Edinburgh Castle comes third in '˜best-loved castle' poll

Edinburgh Castle has placed third in a poll to find Britain's best-loved castle. Picture: FlickrCC/Craigyc

EDINBURGH Castle has come third in a poll to find Britain's best-loved castle.

The fortress, dating from the 12th century was ranked ahead of the likes of Northumberland’s Alnwick Castle - which has been used as a filming location for Downton Abbey and the Harry Potter films - and Caernarfon Castle in Wales.

Windsor Castle, the ancient royal residence in Berkshire and rumoured to be the Queen’s favourite home finished top of the poll, beating off competition from Bodiam Castle in East Sussex.

Scotland secured a second castle in the top 10, with Stirling Castle placing tenth behind Bamburgh Castle.

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The poll was commissioned by TV on-demand service UKTV Play to launch The Castle Collection - a selection of programmes celebrating a range of shows featuring castles, from Time Team to The Secret Lives Of The Tudors.

Emma Boston, general manager of 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.”

The 10 best-loved British Castles:

1 Windsor Castle

2. Bodiam Castle

3. Edinburgh Castle

4. Warwick Castle

5. Dover Castle

6. Alnwick Castle

7. Leeds Castle

8. Caernarfon Castle

9. Bamburgh Castle

10. Stirling Castle