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CONTENTS
Chairman’s introduction
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Chief Executive’s perspective
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The year in numbers
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Restoration and conservation
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Gardens and grounds
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Education, tours and talks
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Supporting other organisations
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Public events
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Our people
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Commercial activities
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Financial summary
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Looking to the future
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CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION
The original Coat of Arms created for the Leeds Castle Foundation in 1974.
The Leeds Castle Foundation: for public benefit, for generations to come This has been a good year, during which we have staged an exciting programme of events such as a spectacular fireworks display, a stunning summer concert, a gruelling triathlon, opera, theatre and much more. We are always at the mercy of the weather, but we continue to add new attractions while meticulously restoring the assets in our care. None of this could be achieved without the support of the public. To sustain and improve the Castle and its estate, we rely on all our day-visitors and increasingly, on those who use of our hospitality to celebrate big occasions, meet for conferences and seminars, or stay overnight. Nor could any of this have been achieved without our talented staff, whose commitment and dedication shine through everything they do, especially the passion they bring to the care of all our visitors. We are so proud of this wonderful place, but we are equally proud of the people who work here and who make it even more special. Leeds Castle is a very special place. It has inspired men and women throughout its 900-year history and it continues to
Every year presents new challenges, but I hope this report
inspire now. The Castle has been a fortress, a royal palace and
will enable you to share our enthusiasm and pleasure in
a private residence. Today it is owned and run for the benefit
what has been achieved over the past 12 months. Next year
of the public by the Leeds Castle Foundation, a charity with
it will be 900 years since the Castle first appeared on this
a single purpose: to look after this wonderful building and its
stretch of the Kent countryside. We are planning an exciting
surrounding estate for this and future generations.
programme of events and activities to mark this milestone; I do hope you will be able to join us as we look back and
As custodians, our mission is to protect and preserve “the
celebrate the remarkable history of a remarkable place.
loveliest castle in the world”, as it was described in Country Life by Lord Conway in 1913. During this last financial year, fulfilling this mission has involved a major programme of restoration and renewal while welcoming more than 600,000 visitors and guests, who come to enjoy the history and splendour of the
Niall Dickson CBE
Castle, the beauty and tranquillity of the gardens, and take part
Chairman, Leeds Castle Foundation
in a wide range of activities for all ages and tastes.
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CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S PERSPECTIVE
The Leeds Castle commemorative emblem, created to celebrate next year’s anniversary.
900 years old, and buzzing with life
Leeds Castle is for everyone While we have a curatorial duty to restore, preserve and present the fabric and contents of our historic buildings, we also have a responsibility as a charity to broaden the estate’s appeal to the public and to make it increasingly beneficial for society more generally. Leeds Castle is for everyone, not just for those with a special interest in English history or in early 20th Century interior design. I am therefore delighted that every year a broader range of people, from the UK and abroad, come here to enjoy a wider variety of events; that more charities use our facilities to raise funds and promote their causes; and that more teachers see value in bringing their classes here. Creating gardens with year-round appeal The new Woodland Gardens we are creating will have an important role to play in broadening our appeal even further. Walking through its six linked gardens, each with its own distinctive theme, will be a year-round adventure for everyone, from young children to more experienced gardening enthusiasts. Watching these gardens take shape over the next few years, alongside all the other developments at Leeds Castle as we continue to improve what we offer to
On the 22nd May 1520, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
our visitors and guests, is going to be very exciting.
arrived at Leeds Castle with a retinue of 5,000 to make preparations for a momentous meeting with King Francis
As the Foundation Chairman has already highlighted in his
I of France near Calais. The site of their meeting soon
introduction, none of this would be possible without the
became known as the Field of Cloth of Gold, because of the
extraordinary team of people who work here. I hope you
extraordinary wealth, power and style that both kings were
will be as impressed as I am by what they have been able to
anxious to display to each other, and to the rest of Europe.
achieve in a year. Working with them is my great pleasure and privilege.
Nearly 500 years on, Leeds Castle sometimes feels as busy as I imagine it was during those few days the royal party spent here, and I am delighted that it is. Without the public support we receive, we would not be able to maintain this wonderful estate in the way that we do. Diversification has
Sir David Steel KBE, DL
been key, offering something for everyone to enjoy, and I
Chief Executive Officer, Leeds Castle Foundation
believe that Lady Baillie, the last private owner of Leeds Castle, would applaud the way in which the Foundation has developed the estate since 1974.
