Throughout next month, Sudeley Castle will be celebrating the influential women who have helped to shape its past as the castle launches its Women of Sudeley exhibition.

With a history spanning more than 1,000 years, Sudeley Castle and Gardens has played an important role in the turbulent and changing times of England’s past.

Now, the incredible women who have helped create the castle’s dramatic story – from a Saxon princess and Tudor queens, to the Victorian and presentchatelaine – will be highlighted through a series of stories and exhibits during September.

Visitors will be able to step back in time to discover what it was like to live at the castle during the reign of the Tudors, Victorians, Edwardians and more.

It will offer insights into iconic figures including Queen Katherine Parr, the last and surviving wife of King Henry VIII, who lived and died at the castle and still remains entombed in the castle’s beautiful 15th century church.

In fact, Sudeley castle is the only private castle in England to have a queen buried within its grounds.

Many other iconic female figures of British history have also shaped the castle’s past, including Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey and Queen Elizabeth I.

Characters from Sudeley Castle’s past will be greeting visitors to the castle on various dates throughout the month, and there will opportunities to enjoy afternoon tea with Katherine Parr or the castle’s Victorian chatelaine, Emma Dent, in a new series of ‘character conversations’ events available exclusively to groups.

The month long Women of Sudeley event also includes a new exhibition of fashion worn by Lady Ashcombe, Sudeley’s present chatelaine.

During September, visitors will have the unique opportunity to buy a selection of vintage and designer pieces donated by Lady Ashcombe, her family and friends, to raise funds to add to the wildlife sculptures in the castle gardens.

Lady Ashcombe has lived in the castle since her previous husband, Mark Dent-Brocklehurst inherited it in 1969.

Unfortunately, Mark died in 1972 but, today, Sudeley Castle still remains the family home of Lady Ashcombe, her son, daughter, and their families.

The castle is open daily from 10 am to 5pm up until Sunday 22nd December.

For more information, visit www.sudeleycastle.co.uk/visit-us/prices-opening-times/