :

" The King ......
Commanded Rupert with four thousand Horse
And Foot, t' attempt the latter Town by force
Who marching near it made a cunning Feint
As if alone to Sudeley Castle bent,
Then of a sudden turning all his Power
Upon the Town, subdued it in an hour. ''

[To fnce />. 261.
St. Mary's, Sudelev Manor, in Ruin. From a Photograph by Dr. Tothill in 1850, when some of the fallen pinnacles
had been replaced, and much of the ivy removed.

charles i.J GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 26 1
the Cavaliers or Roundheads? which are most profaned, either St. Mary Maudlins
in Oxford, or the church at Sudeley Castle? and yet this dog sticks not with Shimei
to bark at his Sovereign and blaspheme his piety, as if the rebels brought from Cyren-
cester had been quartered in this church by his approbation, who to expiate that
guilt gave an hundred and fifty pounds to adorn and beautifie that church. The
truth is, there was a fault in commanders for lodging them in churches who, if they
had had their due, had been hanged for rebellion, their carcases exposed to the fowls
of the air, and the beasts of the field, that the ravens of the valleys might have had
their due portion, and never suffered them to come so near the church, as to have
the privilege of Christian burial in the church-yard. So, even so, let all the King's
enemies perish, O Lord ! and let all the people say, Amen."
The Castle then suffered much as may be supposed, both from friend
and foe, but it was soon re-garrisoned by Lord Chandos, and in April
1643 we find that forces drawn thence did good service by strength
ening their friends in a skirmish they had with the rebels near
Andover's-ford. In August the King was at Bristol presiding at a council of war,
where the important question was under consideration, whether to
march upon London or raise the siege of Gloucester — the latter was
decided upon ; the Royalists feeling certain of success, as receiving
encouragement from various quarters, not the least from Sir William
Morton, then in charge of Sudeley Castle, as seen by the following
letter from him to Lord Chandos : — -
" My much honoured Lord,
" By my last I advised your Lordship that Forbes was come from Berkeley to
Gloucester, which was the fact, but now is gone from Gloucester towards Warwick. Old
Hill, the town-clerk of Tewkesbury, went as soon as I sent to him (since I waited on
your Lordship) to Gloucester, to persuade, so he pretends, the citizens and soldiers to
deliver up the town, and is there laid up in prison, but I fear it is bf his own consent.
We have taken his son Nat. Hill, who was under-sheriff, and a great collector for the
Parliament, and a cornet in their army : he promises to do the King good service in
information against the rebels. I desire to know your Lordship's pleasure, whether he
shall continue here with the provost marshal of our regiment, or that you will have him
sent up to you. I am confident the city of Gloucester will yield if it be demanded, for
the soldiers that come forth tell me the town soldiers have resolved not to strike a stroke
against the King. And this is all that for the present I can trouble your Lordship,
saving that I am " Your Lordship's most humble servant,
" Wm. Morton,
" Winchcombe, Aug. 3, 1643."

262 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.
Soon after the date of this letter Prince Rupert came face to face on
our Cotswold hills with the Earl of Essex, who was on his way to
relieve Gloucester, then besieged by the Royalists. The Prince had
neither foot nor artillery, so he dared not attack the earl, but retreated
before him and his army as they marched onward, pressed in close
order, six deep, and eight hundred or a thousand abreast, such a
body of men that it is reported Prince Rupert swore he thought all
the Roundheads in England were there ! Onward they marched over
our Sudeley Hill, through Winchcombe, till they came to the top of
the hill above Prestbury, whence they could see Gloucester, and the
quarters of the Royalists in flames. Then was discharged a warning
piece to give Massey notice in Gloucester that help was at hand ;
part of the army descended to Prestbury, Southam, and the adjoining
villages. After a three days' march they were nearly famished for
want of food, fire and provender. Night came on, and with it such
a storm of rain and wind that the remainder who had halted on the
top of the hill were forced to remain there, partly owing to their
waggons having been overthrown, but more to the difficulty of moving
in the dark down that " very craggy and dangerous hill : " many
Londoners were among them, and it is not difficult to imagine how
their military zeal must have been put to the test. In the midst of the
storm, to add to their troubles, the Cavaliers gave them two alarms at
midnight. The General had to fight for his quarter at a market town
called Cheltnam.
The earl did not at once lead his men into Gloucester, but distributed
them for two days in Cheltenham and Winchcombe, for they sadly
needed recruiting after all they had suffered from the storm and wet.
The entrance into Gloucester was accomplished on Sept. 6th, not,
however, before the Royalists had fallen upon some of them ; for while
the Roundheads were drying their drenched doublets and hose, and
refreshing the inner man, lo ! the trumpet of the Cavaliers rang clear in
the midnight air, troopers clattered through the streets of Winchcombe,
dashed in among them, and before the Parliamentarians had time to
collect their scattered senses, to seize their swords or shoulder their
muskets, many of them were killed or taken prisoners, and some of

Charles i.] GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 263
their colours carried off by the enemy. All this was done with the
characteristic dash and impetuosity of the Royalists — one of those
daring and sudden attacks which must have often given a zest to their
otherwise too frequent disappointing and monotonous warfare. This
was, however, but a slight success.
At Gloucester the Royalists were defeated. Thousands marched
up Painswick Hill in the pouring rain, and encamped in an old
entrenchment ; then it was that the unfortunate King, sitting on a stone
near the camp, when asked by one of the young Princes when they
should go home, for he was weary of their present work, made the
sad rejoinder, " I have no home to go to." He slept that night at
Painswick, and then came with a great part of his
forces to Winchcombe and Sudeley. Once again
was the loyal Castle honoured with a royal guest,
alas ! not as on the last occasion, to be received
with pageant and plays ; but the noble Chandos
gave his King a welcome which must have been all
the more acceptable from the unhappy circumstances
in which he was then placed.
" His Majesty lodged at the Castle," watching and
hoping the Earl of Essex might return that way,
being anxious to force him to fight. For want of Charles I.
proper information, the earl succeeded in eluding From an or'ginai minia-
the Royalists, and the King in consequence lost a
great advantage over the enemy, he having all the roads occupied by
his troops which ought to have cut off the earl's retreat. Prince
Rupert, who was always on the alert, had given notice of the earl's
movements ; but the King considered he was better informed, and
consequently lost precious time. Rupert had his cavalry waiting on
Broadway Hill, ready for immediate pursuit. Having waited in vain
till dark, he went in search of the King ; and great must have been
his mortification, when, seeing a light at a window, he peeped in and

* The above is a copy of one of the miniatures bestowed by King Charles on cavaliers who had parti
cularly distinguished themselves on the battle-field. Presented to us by the Rev. R. Wedgwood, of
Dumbleton.

264 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.
there discovered the King, seated by the fire, absorbed in a game of
piquet.* Before following the movements of the King, it must here be
observed that it was during his visit to Sudeley that King Charles
addressed the following letter to his Cornish subjects, a copy of which
was ordered to be placed in all the churches.
" C. R.
"We are so highly sensible of the extraordinary merit of our County of Cornwall, of
their Zeal for the Defence of our person, and the Just Rights of our Crown, in a time when
we could contribute so little to our own Defence or to their assistance, in a Time when not
only no Reward appeared, but great and probable dangers were threatened to obedience
and Loyalty; of their great and Eminent Courage and Patience in the indefatigable Prose
cution of their great work against so potent an Enemy, backed with so strong, rich, and
populous Cities, and so plentifully furnished and supplied with Men, arms, Money, and
Ammunition, and Provisions of all kinds; and the wonderful success with which it hath
pleased Almighty God (though with the loss of Some most Eminent persons, who shall never
be forgotten by us) to reward their loyalty and Patience, by many strange Victories over
their and our Enemies, in despite of a human probability, to all imaginable Disadvantages;
that as we cannot be forgetful of so great deserts, so we cannot but desire to publish to all
the world, and perpetuate to all time the Memory of these their merits, and of our acceptance
of them, and to that end we do hereby render our Royal thanks to that our County in the
most public and lasting manner we can devise, commanding Copies hereof to be printedt
and published, and one of them to be read in Every Church and Chapel therein, and to be
kept for ever as a Record in the same ; that as long as the History of these Times and of
this nation shall continue, the Memory of how much that County hath merited from us
and our Crown may be derived with it to posterity.
" Given at our Camp at Sudley Castle,
the 10th of September, 1643."$
The following Cornish translation is here given by the kind per
mission of Henry Jenner, Esq., of the MS. Department of the British
Museum. An woolak da disquethye an Pow Kernow ganz y brostereth an kense mightern

" " Prince Rupert's Diary."
t In the translation given below, a word is employed meaning literally " oil-iron."
X In Lysons' " Cornwall," p. xix., reference is made to copies of this letter being to be seen in Truro,
Stratton, and Poughill, close to the scene of one of those brilliant victories to which it principally alludes ;
the letter being written to show the King's sense of those repeated proofs which the Cornishmen gave of
their attachment to his cause. We obtained the original board from Philleigh through the kindness' of the
Rev. C. W. Carlyon, of St. Just's Rectory, Grampound, in 1S62, when the church was restored and a new
board thought preferable to the old. On a visit to Cornwall in 1870, I saw with regret that in several
instances the board was broken in pieces ; and in one church where the tower was under restoration, it was
used as a plank for the workmen.

<fSBi

^i|iM.il|iiliiiTTrwnr^i,iT,lU','||l'^.f.,V|f'»n'iVi'i

ifcfc

His Majefties Gracious Letter to the
County of Cornwall, after the death
of Sir Bevill Granvill &c.
C. R.
We are so highly sensible of y extraor
dinary merit of our County of Cornwall,
of their Zeal for f defence of our Person,
& y just rights of our Crown : (in a time wh-
-en we could contribute so little to our own
defence, or to their afsistance ; in a time, wh-
-en not only no reward apeared, but great &
probable dangers were threatened to ob-
-edience & Loyalty ;) of their great & emi-
-nent courage & patience in y indefatigable
prosecution of their great work against —

2«2**w*

1  T.mIV
HiIIMI"

liIM,-..tfllM«.i«ilnnHI|||iini*^MMiMiim»M«HIIIHii»""-'''

flirtfcJt'Ji Li'tiak-'..

so potent an Enemy, backed with so strong, rich, & populous
Cities, & so plentifully furnished & supplied with men, arms, money &
ammunition, & provisions of all kinds ; & the wonderful succefs, with
which it hath pleased Almighty God, (though with f lofs of some
most eminent persons, who shall never be forgotten by us\ to rewa-
-rd their loyalty & patience by many Strang Victories over their & our enemies
in despight of a human probilty, to all imaginable disadvantajjess y as we can-
-not be forgetfull of so great deserts, so we cannot but desire to publish to
all § world, & perpetuate to all time, § memory of these their merits,& of our ac
ceptance of them, & to £ end, we do hereby render our Royal thanks, to that
our County, in $ most public & lasting manner we can aevise, command-
-ing Copies hereof to be printed & published; & one of them. to be read
in every Church and Chappie therein, & to be kept forever as a record in
the same, that as long as y history of these times, & of this nation shall
continue, § memory of how much y County hath merited from us
& our Crown, may be derived with it to posterity. § §
GIVEN at our camp at SUDLEY castle £ loth of September 1643.

ji^u^iggCT^*"- SIES£E5SgSi

''I1UU*

*1/W-.  ^

a

Letter from Charles I. to the Inhabitants of Cornwall.
" Given at our camp at Sudley castle."
Copied from the Board formerly in Philleigh Church, now at Sudeley Castle;

charles i.] GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 265
Charles ef boz gwithys in disquethyans es umma sywya, dewelas ; — i.e., The
great respect that his late Majesty King Charles the First expressed to his country
may be read in the Declaration following, viz : —
CHARLES MIGHTERN.
" Ytho ny mar ughell kemerys gans an pethyw moigh vel mear pernys theworth ny
ganz agan Pow Kerpow, an kirense y the gwitha saw agan honan, han gwyr composter agan
curyn (en termyn a alga ny dry mar nebas tha gan sawder, po aga gwerthas yi yn termyn
pan na oyagh gober vyth boz gwelys, mez wherriow braz peroghas gowsas gerriow tyn
erbyn gwylvry ha kolonnow leall) aga braz hag ughell kolonnwik ha ga perthyans heb
squithder yth mar vraz wheal erbyn mar cref tus a drok scoothyes gans mar trevovv leun
a tuz, ha mar tek teklys gans clethyow, arghans, dafyr lathysa, ha kenyver ehan a vooz
daber, ha gans an merthus sawynyans o both Dew Olgallousek (saw ganz coll a van tuz
a bryz neb ny vyth nefra ganz ny ankevys) the talviga ga kolonnow leall ha ga perthyans
mysk leas merthus omdowlow war tuz a drok thens y ha ny en ate ol pederyans mab-
den hag ol an drokter alga boz kevys, kepari ny yll ny ankevy mar vraz galarow, yndella ny
yll ny buz gawas bonogate da the kaws da anothans then bys, ha perricof yn oil termyn aga
oberrow da, han kemeryans da ny anothans. Ha rag henna theren ry agan mighterneth
gorseans then Pow na gans an ughella lef, ha en fortha ell moygha dyrria hag a ellen
kawaz mez. Ha theren ryger fatel reysthan ha vatorow a hemma boz screfys ganz
oleow horen ha danvenys a leaz ha pregowthyes yn minz egliz ha Ian es enna ha boz
gwethys enna bys ricar yn cef, pella (mar pell tra clap an terminnyow ma han wlas dyrrya)
an cof kemmys es pernys theworthan ny han curyn ny gans an Pow na boz tennys meas
than ffleghes es tha denethy.
" Reys yn gwent milchamath ny yn Castell Sudley yn dekvas dyth mys Heddra in
blethan myll whegh cans dewghans ha try."
The Cornish translation of this letter was written by Mr. John
Keigwin, of Mousehole, author of an English version of some of the
Cornish Miracle Plays. In his letter to Mr. Gwavas, another Cornish
scholar, the original of which is in the possession of Mr. Borlase of
Laregan, Penzance, he states his reason for giving it in order that
" tho' ' the royal thanks ' may be kept as a monument to posterity
in the English tongue, yet Cornish men may not do amiss to record
their meritts in their own." *
Mr. Keigwin was born in 1641, consequently his translation was not
official, though it is probable " one was made at the time of the publi
cation of the English version, seeing that (according to Symonds' Diary

* Sir E. Smirke on one occasion sent an original proclamation of Charles I. to the Archaeological
Institute, with a concurrent version in the Cornish language, upon which Sir John Maclean made some
observations.

266 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.
of the Civil War), the Cornish language was then very generally spoken
in the extreme west, and in some places to the exclusion of English."
A curious piece of needle-work of the period in beads, presented
to us by Mrs. Sexty, of Gretton, in 1870, appears to be a representa
tion of Sudeley Castle, with battlements and a tower which formerly
stood to the left of the gateway. The King stands in the centre,
apparently being received by Lady Chandos and her sister with
musical instruments. Lord Chandos stands behind the King, bare
headed. In the back-ground is the royal tent, suggestive of the
above letter.
The King's departure from Sudeley was followed by reverses in
quick succession. Essex displayed great skill as a general and in
deceiving the Royalists as to his movements. With the greatest
rapidity he appeared now in the vale of Evesham, flitting from
Tewkesbury, making a bridge over the Severn ; feigning to go
towards Worcester, suddenly returning to Ripplefield, skirmishing
now at Upton, and now at Oxendon, but the greatest mortification for
the Royalists was in seeing him steal away with his army in the night
for Cirencester, which was easily retaken through the carelessness of
those in command. It is somewhere said that the Cavaliers were
often surprised and defeated through their " too great love of clean
sheets," and in this instance at all events it proved so, as all were
asleep in Cirencester but the sentinels, who were soon silenced.
Thence the retreat was continued, and they marched away with their
prisoners ; Rupert followed them with his usual energy, up hill and
down dale, by day and night, while the King with his artillery and
foot pursued them in another direction.
Prince Rupert overtook them at Auldborn Chase, their retreat
was checked, and the battle of Newbury followed on the 20th of
September ; the victory was claimed by both sides, and thousands
of brave Englishmen were slain by their own countrymen without

* One of the rooms of Sudeley Castle is furnished with hangings of curious needlework from Hill Court,
in this county, said to have been worked by the ladies of the Fust family, and hung on the occasion of one
of Prince Rupert's visits there. The Fusts were staunch Cavaliers, and of the two who fought for Charles I.,
one followed him into exile, and the other received from Charles II. a baronetcy, a full-length portrait of
himself, and a sword with the twelve apostles engraved on the hilt.

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charles i.] GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 267
any satisfactory result for either side. Lord Chandos greatly dis
tinguished himself, at this battle where he had three horses killed
under him ; and mounting a fourth, was mainly instrumental in
breaking the cavalry of the Parliament.* Upon it being suggested
that his impetuosity might lead him too far, the King exclaimed, " Let
Chandos alone, his errors are safe." In consideration of his splendid
conduct in this action, Lord Chandos had an offer from the King to be
created Earl of Newbury ; but he modestly declined, until it should
please God to restore his Majesty to the crown.
On the 21st November following, Lord Chandos had intelligence
brought him that Colonel Massey was purposing to plunder Cheltenham
on the 25th, and that he had ordered divers carts to be in readiness
for the carrying away the goods of the town ; upon which the Sudeley
troops were called out, 100 foot and 120 horse, and under the loyal
and enthusiastic young Chandos soon fell upon the rebels, some of
whom were killed, others sent prisoners to Oxford, to the great delight
of the country people. The rebels had a garrison at Prestbury House
at that time, and they sallied out to cut off the retreat of Lord
Chandos, but without success. \
Again and again the unfortunate Charles must have crossed our hills
a fugitive or pursuer. Early in May, 1644, he joined Prince Rupert at
Stow-in-the-Wold. In June, after a council of war at Oxford, which
was surrounded by the Earl of Essex on one side and Sir William
Waller on the other, at dead of night he silently stole out of the city,
and when the sun rose and our Cotswold Hills were bathed in the
summer morning's early light, the fugitive King with all his remaining
effective cavalry, and 2,500 musketeers under Sir Jacob Astley, were
hurrying away towards Evesham, which they reached on Wednesday
night. Meanwhile Waller followed in hot pursuit, and Sudeley hills
were again alive with the rebel army. Charles, still pursued, reached
Worcester ; again returned to Pershore and Evesham, where he
destroyed the bridges, and regained the Broadway hills, whence Sir

* Dugdale's "Baronage," vol. ii., p. 395 ; also Banks' "Extinct Peerage." No mention of this is made
in Clarendon's " History of the Rebellion."
t Fosbroke's " History of Cheltenham."

26S

ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap, xxi

John Digby wrote the interesting letter to Prince Rupert, dated " Broad
way Down, June 17th," from which this information is extracted.*
On the 29th of the same month followed the battle of Cropredy.
Waller retired ; and the King then
turned all his attention to the relief
of Exeter, where the Queen was
with her infant of two weeks old.
But we know they had parted in
April never to meet again on earth,
and when the King relieved Exeter,
it was to find his beloved wife had
escaped. It was during this same month
of June, 1644, that Sudeley Castle
was again the scene of contest be
tween the conflicting parties. Sir
Wm. Waller on his way to Wor
cester " persuaded rather than forced
the garrison " to deliver up the castle
which its noble owner had placed
under the care of Sir Wm. Morton, a gentleman of the long robe, who
at the beginning of the war had espoused the King's cause, and served
as lieutenant-colonel under Lord Chandos. He showed a true military
spirit, and on several occasions distinguished himself for his great
courage, receiving many honourable scars.
Waller appointed Colonel Massey to meet him on a certain day
before Sudeley, but, according to Corbet, he did not wait for his
arrival. At all events, guns were placed on the heights to the east
of the castle, especially on Dunn's Hill. • The Royalists were beaten
in, and twenty horses were taken from under their very walls. They
seemed resolved to die rather than yield up or lose their garrison ;
they discharged their ordnance from within, and fired their outhouses,
thereby hoping to keep off the enemy. In the evening, Sir William

Sir William Waller.

