Berkeley Castle

When I was a kid, maybe six or seven, I went to a castle which had a dungeon and a kitchen with a pyramid-shaped block of sugar and sugar-cutters. I’ve always wondered where that castle was and on Thursday I found out – it was Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire.


Berkeley Castle is a nine-hundred year old castle which has been lived in by the same family for its entire history. The family has been involved in some big moments in British history including the murder of Edward II, the signing of the Magna Carta and the Civil War. In fact there is part of the external wall which was blown up by Cromwell during the Civil War. Some deal was done by the steward in charge of the house that allowed the castle to remain neutral if the wall was not rebuilt. The deal became law so that even today, if the wall is rebuilt the army is legally entitled (if not obliged) to blow up the castle. It’s rules like this that make our country what it is today!

Anyway, the castle was fantastic. We had a tour which was very interesting but photos weren’t allowed inside so you’ll have to make do with an outside one of the garden. Apparently the lands all around can be flooded as a defence against attacking armies. The scots pine to the left of the photo was apparently grown from a seed collected at the battle of Floden. The family had a tradition of taking seeds from trees on the battlefields on which they fought – a souvenir of sorts!


Inside, the castle has been changed by each successive generation but there are parts which are extremely historic. The great hall has a minstrel gallery which hasn’t been altered since the Tudor times – the paintwork is original and hasn’t been touched up – it is as it was (bar some fading and flaking) when Elizabeth I was entertained there. The grand staircase has wall coverings which are from the tent used by Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. I find it incredible that things so old are still around in almost original condition and are still being used rather than in a museum.

I loved Berkeley. To be in a place where so many historical figures and so much history has occurred and to have it still occupied by the same family rather than have it as a museum piece is quite unique. And to find out, after all these years, where I saw that sugar pyramid was pretty cool too!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sexism vs cultural imperialism

Image
As I was getting ready for bed last night a friend shared a tweet that immediately caught my attention. https://twitter.com/sbattrawden/status/1143465003409915905 The tweet was of a paper that has just been published online, titled "Does physician gender have a significant impact on first-pass success rate of emergency endotracheal intubation?" and showed the abstract which began, It is unknown whether female physicians can perform equivalently to male physicians with respect to emergency procedures. Understandably, this got the backs up of a lot of people, myself included. Who on earth thinks that's a valid question to be researching in this day and age? Are we really still having to battle assumptions of female inferiority when it comes to things like this? Who on earth gave this ethics approval, let alone got it though peer review? I then took a deep breath and asked myself why a respected journal, The American Journal of Emergency Medicine , would publish
Read more

The remarkable tree lobster

Image
I can’t remember the first time I heard about the Lord Howe Island stick insect, and I can’t say my interest has been much more than in passing. They would pique my interest when I saw them in the news, only to fade back into the vast and ever growing pile of ‘oh, interesting’. Then, at the beginning of November, I actually got to come face to face with one of these creatures and it was so incredible I decided to find out more. This is what I’ve learned… Lord Howe Island stick insects are - I’m sure you’ll be surprised to learn - found on Lord Howe Island. This is a small crescent-shaped island in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. I didn’t realise until researching this piece that the island is actually inhabited. It has a population of 382 people according to the 2011 census . The Lord Howe Island stick insect ( Dryococelus australis ), or LHISI as it’s known to friends, was first described by Xavier Montrouzier in 1855 from specimens collected by the HMS Hera
Read more

Gutting the DSA with dodgy statistics

A couple of days ago the Rt Hon. David Willetts MP (Minister for Universities and Science) announced his changes to the Disabled Students’ Allowance. The DSA is a grant given to disabled students to help cover costs that arise as a direct result of their disability. It's an excellent scheme and for many it can, and has, make the difference between success and failure. These 'changes', more accurately termed 'cuts', are far-reaching and devastating. 
Read more