Kimbolton Castle

Kimbolton Castle, now a school, was the last home of Catherine of Aragon (16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) youngest surviving child of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and first wife of King Henry VIII. She was sent here in April 1534 refusing to accept the validity of her divorce and passed away due to natural causes on 7 January 1536. She was buried at Peterborough Cathedral (then an Abbey) in a ceremony befitting a Princess Dowager rather than a Queen of England. Catherine is said to haunt the Queens Chambers of Kimbolton castle to this day.

The original Norman castle at Kimbolton was rebuilt by the Wingfield family around 1520, into a Tudor manor house, which would have been how it was when Catherine took up residence. Between 1615 and 1951 it was owned by the descendents of Sir Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester and during 300 years Kimbolton Castle was renovated and changed many times. Kimbolton Castle was sold to Kimbolton School in 1951 by Alexander George Francis Drogo Montagu, 10t Duke of Manchester.