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THE YEAR IN NUMBERS
624,000 visits an average of over 1,700 people a day. Of these, some 140,000 were repeat visits by those taking advantage of their annual pass, and 80,000 were by special event ticket holders, conference delegates, wedding guests and overnight stayers.
4.5 out of 5
330
school group visits, including 83 groups from overseas. We offer their teachers resources and itineraries for different age groups, in six languages.
average visitor rating on Trip Advisor. This was based on 3,900 reviews by visitors from all over the world.
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16,000
fundraising events held for other charities.
The biggest of these was the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk, from which 3,087 walkers raised £219,000.
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attended our biggest single event, the Leeds Castle Fireworks Spectacular, the largest display in Kent and possibly the South East.
major restoration and conservation projects completed. In the New Castle, we refurbished four of Lady Baillie’s interiors to her original specifications; at the edge of the estate, we completely restored our 14th Century hall-house, Battel Hall.
23,270
rounds played on our 9-hole golf course.
15,000+
guest nights in our bedrooms, cottages and glamping tents. With the opening of Battel Hall this year, we will be able to accommodate up to 14 more guests per night.
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weddings, celebrations and corporate events held at Leeds Castle.
We do regular business with around 200 local suppliers and generate about £25 million a year for the local economy. 8
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RESTORATION & CONSERVATION
A
Much of the work we do in restoration and conservation goes unnoticed, such as repairs to stonework and roofing. But in 2017, we were able to complete a number of major projects which together, represent the most notable set of improvements since the Foundation took responsibility for the Castle, its collections and estate in 1975. Lady Baillie’s dying wish was that her beloved Leeds Castle be preserved for the benefit of the public. It was a wish that left room for interpretation. She could hardly have imagined that the public would be able sleep in her guest bedrooms, glamp in her gardens, or book the whole Castle for a private celebration with friends and family! But this exciting package of hospitality options – unique in the UK for a property of such historical significance – is one of the ways in which we fund our conservation and restoration work, and we are sure that Lady Baillie would approve. B
Restoring Battel Hall’s 14th Century details Over the Castle’s 900-year history, every owner made their own structural and decorative changes, and sometimes we have had to decide which period to restore them to or, in the case of the gardens, whether to make improvements of our own invention. With Battel Hall, the 14th Century hallhouse on the edge of the estate, we decided to reveal and restore as many of its original features as possible, while also equipping it for the expectations of the 21st Century guests who will be hiring it. Capturing the spirit of Lady Baillie’s happiest years at Leeds Castle Another restoration decision we have had to make concerns Lady Baillie’s aesthetic evolution. Fascinated as she was with contemporary interior design and furniture, her tastes changed – changes reflected in her choice of designers.
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Work in progress to repair and retile Battel Hall’s 14th Century roof.
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This year’s stonework restoration programme involved erecting scaffolding in the moat.
C
Our painting team take a well-earned break during their redecoration of Battel Hall’s master bedroom.
D
The replica retable at Battel Hall. The original is now in the Castle Chapel.
“Even by Leeds Castle standards, 2017 was an extraordinary year for restoration. There’s always restoration work in progress here, but rarely so many projects at the same time.” Annie Kemkaran-Smith Curator, Leeds Castle
In her first decade here, she employed the French furniture
Driving repeat visits and additional revenue
and interior designer Armand-Albert Rateau, famous
These have been painstaking and, for a business our size,
for his Art Deco interiors. From 1938, she had another
expensive projects. But, in the case of the restored New
French designer, Stéphane Boudin of Maison Jansen (later
Castle interiors, they offer our visitors a much clearer picture
commissioned by Jackie Kennedy to style the Red and Blue
of the style and animation that Lady Baillie brought to the
Rooms in the White House) replace some of Rateau’s work
Castle during an important period in the cultural history of
with bold interiors in his distinctive 18th Century style.
Britain, and gives them more reasons to return. Meanwhile,
Later, still working with Maison Jansen but this time with
the restored Battel Hall considerably bolsters our luxury
Claude Mandron, Boudin’s nephew, she changed some of
accommodation estate. Lady Baillie knew it as a virtual ruin, so
Boudin’s interiors.
we are confident that she would be very pleasantly surprised.
By 2015, some of these rooms were in poor decorative D
order, and we had to decide which period of Lady Baillie’s aesthetic evolution we should return them to. Choosing a pre-Lady Baillie period, such as the original 1822 scheme for the New Castle, was never an option – even if it were possible – because from the outset the Foundation has been committed to conserving and preserving the interiors that she commissioned. The overwhelming consensus among the Trustees, management team and conservation experts is that it is the Boudin period that best represents her legacy, as it was in his interiors that she entertained so many of her most notable guests.
