Leeds Castle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The front of Leeds Castle

Leeds Castle, four miles (6.5 km) southeast of Maidstone, Kent, England, dates back to 1119, though a manor house stood on the same site from the ninth century. The castle and grounds lie to the east of the village of Leeds, Kent, which should not be confused with the far bigger and far well-known city of Leeds in West Yorkshire.

[edit] History

Leeds Castle in winter

Built in 1119 by Robert De Crevecoeur to replace the earlier Saxon manor of Esledes, the castle became a royal palace for King Edward I of England and his queen, Eleanor of Castile in 1278. Major improvements were made during his time, including the barbican, made up of three parts, each with its own entrance, drawbridge, gateway, and portcullis.

Richard II's first wife,Anne of Bohemia, spent the winter of 1381 at the Castle on her way to be married to the King. In 1395, King Richard II received the French chronicler Jean Froissart there, as Froissart described in his Chronicles.

Henry VIII transformed the castle for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and a painting commemorating his meeting with Francis I of France still hangs there. His daughter, Queen Elizabeth I was imprisoned in the castle for a time before her coronation.

The castle escaped destruction during the English Civil War because its owners, the Culpeper family, sided with the Parliamentarians. The last private owner of the castle was the Hon. Olive, Lady Baillie, a daughter of Almeric Paget, 1st Baron Queenborough, and his first wife, Pauline Payne Whitney, an American heiress. Lady Baillie bought the castle in 1926. She redecorated the interior, first working with the French architect and designer Armand-Albert Rateau (who also oversaw exterior alterations as well as adding interior features such as a 16th-century-style carved-oak staircase) and then, later, with the Paris decorator Stéphane Boudin. Baillie established the Leeds Castle Foundation. The castle was opened to the public in 1976.

On 17 July 1978, the castle was the site of a meeting between the Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan in preparation for the Camp David Accords.

In September 1999, Sir Elton John played two sold-out solo concerts in the grounds of Leeds Castle.

Leeds Castle and its moat, as viewed from the rear

A wide panoramic view of Leeds Castle from across the moat on the north west side

[edit] Tourism

Leeds Castle at sunset

This castle and its grounds are now a leisure destination in the county of Kent. The castle grounds have an aviary, a maze, a grotto, a golf course and what may be the world's only museum of dog collars. The castle is available to host conferences.^[1]

[edit] Maze

The maze

The maze was constructed in 1988, using 2,400 yew trees. To the disappointment of some who use the technique of solving a maze by keeping one hand on a wall while walking through as a wall follower, the method fails at the Leeds Castle Maze, because not all 'walls' are connected. Using the wall follower method a visitor is led in a circle and will not reach the exit, located beneath a small lookout in the centre of the maze. You can find a solution to the maze here.

[edit] Trivia

• The castle was used as the location for Chalfont, the family home of the d'Ascoynes, in the film Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) ^[2]
• Because of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, there is a sundial at Fairfax, Virginia, telling the time in Leeds Castle, and a sundial at Leeds Castle telling the time in Virginia. ^[3]
• The 1978 Doctor Who serial The Androids of Tara was filmed at the castle.^[4]
• The Magnum, PI episode Deja Vu was filmed at Leeds Castle ^[5]
• On Friday 15 February 2008 the Chris Moyles Show was broadcast live from Leeds Castle. ^[6]
• On Thursday 3 July 2008 the Antiques Roadshow recorded two of its episodes on the Croquet Lawn at Leeds Castle, Fiona Bruce presented the show. ^[7]
• On Saturday 13 December 2008 and Tuesday 16 December 2008 the British movie - "The Rapture" was filmed in the Maze at Leeds Castle. ^[8]

[edit] Castle Interior

The Dining Room of the castle

Dining hall

Reading Room

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leeds Castle

• Leeds Castle
• Leeds Castle Exterior Quicktime Virtual Reality image of Leeds Castle
• Leeds Castle, Henry Vlll's Banqueting Hall — Quicktime Virtual Reality inside the Castle
• Leeds Village Website

Coordinates: 51°14′53″N 0°37′44″E / 51.24806°N 0.62889°E / 51.24806; 0.62889

[edit] References