Berry Pomeroy

For the past 1000 years this small village has been owned by just two families. The de la Pomerais dynasty arrived with William the Conqueror and held the land for almost 500 years. In the early 1300s they built Berry Pomeroy Castle in a superb position on a wooded promontory above Gatcombe Brook. Substantial remains of the castle sill stand, including sections of the curtain wall and the 14th-century gatehouse. In 1548 the Pomeroys, as they were now known, sold the estate to Sir Edward Seyour whose sister, Jane, had been the third wife of Henry VIII. Sir Edward built a three-storey Tudor mansion within the medieval fortifications but this too is now a shell. Although the castle is still owned by Sir Edward’s descendant, the Duke of Somerset, it is administered by English Heritage and open to the public daily during the season. In the village itself, St Mary’s Church contains some interesting monuments to the Pomeroys and Seymours, as well as an outstanding rood screen.