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“It’s amazing what professional cleaning can do for an oil painting. For over 30 years here, I never paid the two Monnoyers close attention. Now I can really see what Lady Baillie saw in them.”
The Yellow Drawing Room: restored to its 1938 radiance
Mick Yates Castle Steward & Guide
This was probably Lady Baillie’s favourite room in the Castle – the only room that she retained for her own use when she handed over the rest of the New Castle during World War Two to accommodate a field hospital for recuperating airmen. In 2017, our Curator Annie Kemkaran-Smith led an ambitious project to roll back decades of wear and tear. Lady Baillie loved the Yellow Drawing Room that Stéphane
Kemkaran-Smith. ”So the problem became one of finding an
Boudin designed for her in 1938. He extended the windows
authentic matching replacement for the 1938 fabric.”
to create French doors onto the terrace that overlooks the moat and Cedar Lawn, and replaced the oak panelling with
A happy discovery
a yellow silk damask wall fabric. Then he added matching
Fortunately, Boudin and Lady Baillie were good record-
curtains and a lambrequin – a decorative pelmet – of his own
keepers, and their original orders for the walls, curtains
design below the cornice.
and lambrequin were still in the files. The silk had been commissioned from Tassinari & Chatel, weavers of fine fabrics
Restoration and recreation: a combined solution
in France since 1680 and – happily – still going strong. “They
Over the decades, soot from the fireplace, tobacco smoke
too happen to be great record-keepers,” says Annie. “You
and general wear and tear exacted their toll on the fabrics,
can imagine how thrilled we were when they told us that
and the original curtains were at some stage used to patch
they still had samples of the original weave from 1938.”
worn areas of the walls. The room had become a sad While the French weavers replicated the original orders for
reflection of its former brilliance.
the walls and curtains, the lambrequin was in good enough The Heritage Team considered restoring the wall fabric. “But
structural condition to be sent away for expert restoration by
there were too many areas of heavy damage,” explains Annie
the specialist firm Zenzie Tinker in Brighton.
A
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Ready to receive Lady Baillie’s 21st Century guests To complete the restoration, the room’s two still-lifes by Jean-Baptiste Monnoyer (1636-1699) have been professionally cleaned, and the mirror of the same period – with its verre églomisé border – has been returned to its original condition. Finally, discrete lighting has been installed to accentuate the freshness of Boudin’s colour scheme. As Annie explains, “We wanted to present the room to the public just as Lady Baillie presented it to her guests in the late 1930s – resplendent in yellow, and enriched with Boudin’s subtle decorative touches.” C
A
A conservation expert from Zenzie Tinker refitting the restored lambrequin.
B
Tiepolo’s Pulcinello’s Kitchen hangs between the newly-cleaned Monnoyer still-lifes.
C
The 17th Century verre églomisé mirror is now back in its place following complete restoration.
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The restoration team found some of Boudin’s original labels still attached to sections of the lambrequin.
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The Castle Dining Room: a question of patience It took two years to restore Lady Baillie’s Dining Room to Stéphane Boudin’s original design. Why so long? Sometime in the mid-1960s, Lady Baillie decided to have the dining room that Stéphane Boudin had designed for her in 1938 repainted mint-green. It was a reflection of her changing tastes. When we were at last able to fund a restoration of the room, it wasn’t simply a question of restoring Boudin’s original colour scheme. The parquet floor, carpet and upholstery looked shabby. Much of the decorative plasterwork had been buried under layers of paint. And the five 18th Century Aubusson tapestries that Boudin had built his design around had suffered from years of exposure to soot, smoke, moths,
A B
sunlight and the occasional dose of domestic detergent. The project required specialist knowledge from historic paint research experts who analysed traces of the original paintwork – a dragged ‘water green’ which they were able to recreate. We sent the tapestries away for specialist wet cleaning in Belgium, then brought them back for painstaking repair. We had the plasterwork restored, the dining chairs refinished, the dining table and flooring repaired and renewed, before repainting the walls exactly as Boudin conceived them. The whole project shows the lengths we go to get our restoration work right. Lady Baillie’s Dining Room now looks ready again to host one of her glittering gatherings, and is much in demand as a magical venue – fine dining included – for special occasions. A
The Dining Room as Boudin conceived it.
B
Painters applying coats of dragged ‘water green’.
C
Boudin designed these plaster plinths to display Lady Baillie’s Chinese ceramics.
D
The French 18th Century cartel clock above the fireplace still keeps perfect time!
