England · 12th century
Leeds Castle is a castle in Kent, England, 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Maidstone. It is built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds and is a historic Grade I listed estate.
A castle has existed on the site since 857. In the 13th century, it came into the hands of King Edward I, for whom it became a favourite residence; in the 16th century, Henry VIII used it as a dwelling for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
The present castle dates mostly from the early 19th century. Its last private owner, Olive, Lady Baillie, left the castle in trust to open it to the public. It has been open since 1976.
Text adapted from “Leeds Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Leeds Castle ranks #247 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #23 of the 360 mapped in England. Founded 1119, it is older than 85% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 756 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 15,249 times in the last 60 days, more than 96% of the atlas. 8 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Southend-on-Sea, 33 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.
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