Castle in Kent

Leeds Castle in Kent is one of the most beautiful castles in England and one of the most visited, a medieval fortress built on two islands in a lake in the Kent Weald that presents one of the most romantically picturesque castle silhouettes in the country. Despite sharing its name with the Yorkshire city, the castle takes its name from the village of Leeds nearby and has no connection with the north of England. Its exceptional setting, long royal history and the variety of its visitor attractions make it one of the most popular day trip destinations in the southeast. The castle was built on its island site in the ninth century and developed into an important royal residence from the reign of Edward I onward, subsequently passing through several royal owners including the six medieval queens who held it between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries. The list of royal associations is remarkable: Edward I and his queen Eleanor of Castile, Edward II and his wife Isabella, Edward III and his queen Philippa of Hainault, Richard II and his queen Anne of Bohemia, Henry V and his queen Catherine of Valois, and Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon all held or used the castle. This exceptional concentration of medieval royal occupation gave Leeds the title the Ladies' Castle. The castle was transformed from a derelict historic building into its current state by Lady Olive Baillie, who purchased it in 1926 and spent fifty years and an enormous fortune restoring and furnishing it to the highest standard, creating the castle as visitors experience it today. Lady Baillie used Leeds as a house for entertaining on a lavish scale, and the quality of the interiors she created reflects resources and taste of a level rarely applied to castle restoration. The grounds include an aviary, a vineyard, a maze and extensive parkland providing a full day's visitor experience.

Deal Castle is located right on the beach in the town of Deal in the south east of England, its important position was chosen to guard a stretch of water used as an anchorage and landing ground. This Tudor artillery castle is built of reused materials such as Caen stone, brick and Kentish ragstone removed from dissolved religious buildings nearby. The castle is surrounded by a curtain wall with six low bastion's and gun platforms. The castle itself consists of a three storey circular tower with six semicircular towers projecting from it. These towers give the castle the appearance of a Tudor rose form the air and are perfectly symmetrical. The castle is protected further by a dry moat and gatehouse with its murder holes and gun port which are still in good condition. Facilities The castle is open every day between1st April and the 30th September from 10am until 6pm. Visitors can explore the whole castle including the captains quarters, visit the interactive exhibition and shop. The castle was the earliest in a line of coastal forts built between 1539 and 1540 by Henry VIII to protect England against the Catholic invasion from Spain and France. The outer walls were rounded to offer more strength and protection against cannon fire and were constructed with over 200 cannon and gun ports. The anticipated battles never occurred, but during the Civil War in 1648 the castle did see hard fighting and was taken by both the Royalist rebels and the Parliamentarians before it was finally surrendered. Since the 1700 the castle has had a captain who commanded the garrison stationed there; although today the title is purely an honorary one. After this time the castle was fortified and improvements made in both the 18th and 19th centuries with the rebuilding of the Governor's lodgings before they were destroyed again by German bombs during the Second World War. In 1951 the Ministry of Public Works took over the care of the castle although it still remained part of the Crown's estate, it is now in the hands of English Heritage. Legends Accounts suggest that the castle was also used a resting place by Anne of Cleves on her long journey to London before her fateful marriage to King Henry VIII.

