Leeds Castle

Listed in the Domesday Book as a Saxon manor, Leeds Castle in Kent has played many roles in the intervening centuries. It has been a Norman stronghold; the private property of six of England's medieval queens; a palace used by Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon; a Jacobean country house; a Georgian mansion; an elegant early 20th-century playground and retreat for the influential and famous; and finally, in the 21st century, it has become one of the most visited historic buildings in Britain. This superb and substantial guide, illustrated with a selection of stunning colour photographs, traces the castle's long link with the English Crown, which placed it in the forefront of national politics, and celebrates the extraordinary beauty of one of England's best loved historic homes.