Thornbury Castle, Thornbury, England

The earliest accounts of Thornbury date from 925, when it was owned by Aulwood. His grandson, Berthwick, suceeded to the property but lost it, apparently as a consequence of spurning the lady Matilda, who later married William of Normandy.

Following Matilda's death William took over the property, which was granted to Robert Fitzhamon in 1087. It passed through 28 generations to William Stafford Howard, Earl of Stafford. In 1508 the then Duke of Buckingham was granted a licence to castellate the existing manor, and work began on the present castle. Building continued until 1521 when the Duke was executed.

One of the features incorporated during this period was a series of cloisters superimposed by galleries set against the south-west and south-east walls of the inner garden. The cloisters and galleries were constructed of timber with slate roofs. This allowed the users a comfortable view of the inner 'privvy' garden, a further 'goodly gardeyn to walk ynne' to the east, the outer courtyard and the adjoining churchyard.

From the south-east wall of the inner garden a further cloister and gallery was built across the churchyard to the north-east corner of St. Mary's church, where a room was prepared so that castle residents could observe the services whilst in well-furnished and heated accommodation. In addition to this, a further set of cloisters and galleries was constructed, returning from the south-east wall to the north-east end of the main castle. These features are no longer extant.

In 1720 a roof was built over the tower on the south side of the gatehouse, which was to be occupied by a steward. A portion of the south side was restored and roofed over in 1850. This work was supervised by the architect  Anthony Salvin.

The main building is now an hotel. The castle, outbuildings, ruined walls and gardens are all well maintained. 

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.    

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

Thornbury Castle was erected about 1511 on the site of an early 14th century house built by Hugh de Audley. After his death in 1347 the property passed, via the marriage of his daughter Margaret, to Ralph, Earl of Stafford, by whose family it was held until 1637. Following the execution of Henry Stafford in 1483 and the forfeiture of the estate, Thornbury was restored to the family by Henry VII when Edward, the son of Henry Stafford, was made third Duke of Buckingham. In 1508 he obtained licence to castellate the house at Thornbury and embarked on an ambitious building programme. In the same year he obtained licence to impark some 1000 acres (about 405 hectares) within the Lordship of Thornbury.

Buckingham's ambition antagonised both Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey and led to his downfall and execution for treason in 1521. By that time, with the Castle less than half-finished, a large garden enclosure had been constructed on the south side of the ducal apartments, with massive stone walls with battlements and windows separating it from St Mary's churchyard to the south and with a timber cloister dividing a Privy Garden. In 1554 the Manor and Castle were restored by Queen Mary to Henry, Lord Stafford, Buckingham's son, by which time no significant further building work appears to have taken place. In 1727 the grandson of the last Earl of Stafford sold the Manor and Castle to his cousin Henry Thomas Howard, whose family remained in possession until the early 1960s. A 1732 engraving by Buck (Buck 1774) shows the building after two centuries of neglect with the timber cloister gone and the Privy Garden as a bare space.

In 1849 Henry Thomas Howard took up residence in the Castle and called in the architect Anthony Salvin (1799-1881) to make the south section of the west range habitable. The refurbishment was completed in 1854 and it seems likely that the gardens were laid out in their present form at about that time. The Castle was purchased from Sir Alfgar Thomas Howard in 1959 by the Clifford family. They sold it to Kenneth Bell who developed it as a hotel and restaurant. In 1986 it was purchased by Maurice Taylor, Baron of Portlethen, who in turn sold it in 2000 to Mr Andrew Davis, who continues (2002) to run it as a hotel and restaurant.