Beverston Castle, also known as Beverstone Castle or Tetbury Castle, was constructed as a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

stone

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

in the village of

Beverston Beverston is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 132, decreasing to 129 at the 2011 census. The village is about two miles west of Tetbury. Beverst ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The property is a mix of manor house, various small buildings, extensive gardens and the medieval ruins of the fortified building. The

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

was founded in 1229 by Maurice de Gaunt. Much of the castle remained in a state of ruin according to a 2019 report, and had been uninhabitable since the 17th century. Several buildings on the 693-acre property, including five cottages and the 17th century house with seven bedrooms, were in use as residences, however.

Description

The original castle was laid out in pentagonal plan. In the early

14th century The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCCI) to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Euro ...

, a small quadrangular stronghold was added, along with a twin-towered

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

. Beverston Castle is situated approximately three kilometres west of the town of

Tetbury Tetbury is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish inside the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon monastery was found ...

and about two kilometres east of the medieval

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

annex, Calcot Manor. The castle is in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

, a designated AONB (

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...

History

Early

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

remains have been found nearby, at Calcot Manor, indicating habitation of this area as early as the

5th century The 5th century is the time period from AD 401 (represented by the Roman numerals CDI) through AD 500 (D) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The 5th century is noted for being a period of migration and political instability throughout Eurasia. ...

, although it is likely that earlier

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

peoples would have also been in this locale. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

it was called Beverstane, and in medieval times the site was known as Beverstone. Another early name for this site was Bureston, derived from the large number of blue stones found here. The site was the location of an important battle circa 1140 AD between the opposing English armies of King Stephen and

Empress Matilda Empress Matilda (10 September 1167), also known as Empress Maud, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter and heir of Henry I, king of England and ruler of Normandy, she went to ...

during

The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Duchy of Normandy, Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adel ...

. The

feudal barony A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely bee ...

of Beverston was founded by

Robert Fitzharding Robert Fitzharding (c. 1095–1170) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman from Bristol who was granted the feudal barony of Berkeley in Gloucestershire. He rebuilt Berkeley Castle, and founded the Berkeley family which still occupies it today. He was a ...

(c. 1095–1170), an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

nobleman who was also granted the feudal barony of

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

in Gloucestershire. He rebuilt

Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelled as ''Berkley Castle'' or ''Barkley Castle'') is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England. The castle's origins date back to the 11th century, being designated by English ...

, and founded the

Berkeley family The Berkeley family is an English family. It is one of five families in Britain that can trace its patrilineal descent back to an Anglo-Saxon ancestor (the other four being the Arden family, the Swinton family, the Wentworth family, and the ...

which still occupies it today. He granted his subsidiary barony of Beverston, with its castle, to his third son Robert FitzRobert Fitzharding (d.1194), who adopted the surname "de Gaunt" and who by his second wife Avice had a son and heir Maurice de Gaunt (1184-1230) who died without issue. Whilst Robert Fitzharding, the patriarch of the Berkeley family, founded St Augustine's Abbey in Bristol (now Bristol Cathedral), the de Gaunts founded " The Gaunts' Chapel" (now called "St Mark's Church" or "The Mayor's Chapel") opposite it, across what is today College Green. The crossed-legged effigies supposed to represent Maurice de Gaunt and his father, survive in the Gaunts' Chapel, together with two monuments to later members of the Berkeley family of Stoke Gifford, Gloucestershire (a junior branch descended from Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley, 7th feudal baron of Berkeley (1271–1326), ''Maurice the Magnanimous'' of Berkeley Castle). In 1225 Maurice de Gaunt built a fortified manor house at Beverston without a royal licence, and was subsequently granted by the king a

licence to crenellate In medieval England, Wales and the Channel Islands a licence to crenellate (or licence to fortify) granted the holder permission to fortify his property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of the counties palatine within the ...

