7 Forgotten Medieval Castles Where People Still Live Inside

From Medieval Way

Medieval Way explores the survival strategies of seven historic estates that have resisted ruin through centuries of war and financial challenges. By examining the families who maintain these continuous lineages, the footage reveals how ancient homes balance modern preservation, estate management, and the immense pressure of inheritance taxation to keep their legacy alive.

In 1327, a deposed king was carried down into the cellar of a castle in Gloucestershire, and according to the record, he never came back up. His name was Edward the Second. The castle was Berkeley. And the family that owned that castle in 1327 still owns it today. They still sleep in the rooms above the cell where their king died. Seven hundred years later, the lights are still on. And Berkeley is not the only one. We have been sold a story about castles. The story says they are ruins. Empty shells with the roofs caved in, fenced off, a ticket booth at the gate and a gift shop where the great hall used to be. For most of them, that is true. In Britain alone, more than a thousand great houses and castles were torn down in the last century, gutted by death duties and abandoned by families who could no longer afford the tax. But a handful refused to fall. Seven of them still have someone living inside, right now. These are their stories, counting up.