Windsor Castle is named Britains best-loved in nationwide survey
Viewers will have their castle fixation fulfilled by a new Castle collection on the free television on-demand service UKTV Play
As the Queen celebrates her 90th birthday year, one of her most historic residences has been named the nations best-loved castle.
Windsor Castle in Berkshire - which dates back to the 11th century - topped the poll commissioned by TV on demand service UKTV Play to launch The Castle Collection - a selection of programmes celebrating the eclectic range of shows featuring castles, from Time Team to The Secret Lives of the Tudors - even Lovejoy. Windsor has had an illustrious role in British history for centuries. Europes longest occupied palace has been used by all monarchs since Henry I first stayed there 1110. It was followed in the nations affections by Bodiam Castle, with Edinburgh Castle in third position. Dover Castle and Alnwick Castle - used as a Hogwarts location for the earlier Harry Potter films - were fourth and fifth respectively.
More than nine in ten Brits (91%) believe castles are an important part of British heritage and history, and the same number have paid to visit a castle as a tourist attraction. The tapestry of historic castles dotted around the UK also topped a list of the things which make people most proud of the UK countryside, with the rolling greenery and hedgerows placed second and the Lake District ranked third.
And its not just the scenery people like to soak up, the poll revealed that four out of five people visiting a castle expect to see a GHOST.
.
Castles are clearly a passion for many Brits with almost nine out of ten (88%) saying they have visited a castle within the UK. And of those who have not done so, more than half (51%) would like to.
Emma Boston, general manager, UKTV Play, said,
We are a nation of castle lovers and there are an incredible array of beautiful historical ancient treasures across the country. When we looked at the shows that proved really popular on the service we found that those set in or featuring castles often did really well. So we created the Castle Collection on UTKV Play, where you can find fantastic historical programming such as Time Team, Secrets of Britain and Castle Builders - as well as the surprising, such as an episode of paranormal show Ghost Adventures set in a castle. At UKTV, our mantra is to love your thing so if castles are your thing we have lined up some amazing shows for you.
Despite being close to the nations heart, Windsor missed out on the honours for being the most romantic of the UKs castles. That accolade went to 14th century Bodiam Castle in East Sussex - with its wide moat and access across a bridge ticking most of the boxes for what Brits expect from a classic castle.
Asked their favourite feature for a classic castle, three fifths (61%) said it should be surrounded by water, with round turrets and a bridge access the next most important. Brits also believe our castles have an air of the supernatural, with over four in ten (43%) expecting to potentially see a ghost when visiting a castle in the UK. Bodiam Castle - a National Trust property since 1925 - which was thought to be the most romantic example of a classic British castle, chosen by more than half (55%) of those polled, with Eastnor the runner up and Windsor in third place.
The survey was commissioned to celebrate the launch of the Castle Collection on UKTVs on demand TV service UKTV Play which will feature an array of programmes including Time Team, Secrets of Britain, Castle Builders, Ghost Adventures, Inquisition and Tales of Irish Castles.
The Castle Collection is available now on UKTV Play.
For more information, please contact Shaneil Patel or Emma Denley at Taylor Herring: SP@taylorherring.com | ED@taylorherring.com | Tel: 0208 206 5151
NOTES TO EDITORS The full Castle Collection will include: Yesterday
Tales of Irish Castles Ep 1 -6
Time Team (Doc 04/16), 1, Real Night Of The Round Table
Time Team (15) Ep (13) The Fort of the Earls
Time Team (15) Ep 6
Castle Builders Ep 1-3
Secrets of Britain Ep 1 - Secrets of the Tower Of London
Time Team S20 Ep 9
Time Team S20 Ep 11
Inquisition Ep 1 Cathars and Templars
Really
Ghost Adventures S7 Ep 9
Ghost Adventures S7 Ep 10
About UKTV Play UKTV Play is the fast-growing on demand TV service where you can watch the TV shows you love from Dave, Yesterday, Really and Drama wherever you want, whenever you want. The good news? We love them too. Love digging into history or laughing out loud to new, British comedy you cant see anywhere else? So do we. Enjoy an engrossing, nail-biting true crime story or powerful real life documentaries? No problem. In the mood to luxuriate in a decadent period drama or hang on the edge of your seat during a pulsating crime drama? Were with you. Theres so much brilliant TV on UKTV Play - Taskmaster, Alan Davies As Yet Untitled, Suits, Parks and Recreation, Red Dwarf, Most Haunted, New Tricks, Pride and Prejudice, Call The Midwife, The Bill and Birds of a Feather - to name a few, so youll never be stuck for something to watch. With the UKTV Play app you can stream your favourite TV for free via your computer, tablet or smart phone. It has never been easier to watch the things you love most, so download the app and delve in. You can also put your feet up and watch on the telly, thanks to Virgin TV, YouView, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. If youre an M+ subscriber on Virgin Media or BT TV customer, shows from other great UKTV channels - Gold, W, Alibi, Good Food, Home and Eden - are on the menu as well.
uktvplay.co.uk / @UKTVPlay on Twitter
About UKTV UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK. The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Windsor Castle is named Britains best-loved in nationwide survey
