Leeds Castle was in its long history a Norman stronghold, the private residence of 6 English queens of the Middle Ages (Eleanor of Castile, Margaret of France, Isabella of France, Joan of Navarre, Anna of Bohemia and Katharina de Valois), a palace of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in Jacobean times a country estate and a Georgian mansion.
In the 20th century the castle was an elegant retreat and today Leeds Castle is one of the most visited attractions in the UK.
Leeds Castle has Norman foundations, a medieval gatehouse; The Gloriette was built by Edward I and expanded in the times of Henry III, there is a Tudor tower and a 19th century country house.
The first castle was built by the Norman Baron Robert de Crevecoeur in 1119, at the time of Henry I, the son of William the Conqueror, on an island in the River Len. In 1278, one and a half centuries later, it came into the possession of Queen Eleanor, the wife of Edwards I.
For the next 300 years, the castle was a royal residence and part of the Wittum of the English queens.