Qualla: Berkeley Castle

Berkeley Castle: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Linda Bailey, CC BY-SA 2.0. The screams carried beyond the castle walls. According to Holinshed's Chronicles, the people of Berkeley town heard King Edward II cry out in the night as his murderers went about their work in September 1327. They prayed for his soul, understanding from the sound what was happening. Nearly seven centuries later, visitors to Berkeley Castle can still stand in the small chamber where the king is said to have been held, and where one of the most notorious murders in English history took place. The castle has belonged to the same family, more or less continuously, for almost nine hundred years, and it wears its dark history without apology.

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Image: Linda Bailey | CC BY-SA 2.0

Berkeley Castle: A Norman Stronghold

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit David Stowell, CC BY-SA 2.0. The first castle at Berkeley was a motte-and-bailey fortification built around 1067 by William FitzOsbern, one of William the Conqueror's closest companions, shortly after the Norman invasion. It was positioned to command the low-lying country between the Cotswold escarpment and ...

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Image: David Stowell | CC BY-SA 2.0

Berkeley Castle: The Murder of a King

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MostlyDross, CC BY 2.0. In 1327, the deposed Edward II was placed in the custody of Thomas de Berkeley and his brother-in-law Roger Mortimer, who had engineered the king's removal from power. Edward was imprisoned at Berkeley Castle, and on 21 September he was killed. The method described by later chron...

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Image: MostlyDross | CC BY 2.0

Berkeley Castle: Royal Visits and Civil War

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Berkeley Castle's history extends far beyond its most infamous episode. Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn visited in August 1535. Elizabeth I came later in the century and played bowls on the castle's bowling green. A dispute over the castle's ownership between the Berkeley and Talbot f...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Berkeley Castle: Living History

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Neil Owen, CC BY-SA 2.0. What distinguishes Berkeley from most English castles is continuity. It contains an antique four-poster bed identified as the piece of furniture remaining longest in continuous use by the same family in Britain. The Great Hall still serves as a living room. The Chapel of St Mary,...

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Image: Neil Owen | CC BY-SA 2.0