Is this the bed which launched the Tudors? Dumped in a hotel car park this four poster could be where Henry VIII was conceived and is worth £20million

Bed was dumped in a hotel car park and bought at auction for just £2,200

Now identified as four-poster created for Henry VII and Elizabeth of York

Highly likely couple's son, Henry, was conceived in the oak bed



Under King Henry VIII's reign, England broke with the Catholic church

Royal Navy also built up fleet of 50 ships and invaded France



Bed now considered valuable piece of historical furniture, worth £20m

This carved four-poster bed could be where Henry VIII was conceived - and may be worth a staggering £20million.

Featuring oak wood, intricate carvings and a bible inscription the ornate bed was sold at auction for just £2,200 after being dumped in a hotel car park in Chester.

But it is now considered one of the most valuable pieces of historical furniture in England after being identified as the bed which belonged to Henry VII.



Fit for a royal? This four-poster could be the bed in which Henry VIII was conceived - and may be worth £20m

Valuable: The bed (left) - featuring oak wood and intricate carvings (right) - was sold at auction for just £2,200 after being dumped in a hotel car park in Chester. But it is now considered one of the most valuable pieces of historical furniture in England after being identified as the bed of the royal's father, Henry VII, and his wife



The impressive item was created for the marriage of the first Tudor King and his wife, Elizabeth of York, on January 18, 1486, according to the Sunday Times.



It is highly likely that the couple's son, Henry, was conceived in the bed - meaning the item may have a physical link to the beginning of the Tudor dynasty.

Born at Greenwich Palace in 1491, Henry VIII was the third child and second son of Henry VII and his wife.



Powerful: Henry VIII, the second son of Henry VII, turned England in favour of Protestantism

Only three of his six siblings survived infancy - and he succeeded his father as king following his death on 22 April, 1509.

Under Henry VIII's reign, England turned in favour of P rotestantism and split from Rome , the Royal Navy built up a fleet of about 50 shi ps and the country invaded France .

Jonathan Foyle, chief executive of World Monuments Fund Britain, said: 'This bed belonged to Henry VIII. It has to be the most important piece of furniture [in England' - and arguably, royal artefact.'

He added: 'Even the Westminster coronation chair has less to say than this.'

Experts believe Henry VII may have taken the bed north while on a royal tour following the birth of his son.



More than five centuries later, it was discovered dismantled and dumped in the car park of Chester's Redland Hotel, which was being turned into flats.



It was later bought at auction by Ian Coulson, a restorer of four-poster beds, where it was described as being 'Victorian'.



In 2010, Mr Coulson approached Mr Foyle with a suspicion that the bed was, in fact, the only surviving Tudor bed - and Mr Foyle agreed.

Since then, Mr Foyle has been trying to prove the artefact's historical roots.



He has traced it back to 1495, when Henry VII went to Lathom in Lanchashire to see the Stanley family, who had helped him to victory in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.



King: The bed was created for the marriage of the first Tudor King, Henry VII (pictured left and right) and his wife, Elizabeth of York, on January 18, 1486. It is highly likely the couple's son, Henry, was conceived in the bed



He has also discovered the bed features an inscription from the Matthew Bible of 1537 - reading: 'The stinge of death is sinne. The strength of sinne is the lawe' - which was added after 1547, when England had a Protestant monarch.

Meanwhile, a Victorian furniture restorer's diary has suggested that the bed was at Lathom when it was damaged during a siege in 1644.

Mr Foyle said he had proved that the item was not the work of Victorian revivalists by reflecting on the Tudors' belief that they had been chosen by God to save England from civil war.



Proof? Jonathan Foyle, chief executive of World Monuments Fund Britain, has been trying to prove the artefact's historical roots since 2010. He said it was not made by Victorian revivalists because the headboard showed Adam (Henry VII) and Eve (his wife) transmuted into Christ

Important rediscovery: Mr Foyle's views are backed by other experts, such as Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, who deems the rediscovery 'exceptionally important'

He said the headboard showed Henry VII and his bride as Adam and Eve transmuted into Christ - adding: 'It's arguably the cradle of the English Reformation.

'Look how the king and queen represent themselves as manifestations of Christ and Mary; it's Henry VIII's God complex in a nutshell.'

And Mr Foyle is backed by other experts, such as Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, who deems the rediscovery 'exceptionally important'.



Portrayal: Under Henry VIII's reign, England split from Rome and the Royal Navy built up a fleet of about 50 ships. Above Henry VIII (Daniel Flynn) and Anne Boleyn (Tara Breathnach) in The Last Days of Anne Boleyn

Mighty: Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and Catherine Parr/Lady Latimer (Joley Richardson) in The Tudors



The bed is not the only historical royal artefact to have been discovered abandoned or hidden in England.

Last year, the battle-scarred skeleton of Richard III was discovered by archaeologists in a car park in Leicester.

And earlier this year, explorers found a piece of a pelvis that could belong to Alfred the Great in the grounds of Hyde Abbey in Winchester.

Finding: Last year, the skull (left) and bones of Richard III (right) were discovered in a car park in Leicester

Meanwhile, last December, archaeologists uncovered a site in the Amazonian jungle believed to be the tomb of Atahualpa, the last emporer of the Incas.



The bed will be on display at Auckland Castle in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, later this month.









