Ellenborough Park hotel review: history and heritage in the heart of the Cotswolds

The plush hotel is fit for a Queen yet remains unpretentious and unstuffy

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In the Great Hall of Ellenborough Park, built in 1485, a fire is quietly roaring away and Katherine Parr, Queen of England and Ireland between 1543-47 (the one who triumphantly outlived her murderous husband, Henry VIII) is imperiously staring down from her gilt frame.

She is dainty and slender, her hourglass torso appears to all but disappear into an impossible waist, and she is extravagantly dressed. To the left of the fire is a rather different character – the splendidly flamboyant Richard Sackville (1589-1624), a wicked rogue and hopeless gambler, but one who at least knew how to dress, as his elaborate high heels with giant pom poms demonstrate.

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