The land which Berry Pomeroy Castle was built upon was given to Ralph de Pomeroy by William the Conqueror, as a reward for his loyalty and support during the Norman invasion, and the subsequent battle of Hastings. The castle was constructed in a Norman design by Henry de Pomeroy at the end of the 13th Century. The castle remained in the Pomeroy family until 1547 when the current owner of the castle Thomas Pomeroy fell into financial difficulties. Thomas was forced to sell the castle to Sir Edward Seymour the lord protector and the brother of Jane Seymour the wife of Henry VIII. Edward Seymour then constructed the manor house inside the confines of the castle, which lead to the mixture of architecture that you see in the ruins today. The castle stayed in the hands of the Seymour family until 1688, when they abandoned the castle to move to a more modern and up to date manor house. The castle was left to be stripped of all its valuable building material. The castle has been the scene of numerous ghostly sightings and strange phenomena. The White Lady supposedly haunts the dungeons, where she rises from St Margaret's Tower to the castle ramparts. This could be the spirit of Margaret Pomeroy, who was imprisoned in the dungeons by her sister Eleanor. Margaret slowly starved in the dungeons, and endured a long painful death. The reason Eleanor imprisoned her was that she was in love with the same man as her sister. And Margaret was far more beautiful than her.
