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Chiddingstone Castle, Kent

Chiddingstone Castle was originally built in the 1500s by the wealthy Streatfield family. Ironically castles were very last century at this time. Wealthy people in the sixteenth century felt secure enough to live in extravagant unfortified houses, such as Longleat or Burghley. As would be expected the original house at Chiddingstone was not a castle, but a timber framed building, typical of the time. Chiddingstone Castle as it appears today was rebuilt as a castle in the early part of the nineteenth century. Inspite of ancient appearances this building is much more about how the past is viewed than about the past itself. The nineteenth century's new industrial society gave rise to a romanticised view of the past. In nineteenth century south Wales, the wealthy industrialist Lord Bute built romantic castles at Castel Coch and Cardiff. Chiddingstone Castle, rebuilt by romantically inclined nineteenth century Streatfields, was part of the same fashion. In 1938 the castle was bought by Lord Astor, another fabulously rich industrialist who liked to romanticise the past. It was Astor who created what is in effect a beautiful historical theme park at nearby Hever Castle. On a smaller scale Chiddingstone Castle tries to achieve the same effect.

 

 

Romantic illusions are also central to a famous story related to Chiddingstone Castle's most recent owner. This story, as told in a book available at the property called Beyond Belief, begins in 1955 when a man named Denys Bowyer purchased the castle. Bowyer, who had worked as a bank clerk, and lived with his parents for thirty four years, was not significantly wealthy. But he was an obsessive collector, and a man who was willing to take a risk in pursuit of fanciful delusions. After borrowing the entire purchase price from a bank, Bowyer opened Chiddingstone Castle as a personal museum for his various collections. It then seems he took a fiance who was in effect one of his exhibits. His finace, a woman named Anna, thirty years his junior, claimed to be the Comptesse de Estainville. She was actually daughter of a Peckham bus conductor. Perhaps feeling she could not keep up appearances indefinitely, Anna broke off the engagement after less than a year. Bowyer went to her house with a revolver from his collections. Anna eventually allowed her distraught visitor in, and it seems during a reconciliation Bowyer accidentally pulled the trigger on his revolver and shot Anna. Thinking he had killed her, Bowyer then shot himself. As it turned out Anna had been only slightly wounded, and Bowyer did not shoot straight enough to do himself much damage. He was taken to hospital where in a semi-conscious state he told the police by his bed that Count Grimaldi must be told about what had happened to his daughter, the "comptesse". Bowyer recovered but was sentenced to life imprisonment. His sentence was only overturned by the efforts of two friends, Ruth and Mary Eldridge, who managed to get Bowyer out of Wormwood Scrubs in 1961, and then set about helping him restore Chiddingstone Castle to its present day appearance. Whatever the truth of this story, it is fitting for a building that has the sense of a castle in the air.

 

 

Chiddingstone Castle grounds

Today Chiddingstone Castle continues to display Bowyer's collections, which often have a Japanese flavour. The castle is also a good place to explore the history of Chiddingstone village, a row of Tudor houses standing nearby, largely owned and maintained by the National Trust. A display in the castle's Great Hall explores the history of Chiddingstone village. There are also exhibits on local industries such as hop picking and cricket ball manufacture, and leisure pursuits such as cricket, and stoolball - a form of women's cricket played widely in Kent and Sussex.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Address: Chiddingstone Castle, Chiddingstone, Kent, TN8 7AD

Opening Times: The castle is currently closed for the winter and re-opens 6th April 2012, Sunday - Wednesday, and Good Friday, 11am - 5pm, last entry 4.15pm.

The grounds remain open throughout the year unless a private function is booked. There is also occasional opening out of season. Check the web site below for details.

Directions: Chiddingstone is just off the B2027 between Tonbridge and Edenbridge in Kent. Click here for an interactive map centred on Chiddingstone Castle.

Access: All the display areas in the castle are wheelchair accessible. Adapted toilet facilities are provided.

Contact:

telephone: 01892 870347

web site: http://www.chiddingstonecastle.org.uk/castles-in-kent.html