ARCHITECTURE: The original castle was a Motte and Bailey castle. The magnificent Victorian architecture, said to resemble Windsor Castle, is considered to be one of the great works of Victorian England.

HISTORY: The Castle was all but destroyed by Cromwell’s forces during the English Civil War but was reconstructed by the 11th and 15th Dukes during the 19th century in the medieval style true to its origins.

ARCHITECTURE: It is an outstanding example of Mediaeval domestic architecture in England. An imposing structure built in stone of different colors, it stands commandingly above the Severn, surrounded by beautiful grounds. Where other castles were romanticised or “modernised” by the Georgians or the Victorians, Berkeley quietly survived as what it is: a Norman fortress with an enclosing curtain wall.

HISTORY: Edward II was imprisoned and murdered in a cell at this castle by his wife and her lover Mortimer in 1327 for alleged homosexuality. During the Civil War, the royalists surrendered this castle to the parliamentarians after a siege.

ATTRACTIONS: In the fine early English parish church are Berkeley family monuments. Dr Edward Jenner (1749-1823), recognized as the pioneer of vaccination, is buried in the churchyard of this castle. There is also a Butterfly Farm on the property with hundreds of species in free flight.

HISTORY: It was previously believed that the castle was built to defend the surrounding area from French invasion. However, recent research suggests that the castle was built more for show than as an effective defense. It doesn't appear to have been inhabited after the 15th century. Later owners of the castle took measures to preserve the building, most notably Lord Curzon who acquired the castle in 1917 and undertook a restoration of Bodiam.

ARCHITECTURE: Perfect example of a late medieval moated castle. It is a Quadrangular castle in medieval architecture.

HISTORY: Thomas Plantagenet de Anjou [Earl of Lancaster] was the leader in a force of barons who murdered Piers Gaveston, the friend of Edward II. As a result the earl of Warrene who held Conisbrough, abducted Alice (de Laci), wife of Thomas Plantagenet from Pontefract castle, and took her to Reigate, another of the Warrenes' strongholds. In retaliation, Thomas burned the Warrenes' Sandal Castle in 1317 and laid seige to the Conisbrough castle in 1318. Later in 1322 Thomas was beheaded at Pontefract, this began a private family feud between the de Lacis and the Warrenes which culminated in the "Elland Feud".

ARCHITECTURE: The present-day medieval architecture Conisbrough castle replaced the original manor of Conisbrough, which is thought to have been of the common motte and bailey design.

HISTORY: Commanding the shortest sea crossing between England and the continent, the site has served as a vital strategic centre since the Iron Age. In 1216, a group of rebel barons invited the French Dauphin (Prince Louis) to invade and seize the throne from King John. In spite of the whole South East being under French control, Dover (and Windsor) held out for several months while English forces were mustered throughout the country to march against Louis. After the French defeat at Lincoln, the siege at Dover castle was abandoned. During the English Civil War it was held for the king but then taken by a parliamentarian trick without a shot being fired (hence it avoided being ravaged and survives far better than most castles) in 1642. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, more than 2000 men in the underground barracks of Dover castle. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw the tunnels converted first into an air-raid shelter and then later into a military command centre and underground hospital.

ARCHITECTURE: Medieval English style. Henry's architect, Maurice the Engineer, rebuilt the castle in the 1180s.

ATTRACTIONS: Visitors can enjoy the castle's wealth of history through a range of exciting exhibitions, including the reconstruction and exhibition of Henry VIII's visit in 1539; the 1216 siege experience; the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment Museum and the Roman Pharos and Saxon church. You can also take one of the inclusive tours of the Secret Wartime Tunnels.