Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle Berkeley Castle ( ; historically sometimes spelt "Berkley Castle" or "Barkley Castle") is a castle in the town of Berkeley, Gloucestershire, UK (). The castle's origins date back to the 11th century and it has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building. The castle has remained within the Berkeley family since they reconstructed it in the 12th century, except for a period of royal ownership by the Tudors. It is traditionally believed to be the scene of the murder of King Edward II in 1327. The first castle at Berkeley was a motte-and-bailey, built
Baron Berkeley that the barony by writ was deemed, extraordinarily, to be in effect a feudal barony (or barony by tenure), dependent on the tenure of Berkeley Castle. Thus when William Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1426–1492), "William the Waste-All", alienated Berkeley Castle to the king, he effectively disinherited his younger brother from the barony by writ. The heir apparent is his son the Hon. Thomas FitzHardinge Gueterbock (b. 1969) The Earldom of Berkeley, together with the Viscountcy Dursley, was separated from the barony in 1882, but the accession was not fully established. In 1942 both titles became extinct