Katherine's Cross, Ampthill

Katherine's Cross glass slide [ref: Henman Collection, Bedford Central Library]

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."

List of sources at Bedfordshire Archives: 

• AU36/32/2: Correspondence between A G Underwood and Ampthill Town Council regarding Katherine's Cross, 1983-1987
• BorBK4/37/1c: B&W photograph of Katherine's Cross, 1986
• Z49/1093/20: Photograph of painting of memorial cross to Katherine of Aragon in Ampthill Park, 1999
• Z1749/5/1/17: Photograph of Katherine's Cross, Ampthill Park., 2020