Berkeley Castle

Berkeley Castle has been home to the Berkeley family since 1153, when Henry II instructed Robert Fitzharding to build it, and the family describe it as the oldest building in the country still lived in by the family who built it. It is one of the March castles raised against the Welsh, in warm pink stone, with battlements that drop some sixty feet to the Great Lawn and a 6,000-acre estate running down to the Severn. The Grade I house is open to day visitors in season and passes to a single host for an event.

The hire is exclusive: the castle, its terraced gardens and its principal rooms are let to one party at a time. The Great Hall, built in the 14th century with stained glass, Oudenarde tapestries and its original black and white stone floor, seats 130 for dinner and takes 180 for the evening. Upstairs, the Long and Small Drawing Rooms hold a reception of 130 between them, and the Armoury and Cellar take smaller, less formal gatherings. Drinks run on the Gun Terrace in front of the Inner Bailey in summer, or by the fires in the Drawing Rooms in winter.

The castle lets for dinners, dances, launches, awards evenings and exhibitions, with a dedicated events manager on the day. Menus come from the castle's catering partners and the house runs its own Berkeley Bar. Evening hire closes at midnight, and the dancing is in the Great Hall.