[6] The site was the location of an important battle circa 1140 AD between the opposing English armies of King Stephen and Empress Matilda during The Anarchy.

He granted his subsidiary barony of Beverston, with its castle,[8][9] to his third son Robert FitzRobert Fitzharding (d.1194), who adopted the surname "de Gaunt" and who by his second wife Avice had a son and heir Maurice de Gaunt (1184-1230) who died without issue.

Whilst Robert Fitzharding, the patriarch of the Berkeley family, founded St Augustine's Abbey in Bristol (now Bristol Cathedral), the de Gaunts founded "The Gaunts' Chapel" (now called "St Mark's Church" or "The Mayor's Chapel") opposite it, across what is today College Green.

On 29 July 1229, King Henry III signed a document allowing the castle to stand and remain for ever.

As a result of the English Civil War (mid-seventeenth century), much of Beverston Castle was destroyed.

[18] Roundhead forces attacked the castle twice during the War, but the greatest damage was from an order from Parliament to slight its defensive works.

[19] The property has had continuous occupation since a new residence building was built after the previous house was damaged in a major fire in 1691.

[23] In 1959 the Hon Arthur and Mrs Strutt sold Beverstone Castle to Jane Rook and her husband Laurence, adding further land from Park Farm in 1992.

The massive extant west range of Beverston Castle is flanked on its angles with square towers, and it contains a solar above a vaulted undercroft.

The pentagon-shaped masonry castle has two surviving, albeit ruined, round towers from the original 13th-century construction of de Gaunt.

The southern domestic range, occupied as of 2006, was built by the Hicks family in the early 17th century, reflecting an age of growing security for large manor houses.

This range was originally occupied by a medieval great hall from either the de Gaunt or Berkeley era.

Some areas of the castle survive largely in their original medieval form, while others are now occupied by more recent structures.

The southern range is now largely occupied by an 18th century house, built of rubble with a Cotswold stone roof, while in the east the only upstanding remains are those of the gatehouse.

In 2018, the owner of the estate was Jane Rook (until her death in the spring), who with her husband Laurence, had purchased the property in 1959, from Vice-Admiral the Hon Arthur and Mrs Strutt; they acquired additional land from Park Farm in 1992.

[30] The Rooks were strong supporters of the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt and welcomed many guests, especially during the Badminton Horse Trials week.