article: A four-poster bed which was dumped in a hotel car park and sold for £2,200 has been verified as once belonging to King Henry VII – and it could now be worth millions. The intricately-carved ornate bed was left in the car park of the former Redland House Hotel in Hough Green, Chester, by builders who were renovating the property. Oblivious to its true value and historical significance, the construction workers dismantled the piece of oak wood furniture and left it to be picked up by auctioneers. The four-poster oak wood bed (above), which was dumped in the car park of Redland House Hotel in Chester and later sold at auction for £2,200, has now been confirmed by DNA as once belonging to King Henry VII . The intricately-carved bed was left in the car park of the former hotel by builders who were renovating the property and, oblivious to its true value and historical significance,  left it to be picked up by auctioneers . It was snapped up for £2,200 in 2010 by Ian Coulson, a four-poster bed specialist from Northumberland who spotted the item, which was listed as 19th-century gothic revival, on the internet. However, he was shocked when his new 'Victorian' purchase arrived and approached TV historian Jonathan Foyle with a suspicion that the bed was, in fact, the only surviving Tudor bed. Since then, Mr Foyle has spent years trying to prove the artefact's historical roots and has now revealed that DNA testing on the bed's timber proved it once belonged to King Henry VII. He said tests confirmed it was European oak and of a sub-species 'typical of the origin of the finest, slow-grown oak imported by the medieval elites', with analysis of the historic paintwork proving its age. 'Under the varnish, traces of late medieval decoration have been found,' he said. He has traced it back to 1495, when Henry VII went to Lathom in Lancashire to see the Stanley family, who had helped him to victory in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Mr Foyle said DNA from the bed's timber proved it once belonged to King Henry VII (pictured) and he traced it back to 1495, when Henry VII went to Lathom in Lancashire.  Henry VIII may have been conceived in the bed . The bed was snapped up by Ian Coulson, a four-poster bed specialist from Northumberland, for £2,200 in 2010 after it was dumped in the car park of the former Redland House Hotel in Hough Green, Chester (above) TV historian Jonathan Foyle has spent years trying to prove the artefact's historical roots and has now revealed that DNA testing on the bed's timber proved the medieval furniture once belonged to King Henry VII . He also discovered that 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. The carving also features biblical scenes of Henry and his wife Elizabeth of York styled as Adam and Eve, and as Jesus Christ and his mother, the Virgin Mary and the figures are accompanied by medieval symbols of fertility, such as acorns, bunches of grapes and strawberries. Meanwhile, scribblings in a Victorian furniture restorer's diary 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. 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 . The bed also features carvings of biblical scenes of Henry and his wife Elizabeth of York styled as Adam and Eve, and as Jesus Christ and his mother, the Virgin Mary and the figures of medieval symbols of fertility . 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. Henry VIII may have been conceived in bed . The carved four-poster bed, which has been revealed as Henry VIIs, was reportedly created for the marriage of the first Tudor King and his wife, Elizabeth of York, on January 18, 1486. 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. 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 Protestantism and split from Rome, the Royal Navy built up a fleet of about 50 ships 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. 'Look how the king and queen represent themselves as manifestations of Christ and Mary; it's Henry VIII's God complex in a nutshell.' Dr Foyle described the 15th Century artefact, which is considered one of the most valuable pieces of historical furniture in England, as 'a complete national treasure'. He added: 'Evidence suggests the bed was made for the Painted Chamber of Westminster Palace for the marriage ceremony at Westminster Abbey on January 18, 1486.' Mr Foyle is backed by other experts, such as Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, who described the rediscovery as 'exceptionally important'. The medieval bed is now reportedly worth up to £20million, although it is currently not up for sale and is instead on public display. It is part of the 'A Bed of Roses' exhibition at the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, at Hever Castle in Kent which also features a portrait of Henry VIII as a young man. The bed is not the only historical royal artefact to have been discovered abandoned or hidden in England. In 2013, the battle-scarred skeleton of Richard III was discovered by archaeologists in a car park in Leicester. Meanwhile, in December of the same year, archaeologists uncovered a site in the Amazonian jungle believed to be the tomb of Atahualpa, the last emporer of the Incas. And last year, explorers found a piece of a pelvis that could belong to Alfred the Great in the grounds of Hyde Abbey in Winchester. Henry VII's four-poster bed will remain on display in the Long Gallery at Hever Castle in Kent until November 22.
highlights: Four-poster bed dumped in a hotel car park and sold at auction for £2,200 .
  Owner suspected it had historic value and experts have been investigating .
  Historian now claims DNA from the timber proves it belonged to Henry VII .
  Ornate bed, now on display, was made for King and wife Elizabeth of York .
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