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).

Eynsford Castle: Kent, England

Number 24 - Eynsford Castle

We planned a day trip round Kent seeing castles, and this was the first one on our agenda. It's run by the English Heritage and is an early example of a Norman enclosure castle. Though there wasn't loads to see, I really liked Eynsford, the views over the surrounding fields and landscape were really beautiful. And going in November 2012 meant we got a nice hit of Autumn colours, which I love!

You could just about make out where walls and partitions would have existed and there was information about what would have happened in these different rooms which I found interesting.

Eynsford in an unusual castle as it didn't have a keep or a main tower. Instead, the bedrooms and living areas were situated on the first floor, much more like a regular house. Maybe they never felt at threat in good old Kent.

Costs: Free

Hints and tips: There isn't much directly around this castle, but the village seemed sweet and it's in a really beautiful bit of England.

Find out more about other castles we've explored, and why we're doing this in the first place. 

Sutton Valence Castle: Kent, England

Number 27 - Sutton Valence Castle

While on a day trip to Kent in November 2012, we decided to pay a visit to Sutton Valence castle.

While driving down little country lanes to find it, we got completely lost and had to ask a man wandering around in his wellingtons. He looked very concerned when we said we were trying to find the castle and said 'you do know it's a ruin don't you?'.

He was telling the truth. There really isn't much castle to see at Sutton Valence. Though it is free to get in. It's managed by the English Heritage and is at a nice vantage point over a sweet little village. It's the ruins of a small 12th century Norman Keep. Really there were just two walls which you could walk through and then there was another wall fragment. That was kind of it.

Cost: Free

Hints and tips: don't go out of your way to see it, but it's near lots of lovely towns and villages if you fancy a day out in Kent.

Sissinghurst Castle: Kent, England

Number 28 - Sissinghurst Castle

I really regret not spending longer at Sissinghurst castle. We'd been to a few castles in Kent on this day in November 2012 and it was the last one, so we were both a bit zonked, plus the castle itself wasn't open when we got there. 

It's run by the National Trust and looked really beautiful with all the autumnal colours. We wandered around the edge of the building, and there was the opportunity of doing some much longer walks, but it was getting late.

There was a big gift shop with lots of lovely food and nic-nacs to buy. Chloe bought us both a little Christmas decoration - a hen. In fact, now I come to think of it, maybe it was just a 'decoration' rather than a 'Christmas decoration' as I've had it hanging in my kitchen all year.

Cost: £12 approx

Hints and tips: lots to do and a restaurant on site so you could really spend a good amount of time here. Really nice walks round the grounds which would also be lovely.

Rochester castle: Kent, England

Number 26 - Rochester castle

We visited Rochester in November 2012 on a day-long castle expedition to Kent. It's run by English Heritage and sits overlooking the harbour. We parked a bit further away from the castle and walked up the hill. It's in a pretty central location, so you could visit the town as well and have a full day there.

From the outside, you can only see the Norman tower, but once you get inside it's pretty mammoth. The tower was built in 1127 by William of Corbeil and it's 1313 feet high.

You could walk round the inside of the castle through passageways, and you could climb up all 4 flights. When we got to the top level it was open air and looked out over the grounds and the harbours/river which was lovely. 

Cost: £6 for adults

Want to know why we're visiting all these castles, check out my first blog.

St Leonard's Tower: Kent, England

Number 25 - St Leonard's Tower

St Leonard's Tower is literally just a tower.... and you can't get inside. It's run by English Heritage and lives on the side of a road in Kent. It's a Norman tower keep and has been built on a sandstone ledge near a narrow valley. The views were good, and I love sandstone, but you couldn't see much of it.

There was  a sign on the door that said it was an 'administration tower', we do NOT know what this means. Chloe was not impressed at all. 

Very little is known about this castle, including who built it or why. So it was more the kind of building we just observed, wandered round, ran back down the hill to the car and darted off to the next castle.

Cost: Free

Hints and tips: We parked up the road in a car park opposite that looked like it was near some nice walks.

Herstmonceux Castle: East Sussex, England

Number  23 - Herstmonceux Castle

Gosh, what a lot there was to see at Herstmonceux. We went in October 2012 and absolutely loved it. The journey there was a bit of a palava, it should have taken about 20 minutes but literally took about 2 hours as the road was closed and we were sent on lots of diversions. Anyway, we got there and parked up. 

It's impressive, especially the moat, me and Chloe do love a good moat. 

The castle also has massive grounds, about 600 acres of land in total and you could really while away the hours relaxing and wandering about. 

We didn't go into the main castle as it's a functional study centre, but seeing it from the outside is still very impressive. I think you can get tours of the inside but we decided not to bother.

There were some really fun woodland trails where you walk through bushes and trees covering little hollow caves. One was called the Magical walk which I particularly loved as i'm a big Harry Potter fan.

There were lots of quirky things to see and do, including a rather groovy bed made of grass.

In one of the clearings there was a circle of different sized tree trunks. They all had runes carved into them. I think the owners call it 'Woodhenge'. There were instructions about what to do to find your rune, I think you had to stand in the circle, spin round and then point at one. Whichever was closest, was your rune and it said something about you. Mine looked like the letter 'r', but I can't remember what that meant.

 

There was a huge sun dial. We were busy looking at it when a man asked us if we could tell the time with it, and Chloe just reeled off the exact time. So talented! Though, am not sure she could replicate. 

There was a lovely herb garden with some African ornaments that I really liked. All the herbs had wooden spoons with carvings on them, they described what the herb was and how to look after it. I might try to hand make something like this for Chloe for Christmas, I think she'd love it.

Cost: £6 (a real bargain for the size of the grounds)

Hints and tips: there is a tea room but when we visited there wasn't much choice. It may have been that in October they don't have many visitors. There is a planetarium on site which I'd imagine would be very interesting and lots of activities for children. Worth paying it a visit if you have the time.