Lullingstone Castle is a historic manor house and estate set in the Darent Valley in Kent, just outside the village of Eynsford, roughly twenty miles southeast of central London. It is one of England's oldest family-owned estates, having been in the continuous possession of the Hart Dyke family for over five centuries — a remarkable distinction that gives it an intimate, lived-in quality quite unlike many grander, more institutionalised heritage properties. The estate encompasses the castle itself, a medieval gatehouse, the Church of St Botolph, and the celebrated World Garden of Plants, each element layered upon the other to create a place of extraordinary historical and horticultural depth. For visitors, it offers something genuinely rare: the sense of stepping into a private world that happens, generously, to be open to the public. The origins of the estate stretch back to the Norman period, though the current building dates primarily from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The property was acquired by Sir John Peche in 1497, and it was during his tenure that the distinctive Tudor gatehouse — perhaps the finest feature of the approach — was constructed. The Hart Dyke family connection begins in the eighteenth century and continues to the present day, with the family still residing in parts of the house. Among the notable historical associations, Henry VIII is said to have visited the estate, and Queen Anne is recorded as a guest. The house contains a collection of portraits, furnishings and artefacts accumulated over generations, lending the interiors a personal, unselfconscious quality that curated museum houses rarely achieve. The adjacent Church of St Botolph, which sits almost within the garden, contains monuments and memorial brasses to those who lived and died on the estate across the centuries, providing a moving counterpoint to the domestic grandeur of the house itself. Perhaps the most extraordinary chapter in Lullingstone's modern history belongs to Tom Hart Dyke, who in 2000 was taken hostage along with a companion while plant hunting in the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama. During nine months in captivity, he conceived the idea of a garden that would contain plants representing every country on Earth, organised geographically. On his release, he worked with his family to realise this vision on the Lullingstone estate, and the World Garden of Plants opened in 2005 within a large walled glasshouse. The collection now contains thousands of species drawn from all corners of the globe, arranged in continental zones, and the whole project carries an almost improbable romance — a garden born of adversity and imagination, in the Kentish countryside. In person, the estate has a quality of layered quietness. The approach from the lane passes through countryside that feels genuinely rural despite the proximity to London, descending into the valley of the River Darent. The gatehouse, with its warm red brick and crenellated towers, presents a theatrically picturesque face to arrivals. The gardens around the house are informal and slightly wild in places, with the church rising among old trees at the edge of the lawns. Inside the glasshouse of the World Garden, the atmosphere shifts dramatically — humid and lush, with the smell of earth and green growth enclosing you entirely, tropical foliage brushing against temperate shrubs from the Andes or the Himalayas, all of it presided over by the improbable ambition of one man's vision. The surrounding Darent Valley is exceptionally beautiful and historically rich. The river is modest but clear, and the valley is lined with old willows and water meadows. Very close to the estate lies Lullingstone Roman Villa, managed by English Heritage, where some of the most significant Roman mosaic floors and early Christian wall paintings in Britain have been preserved under a modern cover building — a site of international importance lying just a short walk downstream. The village of Eynsford, with its medieval bridge, ford and ruined castle, is within easy reach, and the wider North Downs countryside offers fine walking. The Darent Valley Path long-distance footpath passes close by, connecting the valley from Sevenoaks northward to the Thames. Getting to Lullingstone Castle is straightforward by public transport from London. Eynsford railway station, on the line from London Victoria via Swanley, places visitors within approximately a mile of the estate entrance, and the walk itself is pleasant. By road the estate is accessible from the A225 between Swanley and Sevenoaks, with parking available on site. Opening hours are seasonal and the castle and World Garden are not open every day, so it is essential to check ahead. The garden tends to be most spectacular in summer when the glasshouse collections are at their most exuberant, though the grounds and church carry their own appeal in autumn and early spring. Because the estate remains a family home, visitor numbers are modest and the atmosphere is never crowded, which adds considerably to the experience.

Hever Castle in the Kent Weald is a beautifully preserved moated medieval castle that achieved its lasting historical significance as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I. Anne grew up within these walls and received from the castle's setting the education, Continental refinement and personal ambition that helped make her the most intellectually accomplished of Henry's wives and the most consequential for English history. The castle passed through various hands after the Boleyn family's fall, was transformed by the American millionaire William Waldorf Astor from 1903 onward with enormous resources, and is now one of the most visited historic houses in England. The castle dates from the thirteenth century and was developed into its present moated form in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Boleyn family acquired it in 1462, and it was here that the young Anne was raised, receiving her early education before being sent to the courts of the Duchess of Burgundy and then the French king, experiences that gave her the intellectual and social formation that distinguished her from the English court ladies of her generation. Henry VIII visited Hever several times while courting Anne, and the gardens contain statues commemorating both Anne and Henry. The Astor restoration transformed both the castle and its grounds on a lavish scale. Astor added an entire mock-Tudor village adjacent to the castle to house guests, created the spectacular Italian Garden with its collection of ancient Roman and Greek sculpture, and constructed the thirty-five-acre lake that provides the most dramatic element of the grounds. The interior was redecorated and refurnished to a very high standard, and the result is a castle whose medieval fabric is complemented by Edwardian opulence. The combination of the Anne Boleyn story, the moated medieval architecture and the exceptional gardens makes Hever one of the most rewarding and layered historic house visits in Kent.

