Welsand's in London

A coach to Leed's Castle

On the last day of my mom's visit we took a coach out of the city to visit Leeds Castle which has been described as the "The Loveliest Castle in the World". It was first built as a Norman stronghold in the 11th century. Traditionally it was a house for widowed queens of England, though Henry VIII stopped there in 1522. The Castle has also been used as a garrison, a prison, and war time home, as well as the family home of several wealthy families. In 1926, the Castle was bought by a young Anglo American heiress--Lady Baillie. She turned Leeds into a country house with all the luxuries of the 20th century, welcoming the rich and famous. The wonderful interiors were created for her while the antiques and art are mostly those she collected. When she died in 1974 she left the Castle for the benefit of the public forever.

Lady Baillie was fond of birds which is evident as soon as you step onto the grounds of the Castle. Peacocks greet you almost instantly. To get to the Castle you must walk through the Duckery which was created in the 1960s. There are lots of interesting species of ducks, black, white, and black headed swans, white peacocks, and more.

After the Duckery your walk continues through the Wood Garden. Here we saw some old friends, Canadian Geese, and the famous black swans with some new babies. With the flowers starting to bloom, the sun shining, and beautiful wildlife, it was a fantastic day!

Finally, the Castle is the next stop. It was much different than others we have seen throughout our travels. As mentioned above, it has been lived in recently and the rooms are actually still used for conference guests and board members while meeting there. The rooms were beautiful and interesting. It felt very comfortable and well lived in as it is still a working castle. There was lots of beautiful art of course, with many pictures of birds. Overall it was a beautiful Castle inside and out!

After a wonderful and long lunch at the cafe, we made our way to the Aviary Zoo. There were over 100 rare and endangered species of birds including toucans, parrots, macaws, cranes, ibises, and more! This was another surprising highlight. There was also a Falconry which had a talk in progress when we arrived. Sophie got to pet an owl which was a huge event for her!

The Yew Maze included 2,400 trees. Since the brochure said have hours of fun as you thread your way through, we didn't have hours until our bus arrived so we opted out of trying this.

As we made our way back to the entrance we heard and saw many sheep and little lambs on a nearby field; we saw and smelled beautiful flowers in the Culpeper and Lady Baillie gardens; got breathtaking views of the Castle from the other side; and overall enjoyed the Castle and the grounds for a few last minutes. For us, Leeds Castle met all our expectations and more and we would agree it is a lovely castle!

posted by Chris @ 4:24 PM