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Where better to have a delicious, old fashioned afternoon tea than in the Castle’s beautiful White Rose Drawing Room or the grand, oak panelled Great Hall? On Sunday 6 and Sunday 13 December 2015, Tea will be served at approx. 3pm.
Served on delightful vintage china, customers can enjoy a delicious selection of homemade sandwiches, homemade cakes and scones with homemade preserves and clotted cream. £18 per person; £9 per child (aged 6 and under). Prosecco is available to purchase separately either by the bottle or glass.
Visitors who book afternoon tea can also enjoy some of the Castle’s unique exhibition rooms including the Egyptian Collection, Housekeeper’s Room, Buddhist Collection, Denys Eyre Bower’s Study and the Victorian Kitchen and Scullery.
Please book early to avoid disappointment, as the December Afternoon Teas were hugely popular last year.
Full payment is being taken upon booking, with a cancellation/refund policy that will be advised.
Please call 01892 872746 to book. For enquiries, email[email protected]
Chiddingstone Castle, Hill Hoath Road, Chiddingstone, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7AD. Tel: 01892 870347.
Press enquires or image requests to Caroline Edmunds on 01892 616647 or email [email protected]
Editors Notes
Born in 1905, in Crich in Derbyshire, Denys Bower was a passionate if eccentric collector who led an extraordinary life. He disabled his hand in a motorcycle accident when he was a youth, which meant he did not serve in the Second World War. In 1955 he bought Chiddingstone Castle for £6,000 and opened it to the public to display his collections.
In September 1957, his life took a curious turn as he fell in love with a woman 30 years his junior and who claimed to be the Comptesse de Estainville, though she was really the daughter of a Peckham Bus Driver. After more than a year she broke off the engagement, and Denys, who was distraught, took a revolver from his collections and visited her in an attempt to change her mind. The young woman let Denys in and, as she turned to adjust a budgie cage he drew the revolver, accidentally pulling the trigger, and shot her. Thinking he had killed her, he turned the gun on himself and fired.
With a policeman standing over him, Denys awoke in the Miller Hospital in Greenwich, muttering that Anna’s father, the Count Grimaldi must be told. Naturally the police, knowing who the young woman really was, assumed that Bower was not quite right in the head. Luckily the "Countess" had only minor injuries and was released after a few days. Bower was not so fortunate and on his release from hospital after a fortnight, was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder and attempted suicide.
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The case received sensationalist press coverage and many believe it was this that led to his conviction, but thanks to the efforts of two sisters, Denys was released from Wormwood Scrubs in 1961. The Eldridge sisters took pity on the ex-convict and helped him restore Chiddingstone Castle.
Much more of Denys’ remarkable story is told in the book, “Beyond Belief”, which is on sale in the shop at Chiddingstone Castle.
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