Continuing the ins and outs of the Leeds Castle, we will further explore some of the historical significance of the castle, as well as the unusual encounter that one of the owners experienced after encountering the eerie castle inhabitant.
Numerous important historical events have taken place at Leeds Castle. Some you may be familiar with and some you might not know of. In 1978, an influential meeting of the minds took place at the castle. The Egyptian President at the time, Anwar Sadat met with the Foreign Minister of Israel, Moshe Dayan, as they worked with one another to prepare for the Camp David Accords.
Besides the black phantom dog, there are also other black inhabitants of significance. Here, you will find the descendents of a gift given to the castle by Winston Churchill. After World War II, he presented the castle with the regal black swans that still roam about the premises.
The black phantom dog associated with Leeds Castle was believed to make an appearance only when something terrible was about to occur in the near future. When encountered by witnesses, the hound was known to walk about the passageways. Witnesses described the beast as vanishing into thin air. Sometimes it was known to walk through walls. Fear started to surface when it came to the mentioning of the black phantom hound because it seemed that every time it appeared, something awful would happen. Sometimes, a person would die after the hound appeared, where other times, a horrific accident occurred soon after.
Out of all the stories dealing with the black phantom hound, one of the most known about town deals with one of the former owners of the castle. While sitting at a window, she was gazing out into space when the dog walked right into her room and clear in her presence. The dog walked out just as quickly as he appeared. But this time, it was through a wall, which happened to have been constructed from solid stone. At this time, the owner was quite elderly, but she arose from her seat to see what she exactly encountered in her room. As soon as she walked about to see where this dog went, something quite extraordinary occurred.
The window that she was looking out and the wall that the window was close to just crumbled in her face and fell below to the surrounding moat. It was quite a scare indeed and to this day, the black phantom hound is said to still lurk about, warning locals of impending danger. No one knows where he came from or why he appears in such as way, but whenever he does or the thought of him arises, something is sure to happen (in the minds of the townsfolk.)
Today, the castle serves as an important tourist attraction. The castle, as well as the grounds has become quite the place to visit when touring the county of Kent. During a trip to this site, you will find an entertaining maze, aviary, grotto, as well as golf course. Maybe the black phantom hound even has something to do with the only museum of dog collars that the world has yet to see.