Berkeley

Berkeley at the beginning of the 20th century was a small town of just over 6200 inhabitants. Visitors could find accommodation at the Berkeley Arms (rooms 3s; dinner 2s 6d), and those fancying a look round the castle could buy admission tickets from the railway station or Miss Smith’s stationers in the High Street.
An extract from from"Down the Severn Photographic Memories".

The rickety-looking oriel window on its timber props and horned sash window frames are Victorian additions to the centuries-old corner house, which was a shop at the time this photograph was taken. But without doubt the most venerable building hereabouts is Berkeley Castle, the oldest inhabited in England. Berkeley Castle gained notoriety in 1327 when Edward II was murdered within its walls. The oubliette - a deep and uncomfortable pit into which the unfortunate monarch was cast - can be seen to this day. Incidentally, it was in the castle that Dickie Pearce, England’s last court jester, died while midway through a performance.
An extract from from"Gloucestershire Living Memories".

Delightfully neat and compact in appearance, the buildings that jostle shoulder to shoulder along the street are deceptively older than they look. Many were given a fashionable facelift in Victorian times with additions such as the bay fronts to the cottages on the right. But behind the facades are centuries-old houses, some of them timber-framed.
An extract from from"Gloucestershire Living Memories".

The arched entrance to The White Hart (centre) reminds us that this inn, along with others in the town such as The Berkeley Arms, rang to the clatter of hooves in the days of horse- drawn coaches. But Berkeley’s importance in former times goes back much further. In Saxon days this was a borough in its own right, and a Royal Mint was located in the town.
An extract from from"Gloucestershire Living Memories".

Roger de Berkeley, the first tenant after the Conquest, was probably responsible for the construction of the first castle on the site, and we know that Henry II was entertained here over Easter in 1121. The erection of the stone shell keep began about 1156; it underwent extensive remodelling during the 14th century, when Thomas, third Lord Berkeley, had two of the semi-circular bastions replaced and two others incorporated into the structure of the keep.
An extract from from"English Castles".