The castle was built in the 16th century for Henry VIII, and forms part of a line of defence along the edge of the Downs. It has a low profile similar in design to nearby Deal castle. Gunpowder was becoming more widely used and high walls would only have provided a greater target area for attack. With low outer walls, reinforced with solid bastions, and the added protection of earth ramparts and moats, there was less of a target for enemy fire but plenty of strength to withstand a battering. By the time the Castle was completed, danger of a Spanish invasion had passed. It is now the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, currently Admiral Lord Boyce. It is managed by English Heritage, a body responsible for protecting the historical environment.

Eynsford Castle is a medieval castle overlooking the River Darent in Eynsford, Kent. Eynsford Castle is a Norman enclosure castle now in ruins. The original castle consisted of a bailey protected by a stone curtain wall, with an outer bailey beyond the wall. There is little evidence left of the outer bailey. The inner bailey is now little more than an earth mound surrounded by a curtain wall and moat. The curtain wall was about 9 m tall and about 2 m wide and parts of it still stand to the full height. The inner bailey was reached by a bridge over the moat. the original bridge has long since disappeared, with the current wooden bridge built in the 1960s. Facilities There is a small car park on the site. Parts of the site are wheelchair accessible, but some areas are accessed by steps. Eynsford Castle was built by the Eynsford family in the 11th century. A new hall was built in the 12th century along with a new gatehouse. The wall was also heightened around this time. In the 14th century, a dispute over castle ownership resulted in the castle being vandalized and later left vacant. The castle went on to be used a hunting kennels and stables during the 18th century until the mid 19th century. The north side of the curtain wall round the bailey collapsed in the 19th century, and some of the terrace edge is now retained with a concrete wall. Ownership of the castle was transferred to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings in 1937, and later guardianship was passed to the Ministry of Works in 1948. The castle is now owned by English Heritage. Legends In 2018, the tabloid press reported stories about a 'black monk' ghost at Eynsford Castle. A visitor had apparently taken photographs with a mysterious black cloaked figure in the background. Was it a ghost or was there perhaps a more down to earth explanation?

