Berkeley Castle

E and I thought we would have a break or mini holiday so we drove to Gloucestershire for a couple of days as the weather was perfect for looking around.  First stop was this ancient castle, the oldest inhabited in the country and by the same family. They moved in after it was built in 1153 and they are still there today!  This was where Edward II was imprisoned and murdered and where Elizabeth I hunted a large number of deer before her host returned from his trip who was very angry to say the least!  And where the last court jester, the dwarf Dicky Pearce, died in revels at the castle in 1728.  The Berkeleys felt so awful about it that they buried him in a grand chest tomb in the churchyard over the wall.  Next door is the house of Dr Edward Jenner who started vaccinating the population against smallpox - see extra photo.
We finished the day in another large pile surrounded by beautiful gardens and an arboretum which is now a corporate hotel but in a beautiful setting. A day well spent.