Overview

This Tudor castle of the 16th century, is a MUST VISIT for disabled people. It stands just 12 miles from Bristol in the village of Thornbury, and is full of historical facts and artefacts and a truly interesting visit, where lunch or afternoon tea adds to its delight. The Tudor castle began construction in 1511 by Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Bedford Who lived 1478 until 1521, when sadly, he was beheaded by the order of King Henry V111. It is an early example of a Tudor house, now a grade 1 listed building. The buildings are of Cotswold stone Ashlar, some stacks are of brick, and some roofs are lead, others tiled. There are compass windows on its south side, most of the windows though are metal casements, and it still has its original stone built fireplaces. The beautiful ornate brick chimneys were built in 1514. The Privy gardens as recorded in the 16th century have kept its name, and lay to the south and south east of the castle. Noted early visitors to the castle were, Princess Mary who stayed for 18 days in 1525, before she became Queen, and later King Henry V111 and Anne Boleyn who had to spend 10 days here following the outbreak of plague in Bristol, and as you wander around room by room you will note some beautiful artefacts of historical interest. Following the death of Edward Stafford, The castle became crown property, but in 1554 the now Queen, Mary, gave back the castle to Henry Stafford, 1st Baron, but then over the years it fell into disrepair. In 1637 the new owner, a member of the Howard family moved in, and it remained in the Howard family until 1960’s. The castle was renovated in 1824, then in 1849, Henry Howard commissioned Anthony Salvin to restore the castle again, through 1850. In 1960, Sir Algar Howard sells the castle, and by 1966 it becomes a restaurant and hotel. Between 1966 and 1986, it was operated as one of the UK,s top restaurants, by Kenneth Bell, with staff including food writer Nigel Slater. According to a local newspaper, the Gazette, an article of April 2011 tells us that (quote) Thornbury castle have gone into administration. (end of quote). It had been owned by the Von Essen hotel group for the past 11 years. It was then bought by Thornbury castle hotel limited in Nov 2011, registered in London, who now manage the hotel, and on our visit in October 2021, is undergoing major renovations in many parts of the grounds, but the 26 roomed hotel remains open for visitors, and well worth going to see this quite remarkable castle hotel, which on the ground floor areas is quite wheelchair friendly. 200 yards from the village of Thornbury, is the gateway into Thornbury castle, (photo 1) set amounts tall ancient trees. The 16th century castle buildings are of Cotswold stone Ashlar, some stacks of brick, and some of the roofs are lead, others tiled (photo 2). The castles beautiful ornate brick chimneys were built in 1514. During our visit in 2021 the castle is undergoing restoration work. The car parking at the moment is on the grass lawn (photo 3) but is easy enough to push wheelchair along. This leads to a long hard path leading to the gateway (photo 4). You enter the castle through the gateway, on the western side into the inner courtyard. Over to your right in the courtyard is the entrance door to the reception (photo 5), the door being of solid oak. This 26 bedroom hotel remains open for visitors. The reception area is of dark oak panelling and a intricately designed carved desk, (photo 6) giving a feeling of history just oozing out at you. We then entered the Great Hall, and immediately found a place to put the wheelchair (photo 7). We sat in the oak panelled Great Hall for coffee. A very comfortable, elegant room, beautifully furnished, (photo 8) all made by Stephen Edgar, whose workshop is in the castle, and designed with 17th and 18th century decor. While sitting there your eyes are drawn upward (photo 9) to two magnificent chandeliers (photo 10). Placing my very dry Riesling on the wine table, so as to admire the huge ornate Urn (photo 11) depicting the visit of King Henry V111 and Anne Boleyn in 1535 where they stayed for ten days. There were more urns, so intricately made, absolutely beautiful, it’s hard to describe, and then lunch was served to us in the Great hall (photo 13). (photo 14) Stepping out of the hall, you come to the flagstoned hallway which led to the disabled toilet (photo 15), quite small, spotlessly clean, beautifully tiled, (photo 16) but too small to take wheelchair into. From the Great hall a solid oak door leads you through (photo 17) into another small room where afternoon tea may be served (photo 18). A beautifull huge metal casements window overlooking the gardens (photo 19) invites you to an intimate table for two. The stone built fireplace in the Great hall (photo 20) is actually the original, dating back to 1514. On a cold winters day that would be a delight to sit by, but it now gave us a chance to sit and contemplate our further exploration of the magnificent case, as you will see in (PART TWO, EXPLORING THE CASTLE) Our final thoughts Our first impression on seeing the castle was disappointing, it just looked cold, bare and uninviting. Then we stepped inside, and wow, it was so unexpectedly beautiful, and our (PART ONE, THE GREAT HALL) concentrates in a must come to visit and see for yourself, and the ground floor is completely wheelchair friendly.

Transport & Parking

The car parking is at the moment on grass land a few hundred feet away from the gateway, but is easy enough to push along for a few feet until you reach the hard pathway leading to castle. There is no designated disabled bays, but more than enough room for all parking.

Access

After being taken over the grass car park and along the level hard path up to castle reception, the ground floor was on the level, and we saw such a lot, sadly it seems we missed some rooms, so will return to see these later. We cannot remember any steps to spoil our visit, and as it’s grade 1 listed, there will be no lift. But the magnificent rooms can all be viewed by you.

Toilets

Easy enough to get to, but it’s only a small toilet, so you will need to be able to get up off your chair to use it. It had grab rails to support and help you. Very clean, as expected.

Staff

The staff we dealt with where excellent so polite, friendly and helpful, a pleasure to meet them.

Photos