Prince Rupert's "Memoirs."

charles i.] GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 269
Waller summoned the governor of the Castle to surrender, and on
his refusal, the battery was placed within half-musket shot. The
Castle however could not be taken by battery, and the great pieces
are described " as doing little execution upon the soft and yielding

Sword found on Dunn's Hill, 1846. " Black Jack," time of Charles I.

stone, but one shot by chance took off the head of their cannoneer,
and exceedingly daunted the common soldier."*
The spot where this occurred is still to be seen on the octagon
or Watch-tower ; it is clearly indicated by the perforation near the
top, evidently caused by a cannon shot. While proceeding up

* Corbet's " Military Government of Gloucester/

270 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.
the Watch-tower to reconnoitre, the unfortunate cannoneer must
have met with an instant death by the ball penetrating the stone
work. The following stanza of an ancient ballad descriptive of the
siege of the Castle, seems to confirm this statement :
" Bounce ! bounce ! again go Waller's guns,
And Morton began to swear,
' I'd rather have lost ten thousand pounds
Than the head of my cannoneer.'"
Clarendon thus continues the history of the siege : *
"Sir William Morton did in his own thoughts incline to a surrender, whether out of
a natural fear or free choice. He was known to be active and violent in the King's
service, of a high spirit and bold, bearing before him the semblance of valour, and sup
posed by a high degree of enmity most obnoxious to the justice of the Parliament, one
that had the repute of a knowing man, able in the profession of the law, and versed in
the ways and actions of men. He was likewise more strongly linked into that cause by
the late honour of knighthood, which by the state is held no better than a note of infamy
to stigmatize those persons that have been eminent in the dis-service of the common
wealth. Notwithstanding this, being lost and desperate in the opinion of the Parliament,
he gave up that stronghold and himself into their hands, having not provided for the
indemnity of his own person, when by his own party likewise he must needs be branded
with treachery or cowardice, and so lost on all hands. So that no faction seems to be
assured of its principal 'confidents,' and that no resolved nature or judgment can secure
the strongest enterprize to a wise and honourable conclusion. After the surrender Sir
Wm. (Waller) advanced thence to seek out the King's army, and left the Castle to be. kept
by the Gloucester forces."
In this unexpected termination of the active part Sudeley Castle had
hitherto taken in the sad drama of those civil wars, Sir William
Morton was more unfortunate than at fault, as he would never have
surrendered had he not been betrayed by one of his officers, who con
trived to steal out of the Castle and acquaint Waller of the scarcity of
everything within its walls. So the Castle surrendered. Nine captains
and twenty inferior officers were made prisoners of war, a quantity of
cloth was found in it to the value of ,£4000,! and Morton also taken
prisoner. He remained some years in confinement, which he sustained
with great dignity and constancy.

* " History of the Rebellion.' t Atkyns, p. 717.

rv*; m.

J. Rushton.

Octagon Tower, Sudeley Castle,
Showing Shot-hole.

Shot-hole from Interior.

charles i.] GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 271

mar WmwB

1
twSwsm Mi

Sir William Morton.
From a painting by Vandyke, formerly in the possession of T. Bulkeley Owen, Esq., of Tedsmore Hall,
Shropshire.

" Loyalty is still the same,
Whether it lose or win the game ;
True as the dial to the sun,
Although it be not shined upon."
He lived to see the reward of his merit, and after the Restoration
was promoted to be a Judge of the King's Bench. His portrait is
among those of the Judges in Guildhall, painted in token of the

2 7-

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.

gratitude of the citizens for their services in settling, without recourse
to law, the questions about property that arose out of the great Fire in
1666. Massey appointed one of his brothers, Captain George Massey, to be
the Governor, but his task was no easy one, as his garrison, like many
others, was destitute of any regular means of subsistence. At Sudeley
Castle the soldiers mutinied while the Governor was out to borrow
money for their pay ; but in this instance the mutiny was soon quelled,
for Captain Massey shot the ringleader, and the rest were reduced to
obedience. Here it may be interesting for a short time to turn from the civil to
the religious divisions of the period ;
especially as it brings one of the
leading schismatics to Sudeley.
From a pamphlet published in 1646,
entitled " The Spirit of Prelacy
yet Working, or Truth from under
a Cloud," it appears that " Robert
Bacon, M. A., Minister of the Gospel,"
was persecuted in Gloucester for
preaching unorthodox doctrines.
The Governor, Colonel Massey,
Governor also of Sudeley Castle,
however, seems to have befriended
and treated him with great kindness
and consideration. On the day ap
pointed for propounding ten ques
tions which touched upon " Sancti-
' The actual state of a man that is
saved " (such were the " vital questions " of that day), he was escorted
by a soldier to Gloucester Cathedral, the place where the council of
war was usually held, was there met by his opponents (among whom
was Corbet), and the theological trial took place, the disputants sur
rounded by a rabble, men of all degrees, armed soldiers, the Governor
of the Castle, and a marshal with halberd in hand, standing by the

Colonel Edward Massey.

fication," " Covenant of Grace,

charles i.J GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 273
heretic, to daunt him if possible out of his heresies. It ended in his
being obliged to leave Gloucester the following day, notwithstanding
his earnest petition to remain on account of his wife's illness ; his
opponents were inexorable, and he was hurried away on a horse so
unmanageable by the unfortunate theologian, that the Governor of
Sudeley Castle, to which place he was then being sent, took compassion
on him, and placed him on one more tractable, and so under the guid
ance of two troopers he safely reached the Castle ; there he was well
entertained by his friend Colonel Massey and his lieutenant. The fol
lowing day, being Sunday, at their request he preached in Sudeley
Chapel, and on Monday, escorted by the troopers and seated on the
same quiet horse (our schismatic was no equestrian), he proceeded to
Warwick, thence to London, where he found a powerful friend in Lord
Say and Sele.
The loss of Sudeley Castle was a heavy blow to the royal cause,
but the defection of Lord Chandos was a still more lamentable circum
stance. The Parliament as early as March 31, 1643, had ordered the
sequestration of the property of all persons who appeared in arms
against them, or who contributed to the support of the King's army.
Lord Chandos had done both these things, and to all appearance seemed
determined to brave all the consequences of loyally doing his duty.
But the far-seeing rebels hit upon a device before which he and
hundreds of others fell. They, in conjunction with the Scottish
Estates, issued a Declaration on the 30th of January, 1644, offering to
remove the sequestration from the property of those who would
abandon the King, take the Covenant, and pay such fine as should be
imposed on them.* Lord Chandos embraced these terms, and his
future melancholy history is to be fully traced in the Royalist Compo
sition Papers now in the Public Record Office, f but ere we narrate it
we must carry on the tale of the war to its conclusion. \
* Rushworth's Collections, ed. 1692, vol. v., p. 499.
+ They fill 250 folio volumes, of about 1000 pages each, lettered "Particulars of Estates and Fines there
on," contain at least 2000 cases of composition, and show the payment of fines amounting to.£l, 304,957 2s. id.
The papers relating to Lord Chandos are contained in vol. xv., second series, pp. 95 — 133 ; of these we
have copies at Sudeley. An Index volume, giving the names and amounts, is marked " G. 43."
X Thomason's Collection of Tracts issued during the reign of Charles I. and the Interregnum, and
preserved in the British Museum, gives a great deal of information relating to these times, chiefly political.
N N

274 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.
The month after the surrender of Sudeley Castle the King was
again at Evesham, whence he wrote to Prince Rupert, dating his letter,
" Easam, July nth, 1644." On the 12th he was at Sudeley. So it is
stated in the " Iter Carolinum," which gives a daily account of the
King's course from his setting out on this expedition from London
to his return, collected by an attendant, Thomas Manty. The items
referring to Sudeley are : on the 7th of September, 1643, three days
prior to the date of his letter to the Cornishmen, " from our Camp at
Sudeley;" and on this second occasion, when on his way from Evesham,
thus : Night. Miles.
" Wednesday the ^rd to Evesham, Alderman Martin's . 9 ... 10
Friday the 12th to Coverley, the Earl of Downe's, by Broad
way and Sudeley . . . . . . 1 ... 16
Saturday the 12 th to Sapperton," &c. &c.
From this it is not clear whether the King lodged at the Castle or
camped in the field. If the former, Sudeley must have been quickly
retaken by the Cavaliers ; if the latter, it is strange the item is not
more explicit.
It must have been in one of these hurried, circuitous routes, as
between Sudeley and Salperton, that the unfortunate King visited
Kineton, and there snatched a few hours' rest on the bed to which
tradition has long assigned that honour. The royal arms must have
been added at a subsequent period.* The curious painting on wood
and the angels carved on the roof make it even of greater interest than
the Cumnor Bedstead, the angels being highly suggestive of the well-
known prayer : " Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on.
Four corners to my bed,
Four angels at their head,
One to read and one to write,
And two to guard my bed at night."

* When this interesting relic came into our possession it was in the most dilapidated condition, but it has
been successfully restored by Mr. Fred. Simmons, of Sudeley, and facsimiles of the painting made on panels
by my sister, Marianne Brocklehurst.

j. Rushton.

Charles I. Bedstead.

:ly, in whose
¦ ORE THAN 200 YEARS

HOUSE AT KINETON IT HAD REMAINED

charles i.] GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 275
Another tradition belonging to the neighbourhood, refers to Hawling,
where it is believed that the whole of the village was destroyed by the
Parliamentarians on their way to Sudeley Castle. The foundations of
many houses are still to be seen ; a fact which seems to corroborate
the general opinion of the present inhabitants.
In May, 1645, Prince Rupert and his brother Maurice were together
marching towards Woodstock to meet the King, and escort his Majesty
to the fatal field of Naseby.* Their progress is traced by an intercepted
letter from Massey to Alderman Brown, lately a wood-merchant, now
a general. "For Major-General Brown, Governor of Abingdon.
"Sir, " I have endeavoured by all ways and means to give you advertisement of
Prince Rupert's and Prince Maurice's march this morning. They marched from
Broadway before day, and were at Stowe by ten of the clock. Their march is exceedingly
speedy, and towards Oxford. I humbly desire that his Excellency may have timely
notice, and also Lieutenant-General Cromwell. I rest, Sir,
" Your most humble servant,
" Edward Massey.
"Sudeley Castle, May 3, 1645. "
In the following May, 1646, after twelve months more of alternate
victory and defeat, the Royalists were at Campden, the Roundheads at
Sudeley, when once more poor Winchcombe suffered, being plundered
by a party of Cavaliers coming suddenly down from Campden with an
impetuosity and force not to be checked by the rebels.
" Then spur and sword was the battle word, and we made their helmets ring,
Shouting like madmen all the while, ' For God and for the King ! '
And though they snuffled psalms, to give the rebel dogs their due,
When the roaring shot poured thick and hot, they were stalwart men and true."t
Reverses now followed in quick succession. By August the Royalists
had lost Bristol, Berkeley Castle, Hereford, and all hope was gone !
Once again, and for the last time, they were within a few miles of
Sudeley, so near that we may suppose men and horses would be called

* Memoirs of Prince Rupert. f "Old Cavalier."

276 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxi.
out for the skirmish. The sad story is told in a very few words in an
old register book* at Child's Wickham, near Broadway.
" A Battell fought between Sr Jacob Astle for the King's . . . and Sir William
Brereton and Colonell Morgan for the Parliament, bye Stowe on the Old, the 21st day of
March, 1646, at which time Sir Jacob Astle was taken and most of his friends."
The rebels had lain in wait for him six days. They watched him
ascend Broadway Hill, then they followed him all night, and at day
break the battle commenced, ending in the defeat of the Royalists.
Pursuing and pursued, both parties entered Stow, where many gentle
men were killed in the streets. Sir Jacob a prisoner, and wearied of
this war " without an enemy," old and grey-headed, is graphically
described by an eye-witness as being seated on a drum to rest himself,
and saying to the soldiers who surrounded him : " Gentlemen, you may
now sit down and play, for you have done all your work, if ye fall not
out amongst yourselves."
When the wars were over and Prince Rupert's work was done, he
turned his thoughts to the pursuit of studies which had interested him
in his youth, finding inexhaustible stores of pleasure in the forge, the
laboratory, and the painter's studio. An interesting description of his
discoveries. and improvements is given in the Memoirs so often quoted.-f
We will take leave of our hero, who was so often dashing over our
hills in those turbulent times by quoting Hudibras, where Fame is
compared to the philosophical puzzle, " The Rupert Drop," which was
introduced into England in 1660 :

&

: Honour is like that glassy bubble
That finds philosophers such trouble,
Whose least part crack'd, the whole does fly,
And wits are crack'd to find out why." J

And of King Charles, that most unfortunate of Sudeley's royal
guests, we take our leave with the touching lines descriptive of his

death :

* I am indebted to the vicar, the Rev. John Hartley, for a copy of this interesting entry. The register
dates from the time of Queen Elizabeth.
t " Memoirs," p. 433. + By E. Warburton.

charles i.J GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 277
" While round the armed bands
Did clasp their bloody hands :
He nothing common did or mean,
After that memorable scene ;
But with his keener eye
The axe's edge did try ;
Nor called the gods with vulgar spite
To vindicate his helpless right,
But bowed his comely head
Down, as upon a bed." *

Andrew Marvel's "King's Memoirs."

Old Pewter Communion Plate, formerly used at St. Mary's, Sudeley Manor.

CHAPTER XXII.

" Report me and my cause aright,
To the unsatisfied." Shakespeare.

WE now return with pain to the fallen Lord of Sudeley.
Lord Clarendon, after mentioning the surrender of
Sudeley, says, " The lord of that castle was a young man
of spirit and courage ; and had for two years served the King very
bravely in the head of a regiment of horse, which himself had raised
at his own charge ; but had lately, out of pure weariness of the fatigue,
and having spent most of his money, and without any diminution of his
affection, left the King, under pretence of travel ; but making London
his way, he gave himself up to the pleasures of that place ; which he
enjoyed, without considering the issue of the war, or shewing any
inclination to the Parliament ; nor did he, in any degree, contribute
to the delivery of his house ; which was at first imagined, because
it was so ill, or not at all, defended." *
Whitelock merely mentions, under the date of June, 1644, "The
Lord Chandois left Oxford and came in to the Parliament;"")" which
would seem to imply that he passed direct from the one to the other.
But the Composition Papers contain a pass granted to him as early as
April 1, 1644, by the Earl of Essex, though he did not surrender him
self to the pro tern. Speaker of the House of Lords (Lord Grey) till
June 1. On the 6th of the month he was committed to the custody
of the gentleman usher, but released on the 10th, "on his humble
petition," " provided he appears before the Lords in Parliament when

* " History of the Rebellion," 8vo. edit., p. 486.
f "Memorials of the English Affairs," vol. i., p. 263, ed. 1853.

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charles i.] GEORGE, SLXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 279
he shall be summoned thereto;" for all members of either House
who opposed the measures of the majority had been deprived of their
seats. What became of him when thus reduced to private life does not
appear, but we find " the committee for the county of Gloucester, sitting
at Grocers' Hall, London," busy enough in dealing with his property.
He had in 1635 (Sept. 1) conveyed Sudeley Castle and some other
hereditaments to the earls of Manchester and Coleraine as trustees,
to secure to his mother (then Dowager Countess of Castlehaven), the
sum of ^"600 a year, and when the Castle came finally into the hands
of the Parliament, the countess sought redress by her petition of
August 30, 1644.* The case was shifted about between the local
and the Grand Committee for Sequestrations until October 6, 1645,
when it was determined that the countess should rent the estate at
the sum of ,£140 per annum, with the exception of certain portions
to be held along with the Castle, by the Governor, as the Holme Park,
the Forbury, the Hopyard, Belknapp's Orchard, Hollow Meadow,
Clark's Close, and Barn Meadows, and the allowance of 100 loads of
wood for fuel for the garrison, who should pay for any further quantity
that they might require, " the true intention of this committee being,
that no excess, waste, or destruction shall be committed to prejudice
the inheritance," and that the royalty and game of deer and coneys,
and the customary rights and privileges of the tenants, should be
preserved.! By this time, the battles of Marston Moor and Naseby had been
fought, and the royal cause was seen to be irretrievably lost. It must
have been a painful humiliation for the descendant of the heroes of
Cressy and Poitiers and Agincourt, but Lord Chandos no doubt felt
that he had no other course left if he would escape absolute ruin, and
accordingly he took, on the same day (30 October, 1645), the National
Covenant at the hands of " Sa. Gibson, Minister at Magrets, West
minster," % and the Negative oath, required from all who came in

* Royalist Composition Papers, 2nd Series, Vol. xv., p. 101. t R. C Papers, p. 117.
+ Ibid., p. 97.

280

ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxii.

from the King's quarters, before Henry Grey, earl of Kent, the Speaker
of the House of Lords.* These documents, together with his pass
from the earl of Essex,f and a " Perticular " of his estates, he sent
in to the "Honourable Committee of Goldsmiths' Hall for compound
ing with Delinquents," some time before the close of the year, as on
ist January, 1646, Abel Spakeman and Thomas Higginson were
examined on oath, \ concerning some of the statements made. His
statement concludes thus § :
" This is a true and full particular of my estate real and personal for which I desire
to compound, and do submit unto and undertake to satisfy such fine as by this Committee
for Compositions with delinquents shall be imposed and set to pay, in order to the
freedom and discharge of my estate. (Signed) " Chandos."
The Particular [| is too long to print, and an abstract (except as
regards Sudeley) will suffice : —

His estates in Sudeley and Winchcombe he values at
In Pirton, Wiltshire 
In Harefield and Denham, Middlesex and Bucks
Total 
Deductions for various purposes

The deductions are : —
Annuity to his mother
,, his wife
,, his brother William
Tithe to Sudeley .
„ Guiting
To the Poor of Winchcombe
,, Minister of Harefield
,, Hospital at Harefield .
Repairs of Sudeley Castle .

Net

Per Annum.
^1800 io5
1215

3120 I33*
^1789 £6°° 400 40 4
12
So
35 10

The following statement is of so much interest that it must be given
in full ; unfortunately the document is damaged in several places : —
* R. C Papers, p. 122. f Ibid., p. 131. + Ibid., p. 127.
§ The spelling is modernized. || R. C. Papers, p. 123.

charles i.J GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 23 1
" 1 6 Octobris, 1645.
" Particulars of the value of Lord Chandos' lands in Sudeley, Winchcombe,
Corndon, and Rowell, lately sequestered, and now granted to Anne, countess dowager
of Castlehaven, for one whole year from Michaelmas, 1645.
" The Particular of the full value of the manor and lordship of Sudeley, site and
demesnes of the late dissolved Monastery of Winchcombe, alias Winchel  , together
widi the several farms of Corndon, Rowell, and one tenement in Cowlesborne, with every
of their appurtenances, situate, lying . ,- . . within the county of Gloucester, belonging to
George Lord  , lately sequestered by Ordinance of Parliament, and now . to
Anne, countess dowager of Castlehaven, for one year from Michaelmas last, 1645.*
" The freehold or chief rents of the said manor of Sudeley, for one whole £ s. d.
year  . . . . .. 500
" The yearly rents of the customary tenements and cottages in Sudeley . 10 2 5
" The yearly rent of the farm with the appurtenances called Corndon Farm,
in Sudeley, held by lease for lives, and now in the tenure of Mrs.
Hester Williams , . . . . . . . . . 100 5 o
" The perquisites of a court leet and court baron, with waifs, estrays, and
such other casualties, within the said manor of Sudeley, valued
communibus annis ... .. . . ... 100
" The yearly rents of the site of the said Abbey of Winchcombe, with so
much of the demesnes of the said Abbey, and of the manor of obliterated.
Sudeley, and farm of Rowell, as is now set  [211 10 9^]
" The yearly value of the rest of the demesnes of the said Abbey of
Winchcombe, of the manor of Sudeley, and of the farm of Rowell,
with the tenement in Cowlesborne, being all unset, yet valued pro-
portionably, according to the rate for quantity and quality as the
other grounds are set respectively ....... 489 3 o
" The yearly value of the park, woods, underwoods, and royalty of the
game of deer and coneys there, besides the keepers' and wood
wards' yearly wages  . . . 100 o o
" Sum total of the yearly value of the lands and premises
so granted ........ 902 6 i\
" Vera copia, Examined per  Halford.
" This is a true transcript or copy of the original particular, as it remaineth upon
record before the Committee .... Gloucester, attested  by Mr. Halford, clerk
to ... . Committee, and exactly compared and examined by  "
The business of settling the composition went slowly on, the com
missioners having extensive powers, and, as may well be conceived,
little caring to spare the feelings of their subjugated opponents, or to

R. C Papers, p. 133.

282 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxii.
bring their own profitable employment to an end. Hence they called
unceasingly for further particulars and explanations, and one of these
(undated) from Lord Chandos, shews how his property had been
ruined, and how humbly he threw himself on their merciful considera
tion. By the compounding Declaration of March i, 1644, all "delin
quents " who came in before the last day of October were promised
comparatively favourable treatment. All estates were to be valued at
twenty years' purchase, and their fine was to be but one-tenth, whilst
those who overstaid the term mentioned were to pay one-third. Lord
Chandos' estate was valued at ^"1 789 per annum, and the fine in the
one case would be ,£4976, and in the other ,£12,440. Apparently the
commissioners were inclined to impose the smaller sum, but they would
take no account of the fearful depreciation in value that the property
had suffered in consequence of the war. In his appeal, Lord Chandos
states * that his Sudeley property is reduced in value one-half, the
Castle occupied by soldiers, and the taxes so heavy, that his mother
receives but half her annuity, and he yearly runs ,£300 in her debt
His Wiltshire property was a recent inclosure from the Forest of
Braydon,")" which formerly yielded about ^iooa year ; now it has been
thrown open, and yields him nothing ; on the contrary, he is charged
with several annuities and payments, one being ,£10 to the minister in
lieu of tithes. All his Middlesex property, formerly worth £"1215 per
annum, has been seized, except two mills which yield /20. He has,
as he has before stated, payments to the amount of ,£665 per annum
to make, to his wife, his brother, the hospital, and the minister of
Harefield, "so that there remains clear to my Lord but ,£550 per
annum, and that subject to Parliament taxes, besides .£10,000 debts
for himself and father."
He goes on to say, " Besides what is before-mentioned, £"6000 will
not repair and make good the ruins of the Castle of Sudeley, the
wainscot, leads, stables, and other buildings pulled down by the soldiers
and burnt, as also the destruction of the woods, since it hath been a
long time a garrison for the Parliament.

