The roll · The Castle Rolls
The largest castles in the UK, by recorded area.
11 castles with a published, sourced area, split into two rankings: inside the walls, and with the moats and earthworks added. Every row names its measure and its source.
Dover Castle has the largest recorded area inside its walls of any UK castle with a sourced figure. English Heritage says its outer curtain wall encloses almost 32 acres, about 13 hectares, and the full site with its ditch and outer defences covers over 50 acres. Windsor Castle is next inside the walls at 13 acres (5.3 hectares), unless Scarborough's 16-acre headland site is counted as a wall circuit. When moats and water defences are counted, Caerphilly Castle comes second to Dover Castle at 30 acres.
A castle's size is usually quoted without saying what was measured, so one list puts Windsor first and another puts Dover or Caerphilly there. The two rankings below keep the measures apart. The first counts only the ground inside the walls. The second adds moats, lakes, ditches and outworks. A figure only appears if it was read on a named page from the operator, a statutory record, a castle gazetteer or a referenced Wikipedia article. Ratings and review counts come from the roll.
Largest inside the walls
8 castles ranked by the area their walls enclose. Two of them, Pevensey and Burgh Castle, are Roman forts, and the figure is the Roman circuit.
| # | Castle | Published figure | Hectares |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dover Castle | almost 32 acres | 12.95 |
| 2 | Windsor Castle | 13 acres (5.3 hectares) | 5.26 |
| 3 | Tower of London | almost 12 acres (4.9 hectares) | 4.90 |
| 4 | Dunstanburgh Castle | 9.96 acres (4.03 ha) | 4.03 |
| 5 | Pevensey Castle | about 3.67 hectares (9.1 acres) | 3.67 |
| 6 | Cardiff Castle | around 8.25 acres (3.34 ha) | 3.34 |
| 7 | Alnwick Castle | about 7 acres | 2.83 |
| 8 | Burgh Castle Roman Fort | about 2.4 hectares (6 acres) | 2.40 |
1. Dover Castle almost 32 acres
4.7 across 17,448 Google reviews. Kent, England. The area inside the outer curtain wall. English Heritage puts the whole site, with the ditch and the later outer defences, at over 50 acres. Source: English Heritage (Dover Castle FAQs) (operator).
2. Windsor Castle 13 acres (5.3 hectares)
4.7 across 64,907 Google reviews. Berkshire, England. The Royal Collection Trust fact sheet, as cited on Wikipedia, gives 13 acres for the castle grounds, which we've taken to mean the walled wards. The surrounding Home Park is far larger and isn't counted. Source: Wikipedia citing Royal Collection Trust fact sheet (Wikipedia, cited).
3. Tower of London almost 12 acres (4.9 hectares)
4.7 across 120,472 Google reviews. Greater London, England. The area the castle encloses, as Parnell gives it. The source doesn't say whether the moat is included. The Tower Liberties around it add about 6 acres more, which isn't counted here. Source: Wikipedia citing Parnell (1993) [Tower of London], pp.32-33 (Wikipedia, cited).
4. Dunstanburgh Castle 9.96 acres (4.03 ha)
4.6 across 2,357 Google reviews. Northumberland, England. Inside the curtain walls, from English Heritage's 2006 survey as cited on Wikipedia. The wider site with its meres is much bigger. Source: Wikipedia citing Oswald et al. (2006) English Heritage survey report, pp.61, 96 (Wikipedia, cited).
5. Pevensey Castle about 3.67 hectares (9.1 acres)
4.5 across 2,660 Google reviews. East Sussex, England. The area inside the Roman fort walls, which the medieval castle was built within. Source: Wikipedia citing Johnson, S. (1989) 'Pevensey' in Maxfield (ed.) The Saxon Shore: A Handbook, Univ. of Exeter (Wikipedia, cited).
6. Cardiff Castle around 8.25 acres (3.34 ha)
4.6 across 22,719 Google reviews. Cardiff, Wales. The area of the Norman castle, from Ella Armitage's 1912 study as cited on Wikipedia. It's an old source, so treat it as approximate. Source: Wikipedia citing Armitage, E. (1912) The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles, p.293 (Wikipedia, cited).
7. Alnwick Castle about 7 acres
4.6 across 15,737 Google reviews. Northumberland, England. The Gatehouse Gazetteer's figure for the castle as it stood by 1138. The present baileys follow the same plan. Source: Gatehouse Gazetteer (gazetteer).
8. Burgh Castle Roman Fort about 2.4 hectares (6 acres)
4.5 across 916 Google reviews. Norfolk, England. A Roman fort rather than a medieval castle. The west wall has been lost, so the figure is the original enclosure. Source: English Heritage (operator).
Largest with moats and earthworks
4 castles whose published figure includes the water defences, ditches or outer earthworks. These are larger numbers measuring a larger thing, so they're kept apart from the table above.
| # | Castle | Published figure | Hectares |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dover Castle | over 50 acres | 20.23 |
| 2 | Caerphilly Castle | 30 acres | 12.14 |
| 3 | Castle Rising Castle | 20 acres Also: 5 hectares (12 acres) | 8.09 |
| 4 | Lincoln Castle | thirteen and three-quarter acres including the ditches | 5.56 |
1. Dover Castle over 50 acres
4.7 across 17,448 Google reviews. Kent, England. The outer curtain wall plus the ditch and the post-medieval defences beyond it. English Heritage gives this as a minimum, so the true figure is higher. Source: English Heritage (Dover Castle FAQs) (operator).
