Ampthill
Katherine's Cross
Katherine's Cross, Ampthill Park
Ampthill
castle was built by Sir John Cornwall, later Lord Fanhope,
in the early fifteenth century.
In 1508 it became the property of Henry VII.
Queen Katherine of Aragon stayed at Ampthill castle for three years while her divorce from King Henry VIII was under discussion at Dunstable Priory (1531-1533).
The site of the castle is now marked by a cross erected by Lord Ossory in 1770 with an inscription said to be by Horace Walpole on its base.
"In day's of old here Ampthill's
towers were seen,
The mournful refuge of an injured Queen;
Here flowed her pure but unavailing tears,
Here blinded zeal sustain'd her sinking years.
Yet Freedom hence her radiant banner wav'd,
And Love aveng'd a realm by priests enslav'd;
From Catherine's wrongs a nation's bliss was spread,
And Luther's light from Henry's lawless bed."
Katherine's Cross, by Bedfordshire Libraries, 2003
Page last updated: 4th June 2007
