Castle

The building of Thornbury Castle began in 1511, on the site of an earlier manor house. It was the project of Edward Stafford, 3^rd Duke of Buckingham, a man who had at least as many royal forebears as his distant cousin Henry VIII.

Stafford’s project was unfinished when Henry VIII had him accused of treason and executed in 1521. Following Stafford’s death, Thornbury Castle was confiscated by the king, who stayed there for ten days in 1535 with Ann Boleyn.

The castle fell into disrepair after the English Civil War but was renovated and refurbished by the Howard family from the 1820s.

Algar Howard of Thornbury Castle was responsible in the early 1900s, with Colonel Turner of Oldown House, Old Down, for establishing a local cavalry troop, drawn from local farmers with good horses. These very part-time soldiers, the Oldown Troop, all enlisted for army service on 4 August 1914 and found themselves, with their horses, in the Middle East from April 1915 until August 1919. Algar Howard himself was badly wounded at Gallipoli but returned to active service and three years later was awarded a Military Cross.

Thornbury Castle is currently a luxury hotel and restaurant.

With the permission, and often at the request of, the Castle, museum volunteers have led many guided walks around the castle grounds and explained its history.

If you’d like to find out more about the history of Thornbury Castle and the 3rd Duke of Buckingham (including his unfortunate fate), we have a permanent display on the subject in the museum (free entry).  Come and find out about this hugely important part of Thornbury’s history.