Kimbolton Castle Cambridgeshire England Royal Residence Catherine of Aragon medieval stately palace Dukes of Manchester School
Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, is best known as the final home of King Henry VIII's first queen, Catherine of Aragon. Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, it was the family seat of the Dukes of Manchester from 1615 until 1950. It now houses Kimbolton School. A wooden motte and bailey castle was built in Kimbolton, on a different site, in Norman times. Later, King John granted Geoffrey Fitz Peter, Earl of Essex permission to hold a fair and market in Kimbolton, as a consequence of which a market place was created, with the existing church at one end and a new castle at the other. No remains of this castle (most likely a fortified manor house) remain, although it was built on the site of the present castle. The castle went through various phases of ownership until, by the 1520s, it belonged to the Wingfield family. The medieval castle was rebuilt as a Tudor manor house, parts of which survive. Catherine of Aragon was sent here in April 1534 for refusing to give up her status or deny the validity of her marriage. The fenland climate damaged her health, and she died here in January 1536. Her body was carried in procession to the Peterborough Abbey (now Peterborough Cathedral). She is reputed to haunt the castle. Kimbolton Castle is reported to be haunted by Catherine of Aragon who died there in 1536 after several years of imprisonment. Some say that this ghost walks upon the original floor levels which have been altered since her day, such that her ghost appears as legs and lower body projecting from the ceiling on one floor with head and upper body gliding along the floor above. Another former inhabitant of the Castle, Sir John Popham, reputedly threw his baby child out of a castle window into the courtyard. It is said that the stone upon which the baby landed glows red annually on the anniversary of this event, whilst others says that this story is the invention of one of the Kimbolton School history staff.
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Photo credit: © SOTK2011 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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