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Berkeley Castle Chapel (Private),
Berkeley Castle,
Berkeley, Gloucestershire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Chapel does NOT have a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded before 1327, and we understand it is still open.

Berkeley Castle is adjacent to St Mary the Virgin's parish church. There is a private chapel inside the castle, which may have been the one at the time of Edward II's reputed murder (1327), said to be dedicated to St John. Kelly's Directory of 1923 includes the chapel in the following description:

"... In the outer ward hangs a bell, once in a Buddhist Temple near Ningpo, but brought to England by Capt. Dew C.B. and presented by him to the first Lord Fitzhardinge. Another arched gate, with portcullis grooves, conducts to the inner ward, which has on the south-east the great hall, 62 by 32 ft. and 32 ft. in height; the windows are filled with heraldic stained glass, on the walls hang family and other portraits and armour, and over the fireplace are suspended the remains of two standards carried at Culloden (16 April 1746) by the regiment of Augustus, 4th Earl of Berkeley K.T. A wide staircase of black oak leads to the chapel, which retains its painted roof, and on the wall under the arched passage leading to it are traces of black letter texts in French and Latin, taken from the book of Revelations, and dating from about 1400; the windows contain ancient stained glass, and some of the original floor tiles remain. Adjoining the chapel, and forming the south side of the courtyard, are several drawing-rooms, and music and breakfast rooms, hung with portraits and tapestry. The keep, reached from this ward by a flight of steps, is nearly circular, and has walls about 50 feet in height, with several projecting semi-circular bastions, and strengthened by buttresses; the enclosed area, about 25 feet higher than the inner courtyard, is now chiefly turfed, but there are buildings containing bedrooms on the south side, and on the north is the longitudinal structure called "Thorpe's tower", from which an extensive view is afforded of the Vale of Berkeley.

Denomination

Now or formerly Medieval Chapel.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Chapel is located at OS grid reference ST6852898950. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Berkeley Castle Chapel (Private), Berkeley shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Berkeley shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)