Day 3 Cotswolds - Broadway, Sudeley Castle and Tewksbury Abbey

Day 3 Cotswolds - 

Broadway, Sudeley Castle and Tewksbury Abbey

Tewksbury Abbey - taken by another Aussie from Glen Iris (Vic)

Once again my day evolved a  bit differently to what I had envisaged, but that meant it also brought its own surprises. It was a longish day - left home at 9am and got back at 5pm so it was a long day wandering around.

It started with Mass at 9.30am in the Church  of St Hugh of  Lincoln in Woodstock. I've been asking a lot in my prayers lately so I just wanted to say a thankyou today. It was a lovely little Church - strange the comparison with all those big old cathedrals that I have been visiting. This was a small community of maybe 100-150 people. And I was obviously a visitor!

Inside St Hugh of Lincoln Church

Outside of St Hugh of Lincoln Church

The older couple sitting next to me said Hello at the end of Mass, and as regularly happens they had a brother living in Perth... so you get to talking etc etc... Lots of people smiled and said hello, although I reckon the average age was about 70. But it was a lovely warm feeeling being there, as I was really glad I made the effort.

So, after Mass straight to the coffee shop with wifi, so that I could plan the day. Don't know what I would do without Google... it affects many different aspects of my day!
Here's a few pics of Woodstock

My coffee shop

Woodstock

Anyway, I had my route marked out and the first stop was a town recommended by a few of you called Broadway...

Broadway in the Cotswolds

It was a lovely little place - typical of a Cotswolds town. Found  nice place for lunch and lucky I did because the rain started to bucket down. I was a bit lucky today, because there were a few heavy showers at various times, but luckily I missed most of them by being inside

The next place I was heading for was Tewksbury Abbey, but I was side-tracked on the journey by this Sudeley Castle. It was listed on that 10 great things to do in the Cotswolds website and I was half thinking, will I, won't I?? I have to admit I was seduced  by the fact that Katherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII's wives was buried there. And I really enjoyed my visit. It was a bit overcast when I got there, so I did all the outside things first - lucky I did, because, again, I escaped a really heavy shower by being inside at the right time.

Sudeley Castle - notice the blue sky again!

If anyone would like to read more about the history of Sudeley Castle, here's a good link
Sudeley Castle


I'll just put a few pics up with their accompanying explanations - they make it clear what each thing is.

Big connection with Henry VIII who stayed there with Anne Boleyn

Hard to keep my shadow out of the way.When the sun came out it was very bright!

Actual Abbey Stone

There was also a big connection to Roman times and they found a beautiful mosaic locally which came from a Roman villa in the area

Lovely gardens too... my visit there was quick because the sky was getting greyer..

Sudeley Castle from the back view

Standing on the same ground as major historical figures stood... Wow

The walk from the Castle to the Chapel

But here's the part that really interested  me....

Here's the Chapel where they have a wax model of Katherine Parr lying in state..

The Church of St Mary

Inside The Church of St Mary

Katherine Parr lying instate

There were a lot more models inside the house, but no pics were allowed. They had a particular emphasis on the clothes they wore and all sorts of info about those clothes.

They also highlighted Lady Jane Grey and her role in the whole Tudor saga

Not sure if anyone has seen the Horrible  Histories take on Lady Jane Grey but it's a ripper. Only takes a few minutes but it really sums up the  whole saga really well. Always felt a bit sorry for her....

Another thing I liked historically was the Banqueting Hall ruins..

Banqueting Hall ruins

There's lots more pics, but I don't want to do an overload.....

I finished off the day with a visit to TewksburyAbbey... Gaby Garmin was interrupted on her journey here as I side-tracked to Sudeley Castle, but that was my last stop for the day...
I had plans for Malmesbury Abbey and maybe even Tintern Abbey, but there are only so many hours in the day and you can only do what you can only do...

So a quick tour around Tewksbury Abbey

Tewksbury Abbey

Inside Tewksbury Abbey

Actually as I walked in, the Choir were practising and their music was sublime....

So back home again to Heythrop Park for my last night... I'm back on the road again tomorrow.

I'm going to start wending my way towards Leicester where I will stay with my second cousin Josephine on Tuesday and Wednesday night, and hopefully will catch up with some more family history. On the way I hope to explore a few places where my family lived and some remnants of their lives there.