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The Aubusson Tapestries StÊphane Boudin’s decision to build his essentially 1930s scheme for Lady Baillie’s Dining Room around 18th Century tapestries and displays of antique Chinese ceramics is typical of his eclectic design mind. The set of five tapestries that hang within the decorative borders he designed for them were made in the 18th Century in the French town of Aubusson, near Limoges, whose independent weavers had developed a distinctive, collective house style: gentle pastoral scenes, framed by classical architectural elements. Cleaning antique tapestry is highly specialist work, as is the conservation stitching used to repair damaged sections. Each tapestry also had to be strengthened on a linen scrim, to ensure that it could be rehung without risking splitting the fragile weave. It has been a long and expensive process but, of course, hugely rewarding.
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“It’s a 19th Century room with 17th Century panelling and 20th Century fabrics. But they all work so well together.”
Reviving the spirit of 1937 in Thorpe Hall
Melanie Galvin Hospitality Marketing Executive
Lady Baillie and her designers liked to borrow from different eras and bring them together to create eclectic but harmonious interiors. The accent was always on comfort and relaxation; despite the cost of many of the artworks, artefacts and materials, these were rooms for living in rather than display.
Early 20th Century fabrics Our main restoration task here concerned the furnishings and fabrics, which were in poor condition. They also seemed too cold for the room – a rather bland shade of oyster, another 1960s scheme that Lady Baillie had chosen, and not what Boudin would have specified in his late 1930s refurbishment of the room. So we went into our archives and found the original orders, as well as black and white photographs of the 1937 scheme. Boudin had chosen a bargello zigzag fabric for
The New Castle’s Thorpe Hall Drawing Room is a particularly
the sofas and chairs, and aquamarine damask curtains.
successful example of this approach. It was created for her in 1927 by her original designer, Armand-Albert Rateau, and
The silk was sourced from the same suppliers Boudin had
is the only one of his rooms at Leeds Castle that she didn’t
used for the Yellow Drawing Room, Tassinari & Chatel in Lyon,
have Stéphane Boudin completely redesign a decade later,
and to recreate the effect of the Savonnerie carpet he had
although he did alter the soft furnishing scheme.
originally chosen for the room, we found a Tabriz carpet from the 1890s. To introduce a little more warmth, we installed
Reclaimed 17th Century panelling
ambient lighting in the gilded bronze wall sconces.
The room takes its name from a manor house near Peterborough which, like so many others, had been broken
A
The wear on the inlaid backgammon table suggests it was popular with Lady Baillie’s guests.
B
The discrete lighting we have installed in the panelling has given the room extra warmth.
C
Thorpe Hall’s ormolu gilded bronze clock.
D
Boudin’s distinctly early 20th Century fabrics make a dramatic contrast with the reclaimed 18th Century panelling.
up after World War I to pay death duties. Among items for sale from Thorpe Hall were its library’s complete 17th Century carved pine wall panelling and Italian marble fireplace. Rateau snapped them up, brought them to Leeds Castle, and rather than extend the panels to fit their new home, he lowered the ceiling to meet the top of the panelling. It made for a particularly warm and intimate room.
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“Battel Hall is going to be a magical wedding reception venue. I’m really looking forward to seeing it in action.”
Battel Hall’s return to splendour
Peggy Sheehan Leeds Castle Florist
Battel Hall, the Grade II listed 14th Century hall-house on the southern edge of the Leeds Castle estate, will welcome its first paying guests this year, following two intensive years of restoration, refurbishment and redecoration. It promises to be a valuable addition to the Castle’s range of properties available for short breaks and special occasions. Battel Hall takes its name from the master mason Thomas de
found in religious buildings,” says Annie Kemkaran-Smith,
la Bataille, who built it for Edward II’s widow Queen Isabella,
who leads our Heritage Team. “Battel Hall’s laver is particularly
who inherited the Castle on her husband’s death. Its grandeur
ornate, with foliate carving around a Gothic arch, and enabled
suggests that Isabella housed senior members of her retinue here.
guests to wash their hands during feasts in some style.”
Over the centuries, changes were made to the interiors – the
Lady Baillie-inspired interiors
full-height hall was divided into two levels and smaller rooms,
The new decorative scheme for Battel Hall, designed by
and a new wing was added to the west end in the 17th Century.
