Thornbury Castle, Thornbury, England

This site is NOT open to public.

Brief description of site

Thornbury Castle has the remains of an elaborate Tudor garden on an earlier site. There is formal planting from the time of Henry VIII. There are 16th-century bee-holes, an 18th-century ha-ha, specimen cedars and sequoia. There are also yew topiary hedges and an arbour. Lawns and flower beds are enclosed by castellated walls. There is an Armillary sudial and a recent vineyard. The garden enclosures extend to around 2 hectares. The building is now a hotel, but is not open to the public in the general sense. This record was checked with South Gloucestershire Historic Monument Records Officer - June 2010.

Brief history of site

In 1508 the third Duke of Buckingham obtained licence to castellate the house at Thornbury and embarked on an ambitious building programme. In the same year he obtained a licence to impark some 1000 acres within the Lordship of Thornbury. By 1521 the Castle was less than half-finished, but a large garden enclosure had been constructed on the south side of the ducal apartments. In 1849 Henry Thomas Howard took up residence in the Castle and called in the architect Anthony Salvin to make the south section of the west range habitable. It seems likely that the gardens were laid out in their present form in about 1854.

Location information:

OS Landranger Map Sheet Number:	172	Grid Ref:	ST634907
Latitude:	51.61393	Longitude:	-2.529982

Key information:

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