Berkhamsted Place

Berkhamsted Place
Berkhamsted Place photographed in 1860
Alternative names	Berkhampstead Place, Barkhamsted Manor, Berkhamsted House
General information
Type	English country house
Architectural style	Elizabethan, faced with chequers of flint and Totternhoe stone
Address	Castle Hill
Town or city	Berkhamsted
Country	England, United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°46′10″N 0°33′57″W / 51.769526°N 0.565774°W / 51.769526; -0.565774Coordinates: 51°46′10″N 0°33′57″W / 51.769526°N 0.565774°W / 51.769526; -0.565774
Construction started	c. 1580
Renovated	1660
Demolished	1967
Client	Sir Edward Carey
Renovating team
Architect	Earl of Portland

Berkhamsted Place was an English country house which was erected sometime around 1580 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. It was built by Sir Edward Carey, the keeper of the Jewels to Queen Elizabeth I from stones removed from Berkhamsted Castle. Several notable residents of Berkhamsted lived in the house and over the years its owners welcomed guests such as King Charles I and William Gladstone.

The house was one of two Elizabethan mansions in the town, the other being Egerton House on the High Street which was demolished in 1937. Berkhamsted Place survived fire and renovation for over 380 years before it became derelict and was demolished in 1967.

Queen Elizabeth I granted the manor of Berkhamsted, along with the lease of Berkhamsted Castle, to her Keeper of the Jewels, Sir Edward Carey (or Cary), in 1580. Carey was descended from the Carys of Cockington, an ancient Devon family whose lineage went back to Adam de Karry, the first Lord of Castle Karry in Somerset, in the 13th Century.

Berkhamsted Castle had, by this stage, fallen into disrepair and the lease of a ruined castle was possibly intended as some sort of royal joke; Carey owed a nominal annual rent of one red rose, payable yearly on St John the Baptist's Day (24 June). Rather than live in the castle grounds, Sir Edward built for himself a mansion house on top of the hill overlooking the castle, and purloined stonework from the castle ruins to build his house.

Berkhamsted Place was a two-storey building with attics above. The plan of the house was in the shape of a letter E, with wings to the north and south-east. The walls were originally faced with 7-inch square stone chequers of flint and Totternhoe stone with brick additions and a tiled roof. An avenue of lime trees led up the hill to the house.