Christmas at castle was busiest ever
Leeds Castle ended 2016 in style with a record number of Christmas visitors.
The attraction welcomed 79,269 people in December – its highest ever figure for the month.
It took its total for the year beyond 605,000, putting overall visitors up 7% on 2015, according to numbers listed by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.
The figures capped off a good year for the castle, a former home of Henry VIII, which has been open to the public for more than 40 years and employs 270 staff. Raffles raised nearly £155,000 for local schools and churches, more than 10,000 people went to its summer classical concerts and it welcomed its patron, Princess Alexandra, in November.
It added 9,730 plants to the gardens and welcomed six new birds, including two kookaburras bred by its falconry team. The black swans also had a good year, with 11 hatching.