Leeds Castle
The moated Leeds Castle is located about six kilometers south-east of Maidstone and thus in the heart of the English county of Kent . The castle and its lands are named after the small village of Leeds that they border. This village should not be confused with the city of Leeds, some 300 kilometers to the north .
Leeds Castle was already mentioned in the Domesday Book of King William the Conqueror , the English Imperial Land Register. It was gradually used over the centuries as a Norman fortress, the residence of six medieval queens, the palace of Henry VIII and a refuge for the rich and powerful. In the more than 1000 years of its existence, the castle has survived many battles, hosted powerful statesmen and inspired numerous artists. Today it is under the direction of the Leeds Castle Foundation and is the destination of many thousands of people looking for relaxation every year.
history
- 857: The history of Leeds Castle began in 857 with the construction of a royal mansion called Esledes . It was owned by the Anglo-Saxon royal family during the reign of King Ethelbert of Wessex .
- 1278: Under Edward I , who greatly expanded and modernized the building, Leeds Castle began as a royal palace in 1278.
- 1321: As one night in 1321, the wife of King . Edward II , Isabella of France , at Leeds Castle sought refuge, she was denied access. The royal tour company was even shot at by archers from inside the castle. However, the king immediately took revenge for the hostile reception of his queen and besieged the castle with catapult-like throwing devices, so-called ballistas . A few years after Edward's death, Queen Isabella was awarded the castle until her death in 1358.
- In 1395, King Richard II received the French poet and historian Jean Froissart at Leeds Castle, a meeting that Froissart described in his chronicles .
- 1403 was Leeds Castle residence of the not very popular with the English folk queen Joan of Navarre (to 1370-1437), second wife of King Henry IV. Johanna was later charged with a murder plot against her stepson, King Henry V , to have forged , but acquitted after four years in prison. Since then, Leeds Castle has had a reputation for being a women's castle .
- In 1520, Leeds Castle fell to its most famous royal owner, King Henry VIII. He spent an enormous amount of money to rebuild the castle for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536).
- 1660: With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the American chapter in the history of Leeds Castle began, which continues to this day. King Charles II granted Lord Culpeper over 5 million acres in what was then the British colony of Virginia for helping the exiled royal family. Lord Culpeper's son bought the castle and rented it to the government as a prison for French and Dutch prisoners of war. The prisoners set fire to the Gloriette , causing damage that was not repaired until 1822.
- In 1690 the castle and its surroundings became the property of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron . Leeds Castle remained in the family for over 100 years until the death of Robert Fairfax, 7th Lord Fairfax of Cameron in 1793.
- 1793 Leeds Castle was passed on to various distant relatives of the Fairfaxes, but was barely maintained for the next 30 years. The architect William Baskett wrote a devastating report on the condition of the buildings in 1821: the mill and the barbican were in ruins, the gatehouse and inner gatehouse were in a dilapidated condition, the Maiden's Tower was in imminent danger of collapse, the Jacobean The main house fell into disrepair and the Gloriette was more or less a ruin.
- 1821 The current owner Fiennes Wykeham Martin decided to carry out various renovations and conversions. The resulting new castle, which has not changed much to this day, was completed in 1823
- 1926: Leeds Castle was in poor structural condition after various changes of ownership and had been completely empty for two years when it was bought by the wealthy American couple Arthur Wilsen Filmer and his wife Olive Cecilia Paget. Olive Cecilia Paget came to be known as Lady Baillie after divorcing Arthur Wilsen Filmer and marrying Sir Adrian William Maxwell Baillie . For the rest of her life, Lady Baillie spent a large part of her inheritance on the restoration of the castle and its buildings, as well as the park and the estate.
- 1930s: Lady Baillie was known as the hostess. The Baillies lived in London during the week and held lavish house parties at Leeds Castle on the weekends.
- 1939: After the beginning of the Second World War, parts of the palace were used as a hospital. Many of the wounded from the expeditionary forces repatriated from Dunkirk after the withdrawal were treated at Leeds Castle. Additional space was used for the rehabilitation of severely burned pilots treated by well-known surgeons and plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe at East Grinstead Hospital. At the same time, secret weapon research with incendiary weapons was carried out on the castle grounds. The minister responsible for this work, Geoffrey Lloyd, was a regular visitor during Lady Baillie's lifetime and later became the first chairman of the Leeds Castle Foundation.
- In 1949 the castle served as the backdrop for the British film Adel committed , in which Alec Guinness played eight different roles.
- 1976: After her death in 1974, Lady Baillie bequeathed the castle to the Leeds Castle Foundation, a private charitable trust whose aim is to keep the castle and grounds open to the public. The castle was opened to the public in 1976.
Leeds Castle today
Leeds Castle and the grounds and gardens surrounding the castle are now a major recreational center in Kent. There are various bird houses, a golf course, a labyrinth and the only dog collar museum in the world on the premises. It is also a regular venue for open-air concerts with renowned artists and an annual hot air balloon spectacle.
It belongs to the Treasure Houses of England consortium .
Web links
- Website of Leeds Castle (English)
- Visit Kent on Leeds Castle (English)
- Go Britannia! Travel Guide about Leeds Castle (English)
Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ' N , 0 ° 38' E