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  Location of Kimbolton Castle in Cambridgeshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kimbolton Castle is a country house in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, England. It was the final home of King Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, it was the family seat of the Earls and Dukes of Manchester from 1615 until 1950. It now houses Kimbolton School.
The castle was built by Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex, in the late 12th century. [1] The inner court was rebuilt by Anne, Duchess of Buckingham, in the late 15th century. [1]
The castle was acquired by Sir Richard Wingfield in 1522 but after his death in 1525, was inherited by his eldest son, Charles. [1] The Wingfield family reconstructed the medieval castle as a Tudor Manor house, parts of which survive to this present day. Catherine of Aragon was sent here in April 1534 for refusing to give up her status or deny the validity of her marriage. [1] In July 1534, a fool in the retinue of the diplomat Eustache Chapuys tried to swim the moat, drawing attention to her imprisonment. [2] The fenland climate damaged her health, and she died in the castle on 7 January 1536. [3] [4]
The castle was bought by Sir John Popham in 1600 and was later purchased by Sir Henry Montagu, later created 1st Earl of Manchester, in 1615. [1] The 4th Earl of Manchester, who was created 1st Duke of Manchester in 1719, had many works of reconstruction carried out between 1690 and 1720. [1] These works included the rebuilding of the south wing, which had fallen down, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh [1] who was assisted by another great architect of the time, Nicholas Hawksmoor. [5] The 4th Duke of Manchester commissioned Robert Adam to design the gatehouse which was constructed in 1766. [1]
Many members of the Montagu family (Earls and Dukes of Manchester) are buried at St Andrew's Church in Kimbolton. Several Montagu monuments still exist in the South Chapel, while the Montagu vault (extended in 1853) is located beneath the North Chapel. [6]
The 10th Duke of Manchester sold the contents in 1949, and the castle and 50 acres (20 hectares) were sold to Kimbolton School in 1951. [7]
On the grounds of the castle is Warren House, where the warrener (estate's rabbit gamekeeper) used to live, converted into a late 18th-century folly on command of one of the castle's inhabitants to add interest to his horizon, complete with a single decorative facade facing the castle; it is Grade II* listed and owned by the Landmark Trust. The Trust renovated the house, under a design from architect Oliver Caroe, between 2011 and 2012. [8] [9]
Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, KG, KB, FRS was an important commander of Parliamentary forces in the First English Civil War, and for a time Oliver Cromwell's superior.
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Katherine Woodville, and nephew of Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV. Thus, Edward Stafford was a first cousin once removed of King Henry VIII. He frequently attended the courts of Henry VII and Henry VIII. He was convicted of treason and executed on 17 May 1521.
Duke of Bedford is a title that has been created six times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. In 1433 he surrendered the title and it was re-granted to him. The title became extinct on his death in 1435. The third creation came in 1470 in favour of George Neville, nephew of Warwick the Kingmaker. He was deprived of the title by Act of Parliament in 1478. The fourth creation came in 1478 in favour of George, the third son of Edward IV. He died the following year at the age of two. The fifth creation came in 1485 in favour of Jasper Tudor, half-brother of Henry VI and uncle of Henry VII. He had already been created Earl of Pembroke in 1452. However, as he was a Lancastrian, his title was forfeited between 1461 and 1485 during the predominance of the House of York. He regained the earldom in 1485 when his nephew Henry VII came to the throne and was elevated to the dukedom the same year. He had no legitimate children and the titles became extinct on his death in 1495.
Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester was an English judge, politician and peer. He is mainly remembered today as the judge who sentenced Sir Walter Raleigh to death.
Kimbolton is a town and civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. Kimbolton is about 9 miles (14 km) west of Huntingdon and 14 miles (23 km) north of Bedford.
Duke of Manchester is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the current senior title of the House of Montagu. It was created in 1719 for the politician Charles Montagu, 4th Earl of Manchester. Manchester Parish in Jamaica was named after the 5th Duke, while its capital Mandeville was named after his son and heir. The current Duke is Alexander Montagu, 13th Duke of Manchester, a controversial British and Australian citizen who lives in the United States and has served several prison sentences. He succeeded to the peerage in 2002 following the death of his father Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester, the last of the dukes to hold a seat in the House of Lords.
Louisa Frederica Augusta Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, formerly Louisa Montagu, Duchess of Manchester, was a German-born British aristocrat sometimes referred to as the "Double Duchess" due to her marriages, firstly to the 7th Duke of Manchester and then to the 8th Duke of Devonshire.
Grey Brydges, 5th Baron Chandos of Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, was an English nobleman and courtier.
George Brydges, 6th Baron Chandos (1620–1655), was an English peer who supported Charles I in the English Civil War.
Sir Richard WingfieldKG of Kimbolton Castle was an influential courtier and diplomat in the early years of the Tudor dynasty of England.
Kimbolton School is a British HMC co-educational private day and boarding school in the village of Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, England.
Henry Brandon, Earl of Lincoln was the youngest child and second son born to Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, Queen of France, who was a daughter of Henry VII, King of England. Thus Henry Brandon was nephew to King Henry VIII. His older sisters were Lady Frances Brandon and Lady Eleanor Brandon.
Katherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, suo jure12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, was an English noblewoman living at the courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth I. She was the fourth wife of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, who acted as her legal guardian during his third marriage to Henry VIII's sister Mary. Her second husband was Richard Bertie, a member of her household. Following Charles Brandon's death in 1545, it was rumoured that King Henry had considered marrying Katherine as his seventh wife, while he was still married to his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, who was Katherine's close friend.
Robert Montagu, 3rd Earl of Manchester JP was an English courtier and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1671 when he inherited the peerage as Earl of Manchester.
George Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester PC was a British politician and diplomat.
Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu, was an English nobleman, the only holder of the title Baron Montagu under its 1514 creation, and one of the relatives whom King Henry VIII of England had executed for treason.
Wingfield is a village in the English county of Suffolk. It is found 7 miles (11 km) east of Diss, signposted off B1118, near Eye.
Events from the 1530s in England.
Wingfield Castle in the parish of Wingfield in Suffolk, England is a fortified manor house which was the ancestral home of the Wingfield family and their heirs, the de la Pole family, created Earls and Dukes of Suffolk. It is now a private house. Sir John de Wingfield, of Wingfield, chief administrator to Edward the Black Prince (1330–1376), was the last male of his line, whose daughter and heiress Catherine Wingfield married Michael de la Pole, seated at Wingfield Castle, who in 1385 was created Earl of Suffolk. His descendant Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (1472–1513) was forced to surrender his dukedom in 1493. It was resurrected by King Henry VIII in 1514 for his favourite Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1484–1545), who although he had no close connection with Wingfield Castle and the county of Suffolk, was a great-grandson of Sir Robert Wingfield, of Letheringham in Suffolk, about 12 miles south of Wingfield.
Angus Charles Drogo Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester, was a British hereditary peer. He inherited the Dukedom of Manchester in 1985 and was a member of the House of Lords until the House of Lords Act 1999. Until he inherited the dukedom, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Angus Montagu.