Francesca Rowan Plowden, takes its lead from the palettes and motifs that Lady Baillie chose for her New Castle
By the time Lady Baillie came to Leeds Castle in the 1920s,
interiors. For instance, the Morning Room’s leafy De Gournay
Battel Hall was in very poor repair. She evidently had plans to
wallpaper echoes her Yellow Drawing Room, and upstairs,
refurbish it, but it wasn’t until she employed her land agent
each of the five en-suite bedrooms picks up a prominent
John Money in the 1950s that work was done to prepare
colour from the garden, like the 100-year-old wisteria that
Battel Hall for him to live in. Her interior designer, Stéphane
climbs up the front of the Hall. With two additional bedrooms
Boudin, adapted the oak panels he had removed from Lady
in the newly-restored oast house adjoining the Hall, it’s
Baillie’s original library (now the Heraldry Room) to fit Battel
perfect for large gatherings of friends or family. As Colin Day
Hall’s dining room, where they still are today.
says, “Our insistence on authenticity and quality didn’t help to contain restoration costs, but we’ve emerged from it with a
Major structural work
wonderful new asset for the estate. Bookings started coming
In 2016, the Foundation was at last in a position to fund a
in well before we’d finished the restoration, so we’re confident
refurbishment, under the direction of our Estate Manager
that we will recover our investment within five years.”
Colin Day, but it soon became clear that what was required was a complete restoration. Much of the structural
A
The 100-year-old wisteria that’s such a feature of Battel Hall’s exterior.
B
Francesca Rowan Plowden’s Georgian scheme for the library.
C
The floral wallpaper in one of the bedrooms pays homage to the wisteria outside.
explains. “All of which put pressure on our original budget.”
D
The 14th Century laver is a particularly unusual feature in a secular building of this period.
Restoring 14th Century decorative details
E
The heritage colour scheme – as here in Battel Hall’s kitchen – creates a timeless context for 21st Century functionality.
F
Fit for a banquet: the dining room has retained its medieval integrity.
G
The Heritage Team fresh from hanging the original retable in the Castle Chapel.
timberwork proved to be beyond treatment and needed to be replaced, as did many of the roof tiles. “We had to remove all the original Tudor tiles to make the roof sound, and replace the broken ones with hand-made replicas,” Colin
Removing layers of history may have revealed problems, but it also enabled us to return Battel Hall’s decorative features to their original condition, like its carved stone corbels and intricate 14th Century laver or piscina. “It’s extremely unusual to find a laver in a private house of this period – they’re mostly
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Vandalised, forgotten, restored: the 600 year history of the Battel Hall ‘retable’ Among the highlights of the two-year restoration of Battel Hall was the discovery of a rare 15th Century ‘retable’ – a single-panel altarpiece with seven painted saints, with their faces crudely scratched out, presumably by 16th Century reformers. That it survived this vandalisation and then centuries of neglect is something of a miracle.
A
We sent it to the Hamilton Kerr Institute in Cambridge for analysis and restoration; their experts dated it to approximately 1410, and told us that the presence of two Dominican saints on the retable – St Dominic himself and St Catherine of Siena – suggests that it was commissioned for the Dominican Priory at Dartford, which was the only one in England at that time.
B G
The Priory was dissolved during the Reformation; how the retable ended up at Battel Hall remains a mystery. The conservation process involved carefully removing a layer of discoloured varnish, stabilising and repairing the structure, and consolidating flaking paint. Removing the varnish has allowed the vibrant medieval colours to come through again. It is one of only six of its kind known to exist, and now hangs in the Leeds Castle Chapel, while a replica hangs in Battel Hall. C
D
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The Woodland Gardens: a journey through six worlds
GARDENS & GROUNDS When Lady Baillie arrived at Leeds Castle in the 1920s, she found the gardens and grounds in a state of some neglect, and decided that “the loveliest castle in the world” deserved a lovelier setting.
We commissioned Matt Jackson, a leading specialist in heritage park design, to develop a scheme for transforming the serpentine path along the River Len from the Main Gate to the Gatehouse into an exciting journey. His response was to design six distinctive new gardens, which would change dramatically through the seasons, rewarding the returning visitor.
In 2017, we decided that the gardens and grounds had the potential to play a much more significant role in attracting visitors
The first tasks involved improving the drainage and flood
and encouraging them to return, in the way that Sheffield
protection systems, and replacing the old tarmac paths with
Park in East Sussex has been so successful in doing. “People
natural surfacing. Then work began on the first garden, the
don’t necessarily come to Leeds Castle for the gardens,” says
Oriental Garden, which takes its inspiration from the
our Head Gardener Andrew McCoryn. “But we can certainly
Chinese Bridge which overlooks it. This garden is very
make the gardens a reason for them to come back.”
near completion.
