Tag: Henry VIII

Tree-ring dating and 3D imaging the original roofs of Sudeley Castle’s Outer Courtyard Ranges

Project lead Dr Andy Moir (Chairman of the Gloucestershire Building Recording Group) takes a look at the project to see if we need to re-evaluate our existing understanding of the building history of Sudeley Castle.

Sudeley Castle is a grade I listed building (Historic England List No: 1154791). Although the castle has origins as a Saxon house, its history really began with Ralph Boteler who in 1441 became the Lord Admiral, and then Baron Sudeley and Lord Chamberlin of the Kings Household. Ralph Boteler set about buildings a castle to reflect his new found status and is reputed to have built the Portmare Tower, the Dungeon Tower, the banqueting Hall, and the Tithe barn. In 1547 Thomas Seymour married King Henry VIII widow Katherin Parr (who’s tomb is at the castle) and set about the refurbishment of the estate. Historical documents record that stonemasons and carpenters built a complete new suite of apartments. Queen Mary granted the castle to Sir John Brydges in 1554 creating him Lord Chandos and later the third Lord Chandos entertained Queen Elizabeth I three times at Sudeley.

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The castle was bombarded by cannon in 1644 during the Civil War and ordered ‘slighted’ (which is stated to have included the removal of the roofs) in 1649. After this the castle was left in ruins for the next 180 years and then extensively restored in the 19th century.

Figure 1: Outer Courtyard Ranges of Sudeley Castle, copyright Dr Andy Moir

Due to the slighting previously little of the earlier builds at Sudeley were thought to survive. However, in November 2025 the Outer Courtyard of Sudeley Castle was visited by the Gloucestershire Building Recording Group (GBRG) and a brief visual survey of the west, north and east range roofs undertaken (Figure 1). Some of stylistic features of timbers that survive in the roofs are useful to estimating their date of contraction, because date ranges of similar features have been identified in through the GBRG’s previous tree-ring dated projects on buildings in Gloucestershire. For instance, the use of queen struts (Figure 2) in the castle roofs are rarely used before the 1440s, and the use of clasped purlins are generally restricted to between the 1380s and 1500s. Diminished principal are present and these are rarely used before the 1440s and to date no examples have been found after the 1550s. Similarly the use of curved wind braces are typically restricted to before the 1570s, after which straight wind braces become more common used. Also in terms of carpentry, 80º saw marks are usually a reliable indicator that the timbers were pit-sawn, which generally comes into use from the 1540s. Overall, the stylistic features recorded suggest that the West and North Range roofs were likely constructed in the first half of the 16th century, some time between the 1500s and 1550s. This evidence suggests that the West and North ranges may be part of the new suite of apartments built by Thomas Seymour around 1547. However, precise dating of the timbers would be required to resolve this issue.

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Figure 2: East range raking queen strut truss constructed using oak timbers, copyright Dr Andy Moir
Figure 3: A core taken for tree-ring dating (top) and a pencil (bottom), copyright Dr Andy Moir
 

Through the taking of small pencil like cores from timbers (Figure 3), tree-ring analysis can often identify an exact year of felling of the timbers used in construction of a building. Most medieval woodworkers use green wood (as seasoned wood is much more difficult to work with) and so a year of felling is generally accepted to identify the year of construction. During the recording of the roof at Sudeley Castle the timbers were also assessed for their potential use in tree-ring dating. Oak timbers with more than 50 rings, traces of sapwood or bark, and accessibility were the main considerations. The oak timbers in the roofs of all three ranges contain sufficient rings and bark to indicate tree-ring dating would likely produced precise felling dates and so significantly advance the understanding of the development of Sudeley Castle. Thanks to funding from the Castle Studies Trust the roof will be recorded and samples for tree-ring dating taken near the end of February 2026 and the results of this project available near the end of March 2026. The GBRG would like to express their thanks to Lady Ashcombe for kindly granting access to Sudeley Castle for this project.

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Higham Ferrers – a Royal Town

Project lead, Steve Parry, looks at what he and the team from MoLA and the Higham Ferrers Archaeology and Research Society hope to achieve during their geophysical survey of the once royal castle of Higham Ferrers starting on Monday 15 July 2024.

Walking through the streets of Higham Ferrers you’d be forgiven for thinking that you are looking at a pretty but provincial town.  However, documentary records reveal that Higham Ferrers once played a role on the national stage. During the Middle Ages it had a substantial stone-built castle which served as the headquarters of the extensive Northamptonshire landholdings of the Duchy of Lancaster and from 1399, became a possession of the Crown.  This castle, which was also the manor, would have been the focal point of the medieval town along with other fine nearby buildings including the Church of St Mary, the School House, the Bede House or hospital and the College founded by Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury before 1425. While these other buildings have survived to the present day the castle fell into disuse and was demolished in the early sixteenth century, with Henry VIII granting building materials from the site for the rebuilding of Kimbolton Castle. John Norden’s map of 1591 shows the site of the castle (‘b’) as broken masonry and uneven ground adjacent to the church, and all that now remains are a ruined dovecote, fishponds, and rabbit warren.

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A detail of John Norden’s Map of Higham Ferrers 1591

Thanks to a generous grant from the Castle Studies Trust, Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), will work with Finham Heritage and members of the Higham Ferrers Archaeology and Research Society (HiFARS) to reveal Higham Ferrers’ royal connections through a series of geophysical surveys. We will use a magnetometer to identify any substantial ditches around the castle, as well as the buried remains of internal features such as robbed-out walls, hearths, and pits.  Alongside this, the team will use ground penetrating radar to locate the principal buildings of the castle confirming (or denying!) what our documentary sources tell us – that this substantial medieval building included a hall, chapel, tower house, King’s and Queen’s Chambers, not forgetting three substantial gates. Finally, a resistivity survey will be undertaken, with the particular support of HiFARS members, to provide further detailed information on any buried wall foundations or other structural remains.  The surveys will be undertaken in the various plots shown in this photograph from the 1980s extending from the church (top centre) to the small wood (bottom left-hand corner).

Aerial photograph of Higham Ferrers NCC9668_004
Reproduced by permission of Northamptonshire HER

Together with the documentary sources, the geophysical surveys will, we hope, shed light on the evolution of the site by:

  • Seeking evidence of a late Saxon and early medieval manor pre-dating the construction of the castle.
  • Testing the widespread assumption that a motte and bailey castle was built by William Peveril, who held the manor in 1086.
  • Attempting to map the layout of the late medieval stone castle.

The findings of the surveys will be considered alongside those of limited excavations in 1992, to see how the castle and its associated buildings fit within the development of Higham Ferrers from a Saxon administrative centre to medieval market town. The results and conclusions will be shared via a public lecture and published as a report on the Castle Studies Trust website.

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