Leeds Castle: The Lake Island Fortress of Six Medieval Queens There are castles built on cliffs, castles built on hills, and castles built for war. Leeds Castle was built for queens. When Edward I acquired it in 1278 as a gift for his wife Eleanor of Castile, he began...
Bamburgh Castle: A Basalt Crag Above the North Sea, Inhabited Since 420 AD On the Northumberland coast, where the North Sea breaks against a volcanic crag 150 feet above the beach, a fortress has stood for over 1,400 years. The Britons called it Din Guarie and made it...
Alnwick Castle: The Real Hogwarts, a Viking Vampire and 700 Years of the Percy Family When the producers of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone needed an outdoor setting for Hogwarts, they came to Alnwick. The broomstick-flying lessons filmed in the inner bailey...
Hever Castle: The Double-Moated Home of Anne Boleyn, in the Heart of Kent Two of the most extraordinary objects at Hever Castle are the smallest: a pair of prayer books, small enough to hold in one hand, each inscribed with handwritten notes by Anne Boleyn herself....
Highclere Castle: Where Downton Abbey Comes to Life and Tutankhamun's Story Begins Two things made Highclere Castle world-famous, and they could hardly be more different. The first is a television drama: Highclere is the house used as Downton Abbey in the beloved ITV...
Warwick Castle: Eleven Centuries of Kings, Sieges and a Kingmaker on the River Avon Stand on the riverbank below Warwick Castle at the right moment — early on a still morning, the mist lifting off the Avon — and the two great towers rise above the sandstone bluff...
Windsor Castle: A Thousand Years of Kings and Queens Above the Thames The Round Tower has stood on its great earthen mound above the River Thames for the best part of nine centuries, and from its foot the castle spreads along the ridge in a sweep of grey stone and...