Way back in 2003 we’d bought a compact digital camera – a Fujifilm FinePix 2200 with a smidge over two whole megapixels of digital image-taking goodness! – and one of the first things we’d done, for reasons lost in the mists of time, was make our way to Kent and take a few pictures of Leeds Castle. The memory card likely wasn’t very big and the photography bug hadn’t bitten me at that point because a grand total of ten photos were taken over the course of a 90-minute visit and they weren’t very good. We clearly made it to the grotto in the centre of the maze and that’s about all I can say for certain of that trip.
In 2015 we were back in the Kent area once more as part of a short break in the south east and we realised we were ideally located to make a return trip to Leeds Castle and this time take a few more pictures with my somewhat beefier camera and lens, and hopefully of better quality too. A small number of them are in this post.
We had a lovely day for this return visit.
A castle has existed at this location since the ninth century with a lot of interesting historical events taking place in the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, including significant improvements during Henry VIII’s reign for his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. The moat was most likely added under the reign of Edward I, whose wife, Eleanor of Castile, had purchased it. However, the Tudor look of Leeds Castle today largely comes from remodelling in the nineteenth century.
We had a short walk around Leeds Castle and a brief visit inside it too, but we wanted to get back outside fairly quickly for two reasons.
The first thing we really wanted to do was enjoy the famous maze at Leeds Castle. I’m pleased to report that we reached the centre and the grotto once again. I do enjoy a good maze. More places in the world should have mazes.
The second thing was a show was due to start. When we’d first visited Leeds Castle in 2003 there had been an aviary in the grounds and I even have two photos from my old digital camera to prove it. The aviary was closed down in 2012 to save money but a replacement activity of a Birds of Prey flying experience was brought in and we were there in time to see it on this trip.
There’s no such thing as a bad castle to visit so we were always going to enjoy returning to Leeds Castle while we were in Kent. It’s got a moat and a maze and a grotto and you can watch owls and falcons flying at you. What’s not to like?