Leeds Castle

A Norman stone castle replaced a Saxon manor here in 1119, and from 1278 it belonged to Eleanor of Castile and then to a succession of English queens, which is why it is often described as the ladies' castle; Henry VIII rebuilt it for Catherine of Aragon. Its position is the point: the buildings sit on two islands in a lake formed by damming the River Len, so the walls rise straight out of water on every side. The last private owner, Olive Baillie, an Anglo-American heiress, bought it in 1926 and had the interiors redone in a 1920s and 1930s country-house taste that is what visitors actually walk through, rather than medieval rooms. The grounds hold a maze of two thousand yews with a shell grotto beneath it, a falconry and a golf course.

What you actually see

• The island setting - buildings rising directly from a dammed lake.
• The Baillie interiors - 1920s and 1930s rooms rather than medieval ones.
• The yew maze - two thousand trees with an underground shell grotto at the centre.
• The falconry - daily flying displays in the grounds.

When to go

April to September for the grounds, falconry and full programme; the ticket is valid for a year, which the castle promotes heavily. Winter brings a Christmas trail and shorter hours.

Honest expectations

The interiors are largely a twentieth-century recreation, which disappoints visitors expecting a medieval castle. The site is very commercialised with several paid extras on top of entry. Grounds are extensive and involve a lot of walking.

Nearby

Maidstone lies west; Sissinghurst and the Weald villages are south.