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.

Dent corresponded with some of the most famous names and eminent thinkers of the 19th century. Emma and her husband inherited the castle in 1855. John Coucher Dent, and particularly Emma, insisted on continuing the restoration.

After her husband's death, Emma was able to increase her direct involvement, with the North Lodge and Tithe Barn, an ambitious plan to add terracing around the moat, a new West gateway and adjoining buildings, and finally the North Tower, replacing an earlier one shown on drawings of the original castle. 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". Ten years later, Emma spent £400 constructing open-air public swimming baths. Further afield she started a small school in nearby Gretton and used her share of a legacy to build the church there.

Emma adopted the Tory politics of her husband's family, having grown up in a Liberal household. Although unable to vote herself, she campaigned energetically for the Conservatives, to the extent of falling out with those in Winchcombe who had different views. Small electorates made for tight elections and she engaged in what she described as 'gerrymandering', selling houses which conveyed votes. She wrote circulars to the electorate, was a supporter of women's suffrage,

Death and memorials 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. She was cremated in England's first and only crematorium, at Woking, attended only by her nephew and successor at Sudeley, Harry Dent-Brocklehurst.