Berkeley, a small town and a parish In Gloucestershire. The town stands on a pleasant eminence in the Vale of Berkeley, on the Little Avon river, about 2 miles from the Severn, 7 1/2 NNE of Thornbury, 15 SSW of Gloucester, and 114 from London. It has a station 1/2 mile from the town on the Midland branch railway, and is about 2 1/2- miles from the Berkeley Road station on the M.R. It was a place of importance in the times of the Saxons, and figured in Domesday as a royal domain and a free borough. The hundred connected with it, which is one of the largest in the kingdom, was given by William the Conqueror to his follower, Roger de Berkeley; was forfeited by that gentleman's grandson for his adherence to King Stephen; and given by Henry II. to Robert Fitz-Hardinge, governor of Bristol, who assumed the title of Baron de Berkeley. The town consists principally of four streets; contains a town hall with reading-room and library a market-house, a church, a Congregational and a Wesleyan chapel a large public school, known as Fitz-Hardinge's school, a cottage hospital, and a police station; has a head post office; and is a seat of petty sessions and a polling place. The church, which was restored in 1866 by Sir Gilbert Scott, is mainly Early English, with some remains of the earlier Norman edifice. It is a spacious structure, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, north and south porch, and a detached embattled tower 90 feet high (re-erected in 1760). Attached to the chancel is a fine mortuary chapel, erected by the sixth Lord Berkeley in 1450, containing several monuments to the Berkeley family. In the church is an altar-tomb with alabaster effigies of Thomas, third Lord Berkeley, and his wife. There is a beautifully carved stone rood-screen, and the stained east window is in memory of Dr Jenner, who is buried in the chancel. There is a district church at Purton, erected in 1874, an iron church at Breadstone, and mission churches at Newport and Wick. A cemetery at the north end of the town was opened in 1866, and is under the management of a burial board. A market is held on the first Wednesday of every month except May and Dec., and fairs on 14 May and second Monday in Dec. Trade is carried on in coal, timber, and cheese, and is facilitated by the vicinity of the Severn and the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal. Dr Jenner, who introduced the practice of vaccination, was a native. The parish contains also the tithings of Hamfallow, Hinton, Breadstone, Alkington, and Ham, and the chapelry of Stone. Area, 57 acres; population of the civil parish, 890; of the ecclesiastical, 5045. Great portion of the surface is rich dairy land.
Berkeley Castle, close to the SE side of the town, was founded soon after the Conquest by Roger de Berkeley; was enlarged and fortified by Robert Fitz-Hardinge, whose son Maurice married the daughter of Roger, and, with the exception of one period of 60 years, it has remained in the hands of the Fitz-Hardinge family to the present day. It was the scene of the murder of Edward II., and it sustained a siege of nine days in 1645 from the Parliamentarian forces, but was obliged to surrender. It was, however, restored to Lord Berkeley on condition that it was rendered incapable of defence. A small apartment, called King Edward's room, now lit with windows, but then lit only from arrow-slits, is shown as the place where Edward II. was murdered. It is one of the few old baronial castles still inhabited. The outhne of the castle is irregular. The entrance is under a massive arch adorned with rich Norman carvings. The most ancient part of the castle is the Keep, which is almost circular in form, with round projecting turrets. Separated from it by a courtyard are the later buildings, surrounding an inner court about 140 yards in circumference. The Hall, erected in the time of Edward III., in the centre of the SE side of the quadrangle, is a noble apartment, 61 feet long, 32 wide, and 32 1/2 high. The Chapel, probably of the same date as the Hall, adjoins it. The state rooms are in the SW side, and contain numerous family portraits, paintings by Lely, Vandyck, da Vinci, Holbein, and others, many trinkets and articles belonging to Queen Elizabeth, and the cabin furniture of Sir Francis Drake. The historical portion of the castle is open to the public on Tuesdays and Fridays. The fourteenth Lord Berkeley was created Earl of Berkeley in 1679, but the title became extinct in 1810. The present title, Baron Fitz-Hardinge, is a creation of 1861. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol, net value, £322 with residence. Patron, Lord Fitz-Hardinge. The vicarage of Stone is a separate charge.
