Historic Kent castle transformed into Narnia for new Christmas experience

WATCH: ITV News Meridian's Kit Bradshaw speaks to those behind the new visitor experience

The interior of Leeds Castle, in Kent, has been transformed to represent scenes from C.S. Lewis’ popular Narnia children’s books, with actors playing key characters.

The Christmas experience aims to “bring to life” the “beloved story” of ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’, according to organisers.

From this weekend, visitors to the castle, near Maidstone, can walk through a wardrobe and into rooms decorated to represent different aspects of the wintery Narnia setting of the classic story.

Chief Executive of the Leeds Castle Foundation, Helen Bonser-Wilton, told ITV News Meridian: “It’s fair to say at Christmas everyone wants tradition. You want to look back to your own childhood and help your own children enjoy those traditions. Narnia feels like a really good fit.

“The other thing is, very little of the interior of the castle is older than 1926. So, in terms of era, it fits perfectly.”

The White Witch is one of the characters represented by actors in the immersive experience. Credit: ITV News Meridian

‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ was first published in 1950 and tells the story of four children evacuated to a country house from London during the Second World War, only to discover a portal in a wardrobe which transports them into a fantasy land where it is ‘always winter, and never Christmas’.

The attraction hopes to welcome tens of thousands of visitors through the castle doors this December. The Narnia experience is open until 1 January.

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