Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BERKELEY

BERKELEY, a small town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a hundred, in Gloucester. The town stands on a pleasant eminence, in the vale of Berkeley, on the Little Avon river, about a mile from the Severn, 2 ¼. miles W of Berkeley Road r. station, and 6 ½ NNE of Thornbury. It was a place of importance in the times of the Saxons; and figured at Domesday as a royal domain and a free borough. An ancient religious house at it was suppressed, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, through some villany of Earl Godwin, and conferred upon the Earl. The manor connected with it, which is one of the largest in the kingdom, was given by William the Conqueror to his follower Roger de Berkeley; forfeited by that gentleman's grandson for his adherence to King Stephen; and given by Henry II. to Robert Fitz-hardinge, governor of Bristol, who assumed the title of Baron de Berkeley. The town consists principally of four streets; contains a market house, a church, an Independent chapel, a Wesleyan chapel, a free school, and charities £194; has a head post office † and two chief inns; and is a seat of petty sessions and a polling-place. The, church is a spacious structure, partly early English, of the time of Henry II., partly of later character in renovations; and contains some curious monuments of the Berkeley family, and the ashes of Dr. Jenner. The tower belonging to it stands detached, and was built in the latter part of last century. Dean Swift's well-known epitaph on "Dicky Pearce, the Earl of Suffolk's fool," is in the churchyard. A market is held on the first Wednesday of every month; and fairs on 14 May and 1 Dec. Trade is carried on in coal, timber, corn, malt, and cheese; and is facilitated by the vicinity of the Severn, and the Berkeley and the Gloucester canal. The town has nominally a corporation; but is really governed by the county magistrates. Dr. Jenner, who introduced the practice of vaccination, was a native. Real property, £2,785. Pop., 1,011. Houses, 196.

The parish includes also the tythings of Hamfallow, Hinton, Breadstone, Alkington, and Ham, and the chapelry of Stone. Acres, 15,740; of which 2,320 are water. Real property, £33,284. Pop., 4,316. Houses, 875. The property is not much divided. Great portion of the surface is rich dairy land. Strontian and agates are found in the rocks. Berkeley Castle, close to the SE side of the town, was founded, soon after the Conquest, by Roger de Berkeley; and got important additions in the reigns of Henry II., Edward II., and Edward III. It was the scene of the murder of Edward II., by a red-hot iron being driven through his body, at the instigation of his queen; and it sustained a siege of nine days, in 1645, from the parliamentarian forces, but was obliged to surrender. A small apartment, called K. Edward's room, now lit with windows, but then lit only from arrow-slits, is shown as the place where Edward II. was murdered.

"Mark the year, and mark the night,

When Severn shall re-echo with affright,

The shrieks of death through Berkeley s roof shall ring;

Shrieks of an agonizing king."

The outline of the castle is not far from being circular. The entrance is under a massive arch, adorned with rich Norman carvings. The main body is an irregular court, with vestiges of a moat. The chief buildings are an ancient keep, flanked by three semicircular towers, and a square tower of more recent date. A portion of the pile has been modernized, and contains numerous family portraits, some paintings by the Italian masters, and the cabin furniture of the Navigator Drake. The castle was formerly the residence of the Earls Berkeley, whose title dates from 1679; but is now the seat of Lord Fitzhardinge. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. Value, now £750.* Patron, Lord Fitzhardinge. The p. curacy of Stone is a separate charge.-The subdistrict contains Berkeley parish and three other parishes, and is in the district of Thornbury. Acres, 21,136. Pop., 5,396. Houses, 1,094. The hundred is cut into two divisions, Lower and Upper. The Lower division contains Elberton parish, three other parishes, and parts of two others. Acres, 13,393. The Upper division contains Berkeley parish, seventeen other parishes, and part of another. Acres, 57,190. Pop. of both, 24,453. Houses, 5,441.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a small town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a hundred"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Berkeley CP/AP       Berkeley Hundred       Berkeley SubD       Gloucestershire AncC
Place: Berkeley

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