Beverstone Castle

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Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

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Berkeley Tower, Beverstone
Beverstone Castle Buildings
Beverstone Castle Gateway
Beverstone in the 18th Century
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Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

Site Name: Beverstone Castle
Location: Beverstone
County: Gloucestershire
Location Type: Town - in town at determined location

Overview

2 m W of Tetbury, in Beverstone village.

A fortified manor house, roughly pentagonal, with an imposing round tower and a twin tower gatehouse.

The courtyard was entered by a gateway built over the inner moat and defended by two towers. The banqueting hall joined the main tower.

Current Status

Beverstone Castle is privately owned. Not accessible to the public.

History of the Venue

ca. 1220 Beverstone Castle built by Maurice de Ware, without license. Licence was granted subsequently, in 1225.

1330--1361 The castle was reconstructed and enlarged by Thomas, 3rd Baron Berkeley, including the addition of a gatehouse, a large square corner tower at the SW corner and several smaller ones. These were connected by a curtain (at least on the W side) containing a chapel, oratory, galleries and other assorted rooms. A large banqueting hall took up almost all of the S side.

The Castle was inherited by Sir John Berkeley, Baron Berkeley's son by his second marriage.

1597 John Berkeley (d 1621--2) sold the Castle.

1644 The Castle was besieged and badly damaged.

1691 Domestic range remodelled after a fire; built on the site of the fomer Great Hall, incorporating some original walls. This is the modern residence.

Patrons who owned this venue

Name Dates Titles
Berkeley, Maurice 1397-1460 Knight

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Atkyns, Sir Robert. The Ancient and Present State of Glostershire. London: W. Bowyer, 1712.
  • Bromehead, J. Nowill. Beverstone, its church and its castle with notes on Chavenage. London: Phillimore & Co., 1905.
  • Emery, Anthony. Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300–1500. 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996–2006.
  • Grose, Francis. The Antiquities of England and Wales. 8 vols. London: Hooper & Wigstead, 1785.
  • Hodges, E. Some Ancient English Homes and Their Associations: Personal, Archaeological & Historic. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1895.
  • Hussey, Christopher. 'Beverston Castle, Gloucestershire–The Home of Vice-Admiral the Hon. Arthur and Mrs. Strutt.' Country Life 95 (1944): 288–91, 332–5.
  • Kingsley, Nicholas. The Country Houses of Gloucestershire. 3. Cheltenham: Nicholas Kingsley, 1989.
  • Little, Bryan. 'The Story of Beverstone Castle, the Historic Home of Major and Mrs. Laurence Rook.' Gloucestershire Countryside August-September 1963: 24–27.
  • Mackenzie, James D. The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure. 2 vols. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1896.
  • Playne, G.F. 'Notes on Beverstone Castle.' Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club 6 (1877): 16–19.
  • Rudder, Samuel. A New History of Gloucestershire . Cirencester: Samuel Rudder, 1779.
  • Turner, Thomas Hudson, and John Henry Parker. Some Account of Domestic Architecture in England, from Richard II. to Henry VIII. 3 vols (vol 3 in 2 pts). Oxford: John Henry and James Parker, 1851–9.
  • Verey, David, and Alan Brooks. Gloucestershire. The Buildings of England. 2 vols. London: Penguin Books, 1999–2002.
  • Waller, F.W. 'Beverstone Church and Castle, and Malmesbury Abbey.' Proceedings of the Cotteswold Naturalists Field Club 12 (1897): 249–63.