While our six-day Festival of Flowers is becoming more
The remaining five gardens – the Cedar Lake, the Jungle
popular every year, the plan is to offer visitors a year-round
Garden, the Winter Garden, the Woodland Garden and the
horticultural experience.
Pavilion Garden – with a landscaped amphitheatre – will
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follow over the coming years, with completion projected for 2023. These are expensive works and we need to spread the costs over several years. Since our own team is undertaking most of the work, we also need to manage their time realistically. The Woodland Gardens are the biggest landscaping project the Foundation has ever undertaken, and will, we hope, give Leeds Castle a place at the top table among destination gardens in England.
“The Woodland Gardens will be a wonderful haven for our returning visitors who will be able to watch its individual gardens evolve through the seasons.” Martin Leach Head Groundsman
© Land and Heritage
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G A R D E N S
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G R O U N D S
A more exotic Mediterranean Garden The Mediterranean Garden was created in 1998 as a homage to Lady Baillie’s love of French Provençal gardens, but by 2017 it needed fresh inspiration. To take advantage of its south-facing terraces, the garden has been extensively replanted with dramatic palms, succulents and cacti, with plenty of the giant leaves, exotic blooms and evergreen shades that are so typical of the South of France. The spikiness of the Mediterranean Garden contrasts particularly well with the adjoining Culpeper Garden, with has a gentler English feel.
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“Investment from the Foundation over the last three years has greatly improved the appeal of the golf course and increased membership. It’s a unique place to play golf.”
Major improvements to the Leeds Castle Golf Course
Steve Purves PGA Professional & Golf Manager
The Leeds Castle Golf Course has been a feature of the estate
agronomy improvements, the renovation of the bunkers and
since Lady Baillie commissioned Sir Guy Campbell to design
tees, and a new irrigation system. In 2017, attention turned
it in 1931. This 9-hole, par 34 course has been maintained
to the clubhouse with the addition of catering facilities and a
by the Foundation, but investment was needed to raise its
glass frontage, giving superb views of the Castle and estate.
profile and appeal. We also introduced a membership scheme, which currently Under the guidance of golf consultant Alan Walker, a
stands at 270. This has increased year-on-year since its
£400,000 investment was made in the course, starting with
inception in 2014.
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EDUCATION, TOURS AND TALKS We are privileged to be able to offer schoolchildren a beautiful setting for learning and adventure, and days out they are unlikely to forget. We take our responsibility to them, their teachers and parents very seriously.
So we continue to invest considerable resources in creating and delivering a broad range of guided workshops, talks, challenges and trails – available in six languages – that dovetail with all levels of the English National Curriculum, and can be adapted to the needs of groups from other countries. We recently added a second classroom to extend our education capacity. Adventures in history, nature, art and drama As well as history modules, we offer nature trails, art and drama sessions – we even have an extensive wardrobe of costumes to help children perform our various stories, like our popular Swan Princess fantasy. During another busy year, 330 schools from the UK alone brought some 15,000 pupils here. Most of these groups opted for one of our 12 hosted workshops, but we are also happy for teachers to use our materials (downloadable from our website) and classrooms to lead the programmes themselves. For families and adults too But our educational efforts aren’t exclusively schools-focused. We have materials available for visiting families as well as for clubs and organisations like the Brownies – fact sheets, audio guides, challenges, trail guides, puzzle books, again in six languages – and a changing programme of themed tours and talks for adults. In 2017, we were very proud to receive the prestigious Sandford Award for Heritage Education.
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We recognise that we have, in Leeds Castle, its grounds, facilities and staff, a wonderful location for other organisations to use to raise awareness of their aims and funding for their work. We are happy to help them, as far as our resources and timetables allow.
SUPPORTING OTHER ORGANISATIONS Every year, we receive hundreds of requests from good causes to donate or discount tickets and room hire rates, or host their conferences and fund-raising events. To make this selection process a little easier for us, we offer a small number of charities every year a package of high-level support, enabling us to make a substantial contribution to their activities. In 2017, these included: • YouCan UK (youth cancer), whose 5km and 10km fun runs
here raised over £12,000.
• Parkinson’s UK, whose 166 walkers raised over £15,000. • Medical Detection Dogs – a new charity dedicated to the
emerging science of training dogs to detect the odours of
early onset human diseases, particularly cancer. We gave
them a platform to raise funds at our major events, as well
as a fundraising reception at the Castle.
• The Alzheimer’s Society, whose Memory Walk, with over
3,000 participants, raised a very gratifying £219,000.
