Thornbury Castle is in the village of Thornbury, situated on 15 acres of land, with distant views of the Severn Estuary and the hills of South Gloucestershire and Wales. Much of the original Tudor stone building remains; much (including the Great Hall) has perished without trace.
The site now consists of an Outer Court to the west, an Inner Court to the east, and an enclosed walled garden to the south of the south range of Inner Court.
The castle is owned and maintained by the von Essen private collection of country house hotels.
14th c. Manor house built, which included a hall, a chapel, a buttery, a pantry, a kitchen, a set of chambers, an inner court, an outer court, a 'hermitage', a prison and a dovecote.
1485 Jasper Tudor, 3rd Duke of Bedford, in possession of Thornbury via marriage to Katharine, widow of the 2nd Duke of Buckingham.
1511--21 Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, received licence to crenellate the castle. Much of the existing manor house was incorporated into the rebuilding, which was incomplete at the time of the Duke's execution.
Princess Mary was resident at Thornbury.
1550 Castle no longer used as a residence.
1720 Castle was partially roofed.
1811 Some restoration, including the south tower.
1854 Full restoration by Anthony Salvin.
| Name | Dates | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford, Edward | 1478-1521 | 9th Baron , 3rd Duke of , 7th Earl of , 8th Earl of , Knight |
| Tudor, Jasper | 1430-1495 | 16th Earl of , 3rd Duke of |
| Wydevill, Katherine | 1458-1497 | Duchess of |
