Berkeley Castle

Berkeley Castle is one of England's most intact Norman fortifications, founded in 1067 shortly after the Conquest and owned continuously by the Berkeley family ever since — a rare unbroken lineage spanning nearly a thousand years. Its darkest chapter is inseparable from English royal history: King Edward II was imprisoned and murdered here in 1327, and the cell where he is said to have met his end remains visitable, with original stonework and medieval graffiti still intact. The King's Gallery, great hall, and Norman chapel are open to visitors in largely unaltered condition. Surrounding the fortress are formal gardens and a walled rose garden that contrast sharply with the castle's forbidding interior. Listed as a Grade I structure, it rewards visitors interested in Plantagenet history, Norman architecture, and the occasional ghost story attached to the castle's medieval dungeons.