Berkeley Castle

Dating from 1153, Berkeley Castle is still home to the Berkeley family after 850 years and is the only castle to have been passed down continuously for such a long period of time. A castle of the March it was built to defend the Severn estuary and Welsh border.   The castle is said to be haunted by King Edward II.

King Edward II, was murdered a cell in at Berkeley Castle by an agent of Roger Mortimer and his wife Queen Isabella of France.  They had forced his abdication and kept him captive here for 18 months before he was murdered. Though his killers were charged with suffocating him, there is another story about how he may have died. Whilst being suffocated by a large mattress that was pressed down upon him, a metal tube was thrust up his rectum. A red hot poker was then inserted into the tube and burned his upper intestines without leaving any visible scarring so that it may appear natural. His phantom howls of pain are said to echo throughout the castle. The cell in which he met his end still remains.