Hair-Raising Success Of Collectors' Sale
September 2026
As ever the Somerset Auction Rooms saw a fascinating mix of collectables going under the hammer at the quarterly collectors’ sale.
A lock of hair reputed to belong to Katherine Parr – Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife drew a good deal of pre-sale interest and bidding was already soaring in excess of the guide price before the sale got underway at Sedgemoor Auction Centre, Junction 24, North Petherton.
The lock of hair was framed and glazed. On the back of the frame was an indistinct note in an 18th Century style.
After Henry VIII died in 1547 Katherine married Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley. She died shortly afterwards, on 5th September 1548, of 'childbed fever', following the birth of her daughter, and was buried in St Mary's chapel in the grounds of Sudeley Castle.
Her grave, disturbed by the ruination of the castle during the English Civil War, was re-discovered in 1782, and when her coffin was opened out of antiquarian curiosity her body was found to be surprisingly well preserved, 'entire and uncorrupted'.
A few locks of hair were taken then and again when the coffin was periodically re-opened over the next decade, but by 1817 the body had been reduced to a skeleton. Katherine's coffin was moved to its current location in the restored castle chapel in 1861, beneath a neo-Gothic tomb designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. She is the only English queen to be buried in a private castle.
The lock offered in the sale came from the Rev A.C.R. Clarke, a clergyman associated with the chapel.
This unique strand of history attracted fevered bidding and sold for £1,100.
There was a large selection of coinage in the sale. Among the highlights was a Victorian £2 example from 1887, which sold for £1,400.
A charming Steiff gold mohair teddy bear circa 1910, oozing character, if a little moth-eaten, found a new home and sold for £450.
Three stoneware vestas, or match strikers, sold for an impressive £500.
The next similar sale takes place on Wednesday, October 28. For more information and to consign items please call the salerooms on 01278 410250.
A lock of hair reputed to belong to Katherine Parr – Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife drew a good deal of pre-sale interest and bidding was already soaring in excess of the guide price before the sale got underway at Sedgemoor Auction Centre, Junction 24, North Petherton.
The lock of hair was framed and glazed. On the back of the frame was an indistinct note in an 18th Century style.
After Henry VIII died in 1547 Katherine married Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley. She died shortly afterwards, on 5th September 1548, of 'childbed fever', following the birth of her daughter, and was buried in St Mary's chapel in the grounds of Sudeley Castle.
Her grave, disturbed by the ruination of the castle during the English Civil War, was re-discovered in 1782, and when her coffin was opened out of antiquarian curiosity her body was found to be surprisingly well preserved, 'entire and uncorrupted'.
A few locks of hair were taken then and again when the coffin was periodically re-opened over the next decade, but by 1817 the body had been reduced to a skeleton. Katherine's coffin was moved to its current location in the restored castle chapel in 1861, beneath a neo-Gothic tomb designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. She is the only English queen to be buried in a private castle.
The lock offered in the sale came from the Rev A.C.R. Clarke, a clergyman associated with the chapel.
This unique strand of history attracted fevered bidding and sold for £1,100.
There was a large selection of coinage in the sale. Among the highlights was a Victorian £2 example from 1887, which sold for £1,400.
A charming Steiff gold mohair teddy bear circa 1910, oozing character, if a little moth-eaten, found a new home and sold for £450.
Three stoneware vestas, or match strikers, sold for an impressive £500.
The next similar sale takes place on Wednesday, October 28. For more information and to consign items please call the salerooms on 01278 410250.