As well as these, 17 other charities or not-for-profit organisations received free or discounted venue hire, and special event or annual admission tickets to sell on as raffle prizes. Special support for local organisations We have always been keen to support our local schools, hospices and churches in any way we can, with free group visits for schoolchildren, and tickets to our signature events like the Leeds Castle Classical Concert and Fireworks Spectacular. In all, we donated some £67,000 of support in 2017 to other organisations, in terms of discounts on or waiving of our standard ticket prices and venue charges. The total value of the use they made of our support is harder to quantify, but we are delighted to have been able to help them.
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PUBLIC EVENTS In 2017, we welcomed over 10,000 ticket-holders to what has become one of the UK’s biggest open-air classical musical concerts. But this was just one of a broad range of high-profile public events we hosted.
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It was the 39th anniversary of the Leeds Classical Concert,
The Battle for the Skies over Leeds Castle
performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with
2017 was the inaugural year of our Battle for the Skies visitor
the tenor Anthony Flaum and the soprano Katie Bird.
experience, which celebrates the Castle’s role in World War
The logistics behind the event were as impressive as the
II, when it served as a rehabilitation centre for recuperating
performance itself: about 100 staff involved in building the
RAF aircrew. The centrepiece of the show was a specially-
stage and stalls, some 3,000 metres of temporary fencing,
commissioned animated multi-screen film with 10-speaker
and 42 lighting rigs.
surround sound, immersing our audiences in Battle of Britain action.
Over 1,000 triathletes, from 8 to 80 The grounds were once again put to full use during our two-
Following the success of our first Motors by the Moat show, this
day triathlon programme, with over 1,000 people testing
year’s two-day event attracted even more enthusiasts, with
their endurance by swimming the moat and running and
around 1,000 vintage and performance cars, and 15,000 visitors.
cycling round the estate. It’s an event for everyone: our oldest competitor, 80-year-old John Brown, completed the course in
These and our other annual events, like the Festival of Flowers
two hours and 25 minutes. The first triathlon day – a shortened
and Fireworks Spectacular, are growing in size and reputation
programme for juniors – makes this an increasingly popular
every year. Interest in our Christmas Market has become so
family occasion, attracting strong sponsorship revenue.
strong that in 2017 we held it over four weekends.
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OUR PEOPLE An appreciation of our highly dedicated, multi-talented team.
Working in the heritage sector, you have to love what you do. The demands on your energy are high, but so are the emotional returns. This is particularly true of the staff at Leeds Castle, who not only maintain and present one of the UK’s most popular heritage sites, they also enable us to provide luxury accommodation and host weddings (55 of these in 2017), conferences and functions, and major events. We are 24/7 and only close on Christmas Day. Specialists in every discipline There are about 300 full-time staff, which makes us one of the biggest employers in the Maidstone area. The range of skills and talents we have in-house may surprise you. Apart from the teams you would expect us to have – guides, housekeepers, caterers, gardeners, curators, administrators – we also have five full-time florists, plus greenkeepers, foresters, plumbers, electricians, IT specialists, and even a team of falconers. We do inspiring work in restoration, conservation and interpretation, wildlife protection and children’s education. We speak 28 languages, including sign language. Fewer than two leavers a year – that’s loyalty Our turnover of staff has averaged 0.45% a year for the past few years – that means we lose between one and two people a year. As we like to say here, you either stay for three weeks or 30 years! With all the restoration projects running alongside a busy programme of events, 2017 was a particularly demanding year for all of us. We have set the bar very high for 2018. And our small army of volunteers We are very lucky to enjoy the support and capabilities of some 40 volunteers from the local area, who give up much of their spare time to helping our gardening and falconry teams, facilitating school visits, stewarding the Castle, grounds and special events, entertaining our visitors on the piano and organ, among many other activities. We are aiming to double the size of our volunteer force over the coming years, and welcome all enquiries.
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COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES Our commercial operations – all the revenues we generate beyond ticket sales – now account for 45% of our income. 2017 was another year of steady growth for our hospitality services.
In the highly competitive hospitality markets in which we
A number of new initiatives helped to improve our results.
operate, we start with an unfair advantage: the beauty
Our Fine Dine & Stay made over £100,000 of profit in 2017,
of the Castle and estate. This is a natural location for the
largely driven by the popularity of our Murder Mystery
big occasion – 55 weddings in 2017, and a calendar full of
Nights, which were completely sold out.
corporate conventions, private functions and public events. We also worked hard to build our relationships with event Naturally, our clients expect high standards of us. And to
planners by offering them familiarisation visits, networking
judge from the awards we won in 2017, we appear to be
days and connecting with them through social media.
meeting these. These awards include: Retail and catering success • AA Unique Bed & Breakfast of the Year Award
The Leeds Castle Shop has been busier than ever this
• RHS Gold Medal at Hampton Court: Best Marquee Floral
year, turning over more than £1 million for the first time,
underpinned by a broader range of merchandise and our
Design for our Head Florist Louise Roots
• UK Wedding Awards: Best Castle Venue
top-seller for children, bubble guns!