* R. C Papers, p. 129. f See his petition to the King about this inclosure, p. 254.

charles i.J GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 2S3
" This being the true condition of his Lordship's estate, how possible
it can bear such a fine is humbly prayed to be taken into consideration."
The matter still hung in hand for a while,* when he again addressed

The Grange, Sudeley.
the committee in a petition, which is touching in its brevity and
simplicity t : —
" To the Hon. Committee of Goldsmiths' Hall for Compounding with Delinquents.
"The Humble Petition ok George Lord Chandos,
" Shewing, " That he was in arms against the Parliament, and rendered himself to the late
Earl of Essex, then Lord General of the Parliament's forces, the 1st of April, 1644, and
prays to be received to compound accordingly.
" Sept. 24, 1646."

" Chandos.

This seems to have been effectual, as on the 24th of the same month
his fine was settled at one-tenth, or £4976,4: £ 1000 of which he paid on

* In the interim, on May 25, 1646, the House of Lords made an order forbidding Lord Chandos and
Lord Campden to proceed any further in a quarrel. This, I believe, is the only notice of Lord Chandos
to be found in the Lords' Journals. + R. C Papers, p. 120. X R. C. Papers, p. 95.
002

284 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxii.
March 24, 1647,* and gave bond for the remainder. He then retired to
Harefield, and lived there in an obscure condition ; but his chaplain,
Dr. John Conant, gave a week-day lecture at the neighbouring town of
Uxbridge. Among the Composition Papers is one,t undated, promising
that, on the payment of his fine, " His Majesty's Solicitor-General " \
shall prepare a pardon for him, restoring his property, except the
patronage of any churches or chapels that he may possess, § but with a
proviso, that if his lands should eventually prove to be of greater value
than he had returned, or if he had any lands, goods, or chattels undis
closed, he should be liable to such further composition as the Houses of
Parliament should appoint. Nothing came of this for a time, but, some
jealousy apparently arising, he was, on the 7th October, 1648, obliged
again to take the Negative oath, and other troubles were in store for him.
Soon after the murder of the King the new Government found itself
in desperate straits for money, and the estates of the Royalists were
looked to for a supply.|| In May, 1649, Whitelock tells us,^[ the
Parliament appointed a new committee to sit at Goldsmiths' Hall, to
examine afresh the compositions and fines of delinquents, of course
with the view of raising further sums from them, and Lord Chandos'
composition came before them with the rest. Surely nothing short
of a sense of impending utter ruin could have drawn such a petition
as the following from the once high-hearted nobleman who had borne
himself so gallantly at Newbury.
" To the Hon. the Commissioners appointed by Act of Parliament for Compounding with
Delinquents.
" The Humble Petition of George Lord Chandos
" Sheweth, " That your petitioner did make it appear to the Committee at Goldsmiths'
Hall that he came in within a month after the Declaration of the 1st of March, 1643

* Interregnum Papers, Vol. G. 43, p. 19. t R- C Papers, p. 109.
% This name the Parliament chose to continue to Oliver St. John, although the King had long before
dismissed him, and appointed Sir Thomas Gardiner in his stead.
§ This was by virtue of a general order to that effect resolved on by the House, Feb. 11, 1646.
II In disregard of their Declaration of 1644, they now voted (March 14, 1649) that all delinquents who
had been members of either House should pay " one full third " by way of composition ; but this was not
enforced in the case of Lord Chandos.
If "Memorials," vol. iii., p. 34.

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interregnum. J GEORGE, SIXTH LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 285
[1644], and that the Committee upon the proofs made by your petitioner did most of
them acknowledge, if they were not bound up by rules, equity would discharge your
petitioner from paying anything, but being obliged to rules, they thereupon concluded
your petitioner's fine at a tenth, being the rule of the propositions coming in after, and
not having the benefit of the said Declaration. Your petitioner accordingly submitted to
this fine, paid in the moiety, and secured the residue by bond, all which was accepted by
the Committee, and the sequestration thereupon discharged. Now the rule of the
proposition for paying a third extends only to such members of either House of Par
liament as rendered not themselves before the last of October, 1644, and in this respect
your petitioner coming in long before the last of October, 1644,
" Your petitioner desires the justice of this Committee, that they will confirm the
composition at a tenth, there being no ground for a third ; and if this Committee have
power, your petitioner humbly begs the equity and consideration of his case, that he may
have the benefit of the Declaration of the 1st of March, coming in so suddenly after.
" And your petitioner shall pray. (Signed) " Chandos."
There is no date . to this petition, but from an indorsement on the
first leaf of his papers (p. 95) we learn that it succeeded ; for we there
read, "9th May, 1650. The fine confirmed at a tenth."
Before this, however, Lord Chandos had been in communication with
the Government about Sudeley Castle. It had now been a garrison
for nearly five years, when, on April 3, 1649, the Council of State
ordered it to be " slighted," or rendered untenable as a military post,
and this he was directed to see done. He raised various objections,
and thus obtained a short delay ; but on April 24 he abandoned all
opposition, and petitioned for compensation. This was promised
when the work was done, and the task was entrusted to Sir
William Constable, the Governor, who was also a member of the
Council of State. On the 3rd of August Lord Chandos obtained
a pass for himself and his wife to go beyond sea. During his
absence the Castle was demolished, and on the 29th of September
the Council acknowledged that the work had been done to their
satisfaction."" When Lord Chandos returned to England does not appear, but on
the 30th of May, 1650, the Council voted that, as a compensation for
the destruction of the Castle, £"1000 of the balance of his fine should be

* Interregnum Papers, Vol. i., pp. 66, 73, 93, 106, 283, 323, 543.

286 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxii.
respited until his actual loss thereby should be ascertained.* Whether
this was ever done we know not ; but on the following day he paid in
the sum of £"1976/! and he seems henceforth not to have been molested
as to money matters, though he is charged as still owing £"1000 at
August, 1652. " Delinquents," however, commonly had an uneasy time
under the Commonwealth, their place of residence being assigned, and
no coming to London allowed except by special licence. Lord
Chandos had a licence for this purpose, dated October 21, 1650, per
mitting him to remain in London during the Michaelmas term, on his
own recognisance for ^£2000, and two sureties of £"500 each for his
good behaviour.^ On the 16th of April, 165 1, he, with Lords Beau
champ and Bellasis, was committed, " upon suspicion of designing new
troubles," § and in the same month he lost his wife, who was buried at
Harefield. || When he was released we do not find, but in May, 1652,
he had a difference with his friend, Colonel Henry Compton ; a duel
was the result, on the 13th of that month, in which the colonel was
killed. It is sad to think so melancholy a circumstance should have
embittered the closing years of the eventful life of the last Chandos of
Sudeley. He was imprisoned for a long time, and after more than a
year's delay he was tried in the Court of the Upper Bench, on May 1 7,
1653, and found guilty of manslaughter. If Somewhere about this time
he married his second wife, Jane, daughter of John Savage, Earl
Rivers. He did not survive to see the Restoration, dying of the small
pox on the jst of February, 1655, at his house near Covent Garden,
on the site of the present Chandos Street ; he was buried with his
ancestors in the vault of Sudeley Chapel, and with him the glory of his
House departed. He left two daughters by his first wife, and three by
his second, but no son, and the title consequently passed to his brother

* R. C Papers, p. 115.
t R. C Papers, G. 43, p. 19. J Interregnum Papers, vol. ii., p. 564.
§ " Whitelock," vol. hi., p. 298.
II His grandmother, Alice, Countess of Derby, and her three daughters, are buried in this church,
under a very stately monument. The countess reclines under a domed canopy, the curtains of which,
being partially drawn aside, display the dowager Lady Chandos (who died in 1647) and her sisters kneeling
in niches. Lysons' " Parishes of Middlesex," Supplement, p. no.
11 Collins' "Peerage," vol. i., part 3, p. 689.

charles ii.] WILLIAM, LAST LORD CHANDOS OF SUDELEY. 287
William, who survived him more than twenty years, but whose life
would seem to have been singularly uneventful.
His name appears but once on the State Papers, and then it is only
as one of five signers of a certificate in favour of Edmund Green, an
old Cavalier officer, who desired the place of an almsman in the hospital
of St. Cross, Winchester.* The only other notice that I have met
with of him is the following uncomplimentary one in Pepys' Diary :
"Dec. 21, 1662. — To Whitehall, and there to chapel, and from thence upstairs, and
up and down the house and galleries on the King's and Queen's side, and so through the
garden to my Lord's [Sandwich] lodgings, where there was Mr. Gibbons, Madge,
Mallard, and'Pagett; and by-and-by comes in my Lord Sandwich, and so we had great
store of good music. By-and-by comes in my simple Lord Chandos, who (my Lord
Sandwich being gone out to Court) began to sing psalms, but so dully that I was
weary of it." t
He married Susan Keere, by whom he had a son, William, who
predeceased him, and three daughters. . He died in August, 1676,
and was buried at Harefield ; the title went to a distant cousin, James
Brydges, the heir of Charles, second son of John, the first Lord
Chandos of Sudeley. The son of this James was " the great Duke
of Chandos," of the time of George I., so mercilessly and so ungrate
fully satirized by Pope, under the name of " Timon." With his
grandson the dukedom became extinct, in 1 789, but it was revived in
1822 in favour of the late Duke of Buckingham, his son-in-law. In
the meantime the barony of Chandos had been claimed by the Rev.
Edward Tymewell Brydges, as the representative of Anthony, third
son of the first Lord, but the House of Lords resolved, on the 13th
of June, 1803, that "he had not made out his claim." Sir Samuel
Egerton Brydges, the antiquary, was his son, and many years of his
life were passed in fruitless endeavours to procure a rehearing of the
matter, and he lost no opportunity of urging it through the press,
bringing it forward, whether appropriately or not, in most of his
numerous publications.
Jane, the widow of George, had Harefield bequeathed to her, which

* S. P. D. Car. II., Vol. xxix., No. 69. t Chandos Edition, p. 131.

288 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxii.
had been the jointure of his first wife ; it is strange to find she had also
Sudeley, " the head of the barony," as old feudal writers term it ; but
such appears to have been the case. She did not sorrow long for her
young husband, for in the October after his death she married Sir
William Sedley, who dying in 1656,* she next became the wife of
George Pitt, of Stratfield Saye, son of Sir William Pitt, comptroller of
the household to Charles I. He had been an officer of the old Cavalier
army, but apparently of very modest means, as he was allowed to com
pound for his "delinquency " for the small sum of £"244 6s. t He sold
Harefield to the Newdegates, its old possessors, % and turned his atten
tion to an endeavour to get some compensation from the Parliament
for the havoc wrought at Sudeley. Among the Exchequer documents
of the years 1657 and 1658 are petitions from George Pitt and Jane his
wife, Lady Chandos, and a commission to inquire into their allegations.
They pray that the remainder of the fine imposed on Lord Chandos
may be remitted, and state the damage done to Sudeley, and name
lands seized by the Government.
On the 30th of March, 1658, at the George Inn, Winchcombe,
witnesses were sworn to having been employed by the soldiers or
agents of the Parliament, to pull down parts of the Castle so as to make
it untenable. Reeve and Hall of Didbrooke, Bell, Bloxam, and
Baswell of Winchcombe, masons by trade, deposed that by the demoli
tion of the Castle, Lord Chandos sustained damages to the extent of
from four to ten thousand pounds. Of these documents we have copies
at Sudeley. § It is not known whether the claimants succeeded in their
petition, but from the utter neglect which followed we may form our

* About this time we meet with a mention of Lady Chandos in a quaint little extract from Mr. Arnold's
Manuscript Journal of the House of Commons : — "1656, May 4th, Reed, of the Ladye Shandois for
riding in her coach on the Sabbath day, l6.r." (In Covent Garden.)
t They had exchanged it in 1585 with Sir Edmund Anderson, the chief justice, for Arbury, in Warwick
shire, and he sold it in 1621 to Sir Thomas Egerton, who left it to his step-daughter, Anne, the mother of
George, Lord Chandos.
X R. C. Papers, Index Volume, G. 43.
§ We learn from the " Bibliotheca Gloucestrensis, '' Appendix, p. 388, that a copy of the Engagement
of 1659, undertaking to support the Commonwealth, was found behind a wainscot at Sudeley Castle.
Where it maybe now, we have failed to learn, but it is described as being a roll headed with the declaration,
and with spaces left below for signatures. A fac-simile of the declaratory part, signed by Fairfax and
others, will be found in " Cromwelliana, " Westminster, 1810.

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chap, xxii.] PAINTINGS BY HOGARTH. 289
own conclusion. Mr. Pitt was succeeded by his son George, whose
grandson, also named George, was, in 1776, created Lord Rivers of
Stratfield Saye, and in 1802 obtained a fresh patent as Lord Rivers
of Sudeley Castle.
Though a departure from the chronological order of our Annals, a
description may be here given of two curious pictures now at Sudeley.
They came into the possession of the late Mr. Dents about the year
1836, with the tradition that they had been painted by Hogarth for
the " Old Elephant," a public-house in Fenchurch Street,* much fre
quented by the artist ; that on the occasion of an alarm of fire, they
had been removed to a house in the neighbourhood and there for
gotten, or the knowledge of their existence confined to the possessors.
With the pictures was found a printed paper, entitled " Paintings by
Hogarth," from which is copied the following description of some of
the innumerable figures therein delineated : —
" In a picture composing five compartments each about 5 feet by 2, this eminent
artist exhibits to us a portrait of Fortune blindfold, standing on a globe elevated
considerably above the earth, holding in each hand a large bag inverted, from which
her favours and evils are descending indiscriminately on the inhabitants of this world :
those on her right side producing apparent happiness and pleasure ; those on her left,
misery and pain. Beneath the figure of the goddess, this allegorical inventive Genius
represents the stream of life, over which a bridge is erected : at a short distance above it
a fall of water is perceived, emblematical of the rapidity which characterises the fleeting
hours of human existence. On the centre arch of this bridge the artist himself is standing
with his pallet in one hand, and the other extended towards a person presenting a bag of
money, whose portrait strongly resembles that of Richardson the novelist.
" The gifts of the Bona Dea seem to have escaped the painter, who stands between
her good and evil showers: he has lost his hat in his attempt to obtain a bag of money
which is falling into the stream.
" On the right of the stream, above the bridge, advancing towards the place where the
benignant showers of Fortune are descending, Alexander Pope appears, drawn in a car by
a swan with seven necks, — emblematical of what was then called the seven liberal arts and
sciences. The poet is followed by a host of critics, and others who have been affected
by the force of his satire : they are armed with sticks and spears, typical of the shafts
of calumny with which they attempt to assail the bard ; but he looks back on them with
indifference, apparently impressed with a feeling similar to that which he describes in the
following extract from his imitation of the first Satire of Horace :

* For further particulars relating to this old inn and Hogarth's pictures, see the " Mirror " for 3 Jan.,
1829, p. 8, also p. 246 in the vol. for the same year.

290 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxii.
' To virtue only and her friends, a friend,
The world besides may censure or commend :
Know, all the distant din, that world can keep,
Rolls o'er my grotto, and but sooths my sleep.'
" Amongst the personages who are attempting to attack the poet, may be distin
guished Dennis, Gilbon, Theobald, Wclsted, Cui'l, and Mist; the authors and publishers of
vile sarcasm against him; — Bladen, a black man, a notorious gamester; Henley, the Orator;
Knight, the Cashier of the South Sea Company, who fled to Paris with a large sum
belonging to his employers ; and Cibber, the Laureate ; the whole of whom are celebrated
in the Dunciad, which was published about the time when these beautiful paintings were
executed. " The two compartments on the right contain a representation of the beneficial gifts
which the goddess bestows on man. Hogarth conveys this idea in a most elegant and
poetical manner. The emblems introduced by him to perform this office are crowns,
mitres, coronets, bags of money, crosiers, cardinals' hats, books, musical instruments, and
gold coin.
" The group on whom those favours are bestowed consists of characters from almost
every station in life.
"In the front, some conspicuous person, apparently a lawyer, has caught a bag ot
money, which is viewed attentively by a lady on his left, — whilst another gentleman
behind is addressing her ;— but she seems to give the preference to the money, if not to
its owner. On the other side of this newly-become Croesus, stands a female votary of
pleasure, very much resembling the celebrated ' Nancy Dawson,' who displays a strong
inclination for part of the treasure, and exhibits her blandishments most unsparingly, to
accomplish her wishes :— by her side stands a little girl, holding out her hand as if claim
ing a portion of the contents of the bag, which Fortune has bestowed. Near this lady a
person in the character of Harlequin is observed, who may probably be intended to
represent Rich, the manager of Covent Garden Theatre at that time.
"The group behind these persons consists of musical and theatrical performers,
admirals, bishops, doctors, lawyers, and mercantile persons.
" In the next compartment, religious characters of different parts of the earth, and of
different ages, characteristic by their respective costumes, are advancing from beneath an
archway, towards the place where they observe the bounties of Fortune so copiously
showering down on their neighbours. Two are extending their arms to catch them as
they fall, others are viewing the scene with wonder depicted on their countenances.
Royalty is represented in the person of King David; Religion by the Pope, Cardinals, and
Bishops ; and Philosophy by Diogenes.
" On an edifice above the archway, Bacchanalians are represented huzzaing with their
bottles and glasses in their hands, and appear ' flushed with the juice of the grape.'
" On the front ground lie scattered a crown and sceptre, money bags, gold coin,
coronets, oil flasks, rolls of parchment and deeds ; typical of the beneficial gifts of
Fortune. " Instead of adopting the Grecian mythological fable of Pandora's Box to account
for the introduction of the evils which afflict mankind, this ingenious and immortal

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chap, xxii.] PAINTINGS BY HOGARTH. 291
artist assigns that unpleasant duty, with a much greater degree of plausibility, to the
goddess Fortuna ; who, being represented blind, may charitably be excused for bestowing
her favours without discrimination. He has delineated infants in swaddling-clothes
amongst the evils incidental to life, and bestowed by Fortune ; and the diseases to which
mortals are liable, he has personified in the form of little imps, or nondescript reptiles :
gibbets, axes, halters, and scourges for criminals, commonly called cat-o'-nine-tails,
allegorically represent some of the sufferings which accompany vice, however prosperous ;
and rods of correction exhibit the sorrows of childhood. Crutches and spectacles denote
the miseries attendant on age ; dice and cards display the incentives to gaming ; and
swords and drums show us the exciting causes of war ! — whilst violins and other musical
instruments are emblematical of the allurements to evil which often originate with the
fascinating science of harmony.
" Several females appear extremely anxious to catch some of the infants ; particularly
two of the former, who are disputing the possession of a child which one of them has
nearly caught in her arms. The attention of another woman is diverted from this
subject by the vociferation of a female preacher, probably one of the sect of religious
fanatics, who obtained the appellation of Jumpers, and who rose into notice about the
period which our artist is representing.
" Soldiers appear in the pursuit of glory with drawn swords rushing into the jaws of
hell ; which is represented as the mouth of an animal vomiting flames. The shades of
mortals are discovered in them, and Satan himself appears ready to receive those who
approach, for the purpose of conducting them to final perdition. The black gentleman
has laid hold of a young military man just arrived at the entrance, who, disliking the
appearance of the place, seems to express a wish to return to the world, — pointing back
to it with his sword, as if he had left a family behind him which claimed his protection ;
while a female is endeavouring to pull him back by the skirt of his coat, and prevent his
leaving her. The Arch-demon does not, however, seem disposed to relinquish possession
of his object. In the foreground some of the infernal fiends are advancing cautiously as
if they wished to seize the artist himself; but they are opposed by a dog — probably his
favourite animal Trump — who prevents them from approaching near enough to accom
plish their object A diminutive imp is also represented beating a drum, apparently for
the purpose of overpowering the cries of those who have become the victims of Satanic
influence. " Contiguous to the jaws above mentioned, appears a house, with a remarkable man's
head fixed against it ; probably the residence of some person notorious for vicious habits,
— and therefore represented near the abode of the Demons. The back part of it seems
to be on fire, as if the enormities of the crimes committed in it had occasioned the
spontaneous conflagration ; and doves, the emblems of innocence, are observed flying
from a cage attached to so contaminated a place.
" Among the immense crowd of persons who are looking out for the pernicious gifts
bestowed by Fortune, several gallows are erected, and criminals suspended therefrom.
This may be considered as emblematical of the speedy punishment which sometimes
follows even the most successful villany. And in the distance a village in flames appears,
in the most vivid colours, one of the greatest calamities which await man. A flock of
crows, emblematical of approaching death, are hovering over the scftne.

292

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxii.

" The second picture consists of a most animated and humorous allegorical repre
sentation of a Bacchanalian Procession, contained in a picture about four feet broad, by
five in height. The characters in it are strongly marked with all the vigorous conception
and imagination of the great master. The portraits are numerous and diversified ; and,
in all probability, delineated chiefly from nature, when he caught their originals within
his mental grasp."
This procession is represented on its way to a temple from which
hangs the sign of an elephant ; a fact corroborative of the idea that
the paintings were executed for Hogarth's favourite resort.

Hogarth, pinxt.

M. B., dclt.

The March of Intemperance.

