Chiddingstone Castle is a traditional country squire's house with the charm of a fantasy castle. It houses an excellent art collection and is a curiosity-hunter's dream. The absence of crowds and queues shows it has avoided becoming an attraction on the popular tourist trail.
Yet Chiddingstone's unexpected treasures deserve notice, including the traditional oak panelled Great Hall and the Old Kitchen that contains intriguing 200-year-old baking ovens.
In 1955 the ancestral seat of the Streatfeilds was on the verge of ruin until connoisseur Denys Eyre Bower, who died in 1977, took it over. Originally a bank clerk with no inherited wealth, his passion for collecting invests every room with interest for the visiting public.
Golden Buddhist images, relics of Ancient Egypt, swords and armour and exquisite lacquer work from Japan, mementoes and pictures of the Royal Stuart dynasty: the story of Bower's magpie mentality unfolds on a visit here.
Tranquil grounds, with woodland and cascade, and good fishing in the three-acre lake are added pleasures.
Chiddingstone Castle is situated in the ancient National Trust village of Chiddingstone, amid a maze of lanes that are themselves a delight to explore. Easiest route: B2027 Tonbridge to Edenbridge road, turn at Bough Beech into Mill Lane, keep straight on one mile for the Castle.