Emma Dent

Emma Dent (née Brocklehurst; 23 April 1823 – 22 February 1900) was an English antiquarian and collector who restored and developed Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire.

Sent to be tutored in London, at the age of fourteen she attended Queen Victoria's coronation, and four years later in 1841 was presented at court by Lady Stanley of Alderley.

[5] She spent most of her life restoring Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, having married John Coucher Dent, the heir to the property, a romantic ruin purchased by his uncles in 1837.

[9] A reliable source lists her achievement as having significantly expanded the gardens and having "substantially enlarged the house and its services ... she remodelled the western side of the castle through the full length of both courtyards, overbuilding one section of the ruins, and beginning a new tower at its north-east corner in March 1890".

[10] She continued the Dent uncles' tradition of hosting large events at Sudeley, including in the Conservative interest: the Blue Ball of January 1854 attended by nearly 600 people celebrated a by-election victory,[note 1] and at a historical party in January 1859 she and her husband entertained in the guise of Henry VIII and Catherine Parr.

[19] To commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, she had St Kenelm's Well on the Sudeley estate restored to provide tapped water to the town.

Although Emma took exception in the latter case, interceding on her sister's behalf,[27] she bore her father no lasting ill will, after his death commissioning a marble bust which she presented to Macclesfield Town Hall along with an "In Memoriam" book.

He was due to inherit Sudeley Castle from his uncles, glove makers from Worcester, who had bought the property in a derelict state ten years previously.

[note 6] Emma Dent died on 22 February 1900 and is commemorated on two brass plaques in the chapel at Sudeley: one with her husband, the other a tribute from the rector and tenants.