Chiddingstone Castle, Kent, England

Number 29 - Chiddingstone castle

Our castle challenge had been on a bit of a hiatus while Chloe got through a pretty tough pregnancy. So, with her back to full energy levels, we knew we had to get back on the castle horse (if only we could ride horses we would be much more authentic castle challengers).

Chiddingstone castle was a leaving present from the colleagues at my old company. What a treat! They bought me a voucher that entitled me and "a friend" (obviously I had to pick Chloe) to enter a castle AND have a cream tea whilst there. We opted for Chiddingstone in Kent.

 

This was also a momentous occasion as it was the first time Chloe's little boy had been to a castle with us. No doubt the first of many. Though he can't speak yet, he let me know he loved it through mime and eye contact.

Chiddingstone is a really beautiful castle. It's a tudor dwelling and is the kind of house I'd like to live in (in my dreams). 

We went for a tour around the inside, though we didn't go upstairs as Chloe had the pushchair and we thought it would prove a bit challenging. There were lots of exhibits downstairs, including one on Japan and another on ancient Egypt. All very interesting and lots to find out about. 

There were also hand written letters and old photographs of people who had lived there, we love looking at that sort of thing.

The castle has transformed over the years, it started off as a Tudor dwelling, then they changed it so it looked more like a typical high street home n the 17th century and then in the 1800s the owner decided to change the castle so it looked more like a traditional medieval castle. Unfortunately they ran out of money before this plan could come to fruition. It was sold in the 1930s and became a military base for the army in the second world war.

Next stop was the tea room. It was outside the castle in a little courtyard area. I presented my voucher and we ended up with a delicious cream tea. Really good! Home made sandwiches, scones, jam, cake. I opted for blueberry and lime cake and it was delicious, a bit like a lemon drizzle but slightly more tangy and with lots of blueberries. Can't remember what Chloe ordered, I was too busy wolfing mine down.

Later on, we moved into the main gardens through a little archway onto the grass, and ate some more of our edible treats out there, which was lovely. 

We had a wander round the edge of the of the castle and explored some of the gardens, which were really beautiful. 

 
There was a rather large Grade II Victorian Orangery which was rather lovely.

We were really lucky with the weather and spent a large portion of the day sitting on the grass. Lots of beautiful plants and displays. You can wander quite a way and discover little hidden walls and buildings, all quite magical. There was also a huge lake which was really stunning.

Cost: normally £8 but I had this voucher so we got in for free. Though we didn't pay for the cream tea it was all very reasonable (I think about £5 for scones and tea with jam and clotted cream).

Hints and tips: Try the scones, they're delicious! Good size car park and they had their own postbox (I need one of those).