Who owns berkeley castle

Emery, A Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Johnson, P Bloomsbury, London.

Prior, S Tempus, London. Salter, M The Castles of Gloucestershire and Bristol. Folly Publications, Malvern. Sewell, R. C Williams, A and Martin, G. Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. Viking, London. Berkeley Castle has been transformed into a stately home but elements of the medieval fortification survive including the circular Keep.

Furthermore the castle's layout still largely reflects its original plan. Berkeley Castle Layout. The castle was originally a small earth and timber motte-and-bailey fortification and has retained the footprint of this original structure ever since. The Keep was built around the motte in whilst the ranges around the bailey were added and re-developed in the centuries that followed.

The shell keep was built in around the motte of the original eleventh century castle a similar feature can be seen at Fareham Castle in Surrey. The breach was created by Parliamentary troops in and was never repaired for that was a pre-condition of the castle being returned to the Berkeley family after the war. Berkeley Castle. The Berkeley family did not achieve the same national prominence as contemporary families and this is reflected in the castle.

For example note the lacklustre gatehouse seen right which was little more than an archway embedded within the range. Norman Arch. The Norman arch to the Keep. Edward II. The King was held at the castle between April and September allegedly in the room shown above. Berkeley Castle is found to the south of the town off Canonbury Street.

It is major tourist attraction and well sign-posted. There is a dedicated car park on-site. About Us. Still useful in many circumstances but disadvantages include 1 Inheritance Tax applies if donee dies within 7 years 2 Most discretionary trusts are subject to their own inheritance tax every 10 years plus exit charge for property leaving at other times 3 Usually results in some loss of control of the assets entrusted.

Thus if the donee is in occupation of a donated house gift post within seven years of his death, then the gift is deemed to form part of his estate, both his estate and the donee being jointly liable to the tax. Thus there are many circumstances, apart from stupidity, for which trusts and other tax planning is not practical.

From the Berkeley Castle Guidebook: "We may now pass on to Frederick Augustus, the 5th Earl, on whose death in some trouble arose over a question of legitimacy involving the succession to the title, and culminated in the notorious Berkeley Peerage Case, which was brought before the House of Lords in To put it briefly, the 5th Earl had fallen in love with a certain Mary Cole, daughter of a Gloucestershire tradesman, and the whole dispute hinged on whether a secret marriage had taken place, as the Earl alleged, in , some ten or twelve years earlier than the official marriage in Were the older sons legitimate or not, or must they give way to their younger brothers, born after the official marriage?

The case was decided against them, so William the eldest son of the doubtful marriage couldn't inherit the title. He did, however, inherit the Castle, and by way of compensation mainly because of his political influence, was created Lord FitzHardinge in his own right in , the earldom of Berkeley passing to the eldest legitimate son and subsequently by collateral branches of the family to the sixth, seventh and eigth Earls of Berkeley.

Charles dying without children in , the Castle and the Berkeley earldom became re-united in tail male in the person of the eigth Earl of Berkeley, a distinguished scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society. He died in Berkeley, is a lineal descendant in the twenty-fourth generation of old Robert FitzHarding to whom the Castle was granted in by Henry II. After "Randal Mowbray [Berkeley] 8th Earl dsp" the next red type name is "Robert George Wilmot [Berkeley] ", his thirteenth cousin - they each being 14 generations removed from James, 1st Baron Berkeley and Isabel Mowbray.

Whether the entail was legally in effect in , or whether as you suggested it was agreed within the family to leave the Castle to male line descendants Can you imagine having to track down a thirteenth cousin! Perhaps newspapers of the time with the War raging, a noble inheritance was not top priority, though Gloucestershire papers might have paid attention could shed some light. Or I can ask the next time I pay a visit to the Castle, as I definitely wish to return to it!

That seems to settle it. The noble earl broke the entail, if such existed, at that point and no-one challenged him on it. He wrote a will and the castle passed to the beneficiary of the will. As William marquess of Berkeley surrendered the castle to the crown, effective on his death in And living a bit closer, I really must get round to visiting it too!

Doubtless the guy's will would help. The problem to me would have been to find someone with enough funds to run the estate and with the time and inclination to do just that. Genetically the remarkable thing is that long line of Berkeleys. Most landowners married heiresses along the line, bringing with it a probable genetic tendency not to breed males so that the male line expired. Thanks for those details, Adrian.

Creeping Communism to be sure. Damn, I'm happy to be an American -- and this helps me better to understand why so many of my sterling, superior, top-drawer British friends have chosen to live in the U. Cheers, D. Kingswood Abbey Gatehouse - 5. More self catering near Berkeley Castle. More Hotels near Berkeley Castle. More bed and breakfasts near Berkeley Castle. Sudeley Castle Historic House. Deerhurst Priory Saxon church Historic Church.

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Toggle navigation. Best of Britain. The inner courtyard of Berkeley Castle. A cannon guards the castle entrance. Edward II's cell. The castle garden terrace and grounds. Sir Francis Drake's chest. More Photos. The Stable, Berkeley - 1.

Rodley Manor Retreat, Bloemuns, Lydney - 4. Royal Lodge - Nibley House - 3.