|
| |
Leeds
Leeds Castle, acclaimed as the most romantic castle in England,
is located in south-east England, built on two adjacent island in the
river Len.
Leeds Castle was originally a manor of the Saxon royal family
possibly as early as the reign of Ethelbert IV ( 856-860). The first castle was
an earthwork enclosure whose wooden palisade was converted to stone and provided
with two towers along the perimeter. This is now vanished. Traces of arches in a
vault thought to be Norman were found at the beginning of this century.
| The Cellar is the oldest surviving visible part of the
castle and shows Norman influence, dating from the mid-twelfth
century. |
 |
Around 1119 Robert Crevecoeur started to build a stone castle on
the site, establishing his donjon where the Gloriette now is. Stephen, Count of
Blois, and his cousin the Empress Matilda contested the crown of England. In
1139 Matilda invaded England with the help of his brother Robert, Earl of
Gloucester, who held Leeds castle, but Kent was loyal to king Stephen and
following a short siege he took control of the castle.
|
The fountain court, the central courtyard of the
Gloriette, dates from 1280's. In the fourteenth century a system was
devised for bringing piped water from springs in the park into cisterns
beneath the paving to supply the fountain. The same springs supply the
Castle today. |
The castle came into the possession of Edward I (1278) . He
rebuilt much of the castle as it stood at the beginning of his reign, and
enlarged it, providing an outer stone curtain round the edge of the larger
island, with cylindrical open-backed flanking towers and a square-plan
water-gate on the south-east. The gatehouse at the south-west, a single tower
pierced by an arched passage was improved.
 |
The main island is bounded on the west
side by a revetment wall with two drum bastions, dating from c1280 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Latter on, King Edward, the Confessor granted the manor
to the powerful house of Godwin.
 |
The Maiden's Tower, reconstructed in Tudor times to
house, it is said, royal maid of honor. The nineteenth-century name
refers to the recluse Christina Hayde, who lived here in the reign of Richard
II. The crenellations were added in the 18 century . |
Henry VIII, the most famous of all the owners of Leeds Castles,
expended large sums in enlarging and beautifying the whole range of buildings. At
the same time, he carefully retained the defenses of the castle for he often had
cause to fear invasion from either France or the Spanish . The king entrusted
the work of alteration to his great friend Sir Henry Guidford.
 |
Henry VIII's portrait hangs in the Banqueting Hall in the
Castle. |
| The Henry VIII Banqueting Hall, with its superb ebony
wood floor and carved oak ceiling was introduces by Lady Baillie. The bay
window dates from Sir Henry Guildford's who supervised the rebuildings for
Henry VIII in 1517. |
 |
Leeds has been constantly inhabited and rebuilt since then. Most
of the castle today is the result of the nineteenth-century reconstruction and
addition.
 |
The Culpeper Garden was created in 1980. The garden is
enclosed on three sides by the warm brick of old estate buildings and high
wall , while the remaining side looks out over the Great water. The flower
beds, edged with low box hedges are arranged in an informal patters. |
 |
 |
| The flowers are those of an old English cottage garden -
roses, pinks, lad's love, poppies and lupins and some more exotic
blooms. many with wonderful scents. |
|
 |
 |
 |
The Maze designed by Vernon Gibberd was planted in 1988
with 2,400 yew trees. |
| The first aviary was established in the late 1950'x to
house Lady Baillie's collection of small Australian finches. |
 |
In 1926 Leeds was bought by the Hon. Mrs. Wilson-Filmer,
known as Lady Baillie. Immediately she began the restoration of the castle that
took her over 30 years to leave it as it stands today.
 |
Lady Baillie's bedroom. |
|
Team members at Leeds Castle.
|
| Sébastien Laflamme, 18, from
Saint-Prosper, Québec, Canada, wrote: |
| Very beautiful castle. Nice
emplacement. It is wonderful |
| Peggy Rutcosky, 32, from Texas wrote: |
| We were stationed at RAF Mildenhall, UK where we had the
chance to see some beautiful castles. I just wanted to share the
fact that Leeds Castle had the most beautiful surrounding area as far as
English countryside was concerned. It also has an aviary and a
maze out of hedges where you can get lost quite easily. There is a
tower for your family to see you from and guide you through to the end.
We enjoyed it so much. |
Have you visited a castle?
Do you know something about a castle?
If so, write something about it here.
Review this castle
|
