Berkeley Castle

The Castle is one of the March Castles, built to keep out the Welsh.

It has all the trappings to match: trip steps designed to make the enemy stumble during an assault, arrow slits, murder holes, enormous barred doors, slots where the portcullis once fell, and worn stones where sentries stood guard.

It is also a fairytale Castle with its warm pink stone that glows in soft sunset light. Outside, the battlements drop some 60' to the Great Lawn below; but inside the Inner Courtyard, the building is on a human scale, with uneven battlements, small towers, doors and windows of every shape and size. The surrounding land would have been flooded for defence.  The most remarkable thing about the Castle is that for nine centuries, the building, the Berkeley family, the archives (which go back to the 12th Century), the contents, the estate and the town have all survived together.  

The Estate consists of 6,000 acres, and includes one of the best examples of a mediaeval deer park in the country, 18 tenant farms, a stretch of the River Severn and the land on which the famous Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge is situated.  Berkeley town itself goes back in time as far as the Castle, and evidence suggests that there was a large Saxon settlement and possibly, a Roman Temple.

The castle is open from Sunday to Wednesday each week from the last week in March until the end of October.  The Castle is always closed on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays for private events, with the exception of Easter weekend when we are also open on Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

The Butterfly House is open Sunday to Wednesday inclusive from May to September

Stories - Did You Know Berkeley Has Connections With the Following?

• Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream was written for a Berkeley family wedding.
• The murder of King Edward II notoriously took place here in 1327.
• The Barons of the West gathered at Berkeley before setting out to the momentous meeting with King John at Runnymede at which the Magna Carta was signed.
• During the English Civil War, the Royalists surrendered the Castle to the Parliamentarians after a siege.
• The very first American Thanksgiving was held by Berkeley men.
• Yale and the University of California both benefited from the legacy of Bishop George Berkeley of Cloyne in the 18th Century.
• The battles of Agincourt , Crecy , Poitiers , Flodden , Culloden, and many more.
• Edward Jenner, the son of the vicar of the town of Berkeley, developed the smallpox vaccination.
• The last court jester in England died here in the Castle when he tumbled from the minstrel's gallery in the Great Hall (did he fall, or was he pushed?).
• The Castle has many links with the monarchs of England: most notably King John, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, Charles I, George I, the Prince Regent - to name but a few.
• Francis Drake, Queen Elizabeth's most famous sea captain, was a regular visitor to Berkeley.