CHAPTER XXIII.
" For modes of faith let senseless bigots fight,
His faith is clear whose life is in the right."
Pope.
A CHARACTER of no small reputation next appears in our
chronicle in the person of Clement Barksdale, Rector of
Sudeley, better known as the " Cotswold Muse." Winch
combe boasts as being his birth-place. Born on the 23rd of November,
1609, educated at Abingdon, in "grammar learning," passing several
years of study first at Merton College, and then at Gloucester Hall, he
was ordained, and in 1637 was officiating minister at All Hallows (now
called All Saints), in Oxford. Thence he went to Hereford, where he
Autograph of Barksdale.
was master of a Free School. During the disturbed times that followed
he was removed from the dangerous vicinity of Hereford, and placed
for safety at Sudeley Castle, with the appointment of rector of the
parish. But Sudeley soon ceased to be a place of security, and we
next find him sheltered at Hawling, where he occupied himself in a
private school with much success. Finally, after the Restoration, he
was settled in the parsonage at Naunton, where he died in 1670, and
was buried in the chancel of the church. According to Wood's
"Athenae," Atkyns, and others, this event occurred in 1687. An unsuc
cessful search was made some years ago for his memorial. To
the present Rector, the Rev. E. A. Litton, we are indebted for dis-

294 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap, xxiii.
covering, after some search, the brass in the tower of the church,
which supplies us with this corrected date, and the following Latin
epitaph : £j g In English.
Clemens Barkdallus, Clement Barksdale,
Artium Magister, Master of Arts,
Evangelii Minister, Minister of the Gospel,
Quotidie orans, Daily praying,
Quotidie moriens, Daily dying,
Jubet te, viator, Exhorts thee, O traveller,
Caelestem Patriam To meditate
Cogitare. on
ixb xxiii, mdclxx, The heavenly country.
^Etat lxi. ixb xxiii [Sept. 23] 1670,
Aged 61.
Below the Latin epitaph there is another small tablet, containing
the names of some of his children or other members of his family.
According to a note in one of his works, by Sir Thomas Phillipps,
Mary Charlton, his wife, was buried at Winchcombe, in 1653.
Clement Barksdale was a good and frequent preacher, an earnest
disputant, a great admirer of Hugo Grotius, several of whose writings
he translated, and, above all, he was a good man and worthy neighbour.
His chief works consist of " Nympha Libethris, or the Cotswold
Muse, presenting some extempore Verses to the imitation of young
scholars. In four parts, Lond., 1651;" '' Monumenta Literaria ; "
and " The Disputation at Winchcombe, Nov. 9th, 1653."
This dispute was between Barksdale, then minister of Sudeley,
respondent, Christopher Helme, minister of Winchcombe, and John
Wells, minister of Tewkesbury, opponents. The subjects of disputation
were church matters, relating to the Government of the Church, Form of
Public Prayer, Ordinations, and Administration of the Sacrament.* It
appears that in some of the large parishes and market towns there were
ministers, who, though professing to belong to the Church of England,
were preaching against her forms and discipline, going about to other

The Winchcombe Papers Reviewed, Lond., 1657.

interregnum.] CLEMENT BARKSDALE. 295
parishes, and alienating the people from their lawful pastors. Until
this could be stopped by authority, the orthodox clergy considered it
their duty to warn their congregations, and show them the errors of the
new teachings. Among these was our Sudeley Rector. The dispute
is described as having taken place in Winchcombe parish church, on
the 9th of November, 1653. Mr. Barksdale was the first to arrive,
then his opponents, Mr. Helme, minister at Winchcombe ; Mr. Tray,
minister at Oddington ; Mr. Wells, minister at Tewkesbury; Mr. Chaffy,
at Naunton ; and Colonel Ayle worth, justice of the peace, from Naun
ton. As soon as these all took possession of " the minister's Pue,"
Clement Barksdale took possession of a " Pue ex opposito '' which he
had had erected, Mr. Towers of Toddington and other orthodox
clergy being seated near him. Then the dispute commenced, which
must have lasted some hours, and probably was carried on with as
much charity as could be expected, considering the times.
To a question proposed by a minister of the sectaries, Mr. Barksdale
replied, " 1. I am a member of the parish church; which although it be
much distracted by a minister of separation, yet it is not yet destroyed.
Although we cannot come to the usual place for the present safely, and
without danger of being engaged in prayers against our conscience, and
of being seduced by erroneous doctrine, and much offended and grieved
by uncharitable sentences, yet we preserve the practice of our religion
at home, and sometimes partake of the public ordinance abroad. 2. I
am a member of the national Church of England, which we acknow
ledge a true visible Church of Christ, though somewhat clouded now,
and defaced by the modern innovations, to which yet there are many
thousand professors that have not bowed. 3. I am a member of the
Church Catholic, into which I was received at my baptism." The dis
putation, in which Mr. Barksdale's mention of Christmas produced
a cry of " Popery ! " from his learned opponents,* terminated by
the Winchcombe minister saying : " You see, brethren, what he is : we
have enough of him. It is high time to conclude. Sir, I desire to
conclude all with prayer : " to which Barksdale replied : " Sir, I have

* Lathbury's " History of the Book of Common Prayer," 1859, p. 304.

296 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap, xxiii.
observed your objections, and I take my leave of you, for, to your
prayers I fear I shall not be able to answer Amen."
Often was the good Rector sorely tried by the divisions that sprung
up around him, so that " he increased his diligence and doubled his
pains at Sudeley, considering how many of his friends at Winchcombe
and of his most honourable patron's tenants were become almost like
sheep without a shepherd, some frequenting their parish church indeed,
but bringing home their ears tingling with the strange doctrines and
uncharitable censures and reproaches of the preacher ; others absent
ing themselves from the church, and contented with their private
reading and devotions at home."*
On one occasion he composed and presented to some friends a model
for " The Congregation at Sudeley," f which is too long for insertion.
It would provide the Rector with discreet men of the congregation as
assistants with whom he could advise, and treats of their duties ; of
preaching on the Lord's Day ; of the repetition of the Catechism by
children ; of explaining the same during the week ; taking the names
of communicants, giving them tokens on the eve of the communion
day ; and of the charity which the Sudeley congregation was to have
towards all others ; and how they were to pray for unity amongst all
Christians. Again, under trying circumstances, he wrote the following beautiful
epistle : " To his Congregation at Sudeley Castle.
"And now, Beloved, I end with a request to you, in St. Peter's words: 'Giving all
diligence, adde to your Faith, Vertue ; to your Vertue, Knowledge ; to Knowledge, Tem
perance ; to Temperance, Patience ; to Patience, Godliness ; to Godliness, Brotherly-
kindness ; and to Brotherly-kindness, Charity ; ' for if these things be in you and abound,
the greatest objection of our opponents will be then fully answered, if it be not yet. Let
no man suffer sin upon his Brother, but let us exhort and admonish one another, lovingly
and faithfully, and let the most knowing and zealous amongst us assist the Minister in the
discharge of his duty, that no open and notorious liver may presume to come with us to
the Holy Table. Let us pray for a settled Publick Discipline, but in the mean, let us
settle ourselves, and keep as good order as we can ; Let us show the sincerity of our

* Disputation at Winchcombe.
t " Memorials ot Worthy Persons," The Third Duad. By C Barksdale.

interregnum.] CLEMENT BARKSDALE. 297
religion by our mutuall Love, and by our meekness and charity to our Enemyes and
Calumniators ; Let us evidence our having the Spirit not by bold intrusion into offices
not committed to us, but by bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, Love, Joy, Peace,
Long-suffering, and the rest. Finally, let us not be weary of well-doing, but go on in
every good work with courage and alacrity, with our eyes fixed upon Heaven. So shall the
mouth of the adversary be stopped ; and the Lord shall open our lips, and our mouth
shall show forth His praise. Amen." *
His translation of Hugo Grotius on " The Authority of Sacred
Things," dated Sudeley, January 6th, 1651, is dedicated "To the
Illustrious Pair, my Lord and my Lady Chandos ; " the Preface
explains that he wishes to cast in his mite to the Church of England,
by the translation of so good a book, and to leave a grateful, and he
hopes a lasting monument in those gracious hands, that have supported
him in his worst and weakest times, with these closing words : " May
your Honours both live to see the public breaches both of Church and
State fairly made up ; and particularly the ruins of your Sudeley."
His writings were numerous ; most of them are in the Sudeley
Library. Higford's "Institutions, or Advice to his Grandson," was also
published by Barksdale. It is a work of great merit, showing that the
squire of Dixton, two hundred years ago, was " a perfect gentleman,"
and that the Gloucestershire gentry of the seventeenth century were not
the boors described by Lord Macaulay. In one of his letters j- on the
subject of good neighbours, he congratulates his grandson on having
two whose estates encircle his own, — one, the Right Hon. Viscount
Tracy, the other, Lord Chandos. Of the first he says he had the
pre-eminence of all the families in those parts for antiquity, that his
ancestors had received much honour and trust from the Tracy hands ;
differences that had arisen between the respective tenants of Dixton
and Alderton had always been amicably settled, and entreats him to
assist in paying the deep debt of duty and service due to that honour
able family. Of Lord Chandos then living, and also of his predecessors,
he writes in the highest praise, making mention of the honour they had
done his family on various occasions. In his own words :

* Sir Thomas Phillipps was much interested in Clement Barksdale's works, and strongly advised their
republication for the honour of Sudeley and Winchcombe.
t Institutions, p. 20.

298 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap, xxiii.
" The Lord Edmund Chandos, Knight of the Garter, in much infirmity of body did
adventure towards Glocester to do Sir John Higford honour, when he was first High
Sheriff, but falling more sick in the journey, returned to his Castle (Sudeley), and died
before the Assizes were ended. The Lord Giles Chandos employed Sir John Higford
in the government of his estate, and in the Lieutenancy of the county, and for his
good service done therein promoted him to the Queen's Majesty, a great housewife of
her honour, who dignified him with the order 'of a Knight (in those days communicable
only to persons of worth and quality), 14 Sep. 1591."
Barksdale's " Nympha Libethris " is the work by which he is best
known, and from which has been given him the cognomen of " the
Cotswold Muse." His poetry cannot lay claim to any great merit, but
as a native of Winchcombe and rector of Sudeley he calls forth our
sympathy, and his subjects, being local, cannot fail to arouse our
interest. Being a great favourite with Lord and Lady Chandos, we may
suppose it was by their tender solicitude for their poet that he was
removed out of harm's way, first to Sudeley and then to Hawling.
From his poems we conclude they must both have occasionally resided
at Sudeley after the termination of the wars, and it was not till after
they found there was no hope of Parliamentary aid for the restoration
of their Castle that they finally abandoned it.
The picturesque and secluded farm of Rowell,* about four miles from
Sudeley, is frequently mentioned in his " Nympha Libethris." In his
Preface he says : " A little house, Roell, is near a palace, when her
lord is there." Again, in the " Consecration " of his work to Lady
Chandos, he designates himself " her Roell Muse."
Why Lord and Lady Chandos from time to time retired to that
secluded spot may be gathered from the two following poems : —
" Sudeley to Rowill.
" Rowill, the hills on which thou sit'st do not
So much exalt thee, as my Lord, thou'st got
Into my bosom, when I desert lie,
Vouchsaf t perhaps a glance of 's passing eye.
I must confess, at present thy low roof
(The hills too 're fitter for his horse's hoof)

Rowell belonged to the Chandos family, and was afterwards purchased by George Townsend.

West View, showing remains of Church Buttress
and Window.

Pact <>v Ancient Church and Window, now
dividing Kitchen fiMm Staircase.

AncmlXT Manor House, Rowf.ll,

interregnum.] CLEMENT BARKSDALE. 299
Excels my turrets, and whilst he is there,
Sudeley is scarce said to continue here.
The time will come, if our hopes be not vain,
When Sudeley shall be Sudeley once again.
And thou, my envy'd Rowill (no more harm
I wish thee) shall return into a Farm."
" Rowill to Sudeley.
" What, if my Lord, well knowing the unrest
Of palaces and courts, doth think it best,
Sometimes to choose a solitary place,
And it with his beloved presence grace ?
Envy not, stately Sudeley ; it's not thy crime
That is the cause, but troubles of the Time.
Peace, banish'd from great Houses, is retired
To me, and such like corners. I desired
My Lord should breathe himself awhile with me :
When war is ended, let him dwell with thee."
Rowell was then, as now, a farm-house, but of much greater preten
sions, with a chapel attached to it, in which Barksdale must often
have officiated. We must suppose that the Chandoses retired to
Rowell during the wars, and that it was a specially safe refuge for
Lady Chandos and her sister when the Castle was in the hands of the
rebels. One of the poems is headed : " Upon the Scholars succeeding
Soldiers at Sudeley Castle." Another expresses thanks for a gift of
Sudeley venison. The best is,
" Non Nobis Domine," etc., in the Great Chamber at Sudeley.
" To my Lady C.
" Chandos, wh' adorn'd the princely chamber, where
So many friends and tenants welcomed were,
Caused the artificer on the wall to write
This sentence, and exposed to all men's sight.
So when our works are brought to end, must we
All sing aloud, Jinn jgorjtjf Domiiu ;
And I, my Lord, that for my Muse I may
Favour obtain, must Kyrie Eleison say.
'Twas her ambition her notes to sing
To the great grandson of the Cotswold King."

?oo

ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap, xxiii.

So much for our " Cotswold Muse," and the insight he gives us of
the family and " congregation " then belonging to Sudeley. After the
Castle was " slighted," Divine Service was held in the side chapel as
seen in the annexed woodcut — an arrangement which was continued
till the restoration of the Church in 1862. In ancient times as now,
the advowson belonged to the Lord of the Manor ; but we find that
twice in the reign of Elizabeth the right of presentation was exercised
by the Queen, also once by King James, though we know not under
what circumstances. Thus we read in Atkyns, p. 703 : —

Clerks.
1583. John Perinchafe
1585. Thomas Pembridge
1585. Thomas Moreland
1588. Thomas Moreland
1588. John James
1590. Henry Hurst
1603. Thomas Potter
1505. George Osbolston
Clem. Barksdale
1703. John Hearn
1707. Samuel Shipton

Patrons.
Giles, Ld. Chandos.
Queen Elizabeth.
Giles, Ld Chandos.
Queen Elizabeth.
Giles, Ld. Chandos.
Giles, Ld. Chandos.
Franc. Lady Chandos.
King James.
George Pitt, Esqre.
George Pitt, Esqre.

East View of Sudeley Chapel.

CHAPTER XXIV.
' ' The master must be a man of sound religion, neither Papist nor Puritan, of a grave
behaviour, and sober and honest conversation, no tippler or haunter of alehouses, and no
puffer of tobacco." (Rules of Archbishop Harsnett's Grammar School, Chigwell, founded in 1629.)
WITH the destruction of its Abbey, Winchcombe lost its
importance, and its history will not detain us long.
In Leland's days, like many of the neighbouring towns
it " stood by clothing," but when Queen Elizabeth paid her first visit
to Sudeley, the noble owners interested her in the affairs of their poor
neighbours, and in the following year the queen bestowed a mark of her
favour on them. In the grant allusion is made to the lamentable
decline of the town, and the distress among the poor : " By the relation
of Dorothy the Lady Chandos, and the humble petition of the in
habitants of the borough or town of Winchcombe, the said borough
appeared to be fallen into so great ruin and decay, that its inhabitants
were not able to support and repair it, for the great poverty that
reigned among them."
The grant further states that, by Letters Patent, the inhabitants
henceforth should enjoy the privilege of holding an annual fair*
" upon the eve, upon the feast, and upon the morrow after the feast
of St, Martin the Evangelist ; and that one market should be held
every week upon Tuesday." This charter is dated 7th of April the
17th year of Elizabeth's reign (1575)- f
Another benefit resulting from Queen Elizabeth's visits to Sudeley

* Till within the last few years it was the custom in Winchcombe to hang out bushes to show where
beer was sold at private houses.
+ Rudder, p. 771.

302 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxiv.
Castle, was the solid basis given to the Grammar School of Winchcombe,
founded in 1522 by Henry VIII., and whose endowment of £9 45. 6d.
per annum was confirmed by her.
In 162 1, Frances, Dowager Lady Chandos, the widow of Giles,
third lord, founded a second school in Winchcombe, in a street
called St. Nicholas Street, with convenient rooms for the habitation
of such schoolmaster as should be appointed, to have the charge
of educating fourteen children of the town- of Winchcombe, and by
feoffment of the 13th of November, 19th year of James I. (1621),
directed that when the trustees should by death be reduced to two,
such two should make a new feoffment of the said premises to such
other persons as the said Lady Chandos during her life, and after
her decease, her daughter the Lady Catherine, countess of Bedford,
should nominate. This school was united to the one founded by
Henry VIII., of which the first master appears to have been Valentine
Blake, appointed in 1539. The last was Mr. Charles Lapworth, who
was appointed in 1832, and died in 18 71. His long residence of 40
years in the parish gave him many opportunities of collecting infor
mation ; and great thanks are due to him for preserving numerous
and valuable notes referring to Winchcombe, which have been kindly
placed at my disposal by his widow, who still remains among us.
Beside this, there is the Townsend School, founded in 1683 by
George Townsend, who left lands in Wormington for that purpose,
and for the apprenticing of boys.*
A matter which considerably affected the prosperity of the neigh
bourhood is associated with the reign of Elizabeth, namely, the
introduction of tobacco, Winchcombe being reputed to have been
the first place in England honoured with the growth of '' this barbarian
weed, and by which many got great estates," t the inhabitants making
planting their chief business, and turning it to good account. J
This, however, did not long continue. Proclamations had been

* A good account of the present condition of our schools was published in the "Evesham Journal,"
Feb. 27th, 1875, on the occasion of the election of the first School Board.
t Fuller.
X There is a tradition that Sir Walter Raleigh once resided at Brockhampton, which would possibly
account for its first introduction in this locality.

chap, xxiv.] CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO. 303
issued by Elizabeth against the smoking of tobacco, and disregarded ;
but when James I. came to the throne, he took the far more effectual
step of raising the duty from 2d. per lb. to 6.y. \od. by his order
of October 17, 1604. His power to do this was questioned, but
it was solemnly affirmed by the judges in the year 1606, in what
is known as "the great case of Impositions," which was almost as
famous in its day, as that of shipmoney afterwards became. Not
long after an act was passed forbidding the cultivation of tobacco
in England, on the plea that it hindered the growth of the English
plantations in Virginia and the Bermudas, lessened the revenue
of the customs, and spoiled much ground that would be far better
employed in raising corn or cattle.
All through the time of the Stuarts, the trade in tobacco was a
royal monopoly, and the duty levied greatly varied, but it always
remained high enough to cause illegal cultivation. Frequent pro
clamations were issued, directing that all tobacco planted in England
should be rooted up, but they were only partially executed ; and
there is in the Public Record Office* a curious petition from William
King, a messenger of the Chamber (a.d. 1631), complaining of " many
great affronts " received by him in various places in Gloucestershire,
in endeavouring to " displant" the forbidden weed. It kept its ground,
however, long after, and when the Commonwealth, in 1652, passed
a new act for its restraint, we hear of " The humble petition and
cries of many landowners and labourers of Cheltenham, Winchcombe,
&c." complaining of the ruin that it threatened them with, and praying
for its repeal. Soon after the Restoration a new act was passed,
ordering all tobacco plants in England and Ireland to be rooted
up, with a penalty of \os. for every rood of land so employed. It
was apprehended that there might be a difficulty in enforcing this
measure, and accordingly, on May 10, 1662, Sir Humphrey Hooke,
the Gloucestershire high sheriff, was ordered at once to leave London
and repair to his county, " it being now the season for planting
tobacco," to put in execution the commands formerly given him.t

* D. S. P., Car. I., Vol. ccv., No. 53. t D. S. P., Car. II., Vol. liv., No. 40.

304 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxiv.
He did so ; and he, in the following December, was formally thanked
for his activity in putting down rioters who opposed the destruction
of the tobacco.* In spite of this, however, the cultivation was persisted
in, and in 1663 we find the farmers of the customs asking that their
surveyor, Thomas Delavale, may have soldiers to assist him in
preventing it, and that the sheriffs of Gloucestershire and the neigh
bouring counties may have special directions to put the acts in
execution, t Their prayer apparently was granted, but the measure
was not immediately successful, as we read in Pepys' Diary, as late
as 1667, that the lifeguards were sent to Winchcombe, "to spoil the
tobacco there which the people do plant, contrary to law, and have
always done, and although under force and danger of having it
spoiled, as it hath been oftentimes, yet will continue to plant it."
In 1685 and 1692 lands were given by George Harvey and Lady
Juliana Tracy for the benefit of the Winchcombe poor. For the
same charitable purposes money was given by Wm. Thorndale, Thomas
Compere, John Harvey, and Anne Blaby, between the years 1692
and 1 752.J
The church of Winchcombe, as has been already stated, was built
about the beginning of the reign of Edward IV. It is a large
handsome edifice, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of nave
with aisles and chancel, and a tower of good proportions at the
west end.
In 1690, owing to the falling in of the battlements of the chancel,
which did immense damage, the chancel and east end of the two
aisles were rebuilt. At the same time, the top of the tower was
repaired, the whole structure white-washed and painted, and unsightly
timbers put up to support the west end of the nave. The Rev.
Henry Thorne was the vicar, and Wm. Pearson and James Glover,
churchwardens. From that time the roof remained in a dilapidated
state till 1850, when, being pronounced absolutely dangerous, a parish
meeting was convened, at which it was resolved to restore it. A loan
of ^"500 was obtained, the repayment of which was effected by instal-
* D. S. P., Car II., Vol. lxv., No. 46. + Ibid., Vol. lxxvi., No. 5.
X Rudder, p. 830.

