Leeds Castle

"A year before Samuel Pepys had discovered "what a dreadful thing" it was to "look upon the precipices" of Rochester Castle, his famous rival in the diary-keeping business, John Evelyn, had also been castle-hunting in the fair county of Kent. The explanation was that Evelyn had been appointed one of the commissioners for the care of the prisoners of the Dutch war. Hence his need of a building suitable for the secure detention of those unfortunate beings. Such a structure he found in Leeds Castle, then the property of Lord Culpeper, which was strongly situated on the Roman road a few miles from Maidstone. There are several references to the fortress in Evelyn's diary, the first telling how, after a pleasant visit to one of his cousins, he journeyed the following morning to Leeds Castle," once a famous hold, now hired by me of my Lord Culpeper for a prison." Extract from "Royal Castles of England" (Open Library)

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