Day at Leeds Castle

On Saturday, October 24th we went on a tour to Leeds Castle. It's about an hour drive northeast of Brighton in Kent. We booked the tour and off we went. It was so nice to get out away from the city for a bit and see the country. We have been so jealous of hearing about the beautiful changing leaves back home we were dying to see some here. This was the perfect tour to get our dose.

To get to the castle we had to walk about 10 minutes up a path. Follow along as I take you with us!

As you can tell from the umbrella it was raining a bit.

We were so excited to see some red leaves!

This photo isn't the best, but there were some sheep along the way so we had to take a photo for Kathy (Eric's mom). So, we dedicate this portion of the trip to her!

We're getting closer.... I love the bright red.

Here is the mote surrounding the castle grounds.

Just about to enter..

We're here!

A brief history: In 1278 it was used by royalty and was used by six midievil queens. In Tutor times King Henry VIII visited frequently with his queen at that time, Catherine of Aragon. Since then it has been used as a prison, a convalescent home, and home to various families. Most recently (in 1920's) an heiress to an American fortune and daughter of an English Lord, Lady Baillie, bought the castle and refurbished it.

Entering the front door

The front entry

The Dinning Hall

They were preparing for a wedding that evening so the table was all set for the guests dinner. Very posh. One of the staff said the average cost to have a wedding here is 60,000 GBP! That's about $100,000 USD!

This is the Queen's bedroom.

The Queen's Bathroom

That was about it for the "older part" of the castle. This is what Lady Baillie's room looked like after she took it over. The rooms were designed by a famous French designers and architects with very posh and expensive items. This is what her bedroom looks like.

This is a painting of Lady Baillie and her two daughters. Oh to be the heir to a fortune. I wonder if she really had such a long neck...

This is the wine cellar. Here is where they would store (obviously) their wine. But they would also store their meats (like porpoise, elk, deer, and dolphin) and candles.

Here are a few more photos of the outside of the castle.

It was quite pretty but I didn't like that they restored most of it to the style of the 1950's. I was hoping there would be more of the classic King Henry look.

There was also a bird aviary filled with a lot of different birds. My favorite was a Moroccan Cockatoo called Oscar. He kept talking to us and saying "Hello Oscar".

The real gem of this place was....

A dog collar museam! I know, right. What the?....We just had to check it out. And they really did have a nice display of dog collars. But hey, I guess if you're into that sort of thing. So for those of you that are, here are a couple of photos for enjoyment.

Now, this part was fun.

There was a maze! And it was a good one! So we thought we'd give it a go. We were told there was a bonus at the end if we figured it out.

Well, after a bit, we were done being lost and consulted our cheat-sheet. Even then it took us a minute to figure out where we were on it.

Poor Eric, so lost.

We made it and at the end there was this little hill that you could overlook the maze and the surrounding area.

And the best part was the reward.

A grotto! I know. You're thinking "A grotto? Big deal". But it was really cool!

Here is Eric entering the grotto. It had strange haunting sounds coming from it.

(He looks a little cautious)

After entering you follow some stone steps down, all the while the lights are changing colors and weird sounds are coming from below.

You follow this dark, cold cave and come upon...

...this! What is it? Well, I'm not sure but it was creepy. It had glowing eyes, water flowing out of it's mouth, and creepy sounds crashing all around. I think it was casting a spell on us.

Anyway, I thought it was really cool. I want a grotto now. It was perfect for a Halloween adventure.