Ancient Pulpit, disused in 1872.

Ancient Font, retained in present use.

Position of Communion Table in Winchcombe Church before the Restoration in 1872, showing Altar Cloth said to
have been the gift of Queen Catherine of Arragon.

CHAP. XXIV.]

WINCHCOMBE CHURCH

305

ments of church-rates during the following ten years.* In 1872 a
thorough restoration of the church was effected.
Up to this time the arrangement of the space around the communion
table was very peculiar, as may be seen from the opposite engraving ;
something similar still exists in Langley in Shropshire, and at Over
Winchendon, near Aylesbury. At the east end of the church was the

Interior of Winchcombe Church. East view, showing " the Ladies' Gallery,"
before the Restoration in 1872.
Ladies' Gallery, which would seem to have occupied the place of the
ancient rood screen.
There was a stone octagonal pulpit, of good Perpendicular work, of
the time of Henry VI., used near the centre of the nave prior to the
year 1872, when it was thought desirable, owing to its small dimen
sions — being only 2 feet 2\ inches across — to substitute a larger one in
a more convenient position. The stone font, bearing the date 1635, is
still retained. * From Mr. Lapvorth's notes.

306 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxiv.
We are indebted to Mr. Cripps for the following valuable description
of the WINCHCOMBE CHURCH PLATE.
The earliest chalice, or properly speaking, communion cup, dated on the cover 1570,
is one of those which were procured in obedience to the visitation articles and orders of
the commissioners at the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was exchanged
with some goldsmith for the chalice previously used, the latter being considered " a
monument of superstition," in consequence of having been used at Mass, and so unfit for
use by staunch Protestants. There are many of these cups still extant, probably as many
as three out of five Gloucestershire churches have one or more of them ; and their covers
were the only patens in most cases. The smaller villages on the Cotswolds had nothing
but one such cup and cover for chalice and paten.
The second cup was given by Henry Harvey in 1677, and is of the usual rude pattern
of that date. It was made in London in the same year by a well-known maker, initials
T. C. ; a similar cup by the same maker is amongst the plate belonging to Kensington
parish church, London.
The plain paten or alms-plate was made in London in 1686, and was no doubt
intended to replace the cover of the chalice, which was small and insufficient for the
purpose of paten as population increased.
The large upright flagon is of the usual pattern, made in London in the year of its
gift, viz., 1709, and it is of the higher standard of silver then, in use ; a standard which
was soon afterwards disused in consequence of its purity and softness rendering it less
durable and serviceable than the usual quality previously in use and used at the present
time for both plate and coinage. The oval gilt alms-plate is unmarked, and probably of
foreign manufacture.
It should have been said, that the old chalice, though bearing no mark but a maker's
mark, is undoubtedly English, and that the engraved belt is characteristic of the times,
being almost invariably found on the communion cups, and often on the domestic plate
of that time.
The Registers, as before stated, commence as early as 1539, and
the entries appear to have been made very regularly down to about
1639, between which and 1669, many irregularities occur both in the
order of dates and other matters. During a part of the time the
clergyman was one Carshew Helme, an independent or congregation-
alist, who describes himself in the entries of his children's births as
" Preacher of the Gospel in this place." It does not appear when he
was appointed, but he signs the Register as minister in 1655, and in
1660 it is signed by another clergyman.
Among the entries of marriages made by Carshew Helme are several

CHAP, xxiv.]

WINCHCOMBE REGISTER.

507

which were evidently celebrated elsewhere than at the parish church ;
one in 1652 speaks of the parties as "married at Stow," and two others
subsequently as " married at Swell." Whether these were civil mar
riages does not appear ; probably they were.
This is the same Carshew Helme who held a public controversy
with the Rev. Clement Barksdale, the orthodox minister of Sudeley,
in the Winchcombe parish church, on 9th November, 1653, particulars
of which were published in 1654, under the title of "The Disputation
at Winchcomb, Nov. 9, m.d.cliii." of which we have a copy ; the par
ticulars of the disputation are given in another page, devoted to our
" Cotswold Muse," as Mr. Barksdale was called.
Our Registers, like others, contain many entries of matters of local
interest. The following selection could be considerably enlarged, did
space permit.

1757. Foxes must have been a trouble to
the neighbourhood ; there are many
entries of the payment of ij. per
head for their destruction.
1764. The salary of the Master of the
Workhouse was ^10 per annum.
Nov. 1764. Rate made of 4s. on every one
possessing ^100, and of 2s. on every
labourer, to repair the highways.
Paid for the Dove on the Font, 6s.
Paid for ringing when Lord Tracy and
Mr. Tracy came to the Workhouse,
5*
March 25, 1770. Dr. Wm. Reynolds agreed
with to inoculate at 5.C per head.
1773. First entry of cost of wine for the
sacrament; bill, £1 $s. Sd.
May 5, 1778. Churchwardens ordered to
fix up the tables of the Ten Com
mandments at the Altar, in letters
of gold in a gilt frame.
May 19, . . . Churchwarden to take down
the remaining part of the old gal
lery, and place up the Creed and
the Lord's Prayer at the Altar in
gold letters.

Nov.

1789.

17, . . . The King's arms drawn,
painted, and fixed up on the new
gallery, lately erected.
Richard Warner farms the poor for
^490, and is bound to deliver to
them all goods and furniture they
may bring to the Workhouse with
them, to take the same away when
they leave.
July, 1789. John Chadborn to teach 40
boys every Sunday for £6 10s., and
to have 8.r. extra in firing.
Mary Clark and Sarah Cartwright to
teach 30 girls (each at is. 6d. a week)
every Sunday, and 8s. for firing.
Fire-engine purchased by voluntary
contribution.
Winchcombe troubled with mad
dogs. Here follow threats to be
carried out against those who do
not destroy or put away their dogs.
March 12, 1791. John Chadborn always
gets something out of vestry for self.
April 7, 1795. A Vestry Meeting. "We,
the churchwardens, overseers of the
poor, and principal inhabitants of

1790.

1791.

308 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELE Y. [chap. xxiv.
the several parishes of Winchcombe defrayed by the several parishes :
and its hamlets; Temple Guiting W. ,£23 19^.; Sud. £$ 5s- '> Haw"
and its hamlets; Hawling, Rowell, ling, £2 igs. ; Guiting, £4 6s.;
Charlton Abbots, and Sudeley Rowell, £2 3s. ; Charlton Abbots,
Manor, being assembled for the £2 gs. Total, ^41 is.
purpose of taking into consideration March, 1797. The Booth Hall to be re-
the most effective means of raising paired.
two men to serve in his Majesty's Jan. 15, 1798. To cash paid for 253 spar-
Navy, Mr. Wm. Cox, of Sudeley rows' heads between Sept. 4 and
Lodge, agrees to do it, and gets Oct. 27, 5s. 2\d.; 16 dozen and 5
^40 paid to him, which sum is sparrows' heads, 4^. i\d.
There is a monument in the chancel of a man kneeling, with the
following inscription :
This is the Effigies of Thomas
Williams Esq. of Cornden
The second son of S1' David
Williams Baronet* of Gwer-
newett in Brecknockshire
on of his Magesties Judges in
Westminster who was Bu
ried here the 28th day of
May ' in the year 1636,
Sir David Williams made a large fortune by his profession, and pur
chased estates in several counties. His eldest son, Henry, was
created a Baronet, May 4, 1644, and gave King Charles shelter at
Gwernewett, when a fugitive from Naseby. His second son, Thomas,
born in 1582, married Hester, daughter of James Hawkens, of Great
Washbourne. They had children who must have died young, as
Corndean passed to his nephew David Williams, second son of the
baronet. David married a daughter of Sir Mathew Carew, and the
names of their children may be found in the Winchcombe Register.
The Winchcombe bells are six in number, but none are of ancient
date. They bear the following inscriptions :
First Bell. — Thos Tovey : Gent : Anno : Dom : 1693.
Second Bell. — Henry : Rigforde : Rector : of : Frethorne : Anno : Dom : 94 — Abra :
Rudhall : cast : us : all : 1693.

This is an error : it should be " Knight.

yiliiiaiAf.i'.ji'Mi

Door-way of an Old House, Gloucester Street, Winchcombe.

CHAP, xxiv.]

WINCHCOMBE BELLS.

309

Third Bell. — I : will : ring : for : the : King : A : R : Anno : Dom : 1693.
Fourth Bell. — Thos Rudhall Glocester Founder 1776.
Fifth Bell. — Saml Smith John Heavens Churchwardens 1776.
Sixth Bell. — John Phillips & John Johnson Churchwardens A : R • 1759.
There is a tradition in Winchcombe that the bells of Bishop's Cleeve
were made and intended for Winchcombe, but that by some mistake
they were changed.
The bell of Gretton Church bears the inscription
Ave Maria Gracia Plena Dominus Tecum,
without any date or name of founder.
The Rev. H. T. Ellacombe informs us that ancient English bells
. are never dated ; and judging from the stops and crosses, with absence
of date, he is of opinion the Gretton bell is of about the year 1400.
Several letters of the inscription are reversed or upside down, thereby
showing the great ignorance or carelessness of the moulder.

itf/wmpv''

Remains of Cross in Winchcombe Churchyard.

CHAPTER XXV.
"Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs.
For heaven's sake, let us sit upon the ground,
And tell sad stories of the death of kings." Shakespeare.
" Oh, a dainty plant is the ivy green,
That creepeth o'er ruins old !
Of right choice food are his meals, I ween,
In his cell so lone and cold.
Creeping where no life is seen,
A rare old plant is the ivy green." Dickens.
FROM the time when Sudeley Castle was "slighted," as it was
termed, by the order of Parliament, it went rapidly further
and further to decay, left as it was to the ravages of time, the
weather, and, worst of all, the unsparing hand of man ; for now it
became, as Winchcombe Monastery in bygone years, a quarry for the
neighbourhood, so that for the sake of the materials,
" Temple and tower
Went to the ground."
Henceforth only the verdant carpet of nature spread within those
walls which had so often re-echoed to the merry voice of the festive
throng, where the sons and daughters of pomp and pleasure, the
" curled darlings " of their day, were wont to assemble ; henceforth the
solitary bird of night would usurp possession of the turret over which
the feudal banner had so proudly waved !
" Thy sun is set ; thy battlements are fallen,
And sunk to ruin thy baronial hall,
Once far-famed Sudeley ! waves the cross no more
On thy reft towers ; nor grins the leopard rude *
His feudal fierceness on thy tumbling roofs." f

* A leopard's face appears in the centre of the cross in the arms of Brydges. + Sir E. Brydges.

CHAP. XXV.]

SUDELEY IN RUIN.

3H

Where is thy glory, Sudeley ? though thy wall
With stubborn strength the hand of Time defies,
The sun looks down into thy roofless hall,
And through thy courts with splendour's mockery pries ;
Where are thine ancient Lords ? the brave ? the wise ?
Crumbled to dust in yonder Gothic fane.
Where are their children's children ? None replies.
Swept from their trunk in Chance's hurricane,
The branches wave no more on Cotswold's old domain.

Hagioscope, and small grating which protected the last fragment of
Queen Katherine Parr's Monument.
" Now savage elders flourish in thy courts ;
The thistle now thy lorn recesses haunts ;
Perch'd on thy walls the wild geranium sports,
And the rude mallow, deck'd in purple, flaunts :
Behold, proud Castle, thine inhabitants !
See how their nodding heads the zephyr hail,
As if they mock'd thee with triumphant taunts,
As victory's banners to each passing gale
From some dismantled fort relate their boastful tale." *

From Stanzas written at Sudeley Castle, by Edward Quillinan, Esq., addressed to Sir E. Brydges.

312 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxv.
Thus was left the whole of the south quadrangle, including the
Banqueting Hall, a tower which terminated the opposite corner to the
Keep, and the cloisters which led from the Queen's apartments and
joined the north side of the inner quadrangle. The Keep, or dungeon
tower, shows remains of buildings, as if a smaller tower had once
joined it on the eastern side ; on the north-west is a small but higher
tower, which must have served as " garde-robes,'' on the summit and
exterior of which are remains of iron work, once belonging to the
beacon. This tower must have been of great strength, with three
stories of considerable height ; several of the windows are still protected
by massive iron grating. In the north angle are the dungeons, which
consist of three strongly arched and deep cells, rising one above the
other, and having no entrance but a narrow doorway at the top of each,
communicating only with the several stories of the Keep. The
hopeless victims there immured must consequently have been lowered
with cords to a depth of many feet.
" For him who to yon vault confined,
Has bid a long farewell to human kind,
His wasted form, his cold and bloodless cheek,
A tale of sadder sorrow seem to speak —
Of friends, perhaps now mingled with the dead,
Of hope, that like a faithless flatterer, fled
In th' utmost hour of need, or of a son
Cast to the bleak world's mercy."
This is not a mere imaginary scene of what may have passed within
Sudeley's dungeon walls; some years ago, when an opening was-
effected at the bottom of a lower cell, a human skeleton was discovered,
perhaps that of the last inhabitant of this dreadful abode of darkness
and despair.
Owing to the indifference of its owners, the chapel continued to
be desecrated, and the soil and rubbish to accumulate up to the very
doors and windows of the Castle.
Of the habitable part of the Castle, the only side was to the north,
and that occupied by the tenants of the surrounding lands. The
Gateway, of which The Buttery Hatch forms part, originally stood

No.
30 Gravel Walk.
31 Back Entrance.
32 Front Entrance.
33 Gravel Ring.
3* The Walnut Trees
35 Chesnut Trees.
36 Pebble Walk,
paved with peb
bles found in
Old Pleaaunce.
37 Gravel Walk.
38 Carriage En trance
:•><) Remains of Old
Moat, now filled
up.
40 The Grange.
41 Steps to Terrace.
42 Do. Do.
43 Do. Do.
44 Slopes to Terrace.
45 Do. Do.
4C Yew Hedge.
47 Do. Do.
48 Cedar.
49 Water Course
from old Moat.
50 Mulberry Tree.
51 Chesnut Tree.
52 Gravel Walk.
53 Do. Do.
54 Steps toPleaaunce1
Front of Chapel.

Drawn by Fred. Simmons.

Ground-plan of Sudeley Castle.

CHAP. XXV.]

SUDELEY LN RUINS.

alone, and it is not known when it was incorporated with the buildings
which now flank it on either side.
And so for a hundred years and more the silence of the grave rested

The Buttery Hatch.

upon Sudeley.. The changes of the season came and passed over
her : seed-time and harvest, reaping and gathering into barns. The
chronicler has nothing to record of her during that long sleep; but here
and there crops up a notice like the following, and then all again is
silent. In the legal documents called Fines (a species of common assurance
to pass lands and bar entails like recoveries) mention is made of the
following names as proprietors of lands in Sudeley : 1649, Thos.

314 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxv.
Freeman, Sir Ed. Mansel, G. Montagu, Sir Charles Cotterell ; 14
Geo. II., Charles Bassett ; 26 Geo. II., J. Phillipps.*
All this time, strange to say, it was not known that the remains of
Queen Katherine Parr were buried within the precincts of the ruined
chapel. The following letters, dated 1768, throw the first light upon
this interesting discovery. The first two are from the Rev. Mr.
Huggett, an antiquary, as will be seen from their perusal, and are
addressed to " George Pitt, Esqre. in Half Moon St., Piccadilly,
Westminster"." " Sir, — Mr. Trapp, my near neighbour at Hartley, having hinted to me, f it wd be
agreeable to you to have (what I had before told him for your information) an account
of the death and burial of Q. Kath. Parre, at your Estate of Sudeley Castle, I here
send you an exact copy of what I took from ye Herald's Office, mark'd as above.
I believe this piece of history, as to yB day of ye death, and place of sepulture of
this Queen, is not notic'd by any of our antiquarians ; for in a book lately printed
at Oxford, of the lives of famous women, the author having mentioned this Lady
in that learned list, laments, that he cannot acquaint his readers with any thing relative
to her death or burial. This anecdote is altogether at your service. If it proves
in the least to your satisfaction my end herein is answered : and if in any future
time you may have enquiries to make, wch may lay within the compass of my reading to
resolve, you may readily command, Sir, Your very humble Servant,
" R. Huggett.
" Hartley-Waspaill, Hants, July 2nd, 1768."
The next letter, dated a few days later, is a reply to Mr. Pitt's
acknowledgment of the above :

-*»

" Sir, — I was this day favoured with your letter of y" 7th- Inst. Your approbation
of that piece of intelligence which I comunicated to you, and your thinking it worthy
a place in history, is doing honour to the Herald's office — that faithfull repository of
. . . many such usefull pieces of rare and curious memoranda — and wch- you have
full liberty to make use of in such way & manner as you may think best for public
utility. P'haps the work you mention as intended for the Press may be Sir Rob'-
Atkyn's Histy- of Glouc" a book now grown extremely scarce, & yre can be no
question but a 2nd Edit", especially if with additional Historical Notices continued
to the present times, wld be very acceptable to the public. To the above anecdote
of Q. K. Parre is to be added, y' she was twice a widow before she married

* Among Sir Thomas Phillipps' MSS. is one in the autograph of Eliza or Elizabeth, Lady Chandos,
daughter of Sir Henry Bernard, containing entries in full of the births, deaths, and marriages, and of the
places where they occurred, of the children of her husband, Sir J. Brydges, Lord Chandos, and other
memoranda, from 1665. There are also other MSS. referring to the Chandos family, but chiefly copies of
law proceedings. — Communicated by the Rev. J. Fen wick, Thirlestaine House.

GEORGE III. J

QUEEN KATHERINE'S REMAINS.

3'5

Henry VIII. her ist husband being Edwd Burghe, her 2nd John Nevill Lord Latimer,
& y' by S' T. S. her 4th husband she died in childbirth. This I find amE my
heraldrical MSS., and reference is made to R. Brooke, York Herald, for proof of
the two former marriages ; while yet the few historians wdl I have here by me (and
I believe of historians in general) mention her only as y" widow of Neville Ld- Latimer,
&c, &c, &c. ¦ " Yr most obed' hum : servant,
" R. Huggett.
" Hartley- Waspaill, near Basingstoke, July 9th, 1768."
The third letter is from Mr. Lucas to Lord Rivers, dated " Sudely,
July 11, 1768." It contains a repetition of Mr. Huggett's paper, and
refers to a two-days' visit from Mr. Rudder, who was then collecting
local information for his County History, and of his ordering for the
same a reprint of Sudeley Castle from Buck's engraving.
The fourth letter is endorsed : " Copy of the remaining inscrip
tion or engraving on the upper part of the Leaden Coffin of Qun C.
Par, &c. &c  17831548

grave

2 35 years ago.
Ou : whr. Lord R. will order a slab of stone to be laid over the
? " *

Lead Coffin of Queen Katherine Parr. See Archseologia, Vol. IX.
Mr. Lucas was the first whose curiosity prompted him to open the
tomb. The following account of his proceedings was supplied to the
Editor of " Notes and Queries," by Mrs. Julia R. Bockett, daughter to
Mr. Brookes, of Reading, who was present at the opening of the coffin
in the previous year :

* In 1867 Lord Rivers kindly presented these interesting papers to us.

