Heritage Open Day at Hadlow Tower

 With my online ticket booking firmly in my hand, I turned up 15 minutes early for my allocated group slot to visit Hadlow Tower. I wasn't about to miss this golden opportunity to spend time at the restored folly, especially as the ticket was issued free of charge for Heritage Open Day.

When 'my' group had gathered we walked through the grounds, with a very informative steward who led us to the main entrance to the tower. We passed this very old tree with a wooden prop that was put into place in 1951 - half a century ago!!!

Then it was on to a small exhibition centre on the ground floor with videos, a 3D tactile model and explanatory display boards about the history of Hadlow Castle, the people who lived there, the surrounding countryside and how the Tower was restored.

Original 1901....Disrepair 1995....Renovation 2012....Restored 2013

A lift took us up floor by floor to see the refurbishment of the rooms, that now can be rented for up to six people. The living space is on 3 floors all of which, of course, have a 360 degree view aspect of the surrounding countryside.

The last climb is a 100 step spiral staircase to reach the viewing platform which offers views as far as reaching as Tonbridge. I easily spotted Quarry Hill and K College in one direction and enjoyed a wonderful bird's eye view of Hadlow Village from another.

Hadlow Church and Village

Tonbridge in the distance - K College is the white oblong centre right

Hadlow Village

Looking towards Tonbridge

Castle Grounds

The restoration is fascinating!!! I particularly loved the relationship between the internal new architecture of strong metal girders and the original brickwork together with the wooden structural beams.

Above the living accommodation and looking up to the top of the tower

The final 100 step spiral staircase

Looking down

Original structural wooden beam

The tower is open tomorrow and over the weekend during the Heritage Open Days. Booking is online through the website http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/directory/hadlow-tower but I'm not sure if there are any slots left.  Hadlow Tower closes for the season  on the 16 September and will open again next year. It's really worth a visit.

Tonbridge Daily Snippet

The ghost of Jacobus (James) Cawthorn is said to roam through Tonbridge School on the anniversary of his death in 1761.

In 1743 he came to Tonbridge School and gained a reputation for  his strictness and severity. He was a great lover of fine arts, music, poetry and was known to be harsh at school.  Cawthorn had a habit of throwing a book of Virgil or Shakespeare to floor in a challenge to the boys to debate. He was also a great lover of the fine arts, music and poetry. On the death of his twin children he wrote the poem known as 'A Father's Extempore Consolation'. The verse was full of emotion and beauty so this can only indicate there was some sensitivity in the man.

Cawthorn was an accomplished horseman and was known to ride from
Tonbridge to London.  While riding over Quarry Hill he stopped to allow
his horse to take a drink from a pond and it stumbled and threw him. 
Cawthorn's only injury was a broken leg but only days later he died. He
is buried under the School Gallery in The Parish Church.

It is now said that every year at midnight on April 15, the anniversary of his death, that Cawthorne's ghostly steps and clanking chains can be heard roaming through Tonbridge School dormitories.

Don't we all love a good ghost story.

Tonbridge Daily Snippet

During the 1960's chains of coloured Christmas Lights crisscrossed Tonbridge High Street and were later replaced by chains of white lights. They could be seen from as far away as the top of Quarry Hill and created a curve of light snaking through the distance.

Tonbridge Daily Snippet

The (Queen Victoria) Cottage Hospital Tonbridge was built as a memorial to Queen Victoria's 50 years on the throne. It was sited on Quarry Hill and opened in 1902. The hospital provided only 18 beds, and was maintained as a charitable concern, while the Doctors worked on a voluntary basis.
The hospital relocated to its present site in 1935.