As the Christmas holidays begin and 2016 draws to a close we wanted to reflect on what a successful year it has been here at Leeds Castle from feathery new arrivals to a royal visit and record sales of bubble guns. Here are a few fun statistics:
• 563,542 day visitors to the Castle
• 1,258 ticket donations for raffles which has so far helped raise £154,786 for charities from schools and churches to community food-banks and scout groups
• 6 new birds of prey including two kookaburras which were bred by our falconry team
• 11 black swans hatched
• 25 heritage preservation projects within the Castle and around the estate ranging from the Bath House silt removal to Castle stonework repairs to refurbishment of the Maze Grotto water feature
• 20 tonnes of green compost deposited on the gardens for essential nutrients during the winter
• 9,730 plants added to the gardens
• Over 25 special ticketed, day visitor and charity events ranging from Fireworks Spectacular to Opera in the Castle
• 16 Christmas parties
• 11,810 overnight guests in our cottages, bed and breakfast accommodation and Glamping site
• 30 Christmas trees ranging from 6ft to 25ft!
• Over 10,000 people attended the 38th year of the Classical Concert
• 25,000 star bursts filled the sky at the Leeds Castle Fireworks Spectacular
• 200 names and messages projected onto the Castle walls over the two days of the Leeds Castle Fireworks Spectacular for our #nameonthecastle campaign
• Over 20 location hire, film crews and photographers from shoots ranging from Visit Britain Go China! Campaign to BBC1’s Bargain Hunt and historical documentaries.
• 2 feature films filmed on the estate with over 200 crew
• Over 3,500 bubble guns and 2,500 bottles of Mead sold in the Castle shops
• 25 limited edition bears have found new homes. Several have gone to children or adults that share their names, a couple became wedding day gifts from grooms to their brides, one now looks out of a bedroom window over Dover, one is part of the Leeds Castle collection, one is owned by Royalty
• 1 Royal visit from our Patron, Princess Alexandra
• 20,000 stems of flowers and foliage, 158 different types of flowers and 50 different types of foliage were used to create displays for our Festival of Flowers
• 40 golfers took part in our Pro Am in June
• 231 Golf Season Ticket Holders
• Over 400 schools participated in workshops and self-guided tours
• 1 shiny new website
• 4 awards including; ‘Venue & Business Tourism Silver Award’ at the Beautiful South Awards, ‘Spirit of Kent’ Digital Award, Gold at RHS Hampton Court Flower Show and Visit Kent’s ‘Contribution to Tourism in the County Award’
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all the team at Leeds Castle!