316 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxv.
"In the summer of the year 1782 the earth in which Qu. K. Par lay inter'd
was removed, and at the depth of about two feet (or very little more) her leaden coffin
or chest was found quite whole, and on the lid of it, when well cleaned, there appeared
a very bad though legible inscription of which the under written is a close copy :
'K. P.
' VIth and last wife of King Hen. the VHIth, 1548.'
" Mr. Jno. Lucas (who occupied the land of Lord Rivers whereon the ruins of the
chapel stand) had the curiosity to rip up the top of the coffin, expecting to discover
within it only the bones of the dSced, but to his great surprize found the whole body
wrapp'd in 6 or 7 seer cloths of linnen entire and uncorrupted, although it had lain
there upwards of 230 years. His unwarrantable curiosity led him also to make an
incision through the seer cloths which covered one of the arms of the corps, the
flesh of which at that time was white and moist. I was very much displeased at the
forwardness of Lucas, who of his own head opened the coffin. It would have been
quite sufficient to have found it ; and then to have made a report of it, to Lord Rivers
or myself. In the summer of the year following, 1783, his Lordship's business made it
necessary for me and my son to be at Sudeley Castle, and on being told what had been
done the year before by Lucas, I directed the earth to be once more remov'd to satisfy
my own curiosity ; and found Lucas's account of the coffin and corps to be just as
he had represented them ; with this difference, that the body was then grown quite
fetid, and the flesh where the incision had been made was brown and in a state of
putrefaction ; in consequence of the air having been let in upon it. The stench of
the corps made my son quite sick, whilst he copied the inscription which is on the
lid of the coffin ; he went thro' it, however, with great exactness. I afterwards directed
that a stone slab should be placed over the Grave to prevent any future and improper
inspection &c." *
The coffin was again opened in 1 784 and 1 786 : on the last occasion
by Mr. Nash, who gave a description of his proceedings to the Society
of Antiquaries, June 14, 1787 ; at the same time he expressed surprise
that "Mr. Ballard, the industrious antiquarian of Campden, a town
about ten miles from Sudeley, should not have known of the burial of
the Queen, as his business as a stay-maker must often have led him
into those parts ;" and he ended his " observations " with the reoret
that the spot where the body lay was used for the keeping of rabbits,
which made holes, and scratched very indecently about the Royal
Tomb Again, in 1792, the tomb was violated; the tenant then
occupying the Castle, in the most incredible manner allowing a party of

* This excellent order was never executed, as the Royal coffin was not finally rescued from desecration
till 181 7.

george m.] ROYAL VISIT TO SUDELEY. 3 1 7.
inebriated men to dig a fresh grave for the coffin. The details of their
work are too dreadful to give or dwell upon ; * but the tradition lingers
in Winchcombe, that each one of that Bacchanalian band met with an
untimely and horrible end !
A few years prior to this, Sudeley had been frequently visited by
George III. The King, hoping to derive benefit from the Cheltenham
waters, arrived at Lord Fauconberg's house in that town on Saturday,
12th of July, 1788, where he remained till the 16th of August following.
Between those periods, the King not only made several visits to Sudeley
Castle, but also to the Lodge, which was then tenanted by Mr. Joseph
Lucas, where he was engaged in the purchase of a very fine black
horse, f
On one of these visits to the Castle, the King was so intent on
exploring part of the ruins, that he incurred considerable danger of
losing his life by being precipitated down the turret staircase, which
was then in a most dilapidated state. But this catastrophe was
prevented by the timely, though unceremonious, interference of Mrs.
Cox, who inhabited a part of the edifice, and was then in attendance on
his Majesty ; the King, in order to express his sense of the signal
service rendered, graciously conferred a commission in the Guards
on one of her relation^, a young man of the name of Perrin, who soon
after changed it for a commission in the Line. J;
The annexed view was taken to commemorate one of these royal
visits, drawn by Perrin, possibly the same young man who received
this royal favour. The coloured engraving, from which this is taken,
was given to me by the late Mr. Fulwar Craven, who well remem
bered, as a boy, how the King, after visiting Sudeley and the Lodge,
proceeded to Brockhampton to inspect a beautiful horse belonging to
his father. The visit to the stables ended, the King, whose arrival
was wholly unexpected, was invited to partake of the family dinner,
which in those good old days was at the early hour of one ! and con-

* Extract from "Town and Country Magazine," Sept., 1792 ; also Hall's "Graves of our Fathers."
+ The family of the present worthy tenants, John and William Staite, have occupied this same farm the
last seventy-six years, their grandfather, Mr. Richard Ireland, having entered on Lady Day, a d. 1800.
X This anecdote was related to me by our friend, Mr. Ed. T. Browne, who, when a boy, frequently saw
the Ring both at Winchcombe and Sudeley.

3 1 8 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxv.
sisted, as my narrator distinctly remembered, of a leg of mutton and
batter pudding! The Cotswold air had sharpened the King's appetite,
and the far-famed Cotswold mutton was perhaps never more appre
ciated than on that occasion. The King invited Mr. Fulwar Craven
to visit him in Cheltenham, and, as he said himself, no youngster ever
felt more proud than he, when he found himself on the Promenade
escorting the Princesses in their walk.
The next owner of Sudeley was Richard Grenville, Marquis of
Buckingham, who purchased the Castle and 60 acres of land from
George Lord Rivers in 18 10.* He was born in March 1776, and
took the surname of Brydges Chandos, in addition to Temple Nugent
Grenville, by royal licence, in 1799 ; he was advanced to the dignity
of Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, and Marquis of Chandos, in
1822. His wife was Anne Eliza, daughter and heiress of James
Brydges, third and last Duke of Chandos. At her request a very
interesting and beautiful series of water-colour drawings was made
on the occasion of her visit to the Castle, the restoration of which
she is said to have contemplated. These were bought at the Stowe
sale by the late Sir Thomas Phillipps, and they are now at Thirlestaine
House. At the time the late Mr. Dents purchased the Castle, the Wynns
were the tenants, and resided there ; before them, a man of the
name of Attwood ; it was then a public house (the Castle Arms).
He also kept a stud of horses, and in his time it was said that
some of the stable-boys found in the Dungeon Tower a box con
taining money and some articles of apparel. So careless were
the owners, that Attwood pulled down a great deal, and "sold oak
beams, and lead, and other materials, which were used freely in the
neighbourhood. Among some papers relating to Sudeley, belonging to the late Mr.
ISrowne, and which were kindly placed at my disposal by his nephew,
Mr. Smith Wood, I met with one entitled " A copy of a MS. found

* The sale took place at the Plough, Cheltenham, and the first lot, which consisted of the above, was
knocked down to the Duke's agent, the auctioneer mistaking him for one of his own bidders. The bulk of
the estate was not sold.

Inscription on the Leaden Coffin of George Lord Chandos.
From an impression taken by E. T. Brown, Esq , 1828.

george m. J QUEEN KATHERINE'S REMAINS. 319
among some old papers at Sudeley Castle." This contained an account
of the funeral of the Queen (the same as in the Heralds' Office, already
given), a description of the chapel, and these words : " The only
vestige we find in the chapel of any monumental memorial is a shape
less block of alabaster lying in the ground. It is impossible to ascer
tain now what was its original form, but tradition says it was once a
part of Q. Parr's effigy. Annexed to the chapel is a small one,
tolerably entire, where the few inhabitants of the hamlet still assemble,
once a fortnight, to hear divine service, which is performed by the
Vicar of Winchcombe." From this we might suppose that a tradition
of her burial existed here long before the fact was discovered by Mr.
Huggett, or search had been made by antiquaries.
In 18 1 7, the frequent violations of Queen Katherine Parr's tomb
were terminated by the then worthy Rector of Sudeley, the Rev.
John Lates, taking upon himself to remove the coffin into the
stone vault of the Chandoses, there at last to find a shelter from the
eye of the inquisitive and the vulgar. This was effected in company
with Mr. Browne (the Winchcombe antiquary, so often quoted), who,
in a very interesting letter, described how —
" Mr. Lates judged it expedient to repair the chapel. In effecting this, the pews
were removed, and the Chandos vault became easily accessible. Desirous of ascertaining
what it contained, Mr. Lates ordered the ponderous stones which closed the entrance
to be removed. It contained only one lead coffin, which from the inscription inclosed
the remains of George, the sixth Lord Chandos — and a few fragments of a wooden
coffin, with a skull and a few bones strewed on the floor, and the mutilated trunks of
two marble effigies, with the remains of some richly wrought marble cornice, piled in
a disordered heap in one corner of the vault. On our return homewards, I was
speaking of the Queen, and Mr. Lates told me that he had been entertaining a thought
of causing search to be made for her remains in the unroofed chapel, and of removing
them into the Chandos vault, as being a place where they would be much less subject
to future, disturbance.
" Delighted at his proposal, I spurred him to the undertaking ; and accordingly on
the morrow morning (18 July, 1817) after considerable search, and aided by the re
collection of Mrs. Cox, the coffin was found bottom upwards in a walled grave, where
it had been deposited by the order of Mr. Lucas. It was then removed to the Chandos
vault, and after being cleaned we anxiously looked for the inscription. To our great
disappointment none however could be discovered, and we proceeded to examine
the body ; but the coffin having been so frequently opened, we found nothing but the
bare skeleton, except a few small pieces of sere cloth, which were still under the

320 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxv.
skull, and a dark-coloured mass, which proved to contain, when washed, a small
quantity of hair, which exactly corresponded with some I already had. The roots
of the ivy, which you may remember grew in such profusion on the walls of the
chapel, had penetrated into the coffin, and completely filled the greater part of it.
" I then suggested to Mr. Lates, that as the inscription could not be found,
for the benefit of future antiquarians, it would be well before the vault should be again
closed, to engrave upon it another inscription from that given by Dr. Nash. Mr. Lates
then entrusted the work to me, and placed in my hands the piece of lead which had
covered the breast. As it was of a very uneven surface, I was about to hammer it
even, to facilitate the engraving, when, to my great delight and surprise, I discovered
the words ' Thomas Lord ' and ' Sewdley,' with some others, which left no doubt
that we had discovered the original inscription, and which, in the course of a few
hours' cleaning, was so free from all incrustation, that the inscription was perfectly
visible — from it I took a number of impressions in soft blue paper,* one of which I
have now the pleasure of begging you to accept. By it, the inaccuracy of the one
given by Dr. Nash will be self-evident.
" We then had the different pieces of lead, which from time to time had been
cut from the coffin, firmly nailed together, so as to present the original form of the
coffin, and it was placed on two large flat stones by the side of that of Lord Chandos.
Dr. Nash said, ' the Queen must have been low of stature, as the lead which enclosed
her corpse was but five feet four inches in length.' I measured the coffin accurately,
and found the dimensions as follows : —
"Length, 5 ft. 10 in. Width in the broadest part, 1 ft. 4 in. Depth at the head,
and ditto in the middle, 5-J in.
" The coffin which contains the remains of George, Lord Chandos, is immensely
large, and the lid not being fixed down, we examined it, but found it to contain
nothing more than the skull and a few bones. The bones we found on the floor, we
conjectured were those of his body, and therefore replaced them in his coffin. I fear
this long detail will tire even your antiquarian patience, &c, &c, and I hasten to
subscribe myself, " My dear friend, " Yours ever,
" E. T. Browne.'' t
There is a tradition of an ivy berry having fallen into the coffin on
one occasion when it was opened, and of its having been discovered
to have woven itself into a green sepulchral coronet round the dead
Queen's brow. The following lines, by Miss Clara Payne, dedicated to
our friend, the late Miss Agnes Strickland, touchingly tell the tale : —

* One of these is framed, and hangs in the Queen's room at Sudeley.
t This letter was written to Mr. Hogg, then residing in London, and whose nephew, Mr. Hogg, is now
residing with his father-in-law, Mr. Daintry, of North Rode, Cheshire. They have in their possession a
piece of the Queen's coffin and a lock of her hair.

Copy of an Impression from Queen Katherine Parrs Coffin, taken by E. F. Brown, Esq.

chap, xxv.] QUEEN KATHERINE'S REMAINS. 32 1
THE IVY WREATH OF QUEEN KATHERINE PARR.
" lis rappellent i'immnrtalite sur l'autel meme de la mort. "
In Sudeley's ruin'd chapel, lo ! 'twas there !
Royal Katherine's neglected tomb they found,
More than two centuries had pass'd while here
Reposed her corpse within the hallow'd ground.
Yet time had not her lineaments effaced,
She seem'd as slumb'ring in Death's tranquil sleep —
For perfect might her features then be traced,
So well in death, their form of life they keep.
What though no queenly crown adorn'd her brow,
" Nature " a verdant chaplet round it spread,
A living wreath of ivy bloom'd there now —
With solemn majesty it crown'd the dead.
The ivy faithful to the ruin clings —
And o'er some scene uncared for and forgot,
A beauteous mantle gracefully it flings,
To deck in grandeur the forsaken spot.
So in the grave this " ivy wreath " we find —
Whence all else living had for ages fled —
A green sepulchral coronal enshrined,
Around the temples of the honour'd dead.
But now the time was coming when this monument of historic interest
was to emerge from its long sleep. In 1830 the bulk of the Sudeley
estates became the property of John and William Dent, to whom it was
sold by private contract by Lord Rivers, and finally they purchased
the Castle and remaining sixty acres from the Duke of Buckingham in
1837. With their great taste for archaeology, it soon became manifest
that a restoration of Church and Castle was not improbable. This
expectation was rendered into verse by one to whom we might justly
give the title of "the Winchcombe Muse" (Miss A. M. Wood, of
Winchcombe) ; for, like her cousin, Mr. Edmund T. Browne, with
whom she resided, her love of antiquity centred in Sudeley ; and while
he cherished in his heart all the sterner records of its history, her
enthusiasm broke forth into song, and on this occasion with rejoicing.

322 ANNALS OF WINCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxv.

IX ANTICIPATION OF THE RESTORATION OF SUDELEY CHAPEL.
Ages had pass'd since yonder beauteous ruin
Had roofless stood, and many a passer-by
Had paused, its mournful desolation viewing,
And o'er its fate had heav'd a pensive sigh.
Ages had pass'd since there the matin-bell
Had summon'd worshippers to early prayer ;
Or vesper sound had echoed in the dell,
Or masses for the dead been offer'd there.
But, ah ! let not imagination, straying
O'er bygone scenes, departed days deplore,
When Popery, its pageantry displaying,
There taught the dogmas of its erring lore.
Rather let Faith, futurity revealing,
Behold yon pile restored for purpose holy,
While Fancy hears the solemn organ pealing
Its Hallelujahs to the God of Glory.
Yes, from Time's shadowy cloud a ray is shedding
Its light prophetic on yon hallow'd pile ;
And future worshippers may yet be treading
Its sacred courts, 'neath Heaven's approving smile.
And so it came to pass that in 1840 a considerable portion of the
Castle again became habitable ; and the Chapel, under the skilful direc
tion of Sir Gilbert Scott, changed her sombre hues and mossy floor to
restored walls and polished marbles, the carved roof and painted
windows shut out heaven's rain and sunshine, creeping flowers and all
the swallows that for so many summers had nestled among the ruins.
Finally, on August 2nd, 1863, the little temple, so cruelly desecrated
by the Puritans, was, by our good and beloved Bishop Ellicott, re-
dedicated to Divine worship according to the rites of our English
Church. To a friend and neighbour we are indebted for the following poetical
description of what may be considered the centre of interest in the
Chapel, the restored tomb of England's first Protestant queen.

From a Drawing by J. D. Wyatt.

J. Rushton.

%omb of (fyuzzn futthmn* $nxx.

323

ON THE ALTAR TOMB,

ERECTED over the

REMAINS OF QUEEN CATHERINE PARR,
IN THE CHAPEL AT SUDELEY CASTLE.

I know not how it fared, sweet Queen,
With thee, in days that saw thee pass,
Unscathed, as from a sea of glass,
To these calm shades and bowers of green.
Mayhap, thy spirit found deep rest,
No longer chafed by Monarch's frown,
Or empty bauble of a crown,
In this fair palace of the West ;
Where thou didst reign, with gentle sway,
Among thy happy sisterhood ;
Communing with the wise and good —
Meek Coverdale, and . "-iffy Grey.
Now thrice a hundred ^nxs rave fled,
Like summer shadows o'er tne land,
And lightly touched with crumoling hand
The holy walls that hold thee dead.
And they who move where thou art laid,
Have decked thy shrine with pious care,
And bid thy own loved House of Prayer
Enwrap thee in its holy shade.
So rest thee evermore, fair Queen !
Heaven's light, in glory or in gloom,
Falling upon thy sculptured tomb,
Through blazon'd pane, and carven screen.
So rest thee, till the holier light
Of earth's great Easter Morning break,
And all the dead in Christ awake
In garments pure of stain, and white.
F. R. TRAILL, Vicar of Stanway.
T T 2

324 ANNALS OF WLNCHCOMBE AND SUDELEY. [chap. xxv.
But here these Annals close, for to the past they belong rather than
to the present ; and here I end my pleasant task (would that it had
been done by abler hands !) ; for very pleasant it has been to .gather
up the records of the past, and to retrace Winchcombe and Sudeley's
many historic paths, so" often trodden with equal pleasure by those who
have gone before. Equal, did I say ? Nay, that can never be ! for
who among them all have had the pleasure and the privilege of building
up the waste places, and seeing life and beauty creep like sunshine once
more over her crumbling and fallen walls ?
In the words of our Sudeley poet I take my leave : —
Chandos, wh' adorn'd the princely chamber, where
So many friends and tenants welcom'd were,
Caused the artificer on the wall to write
This sentence, and exposed to all men's sight.
So when our works are brought to end, must we
All sing aloud, f2on nobis Homtiu !

Maces belonging to the Borough of Winchcombe.

INDEX.

A.
Abbey property after the Dissolution.
Abbey refectory, the
Abbot's House, Winchcombe .
Abbots of Winchcombe, list of . .
Abingdon, King Kenulf a benefactor to
Abingdon, Chronicle of, associates
Dumbleton with Winchcombe
Abridges, Sir John
Act of Uniformity, temp. Elizabeth
" Adulterine Castles "
Agelwy, abbot of Evesham .
Albans, St., abbey founded
battle of
Alderton . . . .
Alexander III., pope .
his bull in favour of Winchcombe
Abbey ....
Alfgar, Earl, enters Hereford
Alien cells, suppression of
Almonry, the Winchcombe .
Alnwick Castle, Starchamber papers
at .
Aired, bishop of Worcester
Ancelme (or Mounslow), Richard, last

PAGE 142
113
149 3533 75
214216 77 7i
2 1
121
293 86

63
100 ¦97
247 64

abbot of Winchcombe
surrenders his abbey
his seal
his pension
Angel, a gold coin, its value
Angles, the .
Annals of Tewkesbury
Annals of Worcester

36> Ho
141141
142, 144
¦ 247
• 15
¦ 97
. 98

Anselm, canons of, rule concerning
fountains . . 54
Ascham, Roger, a friend of Queen
Katherine Parr . . . 203
Ashley, Mrs., governess of the Princess
Elizabeth . 162, 164, 185, 188
Askaperius, the murderer of St. Kenelm 5 2
Astle [Astley], Sir Jacob, a prisoner
at Stow . . . . . . 276
Athelhard, archbishop of Canterbury . 23
Athelstan, bishop of Hereford . . 63
Attwood, tenant of Sudeley Castle . 318
Atwood, Sir John . . . 114
Augustine, St. . 30
Auldborn Chase . . . 266
Aulus Plautius ... 18
Avery, parson of Dene .

B.

52

Baal ..... 4
Bacon, Robert, persecuted at Glou
cester . . . . . 272
preaches in Sudeley Chapel . 273
Bailiff, origin of the word ... 63
Ballard, antiquary of Campden . 316
Barksdale, Clement . . . 293
presented to Sudeley . 294, 300
his epitaph .... 294
"the Disputation atWinchcombe" 294
Epistle to his congregation at
Sudeley . . . .296
at Rowell ..... 298
Barnet field, battle of . . 131

326

INDEX.

on

de

Beauchamp, Alice, wife of Thomas
Boteler
Beauchamp, Emma, wife of Ralph de
Sudeley ....
buried at Winchcombe
Beaumont, Sir John, his lines
Grey, Lord Chandos
Becket, St. Thomas, and Wm.
Tracy .....
Bedford, Francis Russell, earl of
Bedford, Katherine, countess of
Bedingfield, Sir Henry
Bedstead, the Cumnor .
Belas Knap Barrow
Benedict, St., order of, introduced
into Winchcombe
Bentley's " Monument of Matrones '
Bernred, king of Mercia .
Beryl, windows glazed with .
¦Bishop's Cleeve, Dr. Parkhurst rector
of 
bells of
Blaby, Anne, gives money for the
Winchcombe poor .
Blackheath, battle of
Blake, Valentine, a Winchcombe
schoolmaster .
Bockett, Mrs. Julia R.
Boniface of Savoy
Boniface VIII., pope
Boniface IX., pope
Borlase, W. C, Esq., of Laregan . .
Borwenilda, the sister of Kenelm
Bosworth field ....
Botelers, their origin . . .
owners of Sudeley
buried at Winchcombe . .
prayed for in the monastery of
Kenilworth
Boteler, Sir Thomas
his arms at Henley in Arden, &c.
in Winchcombe church .
Boteler, Sir John, confirms the
Sudeley estates to his mother

Boteler, Sir Ralph, in the French
55 wars 
rebuilds Sudeley Castle and
8 1 builds Sudeley Chapel .
87 takes an active part in the Wars
of the Roses . . . .
252 resigns Sudeley
in him the male line becomes
84 extinct .....
241 Bouillon, Godfrey de
241 Bourchier, Ann, 1st wife of the mar-
211 quis of Northampton
274 Bourchier, Cardinal .
4 Bradeley, William, abbot of Winch
combe .... 36, 119, 120
267 Branketre, Master John, a royal
176 chaplain . . . . .109
19 Braydon, inclosure of part of the
119 Forest of . . . . 254, 282
Bristow, William, abbot of Tewkesbury
173 Britannia Secunda . . . .
309 " British Ancestors, Our " .
British road . . ...
304 Brock, Mr. Loftus, his paper on Hailes
132 on Winchcombe
Brockhampton park visited by
302 George III. . . . .
315 Brocklehurst, Marianne, drawings by
98 Bronze implements found on Cleeve Hill
103 Browne, E. T., Esq., his endeavour
114 to save the Abbot's House, Winch-
265 combe ... . .
38 present at excavations on the
130 Abbey site ....
108 Brydges, Sir John, of Coberley,
109 Lieutenant of the Tower
133 his pedigree . . . . .
present at Bishop Hooper's mar-
134 I tyrdom .....
115 j his services .....
115 I attends Lady Jane Grey to the
120 scaffold ....
created Lord Chandos of Sudeley
115 See Chandos of Sudeley.

116

121
124127 68
170
133

122 13 4
12
So
149
3r7 274 9

149 15°
200208205209210 1 12

INDEX.