2. Caerphilly Castle 30 acres
4.7 across 8,511 Google reviews. Caerphilly, Wales. The castle and its water defences together, from Cadw. Much of that area is the artificial lakes and dams built around it. Source: Cadw (operator).
3. Castle Rising Castle 20 acres
4.6 across 2,529 Google reviews. Norfolk, England. The castle and its earthworks. English Heritage and Robert Liddiard's 2000 study disagree, so both are shown and the rank uses the English Heritage figure. Source: English Heritage (operator). A second source gives 5 hectares (12 acres) (Wikipedia citing Liddiard, R. (2000) 'Castle Rising, Norfolk: A Landscape of Lordship?', Anglo-Norman Studies 22, Boydell).
4. Lincoln Castle thirteen and three-quarter acres including the ditches
4.6 across 11,827 Google reviews. Lincolnshire, England. The castle with its ditches, as given by the Gatehouse Gazetteer from Pevsner and the scheduling report. Source: Gatehouse Gazetteer (citing Pevsner; scheduling report) (gazetteer).
Measured as a site, not a wall circuit
Two coastal castles have operator figures that describe the whole site rather than a curtain-wall enclosure. They're shown here so the numbers aren't mistaken for the measure used above.
Scarborough Castle 16-acre site
4.6 across 8,836 Google reviews. English Heritage's figure for the whole headland site. From the early 13th century a curtain wall ran right round the headland, but only the stretch facing the town survives, and cliffs guard the other sides. English Heritage gives it as a site figure, so it isn't ranked. Counted as an enclosure, it would sit second after Dover. Source: English Heritage.
Bamburgh Castle nine acres
4.7 across 19,110 Google reviews. The castle's own figure for the land on its rocky plateau. The source gives the land area rather than the area inside the walls, so it isn't ranked. Source: Bamburgh Castle (official site).
Big numbers that aren't the castle
These figures turn up on lists of the biggest castles, but each one measures something other than the castle itself:
- Warwick Castle: 64 acre site measures the whole visitor site with its grounds and gardens (Warwick Castle (official site)).
- Leeds Castle: 500 acre Leeds Castle Estate measures the whole estate (Leeds Castle (official site)).
- Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden: approximately 100 acres measures the former mere, the artificial lake that lay along the south and west sides of the castle (Gatehouse Gazetteer).
- Framlingham Castle: 243 hectares (600 acres) measures the medieval deer park (Wikipedia citing Alexander, M. (2007) Framlingham Castle: The Landscape Context, English Heritage Research Dept).
Major castles with no reliable figure
For 28 well-known castles on the roll, no area could be found from a source reliable enough to rank. For a few, including Portchester, Ludlow and Edinburgh, a figure exists only on an uncited or commercial page, so they're left out. The list is sorted by Google review count, so the best-known come first: Edinburgh Castle, Stirling Castle, Urquhart Castle, Conwy Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Corfe Castle, Rochester Castle, Pembroke Castle, Bodiam Castle, Harlech Castle, Ludlow Castle, Carrickfergus Castle, Carisbrooke Castle, Portchester Castle, Pendennis Castle, Carlisle Castle, Chepstow Castle, Raglan Castle, Caerlaverock Castle, Beeston Castle, Richmond Castle, Tantallon Castle, Goodrich Castle, Conisbrough Castle, Kidwelly Castle, Pontefract Castle, Denbigh Castle, Launceston Castle. Stirling Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Conwy Castle, Harlech Castle and Pembroke Castle are the gaps most likely to change the ranking if a sourced figure appears. Beaumaris has a published figure for its inner ward only, three-quarters of an acre, so it can't be compared.
Questions people ask
What is the largest castle in the UK?
By recorded area inside its walls, Dover Castle. English Heritage says its outer curtain wall encloses almost 32 acres, about 13 hectares, and the whole site with its ditch and outer defences covers over 50 acres. The next largest walled figure on record is Windsor Castle at 13 acres (5.3 hectares), though Scarborough's 16-acre headland would beat it if English Heritage's site figure were counted as a wall circuit. Several famous castles, including Stirling Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Caernarfon Castle, Conwy Castle, Harlech Castle and Pembroke Castle, have no reliable published area, so they can't be placed in the ranking.
Is Windsor Castle bigger than Dover Castle?
Not by area inside the walls. Windsor Castle is often described as the largest occupied castle in the world, which is a claim about a castle that's still lived in. On area inside the walls, Dover Castle's figure is about 2.5 times Windsor Castle's: 12.95 hectares against 5.26.
What is the largest castle in Wales?
Caerphilly Castle. Cadw, which looks after it, calls it the biggest castle in Wales and gives 30 acres for the castle and its water defences together. Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech and Pembroke have no reliable published area, so they can't be compared on figures.
What is the largest castle in Scotland?
No reliable area could be found for Stirling Castle or Edinburgh Castle, the two usual answers. Historic Environment Scotland's own statements of significance for both give no area, and the only figure found for Edinburgh comes from a ticket reseller and doesn't add up, so neither is ranked here.
Why do lists of the biggest castles disagree?
Because they're measuring different things without saying so. Some use the area inside the walls, some add the moats and earthworks, some quote the whole estate or visitor site, and some mean the largest castle still lived in. Warwick's 64 acres and Leeds Castle's 500 acres are grounds and estate, and Kenilworth's 100 acres was its lake. Each figure on this page names its measure and its source.