 In 1580 , the estate , including the ruins and the park , was leased from Elizabeth I by Sir Edward Carey , for the nominal rent of one red rose each year . Stone from the castle was used to build Berkhamsted Place , a local school and other buildings in the late 16th century . The castle 's park , which had reached 1 @,@ 252 acres ( 507 ha ) in size by 1627 , was broken up in the next two decades , shrinking to only 376 acres ( 152 ha ) . The English Civil War of the 1640s largely passed Berkhamsted by , with the castle apparently playing no part in the conflict . 