327

Brydges, Thomas, deputy-lieutenant
of the Tower . . . 200, 210
Brydges, Sir Giles, his alleged mar
riage  247
"Brydges, Jane," an impostor . 247, 248
Brydges, Captain, in charge of
Sudeley Castle  258
Brydges, Sir Samuel Egerton . . 287
Brydges, Rev. Edward Tymewell . 287
Buckingham, the Duke of, purchases
Sudeley . . . . .318
his Duchess contemplates its re
storation . . . . 318
Bulwer's story of " Harold '' . . 62
Bushell, Thomas, his complaint against
Giles, Lord Chandos . . . 245
Butler, Lady Eleanor, wife of Edw. IV. 128
Buttery Hatch, at Sudeley . -313
Buttone, William de, bishop of Bath
and Wells . . . . . 99
C.
Oesar, Julius . . . 2, 10
Caesar, Sir Julius . . 245
Campden, Lord, his quarrel with
George, Lord Chandos . -283
Castellans, their power curbed . 97
Castle, Mr. Richard, presents clock
from Hailes . . .162
Castlehaven, Earl of . . . 254
Cavaliers suffer themselves to be sur
prised at Cirencester . .266
Ceolwulf, king of Mercia 5 5
Chandos almshouses and bell . . 222
mantelpiece . . . . . 218
MSS. at Thirlestaine House . 314
vault in Sudeley Chapel . . 319
window . . . .219
" Chandos, the Great Duke of " . . 287
Chandos, Lady Elizabeth . . 313
Chandos, Sir John . ..112
another . . 208
Chandos, Roger, Lord . 112
Chandos Street, Covent Garden 286

page 209

213
211 212
212213215 216 217
217
217, 223

219 223

Chandos of Sudeley Pedigree
Chandos of Sudeley : —
portraits ....
John Brydges, 1st Lord
buried at Sudeley
his wife Elizabeth .
her letter to Sir W. Cecil .
Edmund, 2nd Lord .
his services and honours .
buried at Sudeley
his will ....
his wife, Lady Dorothy .
her benefactions to Winchcombe 239,
241, 243, 248
his daughter, maid of honour to
Queen Elizabeth .
Giles, 3rd Lord . . . .
entertains Queen Elizabeth three
times 
" complaints " against him . .
appointed to model a standing
militia .
portrait of his wife, Lady Frances
he and Lady Frances receive
Queen Elizabeth . . .
Lady Frances founds a school
in Winchcombe
William, 4th Lord, succeeds his
brother Giles . . ...
charges against his men
disputes with his widowed sister-
in-law about Sudeley
his services
marries Mary, daughter of Sir
Owen Hopton
their daughters .
accusation against their daughter
Frances, countess of Exeter
her innocence proved
their grandson, Sir William, mar
ries Marial, daughter of Lord
Tracy
Grey, 5th Lord, made a Knight
of the Bath . . 249

224224225227
229
302 245
245245
246
246248 248
249

249

128

INDEX.

Chandos of Sudeley — continued:
author of " Horae Subsecivse " . 250
termed "King of the Cotswolds" 251
marries Anne, daughter of the
Earl of Derby . . .252
his death — buried at Sudeley 252
lines on his death . . . 252
George, 6th Lord . . .252
whilst a minor, prosecutes "Dame
Jane Brydges" . . 247,254
espouses the Royal cause . 255
mentioned in " Mercurius Aulicus " 257
his Castle plundered . . . 260
letter to, from Sir Wm. Morton . 261
gives a welcome to Charles I. . 263
declines being created Earl of
Newbury . . 267
his defection . . 273
his character given by Clarendon 278
takes the "National Covenant" 279
and the Negative oath . .280
the Particular of his estates . 280
his appeal to the sequestrators 282
residence at Rowell . . .298
his Castle " slighted " . . . 285
obtains a pass to go beyond sea. 285
returns, loses his wife, fights a
duel, is imprisoned . 286
marries Jane, daughter of John
Savage, Earl Rivers . . . 286
his death — burial at Sudeley . 286
his widow marries into the Pitt
family . . . 288
William, 7th Lord, succeeds his
brother . . .287
his death — the title goes to a
distant cousin . . 287
Charles I. at Sudeley . . 263, 274
his miniature . . . 263
his letter to the Cornish men 264
the same in Cornish . . 265
escapes to Evesham . . .267
his bedstead . . . . . 274
his death . . . . -277

Charlton, Dr. E., his description of a
book belonging to Queen Kathe
rine Parr . . . . . . 182
Charlton Abbots, leper-house at, 29, 35, 82
Cheba, Master John de . . -99
Cheltenham, John, abbot of Winch
combe . . . . 36
Child's Wickham, stone from . . 9
register with entry of defeat of
the Royalists . . . .276
Cirencester taken by the Cavaliers . 260
retaken by the Roundheads . 266
Cleeve Hill ..... 9
Clent Church, its restoration . . 45
Cliff Hoo, Council of . . • • 33
" Collection of Ceremonials," by
Ralph Brooke . . . .174
Compere, Thomas, gives money to the
Winchcombe poor . . . 304
Compton, Col. Henry, killed in a
duel by George, Lord Chandos . 286
Compton, Wm., constable of Sudeley 136
Conant, Dr. John, chaplain to Lord
Chandos ..... 284
Constable, Sir AVilliam, the Parlia
mentary Governor of Sudeley . 285
Contest between civil power and the
Church .... . . 138
Cope, Rev. Sir W., has a MS. from
Winchcombe Abbey . . . 146
Corbet, Ismenia, daughter of Roger . 95
Corbet's " Military Government of
Gloucester" . . 258, 268, 269
Corndean, Winchcombe . . . 308
Cornwall, Edmund, earl of, buried at
Hailes . . . ; . . 102
Cornwall, King Charles' letter to the
people of  264
in Cornish ..... 265
Cotswold Muse, the . . 293, 300
Courtenay, Edward, earl of Devon . 210
Coverdale, Miles, the Reformer, 197, 203
Cowbacke, the valley of . . .41
Cox, tenant of Sudeley Castle . . 317

INDEX.

PAGE 6
3i8 107 17
124226
306 36
268 82 7i
29 2

" Crania Britannica "...
Craven, Fulwar, Esq., his recollections
of George III. . . . .
Crecy, battle of ...
Crida, founder of the Mercian King
dom . . . . . .
Cripps, Wilfrid, Esq., abstracts of
records by .
his "Royal North Gloucestershire
Militia"
on the Winchcombe Church Plate
Crispin, abbot of Winchcombe
Cropredy, battle of .
Crusades, the ....
Curfew Bell, the
Cuthbert, Archbishop .
Cymri, the, descended from Gomer
D.
" Dead Man's Gate," on the Foss
Road . . . . . .12
Deincourt, Alice, wife of Thomas
Boteler  55
Delavale, Thomas, employed to hinder
the cultivation of tobacco . . 304
Dent, John and Wm., purchase the
Sudeley Estate . . . -321
Derby, Alice, dowager countess of, 254, 286
" Devotional Tracts," a volume belong
ing to Queen Katherine Parr . 182
Dining-table of the Saxon Kings . . 17
" Disputation at Winchcombe," .' 294
Disputes between abbot and vicar of
Winchcombe . . 105, no, 114
between Honeybourne and
Winchcombe . . .122
Dixton, the Squire of . . -297
Dobuni, inhabitants of the Cotswolds 16
Domesday, explanation of various
terms therein . . . .69
Dominic, prior of Evesham . . . 74
Dorset, Henry Grey, marquis of, at
Sudeley  187
Dover's Games . . . . . 258

Druids, their customs and religion . 3, 10
Ducking Stool, origin of Duck
Street . . . . . . 143
Dugdale, Sir W., list of the Abbots of
Winchcombe . • • 35
his account of the Botelers . . 108
note on the Register of Winch
combe ..... 146
Dumbleton finds lodgings for the
Abbey chamberlain of Abingdon . 7 5
Dungeon Tower, Sudeley . . . 312
Dunn's Hill, near Sudeley . . . 268
Dunstan, the primate . . -57
Dutton, Sir John, MSS. formerly in
the possession of . . . . 143
E.
Eadburga, daughter of Offa . . 20
Eades, George, Esq. . . . . 123
Eadwine (or Godwine), abbot of
Winchcombe . . . -35
Eanbald, archbishop of York . . 23
Ecgfrith (or Egbert), successor of Offa 20, 22
Edgar, King, appoints Oswald to re
store the churches . . • • 57
Edonia, wife of Peter of Cutsdean . in
Edward the Confessor, uncle to the
first Lord of Sudeley . . .61
his seal  64
his sister Goda . . . 58, 61, 65
Edward I., time of . . 81 — 102
Edward II., time of . 103 — 106
Edward III., time of . . 107 — 113
Edward IV., time of . . 124 — 127
Edward V., time of . . . . 127
Edward VI., time of 162, 186, 188, 197
Egbert, said to be buried in Winch
combe . . . • . . 56
Eldersfield Manor .... 238
Elizabeth, Princess, rejects Sey
mour's offer of marriage . . 163
resides with Queen Katherine Parr 164
importuned by Seymour to a
clandestine marriage . 183

00

O

INDEX.

Elizabeth, Princess — continued :
arrested, with Mrs. Ashley, her
governess, and others . 188
denies the accusations . .189
is sent to the Tower . . . 211
removed to Woodstock . . 211
Elizabeth, Queen, her first visit to
Sudeley . . . . . 223
her second visit to Sudeley 224
description of her third visit 226 — 238
her portrait, from the Bernal Col
lection . . 229
picture of Henry VIII. and his
Family, presented by her to
Walsingham . . . 231
table used by her at Sudeley . 232
her charter to Winchcombe . 301
Elizabeth of York related to the Lord
of Sudeley . . . 132
Ellacombe, Rev. H. T., on ancient
bells ..... 309
Ellandune, battle of, gained by Egbert 5 5
Ellenborough, Lord, architectural sug
gestion by . . .166
Ellicott, Charles J., bishop of Glouces
ter, re-dedicates Sudeley Chapel . 322
Elmley Castle . . . 81, 224
Ely, Thomas Thirlby, bishop of . 191
Engagement, the, of 1659 . . 288
Enstone, possessions of Winchcombe
Abbey in ... . 105, 106
Erasmus' Paraphrase translated by the
Princess Mary . . . 159, 178
Erdbury Priory founded ... 80
Esseburne Brooke (the Isbourne) . 136
Essex, earl of, the Parliamentarian, in
the vale of Evesham . 266
Ethelbert murdered by Offa . . 20
Ethelred, King, owns Sudeley . . 58
grants it to Goda, his daughter 58
escapes to Normandy . . 59
Eugenius, Pope, settles a quarrel
between Honeybourne and Winch
combe . . . . . . 122

Eustace de Boulogne . . .61
his first wife, " Goda comitissa " 61, 67
his second wife, Ida . .68
at the battle of Hastings . . 67
Evesham, Mr. Batt's paper on . . 149
battle of . . • .103
Ewyas Harold enriched by Harold de
Sudeley  72, 73
Ewyas, Robert of, ancestor of the
Brydges . . • -73
Exeter, Miles Coverdale, bishop of . 204
Frances, countess of, charge
made against . .248
her portrait by Vandyke . .249

Fairs at Sudeley . . 96
in Winchcombe . . 114, 128, 301
Farm rents ..... 84
" Father Nicholas of St. Katherine's" 213
Fell, Dr. Sam., in possession of the
Register of Winchcombe . 146
Finch, Lord Chief Justice . .248
Fisher, bishop of Rochester . . . 1 40
Fitz-Osborne, favourite of William the
Conqueror .... 66, 68, 69
Fitz-Scrob, a retainer of Ralph de
Sudeley . . . . 62
Flint implements found on Sudeley . 5
Flodden field . . . . 155
Foss Road, the, passes through Sudeley 1 2
Fox's " Book of Martyrs " . . . 205
Fryer, Mr. R. H, paper on the
Gloucester Archives . 225
Fust family, staunch Cavaliers . . 266
needlework at Sudeley, executed
by the ladies . . . .266

Galandus, abbot of Winchcombe . 35, 71
Garter, Order of the, bestowed on six
owners of Sudeley Castle . . 112
Gascoigne, George, in praise of the
Fair Bridges . . . 220

INDEX.

S31

PAGE
Gates, Timothy, a clergyman . . 247
George Inn, Winchcombe, witnesses
sworn at, to having " slighted "
Sudeley  288
George III. visits Sudeley . .317
and Brockhampton . . . 318
Germanus, abbot of Winchcombe . 35, 57
Gervase, abbot of Winchcombe . 35
Gibson, Sa., "Minister at Magret's,
Westminster" . . . . 279
Gist, Mr., of Wormington Grange . 150
Gloucester Archives, Paper on the . 225
Gloucester Hall, Oxford . . 137
Gloucester, Richard, duke of, has a
grant of Sudeley Castle . . . 126
Gloucester, Charles J. Ellicott, bishop
of . . . . . .322
John Hooper, bishop of . 204, 205
Goda, the Countess, possesses Sudeley 58
her two marriages . . .61
her possessions . . 65
Godefrid(or Godfrey), abbot of Winch
combe . . 35, 74
Godric, abbot of Winchcombe . 35,64
Godwin, Earl, tried in the Witenage
mot . . 62
Godwine (or Eadwine), abbot of Winch
combe .... -35
Golden Legend, the 1, 37, 44
Goldsmiths' Hall Committee, the . 280
its dealings with Lord Chandos 282,
283, 284
Gorges, Sir Arthur . . 240
Gorges, Sir Thomas . . . 199
Greet and Gretton, grant of Court-
leet in . . . . .81
lands held in trust in 106
in the manor of Sudeley . 142
Gretton bell inscription . . 309
Grey, " Dame Elizabeth," wife of Ed
ward IV. . 128
Grey, Lady Jane, at Sudeley, 186, 201, 202
entrusted to the care of Seymour 186
imprisoned . . . . . 200

Grey, Lady Jane — continued:
portrait . . . . .201
her execution . . ..210
Grey, Lord  278
Griffith, prince of Wales . . . 63
Grosteste, Bishop .... 99
Guiting, lands held by the Knights
Templars in . . 81, 104
Guy, abbot of Pershore . 74
Gwavas, Mr., a Cornish scholar 265
Gwernewett, King Charles sheltered at 308
Gymund, abbot of Winchcombe . 35
Gyves, Robert, gives Hawling to
Winchcombe Abbey . . .100

H.

80

Hailes, a church built in
Hailes Abbey, foundation of . 98
paper on, by Mr. Loftus Brock 80
Hancock, Thomas . . . 247
Hanwell . . . .92
Harefield, George Lord Chandos re
tires to 284
Lady Chandos buried at . 286
sold to the Newdegates 288
Harold, King, erroneous statement
relating to . . . -67
Harold, Lord of Sudeley . . 63
his lands . . .69
his grants to religious houses 72, 73
Harrington, Sir John, a friend of Lord
Seymour . . 193
his lines on his fall . . 193
Hartley, Rev. J., of Child's Wickham 9, 276
Hartley, Mr., of Chipping Sodbury . 156
Harvey, George and John, give lands
and money for the Winchcombe
poor ... . . 304
Hastings, battle of .67
Hawkens, James, Esq., of Great Wash-
bourne . • • 308
Hawling destroyed by the rebels . 275
Hearn, John, rector of Sudeley. 300

33-

INDEX.

PAGE
Helme, Carshew . . 224, 306, 307
Heneage, Sir Thomas, his letter from
the Court at Sudeley . . . 238
Henry, abbot of Winchcombe . 35, 86
Henry I., visions of . . . -75
Henry II., time of 80 — 85
Henry III., time of . . . 95 — 102
Henry IV, time of . . . . 115
Henry V, time of . . . 115
Henry VI., time of . . . nj
Henry, earl of Richmond . . .129
becomes King Henry VII. . . 131
his portrait by Mabuse . . 133
Henry VIII, time of . . 135 — 160
portraits of . . 140, 158, 231
carved by Holbein . 140, 158
Hereford, battle near . . -63
Hereford, earldom of, given to William
Fitz Osborne . . . . 61
Higford, John, of Dixton, Esq. 226, 228
" Institutions, or Advice to his
Grandson" . . . . 297
employed by Lord Chandos in
the management of his estate . 298
Higginson, Thomas . . . .280
Hill Court, Gloucestershire . . . 266
Hogarth's Paintings .... 289
Hogg, Mr., of North Rode, in posses
sion of relics of Queen Katherine
Parr . . . . . 320
H olbein's carvings in stone and box
wood .... 140, 158
miniatures . . . .181
portraits, copied by Vertue . . 191
Hone, Archdeacon, his sermon on re
opening of Clent church . . 52
Hooke, Sir Humphrey, high sheriff of
Gloucestershire . . . 303
" Huddlestone's Table " . . . 32
Huggett, Rev. R., letters from, to
George Pitt, Esq. . . . 314
Humblebee Wood . . . 8, 219
Hume's description of the feudal
Baron ...... 93

Hurst, Henry, rector of Sudeley . . 300
Huyck, Dr. Robert, attends Katherine
Parr on her death-bed . . • I73
I.
Idebury, Richard de, abbot of Winch
combe  36> 106
Ignitege bell of Winchcombe . .114
Ingram's House, Gloucester. . . 206
Innocent III., Pope, the interdict of. 94
Ippewell, Robert de, abbot of Winch
combe  36, 113
Ismenia, daughter of Roger Corbet . 95
Ivy Castle, Winchcombe . . . 92

J-
Jack of Winchcombe (John Small
wood) ....
marries his masters widow .
his second marriage .
entertains Henry VIII. .
his descendants .
James I., time of. . . . 249, 253
presents to the living of Sudeley 300
his hatred of tobacco
James, John, rector of Sudeley
Jasper, duke of Bedford .
has grant of Sudeley Castle
his services and death .
his wife, Catherine Woodville
Jenner, Henry, Esq. .
John, King, time of

K.

152
153154155
156

3°3
300

129, 130 I3I

132
264 92

Keigwin, Mr., his Cornish translation
of King Charles' letter . . . 265
letter to Mr. Gwavas . . . 265
Kempson, Rev. Howard . . . 45
Kenelm, King of Mercia . . -37
his life and death, from the
" Golden Legend " . . . 44
his Church and Well on Clent
Hill  45
his furrow . . . -47

INDEX.

"> t n
oo5

Kenelm, King of Mercia — continued :
his sisters Borwenilda and Quen-
rida ... 23, 38, 47
his tutor, Askobert . . 52
his Palace, remains of . . . 151
Kenelm's Well water, analysis of . 54
Kennedy, Lady Elizabeth . . . 239
Sir John ..... 239
Kennett, Bishop, his " Parochial An
tiquities '' quoted . . . -137
Kent, Henry Grey, earl of . . . 280
Kent, Sam., Esq., portrait of Kathe
rine Parr, the gift of . . . 180
Kenulf, King of Mercia . . .23
restores the see of Canterbury to
its former pre-eminence . . 24
takes Eadbert, King of Kent,
prisoner .... 24
sets him free . . . . 28
founds Winchcombe Abbey . 27
grants a charter to Abingdon . 28
parts with his guests at "Huddle-
stone's Table" . . .31
is buried in Winchcombe . . 33
his coffin discovered . . -150
Kineton, Charles I. at . . . . 274
King, William, employed to hinder
the cultivation of tobacco . . . 303
Knights Templars . . 81, 104
Kyderminster, Richard, abbot, 36, 137 — 145
his letter to Cardinal Wolsey . 139
his History of Winchcombe Abbey 144
L.
Laci, Gilbert de, gives burgages in
Winchcombe to the Knights Tem
plars ...... 81
Lake family, their false charge against
Frances, countess of Exeter . .248
their punishment . . . . 249
Lampreys, a favourite dish with the
monks ...... 140
Langley, position of the Communion
Table at  305

Lapworth, Mr. Charles, Master of the
Chandos School .... 302
Lates, Rev. John, removes Queen
Katherine Parr's coffin into the
Chandos vault . . . .319
Latimer, one of the Reformers . -203
attends Seymour in prison . . 191
preaches on his death . . 192
his martyrdom . . .206
Laws for branding vagabonds . . 147
Lees, Mrs., her recollections . . 150
Legend, the Golden . . . 1, 37, 44
of St. Kenelm . . . -37
of King Kenulph's daughter . . 47
of the Monk's Hole . . .104
of Ralph de Sudeley . . . 88
Leland, quoted . 124, 151, 158, 166, 301
Leo VII., Pope .... 66
Leofric, earl of Mercia, averts war . 6 1
Lepers' House at Charlton Abbots 62, 88
Lichfield raised for a time to an arch
bishopric . . . 19
" Life of Katharine Parr,'' by Miss
Strickland . . . . .180
Litton, Rev. E. A., rector of Naunton 293
Livingus, abbot of Winchcombe . 35
Lubbock, Sir John, quoted . . 8
Lucas, Mr. , letter from, to Lord Rivers 315
his proceedings at Sudeley . 316
Lunell, W. P., had a lock of Queen
Katherine Parr's hair . .181
Lupus, first Earl of Chester . . . 72
Luxuries curtailed by law . . 112
M.
Mabuse, paintings by . . . . 133
Macaulay's opinion of the Gloucester
shire gentry . . . . -293
Mallet, Dr., one of the Reformers . 203
Manchester, Henry, earl of . . 254
Mantes, Walter of . . . 58, 61
MS., copy of an old, found at Sudeley
Castle  319
March, the, or Boundary . . . 16

00^

INDEX.

