Leeds Castle was built in 1119 by Robert De Crevecoeur to replace the Saxon manor of Esledes. In 1278, the castle became the royal palace for Edward I and his wife, Eleanor of Castile.
Over the next 150 years, the castle had many famous residents including Margaret of France, Isabella of France, Joan of Navarre, Anne of Bohemia and Catherine de Valois.
Henry VIII often visited Leeds with Catherine of Aragon; a significant stay was when the entire court was there on the way to the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. A painting commemorating the meeting between Henry and Francis I of France is still hung there today.
Elizabeth I was held prisoner there for a short time before her coronation.
In 1552, Edward VI gave the castle to one of Henry’s courtiers, Sir Anthony St. Ledger.
The castle went under many renovations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The last private owner was Lady Baillie, a daughter of an American heiress who bought it in 1926. Lady Baillie started the Leeds Castle Foundation and the castle was first open to the public in 1976.
