Berkeley Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Sharpness; Ness; Betthone; Berkelai; Barkley

In the civil parish of Berkeley.
In the historic county of Gloucestershire (Modern Authority of Gloucestershire, 1974 county of Gloucestershire).

Castle keep, with curtain wall and inner bailey. Late Cll, altered mid C12 and mid C14. Original circular keep to north west begun c1067 by FitzOsborn, Earl of Hereford, with base of shell keep remaining of this period. Shell keep enlarged 1153, Curtain wall to east and south built 1160-90, including walls of Great Hall, and altered to south west in C14. The whole castle is in an original and good state of preservation and retains most original features down to doors, arrow slits and windows, iron catches etc. Interior completely remodelled 1340-50 by Thomas, Lord Berkeley, although the work of this period only survives in the inner bailey. Remained largely unaltered until 1920s when 8th Earl of Berkeley modernised and altered the interior and installed many artifacts from elsewhere, for example fireplaces, stained glass. Local pink, grey and yellow Severn sandstone, roofs mainly in Cotswold stone slate or lead, scattered ashlar flues, singly and in groups, cylindrical or polygonal. Scattered fenestration, mostly stone mullion and transoms, some latticed. Keep retains cell said to have been site of murder of Edward II in 1327, and semi-circular dungeon about llm deep. Wall breached to north west in 1645 during siege by Cromwell's troops. A document of 1153 is basically a promise by Henry II to Robert fitzHarding to build him a castle. Not, in a meaningful sense, a licence to crenellate although has been called this by some. Recent excavations, in the castle gardens, have recorded a substantial ditch containing numerous shards of late saxon pottery.

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle
Masonry Castle.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

A supposed Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1153.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST685989

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 201626

• Web site links
  • http://www.berkeley-castle.com/
    http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/castles/berkeley%20castle.htm
    http://www.britannia.com/history/castles/berkeley.html
    http://www.touruk.co.uk/castles/castle_berkeley.htm
• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p58-67 [plans]
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Gloucestershire and Bristol (Malvern) p10-15
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p77-8
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p180
    Verey, David, 1980, Buildings of England - Gloucestershire: the Vale and Forest of Dean
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p187
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1975, The history of the King's Works Vol3: 1485-1660 (part 1) p232-3
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p66
    Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p84-8
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p103-5
    Evans, Herbert A., 1912, Castles of England and Wales (London) p151-60
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Bazeley, 1911, in Ditchfield, Mem. Old Gloucestershire (London) p77-87
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p368-72
    Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol1 p228-39
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p457-60
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p253-6
    Lysons, 1803, Ant. Gloucestershire (London) plates CI-CV
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol1 p97
• Journal Articles
  • Prior, Stuart, Forthcoming (probable 2007), 'Anglo-Saxon Remains in the Butterfly Garden at Berkley Castle, Gloucestershire' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society
    Coulson, C., 1994, 'Freedom to Crenellate by Licence - An Historiographical Revision' Nottingham Medieval Studies Vol38 p104n50
    Harfield, C.G., 1991, 'A Hand-list of Castles Recorded in the Domesday Book' English Historical Review Vol106
    Walker, D., 1991, 'Gloucestershire Castles' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol109 p5-23
    Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p312, 314
    Rawes, B., 1977, 'A Check List of Castles and other Fortified Sites of Medieval Date in Gloucestershire' Glevensis Vol11 p39-41
    Faulkner, P., 1965, Archaeological Journal Vol122 p197-200
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p249-280]
    Hussey, C., 1955, Country Life Vol118 p1430-3
    Smith, W.J., 1952, 'The Rise of the Berkeleys: An Account of the Berkeleys of Berkeley Castle, 1243-1361. Part II: (i) The Berkeley Lands, (ii) The Berkeleys as Local Magnates' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol71 p101-121
    Earl Berkeley, 1938, 'Excavations at Berkeley Castle' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol60 p308-39
    Hussey, C., 1932 June, Country Life Vol71 p626-33, 668-74, 694-700
    1930, Archaeological Journal Vol87 p452
    Earl Berkeley, 1927, 'Paper on Berkeley castle' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol49 p183-93 [a critical riposte and correction of Baddeley'sarticle]
    Baddeley, W. St. Clair, 1926, 'Berkeley Castle' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol48 p133-79
    Baddeley, W. St. Clair, 1916, Country Life Vol40 p126-32, 154-60
    Armitage, E., 1904 April, 'The Early Norman Castles of England' The English Historical Review Vol74 p214-6
    1904, Country Life Vol15 p126-35
    Clark, G. T., 1876, 'Berkeley Castle' Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society Vol1 p115-146 [Reprinted in MMA]
    W.D., 1873, The Antiquary Vol3 p157-60
• Guidebooks
  • Sackville West, V., 1997, Berkeley Castle; Great Houses Series (Heritage House Group)
    Sackville West, V., 1990, Berkeley Castle; An Illustrated Survey (English Life Publications)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum Vol3 p117
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/gloceng.html#gloc9]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p186
    Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol5 p101