Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley, Gloucestershire Berkeley ( ) is a small town and parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Vale of Berkeley between the east bank of the River Severn and the M5 motorway, within the Stroud administrative district. The town is noted for Berkeley Castle, where the imprisoned Edward II was murdered, as well as the birthplace of the physician Edward Jenner, pioneer of the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The parish also includes the village of Berkeley Heath, which runs along the A38 Bristol to Gloucester road and the adjacent B4066 towards Berkeley. Berkeley lies midway between Bristol
James Berkeley Berkeley died on 24 June 1327, having been murdered and having suffered the destruction and despoilation of his manors, according to the account by his successor John de Grandisson. Berkeley was buried in Exeter Cathedral, against the north wall of the south ambulatory, where survives his chest tomb. It is devoid of the monumental brass which originally adorned the Purbeck marble ledger stone top, in the form of a demi-effigy of a bishop wearing a mitre, the indent of which is still visible. Following the Reformation the brass was stripped away in 1561 on the orders of the Cathedral authorities.