With all that history, how could we resist viewing this castle. Visiting times are limited for this castle as it is still occupied by the family today, but we coordinated a viewing onto our schedules and off we went.
When we first entered the gate, it wasn't the castle itself that caught our attention but instead the view over the countryside and gardens.
David found a place to rest and read through the visitor's guide while Lisa and I took photos
And then we decided to get on with our tour of this historic castle.
As we entered the courtyard the blend of old and new intrigued us. Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed inside.
Once inside we caught up with a tour that was already started and got to hear interesting stories about the Castle itself.
For example, at one point the owner of the castle failed to produce any male heirs and that would mean that upon his death the castle would go to his brother. However the gentleman did not like his sister-in-law so he bequeathed the castle to the care of the Crown and it became a Royal castle for a time. Eventually the Crown let the family have it back but not during the lifetime of the brother.
Berkeley has on display a bedspread that once belonged to Queen Elizabeth. The story goes that the Berkeleys had already hosted Her Majesty on one occasion and found, as most households had, that it was very difficult to host for her as she had expensive tastes and expected to be entertained at every moment of her visit. The Berkeleys, hearing that she was travelling the countryside and might stop by their humble abode for a time, opted to hide in the nearby village hoping that when Her Majesty stopped and found no one home that she would proceed on and they would be spared. That however was not to be. As Her Majesty came upon their lands, she saw their herd of deer and decided to do some hunting while she waited for their return. So she settled herself in as if she owned the place (of course at one time the Crown did own the place) and set about her hunt. When word reached the Berkeleys that she had killed 27 deer in just the first day, they decided to "return" to their home in the hopes that she might leave them some deer for the rest of the year. She was outraged that they had hidden from them and left in haste (either in her outrage, or because she had been called quickly back to court - the story differs here) and in her haste she left behind the bedspread. The Berkeleys kept it as a form of "payment" for all their deer. No sooner had she left then they moved the deer to another portion of the land further from the view of road and castle so as to avoid the incident happening again. You can still view the Berkeley herd of deer in their new deer park today.
The Berkeley kitchen had one of the innovative designs for spit turning in that it used the heat of the fire as it went up the flue to turn the spit to lighten the load on the kitchen staff.
In a sitting room upstairs there are beautifully upholstered chairs and couch. These were embroidered by the Lady of the House a few hundred years ago. The embroidery bears her coat of arms in combination with the Berkeley coat of arms and it is rumored that it took her 15 years to complete the task.
These and many more stories were to be found in Berkeley Castle. We enjoyed our stay VERY much.
For a full viewing of pictures taken at this castle, review the slideshow below:
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