Chiddingstone Castle, the interior.

The interior of Chiddingstone Castle is beautiful, below are some of the photos I took on our visit.

The beautiful Drawing Room, complete with a tray left for tea :)

Looking up at one of the gorgeous lights.

Looking through to the hall.

One of the stained glass panels to be found in the house.

On the left is an elongated me, taking a photo of the effect of the fisheye mirror on the staircase :)

Ceiling decoration above the staircase.

Looking down into the hall.

I would love a Library like this one!

A wooden ceiling boss.

One of the lovely bedrooms.

The housekeepers room.

The kitchen.

I love this door leading into the courtyard.

The kitchen range.

I hope you have enjoyed this look around the inside of the Castle, the next blog will be about the collections which are held there.

Chiddingstone Castle, the Grounds

Chiddingstone Castle is a beautiful country house near Edenbridge, Kent. Hidden away is beautiful countryside, it is maybe not the easiest place to find, but well worth the effort of finding your way down country lanes.

The first mention of a building in this spot was in the 1500's, and as with very many historical houses Chiddingstone has seen many changes in Architecture and use throughout its History, at one stage it was even a school.

The Victorian Orangery,

The amazing roof of The Orangery.

Beautiful statues around the grounds.

The house is set in 35 acres, but the day we went we wanted to spend our time inside the house, mainly to see the famous Denys Eyre Bower collections, but more about those in another blog.

The Rose Garden in the inner courtyard.

My next blog will be the beautiful interior of the house :)

Dover, Old St. James' Church

The ruin of Old St James's Church the Apostle in Dover is situated at the top of St James' Street, and is sandwiched between The White Horse public house and the modern Sports Centre. 

The wonderful main doorway.

The beautifully carved archway over the main entrance.

The ruins of the Church stand at the top of what was at one time one of the main thoroughfares in Dover, St James' Street, which ran from the church to the Market Square. St James' Street has now virtually disappeared, with only a few houses left standing opposite the church.

Beautiful carving around the door.

St James's Church was built in about 1070, and has undergone many changes in its long life life, including being used as a prison during the war with the Netherlands in 1652.

The Devil's Door, facing Hubert Passage. The door was so called because during Christenings the door was briefly opened to allow evil spirits to escape.

The Church was extensively refurbished and extended in the 1860's, but was damaged by fire during the First World War, it was restored in the 1930's but was badly damaged again during World War II. After the war is was decided to keep the ruins in commemoration of the people of Dover and the suffering they had endured during the war. The building is now a Grade II Listed.

The Church ruins from the Hubert passage, which runs between the Church and the White Horse Inn.

The houses centre right of this photo are all that remains of St. James' Street. The green fencing to the left of the photo is surrounding the excavations that took place last year, this was of particular interest to me, as there was a garage on that spot called Thompson's of Dover. My Dad was the sales manager there, and I used to meet him there on Saturday afternoons, we used to go into the White Horse for our lunch, then I spent a couple of hours rubbing down the rust spots on my car!! That was probably the early 1970's. The whole area including where the cars are parked in the centre of the photo and the two buildings centre top of the photo are all part of the redevelopment of this area.

And finally, an old photo I took, probably in the 1970's looking down onto the ruins from Hubert Alley.

Dover

Dover has been an important port since Roman times, and is now a major ferry port. The town has had varying fortunes, and suffered major damage during WW2, which changed much of the town. The famous castle still stands proudly above the town, and is the towns biggest tourist attraction. I have visited and written about the castle in previous blogs, so decided to share some photos of the town, mostly taken last summer when I was working in the town.

Looking up to the Castle from the Market Square.

Sunbathers on the beach, and two ferries leaving port.

Part of the Saxon Shore Fort, these ruins have been preserved, I was lucky enough to be shown these ruins, and just a few yards away is the Roman Painted House, which is open to the Public. 

The ruins of St.Martin-le-Grand, next to the steps leading up to the Dover Discovery Centre.

Another view of the magnificent Castle.

Shrouded in mist.

Some of the famous 'White Cliffs of Dover', the road that can be seen is Jubilee Way, which takes the traffic to the entrance of the Western Docks.

The Parish Church of St Mary,in the town centre.

Below is the entrance to Cowgate Cemetery, I didn't have time to explore further, but it is on my list of places to visit.