Dover Castle stands as one of the most formidable and historically significant fortresses in England, perched dramatically on the white chalk cliffs above the town of Dover in Kent. Often described as the "Key to England," it occupies a commanding position overlooking the narrowest point of the English Channel, where the coast of France is visible on clear days just twenty-one miles distant. Managed by English Heritage, the castle is among the largest in England and draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, offering an extraordinary layered journey through nearly two thousand years of continuous military occupation and strategic importance. Its sheer scale, the variety of its structures, and the depth of its history make it genuinely exceptional among British heritage sites. The site's origins predate the Norman Conquest by many centuries. An Iron Age hill fort occupied the promontory before the Romans arrived, and it was the Romans who constructed the lighthouse — the Pharos — that still stands within the castle grounds, making it one of the tallest surviving Roman buildings in Britain. The Saxon church of St Mary in Castro, built partly from Roman materials, stands beside it and remains in use today, giving the inner ward an atmosphere of remarkable antiquity. It was William the Conqueror who recognized the site's defensive genius and ordered a fortification here shortly after 1066, but it was Henry II who transformed it into the massive stone castle that forms its medieval core, constructing the great square keep between approximately 1179 and 1188. That keep, rising some twenty-five metres and with walls up to six metres thick, remains the heart of the castle and one of the finest examples of Norman military architecture anywhere in Europe. The castle's history is dense with pivotal moments in English and European affairs. King John received papal legate Pandulf here in 1213 during the crisis that preceded Magna Carta. During the First Barons' War, the castle withstood a prolonged siege by Prince Louis of France in 1216 and 1217, a moment that genuinely tested whether England would fall under French control. Constable Hubert de Burgh's determined defence is considered one of the most consequential military stands in medieval English history. In later centuries, the labyrinthine network of tunnels bored deep into the chalk cliffs became as significant as the surface structures above. Originally excavated in the late eighteenth century during the Napoleonic Wars, these tunnels were dramatically expanded during the Second World War and served as the headquarters from which Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay coordinated Operation Dynamo in May and June of 1940 — the miraculous evacuation of over 338,000 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk. Visitors can walk through those very tunnels and the wartime operations rooms, an experience that carries genuine emotional weight. In person, Dover Castle is an overwhelming place in the best possible sense. Approaching it through the town of Dover or across the Eastern Heights, the sheer mass of the keep and its surrounding curtain walls rising against the sky creates an impression of absolute permanence and power. The chalk underfoot is bright and distinctive, and on blustery days the wind comes off the Channel with force, carrying the salt smell of the sea. The castle is not a single building but an entire fortified town in miniature — layers of walls, towers, gatehouses, a great keep, medieval tunnels, Georgian barracks, a Saxon church, and a Roman lighthouse all coexisting within the same circuit of defences. The views from the battlements and from the cliff edge are genuinely breathtaking, taking in the town of Dover below, the constant traffic of ships through the Strait, and on clear days the white cliffs of Cap Gris-Nez across the water in France. The surrounding landscape is one of the most distinctive in southern England. Dover itself sits in a natural gap in the North Downs chalk escarpment, its famous white cliffs stretching in both directions. The White Cliffs of Dover, managed by the National Trust, lie to the west and offer some of England's most iconic coastal walking. To the east, the cliffs continue toward St Margaret's Bay. The town of Dover below the castle retains the character of a working port town, and the cross-Channel ferry terminal remains extremely active. The nearby village of St Margaret's at Cliffe and the town of Deal, with its own Tudor castle, are within easy reach. The wider area of east Kent — sometimes called the Garden of England — includes the historic city of Canterbury, approximately eighteen miles inland, and the atmospheric Romney Marsh further along the coast. Visiting Dover Castle is a substantial undertaking best approached with at least half a day, and a full day is not excessive given the scope of what there is to explore. English Heritage manages the site and charges admission, with members entering free. The castle is open year-round, though hours vary seasonally and some attractions within the grounds, particularly the Secret Wartime Tunnels tours, operate on timed tickets that can sell out, so booking in advance online is strongly advisable during school holidays and summer months. The site is reached by car via the M20 and A2, with parking available on site. From Dover Priory railway station, which has direct services from London St Pancras and Victoria, the castle is approximately a mile uphill and can be reached by local taxi, bus, or on foot. Accessibility within the castle is varied — the outer areas and many tunnels involve significant uneven ground and steps, though English Heritage provides information about accessible routes and facilities. Dogs on leads are welcome in the grounds. One of the castle's lesser-known distinctions is that it has never actually been taken by force in its entire medieval history, a record that underlines the exceptional quality of its design and the skill of its defenders. The tunnels beneath the chalk also contain an extraordinary secret: a fully equipped underground hospital from the Second World War, complete with operating theatre, which remained classified for decades after the war ended and was only opened to the public relatively recently. There is also a tradition that the spirit of a drummer boy, said to have been murdered in the tunnels, has been encountered by visitors and staff over many years — one of several ghost stories attached to the castle, which given the accumulated weight of human drama within its walls, feels entirely appropriate. Perhaps most poignantly, standing in the wartime tunnel operations room where Ramsay and Churchill planned the Dunkirk evacuation, one feels the particular sensation that only the very best historic sites produce: that the past is not quite finished here, and that the walls themselves remember.