• Kent Wedding Awards: Wedding Venue of the Year • Customer Service Award, Tourism South-East:
Combined income from our catering services to day-visitors,
wedding parties, function guests, conference delegates and
Highly Commended
• Boutique Hotelier Head Housekeeper Award:
overnight stayers was an impressive £2.6 million. Great credit
is due to our catering team for building our reputation for
Highly Commended
quality and service.
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The housekeeping accounts for Joan of Navarre’s stay at Leeds Castle in 1422 are in the Castle’s archives. Her Wardrobe Book details her expenditure and day-to-day activities at the Castle, including purchases of fine garments, cloth, fur, silk and linen and three dozen shoes at 6d a pair.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY Income & expenditure summary Year ended 31 March 2018
2017/18 Income
(£’000)
Visitors
7,574
Education 110 Retail 1,039 Hospitality functions
1,957
Accommodation 752 Golf course
248
Events 460 Other 225
Total income
12,365
Expenditure (£’000)
Visitors
Education Retail
(3,691)
(86)
(849)
Hospitality functions
(1,563)
Accommodation
(584)
Golf course
(284)
Events
Governance
Stewardship
Total expenditure
Each item of expenditure in this table includes the salaries of the personnel we employ in these
(269)
functions. The largest of these, Stewardship, also
(240)
includes operating overheads, maintenance and
(4,516)
Notes on expenditure
(12,082)
repair costs, conservation and restoration work and any larger one-off projects. The financial statements of Leeds Castle Foundation are audited annually and filed at Companies House
Net income
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and the Charities Commission.
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LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Our CEO, Sir David Steel, looks forward to an exciting next few years, especially the Castle’s 900th anniversary in 2019.
The countdown to our 900th anniversary celebrations
on the third, the Jungle, which is going to be very exciting.
has started, and even with all the other work going on, we
Meanwhile, the more prosaic but essential task of repairing
are making plans to mark this extraordinary milestone in
and replacing stonework will continue. Much of this work
style, not only with celebratory events, but also with major
involves replacing the cement mortar that was used for repairs
capital projects.
in the last century with the lime mortar that the walls were originally built with, and which allows the walls to ‘breathe’.
Reinterpreting our history We are currently at work on a complete review of the way
Beyond our anniversary year
in which we present the Castle’s history to our visitors. Our
Beyond 2019, we look forward to starting work on significant
current range of tours, workshops and talks is already award-
projects such as a new visitor reception centre with ticketing,
winning, but we are developing even more engaging ways of
retail and catering facilities. We will also launch a major
interpreting the Castle’s fascinating history.
programme to install improved drainage in our car parks, to ensure that they can operate at full capacity all year around.
Major capital projects
And in the old mill at the entrance to the Castle, we plan
Our Knights’ Realm children’s playground is a popular year-
to introduce a working waterwheel, not only to show how
round attraction, but we want to make it more exciting still.
this building was used but also to generate a little clean
So we will be demolishing it towards the end of 2018 and
energy for the Castle – a wonderful marriage of old and new
rebuilding it as a more adventurous interpretation on the
technologies.
same theme, ready to throw down the gauntlet to young As ever, there seems to be so much to do, but our plans for the
visitors in the Spring of 2019.
future show the importance we attach to not only preserving By the Summer of 2019, two of the six new Woodland
the Castle and the grounds for generations to come, but also to
Gardens areas will be complete, and work will have started
improving every visitor’s experience, every time they visit.
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The Trustees
Patrons Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra GCVO The Hon Lady Ogilvy Chairman Mr Niall Dickson CBE Chief Executive Sir David Steel KBE, DL Trustees The Lord Bridges CVO Mr Richard Laing Mr Jonathan Neame DL Mr Timothy Stevens OBE Ms Laura Nesfield Mr Tom Wright CBE Mr Adrian Tinniswood OBE Director of Enterprises Mr David Brigford
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Leeds Castle Foundation Leeds Castle, Maidstone ME17 1PL +44 (0)1622 765400 www.leeds-castle.com enquiries@leeds-castle.co.uk
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