Ford Road Coppice

This route from Farmcote must once have been used by the monks of Hailes Abbey. It now hosts part of the Cotswold Way. Most of the descent is under trees with minimal view.

The different spelling to the name of the nearby abbey is correct.

A wide variety of fruit is available.

Heading towards Winchcombe which can just be seen ahead at the foot of Langley Hill.

The gentle slope rises up from the valley of the River Isbourne.

Rain is on the way over the valley of the Isbourne.

This is the corner of a field of wheat, and it adjoins other fields for sheep and cattle grazing.

The older ones have been recently shorn.

There are sheep in this field but they have all congregated in another part of it. From here you can see the village of Greet and Winchcombe railway station.

Winchcombe can be seen ahead. The path will meet the top of Puck Pit Lane in the trees at the other side of the field.

On this side of the lane is just a collection of barns.

Looking across the lawn which centuries ago would have been the floor of the great hall that once stood here. The romantic ruins of the northeastern corner of this former building still stand giving an idea of its original height.

Originally a private chapel built by Ralph Boteler in the mid C15th, this little church in the grounds of Sudeley Castle fell into ruin after the depredations of the English Civil War and the damage inflicted upon it by Cromwell's troops. In the C18th a tomb was discovered bearing an inscription revealing that it belonged to Katherine Parr - the last of Henry VIII's six wives. The church was restored by the Dent family in the mid C19th, and Katherine's body now lies within a fine monument within this church. (see SP0327 : Sudeley - Tomb of Katherine Parr (1512-1548))

Katherine (or Catherine, Kathryn, Kathryne etc.) Parr was born in 1512 most likely in Blackfriars, London rather than at her family's ancestral home in Westmorland. In 1543 she became the sixth and final wife of the by-then decrepit and obese Henry VIII. This was her third marriage, her two former husbands Sir Edward Burgh and John Neville, Lord Latimer both having died. Katherine was apparently a very effective Queen Consort, proficiently acting as Regent in Henry's absence. When Henry died in 1547 she had hoped and expected to be named as Regent and advisor to the young Edward VI, however the quixotic Henry had made other arrangements and Katherine was sidelined. Katherine moved to Sudeley and married the man she had long desired, Thomas Seymour. Her new husband was ambitious and rash, and no doubt considered his marriage to Katherine as a fine political move. Sadly, Katherine died within a year, soon after giving birth to a daughter - this daughter has mysteriously vanished from History and no-one knows her fate, though it is believed that she survived infancy at least. Thomas Seymour, with a female heir and a dead wife, left Sudeley, never to return, not even for his wife's funeral. Katherine was interred in the private chapel - or small church - on the estate. During the Civil War in the mid C17th the church was damaged by Cromwell's troops and eventually became ruinous. Katherine's tomb was effectively lost and forgotten. It was not until the mid C18th that two ladies visiting the romantic ruins of the castle, looked in on the remains of the church and noticed a carved stone. They requested that this be investigated and soon a tomb was rediscovered with a plaque on it stating it belonged to the Queen of England, Katherine Parr. On opening the lead sarcophagus, Katherine was found to be almost perfectly preserved. However once air got into the coffin, decay commenced and by the time of her reburial in the mid C19th, her body had become little more than dust and bones. She was re-interred in the fine tomb which can be found in the church today, with an effigy by J.B. Philip resting on a marble chest tomb. To see the church SP0327 : Sudeley Castle - St Mary's church

A view of the Knot Garden within a quadrangular internal courtyard of Sudeley Castle. This view is looking eastwards. See also the view from under the arbor (seen ahead) looking westwards SP0327 : Sudeley Castle - Knot Garden - looking westwards

The complementary view to SP0327 : Sudeley Castle - Knot Garden - looking east looking westwards across the Knot Garden at Sudeley from beneath the arbor on the eastern side of the quadrangle.

A view over the immaculately tended gardens at Sudeley Castle.