Scotney Castle is situated south-east of the village of Lamberhurst, 17 miles from Maidstone. Set in a large estate of wood, parkland and gardens Scotney Castle is not one but two manor houses. The ruins of the medieval castle surrounded by a moat are situated at the bottom of the valley surrounded by beautiful flowering shrubs and trees, forming a picturesque centre to the gardens. The old castle is now merely the remains of a circular tower and the four pillars of the gatehouse entrance. The 'new' Scotney Castle is built on the top of the hill from sandstone in a Tudor revival style popular in the 19th century. Facilities Visitors to the estate not only have the opportunity to visit the castles but also the shop selling 'Scotney Ale' and plants for the garden. The castle also has the Coach House Tearoom serving hot and cold food and drink. An extremely popular part of any visit to Scotney is to see the most ancient parts of the estate, is not the castles or the gardens but the footprint of a dinosaur which was found in the quarry dating back over a million years. The garden, shop and tearoom are open to the public from March until the middle of December 11am until 5pm Wednesday to Sunday. The castles are open from March until October; visitors are advised to check with the property as the opening times and dates vary at the beginning and end of the season. The first records of the estate in 1137 gave the owner as Lambert de Scoteni with the 'old castle' being built around 1378 by Roger Ashburnham. He built the castle as a rectangular fortified house with towers at the four corners. The owners of the castle for 350 years were a Catholic family called the Darrell's. During their long ownership they were responsible for rebuilding some of the castle's wings in the most popular styles. They also used the castle to hide a priest, Father Richard Blount, for seven years before he jumped into the moat to escape the authorities when Catholicism was illegal. In 1778 Edward Hussey purchased the property and it was his grandson, also called Edward, who was responsible for building the 'new' castle in 1843. The new castle was built on the slopes above the original castle which was then partially dismantled and the remainder left in ruins to become a romantic feature in the garden On the death of the final member of the Hussey family the estate was left to the National Trust.

Often mistaken for being in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, Leeds Castle is situated four miles south of Maidstone, Kent in the south of England. Set in 500 acres of parkland and beautiful gardens the renovated castle is accessed via a stone bridge across a moat. The site comprises of a medieval gatehouse, a Tudor tower, an elevated French gloriette or garden building and a two storey 19th century house extending out into the moat at the rear. Facilities Open from 10am every day, there are a huge range of things for visitors to do from self guided audio or family audio tours; taking visitors through the castle's history from the servants eyes, to playing a round of golf at the 9 hole golf course or taking a balloon flight. For a more sedate visit the Culpeper, Woodland and Mediterranean gardens with internationally renowned aviaries and free roaming birds are the place to visit for a quiet stroll. Get lost in the castle's yew maze or for the little ones a turf maze, visit the grotto, take the land train to various stops around the estate or visit the vineyard used to make the castle's very own vintage. The castle also has a restaurant and a number of the light refreshment kiosks around the estate as well as a shop selling souvenirs. The castle is also licensed for civil wedding ceremonies, choose from the gatehouse, tower, dining room or library, the staff can arrange every detail for the special day including a stay in the castles luxurious bedrooms with four poster beds. The first building on the site was a Saxon manor which was replaced in 1119 by Robert de Crevecoer. In 1278 the castle was transformed in to royal palace for King Edward I when a barbican with drawbridge, gateway and portcullis was added. During the rein of Henry VIII the castle was again transformed for his first wife Catherine of Aragon and was the place where his daughter, Elizabeth I was imprisoned before being made Queen. The Culpeper family were resident in the castle at the time of the Civil War and because they were parliamentarian sympathizers the castle did not sustain any damage. In 1926 the castle was purchased by the Honorable Lady Olive Baillie, she was responsible redesigning and decorating the interiors and having the castle totally renovated with French architects and designers. In 1976 the Leeds Castle Foundation was established and the castle was opened to the public for the first time. The Arts The castle grounds were the venue for two concerts by Sir Elton John in 1999.