Leeds Castle is named after Led who is supposed to have been the Chief Minister of King Ethelbert IV of Kent. Originally a Saxon manor house called Esledes, built in AD857, it consisted of a wooden palisade and earthwork enclosure. It was granted to the Godwin family by King Edward the Confessor but did not become a stone castle until Robert Crevecoeur started upgrading it in 1119. The only surviving part of this twelfth century castle is now the cellar.

利兹城堡名字由来要追述到公元5世纪-11世纪的七国时代，是以当时七国之一的肯特国国王埃塞尔伯特四世的首席部长里德（Led who is supposed to have been the Chief Minister of King Ethelbert IV of Kent）的名字而命名。始建于公元857年，原本是一个撒克逊庄园称为Esledes，由木栅栏和土方构成并不是石头城堡。

直到忏悔王爱德华将它授予戈德温家族，但不是石头城堡。直到罗伯特克雷维格于1119年开始扩建。十二个世纪的城堡唯一留下来的一部分是地窖。

1278英王爱德华一世与他的妻子埃利诺卡斯蒂利亚拥有了这座城堡，并将其归为皇家御用，在原有基础上不断的翻修扩建，才有了今天的模样。利兹被赞誉女士们的城堡（ladies castle）称号，这与中世纪期间住过的六位英国王后不无关系。