Leeds castle, Kent, England

Number 32 - Leeds castle

Leeds is our first castle of 2015, and it's one we've had our eye on for a while. We knew it needed a whole day to take in the full splendour, so with a day booked off work we headed there in some lovely spring weather.

Chloe had her little boy in tow, it's his second castle. He was allowed in free as he's only 1.

The car park is a 15 minute walk to the castle itself. It's up a tree lined path, surrounded by lakes, ponds and rivers on both sides. 

Luckily for us, it turns out March is a great time to visit as the spring flowers were poking their heads out, lots of lovely crocuses and daffodils all over the place.

Sebastian loves birds, so he wanted to stop every 3 steps to admire them. This meant the walk took us significantly longer until the castle came into view.

But when we did finally reach the approach and see the castle, it was worth the wait...

What a stunner. I mean the weather was certainly showing it off in it's best light, but it was so tranquil. Some castles can look rather imposing, but I got quite a cosy feeling about Leeds. Although it was still huge, and could have fit a family of 100 plus, it felt lived in and cared for in a really nice way. The castle and grounds were so beautiful, the team at Leeds must work night and day to keep it all in such pristine condition. The view across the river/moat was really stunning.

The history of Leeds castle was originally the site of a manor of the Royal Saxon Family. it was a Norman stronghold, then became a Royal palace. Various Queens and Kings lived there for 300 years. In the1900s it was bought by Lady Baillie who lived there longer than anyone else, she restored the whole thing, luckily for us!

By the time we made it up the hill, it was lunch time and we didn't think Sebastian would be keen on waiting for his grub so we walked towards the maze and falconry (yes there are eagles etc) to find a nice spot to picnic. We picked a shaded area under the trees overlooking a huge lake.... at least I think it was a lake. Really peaceful, probably the nicest view I've ever had when eating hula hoops.

Once lunch was wolfed down, we decided to stay that end and tackle the maze. There was also a massive children's play area which looked like it was having some refurbishment done, but would be great in the summer.

Having barely ever been in a maze, I wasn't sure how i'd feel. Unfortunately I got a lot of flashbacks to my terrifying day at the London dungeons (which Chloe thought was hilarious) and flashes of the Goblet of Fire, in which the maze is quite terrifying. So, needless to say, I wanted to find the centre and get the hell out of there. Saying that, I was able to admire the neatness of the hedges which I imagine takes a lot of work.

As was to be expected, we got completely lost and had no strategy whatsoever. Eventually we spotted a lady who's partner had made it to the middle and was shouting her directions from his pivotal, all-seeing position at the top of the tower. We used Sebastian to win her over, and she let us follow her to the centre. Hurrah! There was a little tower you could climb which allowed you to look down at the maze tunnels but, what was more, was a shell grotto..... literally made of shells.

Upon entering we were slightly terrified to be confronted by a huge stone/shell face.

There was also scary music playing. I was worried Sebastian might burst into tears, but it seemed I was more frightened than he was. The grotto had a little underground passage filled with shell statues and shell ceilings. 

It really was quite something, no idea when it was made.... should have found that out. I was quite pleased when the secret underground passageway lead us out at the lake, rather than having to find our way back out through the maze. If this had been necessary, we may well have still been in there now.

We started the walk back to the main castle, going through a rather delightful walled garden. There weren't loads of flowers in bloom, but I imagine in the summer it's absolutely stunning.

On the way back we also took our imperative 'castle selfie' with the castle in the background to prove we were there together. A rather nice one I'm sure you'll agree.

Next up was the castle itself, and it's interior. What wonders were we to encounter? 

The gatehouse was in excellent condition, leading to an interior green space surrounded by other buildings. We made for the main castle area which sat at the rear. The ticket price included admission to the house and the staff/volunteers were really friendly. 

It reminded me a bit of Scotney Castle, in as much as a lot of the furniture was the real stuff and it all seemed rather sweet and homely. The owners at some point in time clearly loves birds as there were lots of statues and pictures of birds, which Sebastian couldn't get enough of.

There was an old pale blue chair I took quite a liking too, apparently it was the Queen's favourite too. I'm not 100% sure which Queen. But a Queen is a Queen so that's that. 

I really liked the feel of the castle, one of the cupboards upstairs had a full shoe rack showcasing some rather nice vintage heels, as well as an old chandelier. 

It felt like the sort of place I could live... if I was a millionaire. 

Mother recently suggested we do a turret score for every castle, we thought this was quite a fun idea and Leeds seems like a good one to start with as they were very good. Clean lines, in excellent condition and a good size.

By the time we finished walking round the main castle building, we'd been there for about 4 hours and were all absolutely exhausted. Sebastian was so tired he tried to go to sleep on the grass by the sun dial. So we decided it was time to head off.  We ended up carrying Sebastian as we didn't think any of us would stay awake long enough for him to stop and point at every bird we passed (a few thousand).

When we were almost back at the car, we came across a peacock who decided to fan it's tail, rather amazing. It's neck looked like it was blue velvet and the tail was just sensational. I also pointed out the little Peahens to Chloe that were pecking around nearby, but she wasn't that impressed. Not all birds can look like blue velvet. 

Utterly exhausted by the end, but a lovely day out with so much to do, and the prospect of going back bearing in mind the below ticket information. 

Cost: On the surface it seems quite pricey at £24 per adult, however once paying for the tickets we discovered they are valid for a whole year!!!! It's TRUE! So you can go back as many times as you want, walk round the grounds, take little people to the play park, try the maze (if you dare) as many times as you want across the next year, which we thought was very good value.

Hints and tips: Keep your eye on National Rail 2 for 1, Visit Kent and other discount websites as we found a buy one get one free offer which meant if we travelled by train and could show them the tickets we got 2 for the price of 1. So actually that was £12.50 each which seems much more reasonable when you think about it.

Turret score: 10 out of 10 (start low...)

Want to know why we visited Leeds castle? Check out my first blog.