Thornbury Castle

The earliest reference to Thornbury is in a Saxon charter of 896 AD. In a disastrous ancient love triangle (which would make a great Movie in itself!), Brictric 'the fair'– a powerful Saxon nobleman who owned Thornbury and many other properties –spurned the advances of Matilda of Flanders. Matilda later married William the Conqueror, who seized all of Britric’s lands after his invasion of England in 1066, awarded them to his queen, and imprisoned her one time love who may have starved to death.

The building that stands to this day is an original Tudor Castle, built by Edward Stafford. It was subsequently owned by King Henry VIII, and in 1535, Henry and Anne Boleyn spent 10 nights of their progress tour at the castle.

Thornbury Castle, Castle Street, Thornbury,
South Gloucestershire BS35 1HH
www.thornburycastle.co.uk