Berkley Castle in Gloucestershire

Another weekend, another castle – starting to see a theme? But no joke, I really really like castles and during my weekend in the Cotswolds where I celebrated one year in England.   You may recall seeing the post about Torthworth Court, the beautiful estate where we stayed, or about our afternoon Biking in the Costwolds.  Well, that same weekend on Sunday we took a detour on our way back to London to visit Berkeley Castle. 

Located in Gloucestershire, Berkeley Castle dates back to the 11th Century and it makes my Medieval History inner dork happy to know that it was once owned by the Tudors and that a King was murdered there (King Edward II in 1327) – so much history.   While being a very old building it was recently restored in 2006 back to near it’s original state and is the third oldest continuously occupied castle in England after the royal fortresses of the Tower of London and Windsor Castle.  Okay, that’s enough with the history, let’s get into the castle. 

We did not know this but they have events nearly every weekend and we arrived half an hour before the falconry demonstration.  Deciding to tour the castle instead of staying to watch meant we had almost the entire building to ourselves and still got glimpses of the birds flying in the grounds from the castle windows. 

I loved the juxtaposition inside the castle of new versus old – clean white walls and modern lighting with the contrast of the original furniture and dark wooden beams.  There was also a fun game for children where they were supposed to find the miniature dragon made of copper wire in every room – turns out it is fun for adults and children alike.  From there we spent some time exploring the grounds before heading back to London! 

Would you want to visit Berkeley Castle?