Today is the anniversary of the death of Catherine Parr, queen dowager, on 5th September 1548, so I thought I'd share some photos I took of her resting place in St Mary's Church at Sudeley Castle:
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- Church of St Mary, Sudeley Castle
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- Stained glass window, St Mary’s Church, Sudeley Castle
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- Catherine Parr’s tomb
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- Transcript of inscription from original coffin
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- Catherine Parr’s tomb
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- Catherine Parr’s tomb
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- Catherine Parr’s tomb
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- Catherine Parr’s tomb
And here are the aretefacts taken from her tomb when it was opened:
Find out more about her death, burial and the fate of her remains in this video:
Great photos, Claire! Amazing story, too. Thanks for sharing. Michelle t
Lovely photos. I was there about two weeks earlier. I love the new tomb, the white marble is beautiful, although there are actually shades of pink rose within it. The other side is even more beautiful.
Thank you for the description above and the details from the sources.
What was sad was that after her tomb was found was that some visitors insisted on the opening of the tomb which meant her originally well preserved body crumbled to dust. The ladies meant well, no doubt who found the body and her remains were preserved for a time. Later on the remains were opened again and again and now only a few bits remain. Her lovely hair and everything was more or less gone. Some things were taken and held in the museum until and the most beautiful tomb restored. We now I suspect could test her DNA but after the remains have been messed with over the years, it just seems wrong.
Even more tragic was the loss of little Mary Seymour, all trace of this poor little girl being lost after her second year. We don’t know if she died or grew up. A Tudor mystery.