 In 1615 it was sold to William Berkeley (1582–1658) of Cowleigh, eldest son of Rowland Berkeley (1548–1611) of Worcester and Spetchley, a wealthy Worcester clothier who originated from Hereford.The house then was a large, two-storey timber-framed dwelling with a third floor of gabled attics having carved bargeboards.The house contained a small, panelled room known as the 'sots hole' where drunks were held in order to sleep off their drunkenness.