Welcome to one of England's hidden heritage hotspots. Located just 25 miles outside London, Berkhamsted Castle is steeped in over 950 years of history. It was here that the Anglo-Saxons surrendered to William, Duke of Normandy in December 1066, and he became “The Conqueror”. Within these walls have walked numerous English Kings and Queens, Thomas Becket, Edward the Black Prince and Geoffrey Chaucer.
Begin your historical adventure today!
Welcome to one of England's hidden heritage hotspots. Located just 25 miles outside London, Berkhamsted Castle is steeped in over 950 years of history. It was here that the Anglo-Saxons surrendered to William, Duke of Normandy in December 1066, and he became “The Conqueror”. Within these walls have walked numerous English Kings and Queens, Thomas Becket, Edward the Black Prince and Geoffrey Chaucer.
Begin your historical adventure today!
Welcome to one of England's hidden heritage hotspots. Located just 25 miles outside London, Berkhamsted Castle is steeped in over 950 years of history. It was here that the Anglo-Saxons surrendered to William, Duke of Normandy in December 1066, and he became “The Conqueror”. Within these walls have walked numerous English Kings and Queens, Thomas Becket, Edward the Black Prince and Geoffrey Chaucer.
Begin your historical adventure today!
Berkhamsted Castle Trust has a unique opportunity to acquire a historic site right next to Berkhamsted Castle. Castle Fields, to the east of the Castle, played a role in the siege by the English Barons and Prince Louis of France in 1216, and were later part of a royal deer park owned by the Earls of Cornwall.
This is to save them from development, to interpret them as part of the Castle’s narrative and to make sure they remain an open & accessible green space for the citizens of Berkhamsted for all time. BCT has been granted a philanthropic loan to purchase these fields, and we need YOUR help to raise money to repay the loan - will you support us?
Berkhamsted Castle is only only 35 minutes by train from London, nestled in beautiful Hertfordshire countryside.
Berkhamsted Castle is only only 35 minutes by train from London, nestled in beautiful Hertfordshire countryside.
For Heritage Open Days 2025, we are offering 8 free guided tours of the ruins of this fine motte-and-bailey castle, led by experienced volunteers from Berkhamsted Castle Trust
Berkhamsted Castle Trust is looking at opportunities to enhance the visitor experience across the historic deer park, with potential new interpretation and signage along existing footpaths.
Learn about the historic site of Castle Fields next to Berkhamsted Castle, and its importance in history
For centuries, Berkhamsted Castle was a royal stronghold. From the Norman Conquest onward, kings, queens and princes lived within the castle walls and shaped the course of English history.
Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince, was one of the most successful commanders in the Hundred Years’ War, Read how he led England to victory over France from his centre of operations at Berkhamsted Castle.
GOODVerified Great for kids to run around! wasnt crowded at all, great place for the kids to play hide and seek, history was interesting too, and very engagingPosted onVerified Nice ruined castle to have a look around A fun place to look around, but not much else to do as it's mainly ruins of stone walls, which is to be expected. It's a peaceful place to go for a morning walk, and has free entry.Posted onVerified Peaceful. Near train station, there's parking nearby or at station. The castle is mostly ruins, on Sundays there are volunteers who are at the house just inside the entrance telling all about the history. Lovely place to sit, read, walk or picnic. Shame it's not open later in the summer.Posted onVerified Interesting piece of heritage We are members with English Heritage which is how we found this location but appears to be free to enter. This is one of the oldest castle's we've been to see and you can really get a sense of scale of the motte and bailey, you can climb to the top of where the defensive part would be and it's a decent view. Some interesting information available and we spoke to a lovely lady volunteer who spoke to us a bit more about the history.Posted onVerified Sunny morning walk The castle itself are ruins rather than preserved which is representative by free entry. You can walk both around the remains or on the ring of the former rampart. However to get up to the rampart and motte you do need to climb steps so are not accessible to all. The sun was shining during my visit and there wasn’t many people around which made the experience even better.Posted onVerified Un château en ruine certes, mais un château plein d'histoire Quand vous descendez du train à la gare de Berkhamsted, le château est à vos pieds. C'est un endroit très agréable pour pique-niquer, et on peut suivre le chemin surplombant la douve en pleine nature. Le château vous offre une petite salle d'exposition où on vous explique les moments forts de cet endroit: vous y verrez Guillaume le Conquérant, Aliénor d'Aquitaine, Jean le Bon, et le Prince Noir entre autres. De quoi être en bonne compagnie. Aussi, de très belles promenades le long du canal, avec des canal boats pittoresques.
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