Allington Castle

Allington Castle stands on the banks of the river Medway just outside Maidstone, one of three castles protecting the river. A stone built castle which has stood here since the 1170s. Today the castle is the private home of Sir Robert Worcester, the founder of MORI opinion poll company, and is not open to the general public.

The estate once covered some 2,000 acres but now c.40 acres remain surrounded by the suburbs of Maidstone. The estate is a haven of manicured lawns, formal beds, shrubberies, woodlands, semi-wild grasslands and ponds/lake.

As you drive into the estate through woodlands and turn the corner you will be met by the fairytale view of the castle with its imposing gatehouse and drum towers surrounded by a moat.

Head Gardener Adrian Waters will be our guide as we visit the main courtyard, consisting of two sets of parterres, representative of the control and power over nature by formal clipped geometric shapes. The walls are covered with roses softening the walls.

Behind the castle lies the former Tiltyard with a parterre filled with seasonal bedding/bulbs, roses, a laburnum tunnel and shrubbery.

Most of the gardens are relatively new but the Italian garden was first laid out in the 1930s by Philip Tilden, Lord Conway’s architect who saved the castle from ruin. Here is a classical temple, rose-covered pergolas and a large fountain and basin.

Guests can also see the winter garden and Nut Walk underplanted with bulbs and wildflowers and the armillary seasonal bed and extensive lavender walk.

Guided tour with lunch.

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