. On 29 July 1229, King Henry III signed a document allowing the castle to stand and remain for ever. Maurice de Gaunt was also known as Maurice de Ghent or de Gant, and as Maurice Paynel; Beverston was called Beverestan in the July 1229 document which was written in Latin. On the death of Maurice de Gaunt in 1230 without issue, his heir to the feudal barony of Beverston was Robert de Gournay (d.1269), the son of his half-sister Eve de Gaunt by her husband Anselm de Gournay.Sanders, p.14 In 1235 the manors of Beverston, Elberton and King's Weston were held by Robert de Gournay, as a tenant-in-chief of the king, for the service of one knight's fee. The last in the male line was John de Gournay (d.1291) who left a daughter and heiress Elizabeth de Gournay. At about this time Beverston passed back to the senior line of the Berkeley family and was granted (with extensive other estates) by Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley, 8th feudal baron of Berkeley (1293/6–1361) ''Thomas the Rich'' to his 4th son Sir John Berkeley (1352-1428), founder of the Beverston line of that family. This early castle was fortified by a T-shaped ditch, part of which is still intact in the survival of a partial

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

on the south side of the castle. In 1330 the castle was extensively remodeled by

Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley Thomas de Berkeley (c. 1293 or 1296 – 27 October 1361), known as ''The Rich'', English feudal barony, feudal baron of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, England, was a Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. His epithet, and that of ...

(''Thomas the Rich''), who erected a small quadrangular stronghold, with a twin-towered

. A smaller square tower was added in the late

15th century The 15th century was the century which spans the Julian calendar dates from 1 January 1401 (represented by the Roman numerals MCDI) to 31 December 1500 (MD). In Europe, the 15th century includes parts of the Late Middle Ages, the Early Re ...

. At an unspecified later date, an adjoining house was added, using parts of the original structure. The woollen industry was central to the medieval economy of the Cotswolds, and in 1336, according to former

R A Lister and Company R A Lister & Company was founded in Dursley, Gloucestershire, England, in 1867 by Robert Ashton Lister, Sir Robert Ashton Lister (1845–1929), to produce agricultural machinery. In 1986 it was bought and merged. In 2014, after 147 years, res ...

employee A S Bullock, 5000 Cotswold sheep were shorn in the courtyard of Beverston Castle, which he thought might have been a record. The castle was remodelled in 1348–1349, the second phase of a renovation that began in the 1330s. In 1555 Beverston Castle was the residence of Sir John Berkeley and his wife Frances Poyntz, in which year was born their daughter

Joanne Berkeley Joanne Berkeley (1555 or 1556 – 2 August 1616) was an English abbess of the Convent of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, Brussels which was established by and for English Catholic women. Life Berkeley was born in Beverston Castle in Gloucest ...

, Abbess of the Convent of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady in Brussels. At the end of the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

, Sir Michael Hicks (son of Robert Hicks, a merchant of London and Bristol, and Julia Arthur) bought Beverston Castle and passed the Beverston holding to his son

Sir William Hicks, 1st Baronet Sir William Hicks, 1st Baronet (1596 – 9 October 1680), of Beverston, in Gloucestershire, and of Ruckholt, at Leyton in Essex, was an English Member of Parliament. Early life William Hicks was born in 1596. He was the son of the wealthy courti ...

. The estate remained in the Hicks family through to at least the early 19th century. As a result of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

(mid-seventeenth century), much of Beverston Castle was destroyed. Roundhead forces attacked the castle twice during the War, but the greatest damage was from an order from Parliament to slight its defensive works. The two major attacks occurred in 1644 and in 1691. The western and southern ranges along with the gatehouse with one of its original D-shaped towers have survived. The property has had continuous occupation since a new residence building was built after the previous house was damaged in a major fire in 1691. In 1842, the Hicks family sold Beverston Castle to R.S. Holford of Westonbirt. The property was purchased by the Hon Arthur and Mrs Strutt in 1939. In 1959 the Hon Arthur and Mrs Strutt sold Beverstone Castle to Jane Rook and her husband Laurence, adding further land from Park Farm in 1992. In 2019, after Jane Rook's death, Beverstone Castle was placed on the market.

