Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle is often described as the loveliest castle in the world . The castle today dates mostly from the 19th century and is built on an island in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds , Kent . The castle has been the home of six of England ’ s medieval Queens and was also the residence of Henry VIII with his first Wife Catherine of Aragon .
Prior to Christmas 2016 I came across posts on Facebook in relation to the Christmas Market which is held in the grounds every year at the weekends in the lead up to Christmas . Families were complaining that the only tickets available are tickets , which once purchased that can be used repeatedly for 12 months and the cost was a lot for a family day out . I needed to discover why this was as I could understand the family ’ s plight especially at that time of year . This led me to look at their website whereupon I discovered we could stay in accommodation in the castle Grounds , the cost of which would include our entrance into the castle and all the facilities including the Christmas Market .
I booked a double room for an overnight stay on a Sunday night during December 2016 , a treat before
Christmas . The rooms in the Stable Courtyard were built in the 1930 ’ s named after many famous people that had stayed as guest of Lady Baille , the owner of the Castle from 1920 up until her death in 1974 .
There was to be a surprise as the night before we left Alan informed me that he had upgraded us and that we would be staying in the castle itself , Maidens Tower . On arrival the staff ensured we felt special , we were to be the only ones staying in the castle that night . There are five rooms in the Maidens Tower and they are all named after past royal residents . Our room was Catherine De Valois , a beautiful room with an amazing view of the Castle and grounds .
Once we had settled into our room we then headed towards the Christmas
Market to really get into the Christmas spirit . A lot of the stall holders were selling local produce , local cheeses , beers , wines and spirits and a must for all Christmas markets , mulled Wine ! Along with lots of crafts , gifts for all , plus a mini fun fair for the kids . There were hundreds of people walking round the market and the grounds . I heard people saying there were very long queues to get into the Castle . We planned to visit the Castle the next day after our luxury stay in the Maidens Keep and what a great decision that was to be .
During December we were approaching the shortest day of the year and therefore daylight hours are limited , which when visiting the loveliest castle in the world with a Christmas market creates a wonderful atmosphere . The castle lights up at night and once everyone leaves the grounds at 5.30 p . m . if you are an overnight visitor the atmosphere changes again to pure tranquillity . It felt so strange from being amongst hundreds of people to just a handful of people who had taken the best decision to stay overnight . Our aim was to explore the Castle and the grounds on the Monday so after spending a couple of hours walking around the market and purchasing some Christmas presents for family and
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