Marriage of Henry VII. to Elizabeth
of York 
Marvel, Andrew, his " King's Me
moirs " quoted ... . .
Mary, Princess, translates Erasmus's
Paraphrase . . 159,
offended with her step-mother's
hasty marriage . . . .
writes to her, wishing her " a
good success "
report of Seymour aspiring to her
hand
Mary, Queen, disgraces the Marquis
of Northampton ....
willing to pardon Lady Jane
Grey . . . .
letter to Lord Chandos for the
execution of Bishop Hooper
Massey,Colonel Edward, takes Sudeley
Castle ....
his portrait .
letter from
Massey, Captain George, in charge of
Sudeley
Matilda, the Empress
Maurice, Prince, at Sudeley Castle .
Mercia, of which Winchcombe be
comes the capital .
Mercians become Christians
" Mercurius Aulicus "...
" Mercurius Rusticus '
Merscwarum country ravaged by
Kenulf
Miller, Hugh, his remark on St.
Kenelm
Milo, constable of Gloucester, re
pulsed at Sudeley .
Milton, Rev. William .
Mistletoe called All Heale
Monastic pensions, Winchcombe, 142,
Monk's Hole, Legend of the
Montfort, Simon de . . .
Monasteries, suppression of the

132
277178164
170 185

204258272275272 7§
259 15
17
257260 24
47 79
152 3
143. 144104 96
300

PAGE
Monument of Matrones . . . 176
More, Sir A., Henry VIII. and his
Family, by . . . . .231
Moreland, Thomas, rector of Sudeley 300
Mortmain, statute of . . .103
Morton, Sir William . . . .261
in charge of Sudeley . 268
letter from . . . .261
described by Clarendon . 270
is made a Judge . 271
portrait . . 271
Mortuary or Precatory Rolls . 114
Musselborough, battle of . . . 215
Mounslow (or Ancelme), Richard,
last abbot of Winchcombe, 36, 140, 141,
142, 144

N.
Naseby, battle of
Nash, the antiquary, opens Queen
Katherine Parr's tomb
Needlework, the gift of Mrs. Sexty, of
Gretton from Hill Court
Newbury, battle of .
Newman, Dr., of Winchcombe
New Year's gifts, Lord and Lady
Chandos'
Nichols' " Progresses " quoted
Nilsson, Professor, quoted
Norbury, Sir John, heir to Ralph,
Lord Boteler .
Northampton, William Parr, marquis
of visits his sister at Sudeley
receives grant of Sudeley
his services and plots .
disgraced, restored, death
his marriages
Northumberland, John Dudle)
of, his intrigues
executed
" Nugse Antiquae " .
" Nympha Libethris ''

275
316 26626626615°

• 238
232, 250

127
170170196 '97
198
199197
202 191
298

duke

INDEX.

335

o.
Obedientiarii, the, of Winchcombe
monastery . .100
Offa, King of Mercia . . . 1. 19
his son, Ecgfrith (or Egbert) 20, 22
his wife and daughter . . 20
founds St. Alban's abbey . . 21
his liberality to the English school
at Rome . . . .22
his place of burial . . . 22
Order of the Garter conferred on six
owners of Sudeley . . .112
Order of St. Michael, ceremony in
honour of . . . . 216
Ordericus quoted ... 72
Oriel Room, Sudeley, slept in by Queen
Elizabeth . . . . . 229
Ormerod's " History of Cheshire "
quoted. . . . . -72
Osbolston, George, rector of Sudeley,
presented by James I. . 300
Oswald, bishop of Worcester . . 57
Otford, battle of  19
Over Winchendon, position of the
Communion Table in . . 205
Oversley, the Botelers of 108
Owen, T. Bulkeley, Esq. . 271
P.
Paddy, Sir William . 240, 241
Palace of the Mercian Kings . . 20
Palgrave, Sir F., quoted . . 2, 61
Palmer, John, when sick promises
lands to Winchcombe . 104
Palmer, Julins, the martyr . . 157
Parkhurst, Dr. , rector of Bishop's Cleve 206
attends Katherine Parr on her
death-bed . . . 173
writes her epitaph . . 176
made Bishop of Norwich . . 207
Parr, Katherine, her early life and
marriages . . . . . 158
her friendship with her royal
step-children . . 159

Parr, Katherine— continued:
receives Seymour as her suitor
married to him
her establishment at Sudeley
encourages the Reformers
purposes to restore Sudeley to the
King
gives birth to a daughter
her death
her Will ....
character, burial
Monumenther Works .
portraits and relics .
seal and letters
her burial-place not known
her tomb discovered and opened
opened again in 1784
tradition of her effigy . . .

160
163 167
167

169171172
173
174, i75
176
. 178
180, 182
183, 184
3i43i5
316 319

inscription of her coffin discovered 320
" Parrs of Kendal Castle," by Sir G
Duckett . . . .
Payne, Clara, lines on " The Ivy
Wreath
Pembridge, Thomas, rector of Sudeley
Penda, King .....
" Perfect Diurnal," the
Perinchafe, John, rector of Sudeley .
Perrin,  , receives a commission

159
321 300 17
256
300

from George III. .
Phillipps, Sir Thomas, prints an Ab
breviation of the Winchcombe Car
tulary ....
his Chandos MSS. .
on Clement Barkstone's works
Phythian, Dr., of Winchcombe
" Piers Plowman," quoted
Piscina in Winchcombe church
Pitt, George, marries the widow of
George, Lord Chandos .
Pitt, George, his great grandson,
created Lord Rivers of Sudeley
Poole, Sir Henry, of Saperton . .
Poor fed at the Abbey refectory

3X7

So
3J3 297 15° 82
119
288 289249 113

° ^ ft
00u

INDEX.

PAGE 118

Portmare Tower, Sudeley .
Postlip Church . . . . . 79
Potter, Thomas, rector of Sudeley . 300
Power, Thomas, vicar of Winchcombe,
sued by the abbot . . . . no
Prodigies preceding the Great Rebel
lion ..... 256
Proprietors of lands in Sudeley . 313
Public Record Office, transcripts from
the, at Sudeley, 136, 164, 200, 215, 216,
217, 224, 240, 247, 250, 251, 254, 255,
273—288, 303, 304
Pudens, monumental tablet . 18
Q-
Quendrida, wife of Offa . . 20
Quenrida, sister of King Kenelm 38 — 52
Quillinan, Edward, Esq., lines by 311
R.
Radulphus I., abbot of Winchcombe 35
Radulphus II., abbot of Winchcombe 36
Raleigh, Sir W., at Brockhampton . 302
Ralph de Wircestre at Hailes 80
Rectors of Sudeley . . . 300
Register of Winchcombe Abbey burnt 146
Richard, bishop of Worcester . . 115
Richard I., King, wars against the
infidels ... 88
Richard II. confers favours on Winch
combe Abbey . . . . . 113
Richard, duke of Gloucester, has
grant of Sudeley . . . .126
exchanges it for Richmond . . 127
Richard III., Sudeley as crown pro
perty reverts to . . .128
journeys to Gloucester . 129
Rivers, George, Lord, sells Sudeley 318
Rivers, Horace, Lord, papers pre
sented by . . . . 315
Robert I., abbot of Winchcombe, 35, 78, 80
Robert II., abbot of Winchcombe 36
Robert of Ewyas, ancestor of the
Brydges ... -73

the first martyr in
'Henry VIII

204232 15
11 18
13
248
249

273

Rogers, John
Mary's reign
Rogers, W., engraver of
and his Family " .
Roman coins, list of .
Romans, the, in Britain
in Gloucestershire
in Sudeley
Roos, Lady, daughter of Sir T. Lake
brings a false charge against
Frances, countess of Exeter .
Rowell comes into the possession of
Winchcombe Abbey
Manor House purchased by G.
Townsend . . .
occasional residence of Lord and
Lady Chandos
Royalist Composition Papers
transcripts of the Chandos ones
at Sudeley . . 273 — 288
Rupert, Prince, letter from . .257
at Sudeley . . .259
his portrait . .259
on the Cotswolds . . 262
on Broadway Hill . 263
at Stow-in-the-Wold . . .267
at Broadway and Stow . . . 275
" Rupert Drop," the . . .276
Russell, Frances, countess of Bedford 241
S.
Sackvyle, Sir Richard 2 1 3
Salmon, once very plentiful in
Gloucestershire . 83
Saperton .... .249
Saunderson, William . . . 247
Saxons, the . . . 14, 15
Scots and Picts, the . . . 14, 15
Scott, Sir Gilbert . . . . 77, 322
Seymour, Sir Thomas, character of, 160, 193
his projects for marriage . 162
created Lord Seymour of Sudeley 161
has various grants in Glouces
tershire . .161

INDEX.

337

Seymour, Sir Thomas — continued:
married to Queen Katherine Parr 163
his indiscreet conduct to Princess
Elizabeth . . . .164
lines on, by Sir N. Throckmorton 167
his distaste to religious services . 168
his daughter born . . ..171
is congratulated by the Protector 172
his ambitious projects of marriage 185
Lady Jane Grey entrusted to his
care . . . . .185
intrigues at Sudeley . . . 187
committed to the Tower . .188
bill of attainder . . . . 189
his death-warrant signed . . 191
leaves his child to the care of the
Duchess of Suffolk . . 191
his death . . . . . 192
Seymour, Mary, under the care of
the Duchess of Suffolk . . .194
her marriage and descendants . 195
Shaw, Mr., his remarks on Queen
Katherine Parr's portrait . . 182
Sherborne, Lady, information received
from . . . . . . 145
Shireburn, Walter de . . -36
Ship-money, unjust assessment of . 254
Shipton, Samuel, rector of Sudeley . 300
Simeon, bishop of Durham . . 57
Simmons, Mr. Fred., bailiff for the
Sudeley estate . . . . 14, 274
Simon, bishop of Worcester . . 75, 78
Skull from Belas Knap . . . 7
Smallwood, John. Seejach of Winch
combe.
Smirke, Sir E. . . . . 265
Solers, William de, of Postlip . . 79
Somerset, the Protector . 161, 169, 171,
186, 188, 191, 197
Spakeman, Abel . . . .280
Spencer, Lord . . . . . 254
Staite, John and William, tenants of
the Lodge farm . . . .317
Stanhope, Lady Anne . . . . 191

Stanhope, Sir H. Scudamore, Bart.,
his Chandos portraits . . . 213
Stanley Pontlarge . . . 105, 228
Stanley, Dean, on the murderers of
Thomas Becket . . . . 85
Stanton Rectory, part of Queen
Katherine Parr's dowry . . . 162
Stanway, Baldwyn de . . 92
Starchamber, cases in the . 246, 248
Stephen, King, time of . . . 78
Stillington, bishop of Bath and Wells 128
Stocker, Mrs., of Twyning Manor-
house, presents a lock of Queen
Katherine Parr's hair . . .181
Stockport, brawlers and bad brewers,
how punished at . . . . 148
Stone implements .... 8
Stow-in-the-Wold, the Royalists de
feated at  276
Strawberry Hill, Paintings
from : —
Marriage of Henry VII., and Chil
dren of Henry VII. — Mabuse 133
Henry VIII. in stone, also in
boxwood — Holbein . . 140, 158
Henry VIII. and his Family —
Sir A. More
miniatures — Holbein
Streona, Edric 
his character ....
incorporates Winchcombe with
Gloucestershire . . . .
his death .....
Strickland, Miss Agnes, 180, 181, 182, 184,
190, 194, 320
her "Life of Katharine Parr," 150,
et seq.
Sudeley, British and Roman remains
at  2
British road  12
the Foss Road traverses . . 12
Roman villa on Wadfield Farm . 13
Roman coins . . . . 15
Roman remains in Stancomb Wood 1 5

231 181 59
60 60 61

338

INDEX.

Sudeley — continued :
Chapel built on Sudeley Hill . 44
Well . . . • 53
forest of oaks, park, and lake . 58
Manor House . . . -59
grants of fairs . . . 96, 99
Chapel built, Castle restored, 118, 119
granted to Earl Rivers and others, 1 24
granted to Richard, duke of
Gloucester . . . .126
reverts to the Crown . . . 11,2
Castle moat, lakes, barn . .136
Manor granted to Richard Ky
derminster . . 136
Castle goes to ruin, Constables
appointed . . . .158
granted to Sir Thomas Seymour,
and prepared for Queen Kathe
rine Parr . . . . . 164
origin of design of east window
in Chapel . . . .176
the Castle taken, and deserted by
the Roundheads . . . 257
Chapel desecrated . . .260
Castle surrenders to Sir William
Waller  268
the tower struck by a cannon ball 269
Castle betrayed . . . . 270
the Castle " slighted " . . 285
drawings of, at Thirlestaine
House . . ... 318
" Sudeley venison" . . . 299
the Castle and Chapel restored . 322
Sudeley, Lords of : —
Ralph, 1st Lord . . . .61
assembles an army against Alfgar 63
Bulwer's notice of him and Fitz
Osborne in " Harold " . . 66
Harold, 2nd Lord ... 63
connected with Godfrey de
Bouillon .... 68
mentioned in Domesday . 63, 64
his marriage . . . 69, 72
his sons, John and Robert . . 73

Sudeley, Lords of — continued ' :
John de Sutlie, 3rd Lord . . 73
Grace de Tracy, his wife . 7 s
the Castle built . . . -77
Manor House . . • • 77
a royal garrison, plundered . 79
Ralph, 4th Lord . . . . 80
gives Toddington to his brother
William .... 80
marries Emma, daughter of Wil
liam de Beauchamp . . . 81
his brother murders Becket . 84
Otuer, 5th Lord . . . . 87
his mother Emma buried in
Winchcombe Abbey . . 87
his seal . . • • 87
Ralph, 6th Lord . . . -87
goes to the Crusades . . . 88
his Legend . . 88
Ralph, 7th Lord ... 94
joins in the wars of the Barons . 94
his seal . . . • • 95
Sir Bartholomew, 8th Lord . 96
disputes with the Abbot of Hailes 10 1
stands surety for Robert de
Ferrars, earl of Derby . . 102
¦ his wife Joan buried at Erdbury. 102
John, 9th Lord . . -103
his services — marriage . . .'103
holds lands in Greet and Gretton 106
a benefactor to the canons of
Erdbury . . . . 106
John, 10th Lord . . . 107
follows . Edward the Black Prince
to France . . ... 107
Joan his sister becomes his heir . 107
See also Boteler, Brydges, Chan
dos of Sudeley.
Suffield, Walter de, bishop of Norwich, 99
Suffolk, Katherine, dowager duchess
of  163, 19T, 194
her portrait . . . .191
Swarton, Sarah, a false witness 249
Swig, Sir William, taken prisoner . 257

INDEX.

339

Temple Guiting lands held in by the
Templars . . . .81, 104
Tewkesbury, battle of . . '.126
Theologian, wine so called . . . 83
Thomas, abbot of Winchcombe . 36
Thorndale, William, gives money for
the Winchcombe poor . . . 304
Thome, Rev. Henry, vicar of Winch
combe  304
Throckmorton, George, marries
Frances Brydges . . . .213
his false accusation of her . . 213
Throckmorton, Sir Nicholas, lines by 167
Thurman, Edward . . . . 247
Thurstan, archbishop of York . . 73
Tideman. See Winchcombe.
Tobacco, illegal cultivation of . 302, 303
Toddington given by Ralph de Sudeley
to his younger brother William . 80
Tommaso, S., degP Inglesi, Rome . 22
Tournament ground . . . . 77
Townsend, George, his charities . 302
Tracy, William, a natural son of
Henry I. . . . . -73
Grace, his daughter, marries John
de Sudley . . • • 73
Tracy, John, marries Elizabeth,
daughter of the 1st Lord Chandos
of Sudeley . . . . .213
Tracy, Lady Juliana, gives money to
the poor in Winchcombe . . . 304
Tracy, Sir Robert, sends ^200 to
the King and his 3rd son to serve in
Lord Chandos' troop . . -257
Tracy, William de, murders Becket . 84
his seal . . . . . 86
Tracy, William de, serves against the
Scots . . . . . .103
Tracy, Master William, patron of the
church at Toddington . . 105
Traill, Rev. F. R., lines by. See
Title-puge. on Queen Katherine Parr's tomb, 323

Transcripts of documents at Sudeley, 136,
164, 200, 215, 216, 217, 224, 240, 247,
25°, 251, 254, 255, 273—288, 303, 304
Translation of the Scriptures by Tyndal
and Coverdale .... 233
Tudinton, Henry de, abbot of
Winchcombe . . . . . 36
Turville, Sir Thomas . . . 249
Twynnynge, John, abbot of Winch
combe ... . . 36
Tyndal, William . . . .168
Tyrwhit, " confessions " of Sir Robert
and Lady .... 169, 172

U.

Udal, Nicholas
Urban IV., Pope .
Uvedale, William

203 111
247

V.

Vertue's copies of Holbein's portraits 181
Vikings, the, devastate Winchcombe
Abbey.  56
W.
Wakefield, Henry, bishop of Wor
cester . . . . . . 114
Waleran, Earl, plunders Sudeley . 79
Wales, Council of, when founded . . 224
their controversy with Giles, Lord
Chandos . . . .224
Walpole, Horace, his initials on minia
tures  181
Walter. See Mantes, Suffield.
Warwick, Isabelle, countess of . . 121
Warwickshire, the Botelers' posses
sions in . . . . ..115
Washburn, Great .... 308
Wateville, Roger, gives houses in
Winchcombe to the Knights
Templars  81
Wedgwood, Rev. R., of Dumbleton . 263
Wellesboume-Montford, a possession
of the Botelers . . . . 115

340

INDEX.

Wells, John, a minister
Wem, Shropshire, the Botelers of
Westminster, the first Dean of .
Wiccii, formerly called Dobuni . .
Wickwar, Walter de, abbot of Winch
combe ... 37, 102
William the Conqueror
Williain Rufus, King . . . .
William, abbot of Winchcombe . 35, 80
Williams, Mr., of the Abbey House,
Winchcombe ....
Willy, Jane and Margaret . 247,
Winchcombe, antiquity and derivation
of name ... .1
a district sheriffdom .
united to Gloucestershire . .
nunnery . . . 19
Abbey founded. See Winchcombe
Abbey.
in the hundred of Kiftsgate
a borough
the curfew bell
fulling-mills the town burnt
streets and castles
under excommunication
Booth and Guild Halls
manufacture

294 107142 16
106 7073

15°
248
> 1517 17
26

. 60
63> 647i
. 82
¦ 83
• 92
94, 109

cloth

• • 97
fairs and charter from Edw. IV, 92, 128
ancient names still common in . 109
St. Peter's Church built, St.
Nicholas . . . . . 1 1.9
St. Pancras Chapel . . .121
Church Register . . . . 146
whipping-post and stocks . .147
ducking-stool . . . . 148
removed from the Diocese of
Worcester . . .148
old Palace . . . . . 151
weather-gauge . . . .219
Chandos almshouses . . . 222
church property . . .243
Earl of Essex and Roundheads
pass through . . . . 262

Winchcombe — continued :

plundered by the Cavaliers

275

old sign for beer-houses

296

first school board

297

fallen into decay .

301

Queen Elizabeth's charter -

301

schools ....

302

the cultivation of tobacco .

302

charities ....

3°4

church restorations . . 30

4, 3°5

Ladies' gallery, pulpit, font, plate

• 3°6

Registers, curious entries .

306

monuments of Sir David anc

Thomas Williams

308

church bells

3°9

Winchcombe Abbey founded

27

foundation charter

33

list of abbots

35

Egbert said to be buried in

56

suffered from the Danes . .

56

its monks restore the monastic

life in the North .

57

its possessions . 70, 100, 101, 122

struck by lightning

73

burnt ....

80

- supplied with water from Hanwel

92

a Mitred Abbey

98

visited by Henry III. and his

Queen, a.d. 1251 . . .
' 98
paper on, by Mr. Loftus Brock, 98,
11
h 149
various officers . . . 100, 1 01
the abbot permitted to use mitre
and ring
103
separated from Stanley Pontlarge
105
permission to fortify the House
109
its charter confirmed
no
the House robbed
in
receives favours from Richard II
114
a Peeral Abbey . ...
135
the abbey seal .
J35
its Lodgings in Oxford .
J37
its possessions confirmed . ' .
i37
its History and Cartulary, 80, 14
4, 154
INDEX.

341

Winchcombe Abbey — continued :
systematically destroyed . . 149
the Abbot's House destroyed . 149
Winchecombe, Tideman of, physician
and confessor to Richard II. . . 114
Winchecombe, William, abbot of
Winchcombe . . 36, 119, 120
Wine made in this country, "Theologi-
cum " . 83
Winfortun, Walter de, abbot of Winch
combe . . . 36, in, 113
Wingfield, battle of . . . 16
Wolsey, Cardinal, receives lampreys
from the abbot of Winchcombe 139
Wood, T. Smith, Esq., abstract of
document by . . . .243
Wood, Miss A. M., lines on Sudeley by 321
Woodville, Catherine, wife of Jasper,
duke of Bedford . . . . 132

Worcester burnt
Worcester, bishops of : —

Aldred OswaldSimonWilliam

. 64
• 57
• 75,
78, 79
. 105

GodfreyRichard
TidemanWulfstan

PAGE 78
'°5
"5
114 7'

Worcester College, Oxford .
Worship of fountains forbidden
Writ, Thomas, a clergyman .
Wulfrid, archbishop of Canterbury
Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester .
Wynns, tenants of Sudeley Castle
Y.
Yanworthe (or Yarmouth), John,
abbot of Winchcombe 36, 98, 100
Yate, John, a suspected murderer . 224

i37 53
247 28 71
318

Warming Pans. With date 1642, from Worcester; 1645, from an old farm-house
at Dumbleton.

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