The Tudor Rose – Tudor Tuesdays

April 06 2021 | Castle

The theme for this week’s #TudorTuesdays with Historic Houses is the Tudor rose.

The Tudor rose is the name given to the combined emblems of the York and Lancastrian families, who fought each other for control of the English throne from 1455-1487 in what became known as ‘The Wars of the Roses’.

With the death of the Yorkist King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1487, the throne once again passed to the Lancastrians and their new King Henry Tudor (Henry VII). In order to put an end to the Wars of the Roses once and for all, however (and with no small amount of behind the scenes string-pulling by his mother, Margaret Beaufort, and Elizabeth Woodville, his soon to be mother in law) Henry married Elizabeth of York, daughter of the late Yorkist King Edward IV, thus joining the families, and more importantly, their claims to the throne, together under the new Royal house of Tudor.

In order to celebrate this union, the white rose emblem of the Yorkists, and the red rose of the Lancastrians were combined to create the Tudor Rose, which comprises five red outer petals, and five white inner ones.

In homage to Hever’s connections to the Tudors, and in particular, King Henry VIII, son of Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York, William Waldorf Astor was keen to include the Tudor Rose in his grand restoration product of 1903. As a result, there are a great many Tudor Roses ‘hidden’ in the plasterwork, stonework, glass and panelling of the castle, including in the Inner Hall, King Henry VIIIs Bedchamber and Long Gallery to name just a few different areas.

The Inner Hall of the Castle used to the kitchen

Next time you visit us, see how many you can find, or alternatively, ask our wonderful castle staff for hints on the best places to look.

If you enjoyed this item, why not discover more about Tudor Tuesdays.