Architecture

The massive extant west range of Beverston Castle is flanked on its angles with square towers, and it contains a

solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...

above a vaulted

undercroft An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and Vault (architecture), vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area whi ...

. The pentagon-shaped

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

castle has two surviving, albeit ruined, round towers from the original 13th-century construction of de Gaunt. The dressed bluish

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

appears to be from the same

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

as the stonework of nearby Calcot Manor. The two-storey gatehouse, with one extant D-shaped tower, was added by Lord Berkeley in the 1350–1360 era. The gatehouse

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

, totally intact as of 2006, would have originally been protected by an immense

portcullis A portcullis () is a heavy, vertically closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications. It consists of a latticed Grille (architecture), grille made of wood and/or metal, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway. ...

. Above the archway was a sizable first-floor (US = second floor) chamber. The ruined northwest square tower dates to the 14th century (Lord Berkeley's work), further modified in the late 15th century. The southern domestic range, occupied as of 2006, was built by the Hicks family in the early 17th century, reflecting an age of growing security for large manor houses. This range was originally occupied by a medieval

great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...

from either the de Gaunt or Berkeley era. Beverstoncastlegarden

Developments since 1950

In September 1954, "Beverston Castle, including gazebo and bridge" received Grade I listed status, List Entry Number:1304508. The Gatehouse, by then a free-standing structure, received Grade I listed status in March 1987, List Entry Number:1089720. The bridge, and possibly the gazebo, were built in the 18th century. The Quadrangular castle at Beverston, also built by Maurice de Gaunt, was first listed as a Scheduled Monument on 9 October 1981 (amended 8 August 1994), List Entry Number:1008620. A 1974 report provided this information about Beverstone Castle:

''The castle includes medieval, post-medieval and modern components and is partially occupied. Some areas of the castle survive largely in their original medieval form, while others are now occupied by more recent structures. Those parts of the castle which survive as upstanding masonry are Listed Grade I. The western wing, which remains unoccupied, constitutes the best surviving section of the original castle. This survives as a three storey building attached to a rectangular corner tower at each end. The southern range is now largely occupied by an 18th century house, built of rubble with a Cotswold stone roof, while in the east the only upstanding remains are those of the gatehouse. The former northern wing has been replaced by modern structures. The monument has a well recorded history of construction. The earliest surviving parts of the castle relate to the fortifications developed by Maurice de Gaunt ...''

A 2006 article indicated that Beverston Castle was in private ownership. The ancient moat had been incorporated into the expansive and well-cared-for garden. The gardens are considered a good site for viewing

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s. The southern entrance to the castle was by way of a bridge over the vestigial moat. Vehicle access to the north side of the castle was through the ancient gatehouse arch. A 2019 report provided more specifics. In 2018, the owner of the estate was Jane Rook (until her death in the spring), who with her husband Laurence, had purchased the property in 1959, from Vice-Admiral the Hon Arthur and Mrs Strutt; they acquired additional land from Park Farm in 1992.https://assets.savills.com/properties/GBLHRALAR190001/LAR190001_LAR19000036.PDF, beverston castle estate – Savills The Rooks were strong supporters of the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt and welcomed many guests, especially during the

Badminton Horse Trials The Badminton Horse Trials is a five-day event, one of only seven annual Concours Complet International (CCI) Five Star events as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI). It takes place in May each year in the park of ...

week. While the property was occupied by the Rooks, the gardens were impressive, incorporating parts of the medieval moat, a paved terrace, herbaceous and shrub borders and a walled kitchen garden. They were open to visitors occasionally under the National Gardens Scheme. The castle (ruin) itself was not open to visitors. After Jane Rook's death, the property was listed for sale in 2019. In addition to the seven bedroom manor house, the 693 acre property included four estate cottages, a flat, an estate office, a large stableyard, a walled kitchen garden and lawns. Many of the contents (80 lots) were listed for sale by auction (Bonhams) in October 2018.

References

External links