Spot the Duck

Spot the Duck aims to help keep you connected to the Castle digitally whilst you may be unable to visit us.

For each image, see if you can find one of the birds as identified below, discover an interesting fact about the Castle and gain a sneak peek inside.

We hope you may come and visit us sometime when our doors are back open and learn more about the wonderful stories of Highcliffe Castle.

Meet the Resident Birds

Beatrix

Dora

Rodney

Can you spot them?

Spot the Duck - Beatrix hiding on the South Porch at Highcliffe Castle

For our first ‘Spot the Duck’, we ask if you are able to find Beatrix hiding in our beautiful South Porch?

Did you know?

Lady Violet Stuart Wortley used to be known to sunbathe on the South Porch steps.
Spot the Duck - Dora hiding at the visitor entrance of Highcliffe Castle

Can you find Dora hiding by our visitor entrance?

Did you know?

The section above the main door was originally a fireplace from a chateau in France.

Spot the Duck - Dora hiding at the visitor entrance of Highcliffe Castle
Spot the Duck - Beatrix hidden in the Victorian Kitchen at Highcliffe Castle

Can you spot Beatrix hiding in our kitchen?

Did you know?

In 1907, Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Highcliffe Castle.

Rosa Lewis, owner of the Cavendish Hotel and cook to the rich and famous, and her kitchen staff had to cook for nearly 90 people, meaning she had to travel to London and back to get her supplies; “In two days, every cook shop in Christchurch, that being not a very big place, was cleared out” she mentions.
Spot the Duck - Dora hiding in the long stone basement corridor of Highcliffe Castle

Get your magnifying glasses out and see if you can find Dora hiding in our basement corridor?

Did you know?

At one point, Highcliffe Castle had around 15 indoor staff to help cater for royalty and important guests who visited the Castle.

When Maud Cooper, a housemaid for 16 years, was asked by one of the visitors if she was “proud to live in a place like this” she answered “We don’t have the pleasure of it. We all have work to do.”

Spot the Duck - Dora hiding in the long stone basement corridor of Highcliffe Castle
Spot the Duck - Beatrix hiding by the well, next to a copper water jug at Highcliffe Castle

Well, it is time to see if you can find Beatrix hiding by the old well?

Did you know?

The well pictured here was discovered underneath a flagstone during our renovations.

Archaeologists believe it was built in the 19th century for Highcliffe Castle, but it could have also been in use at Penleaze villa, the house built before Highcliffe Castle. Highcliffe Castle wasn’t connected to the mains water until 1900.
Spot the Duck - all three birds hiding around the piano in the Wintergarden at Highcliffe Castle. There is a big bright window above a stone fireplace.

Rodney has been enjoying adventuring about the Castle with Beatrix and Dora whilst we have been away, and all three have been snapped hiding in our Wintergarden. Can you find them all?

Did you know?

Our fireplace is carved from medieval stone and has been able to survive both fire and neglect. It is made up of different pieces of medieval carved stone work which were never intended to be part of a fireplace. 

As well as spotting the ducks, have you spotted that there is no flue above the fireplace and rather runs up the inside corner of the Wintergarden? This is due to the window being immediately above the integrated fireplace.

Spot the Duck - all three birds hiding around the piano in the Wintergarden at Highcliffe Castle. There is a big bright window above a stone fireplace.
Spot the Duck - three wooden bird figures hidden around a marble statue of Lady Waterford, situated in the Ante-Library of Highcliffe Castle

Beatrix, Dora and Rodney are hiding in this picture of our Ante-Library by Lady Waterford’s Statue ready for you to find.

Did you know?

Lady Waterford, the younger daughter of Lord Stuart, became owner of the Castle in 1867. At Highcliffe, she established a shop to sell cheap milk to the community to encourage locals away from drinking alcohol and later became recognised as one of the Victorian era’s most gifted amateur women artists.
Spot the Duck - gravel path view of Highcliffe Castle with its stone steps and French masonry

Dora is hiding out somewhere on the pathway up to the Castle. Can you spot her and her little blue hat?

Did you know?

The Latin inscription in the stonework at the top of the Castle reads “Sweet it is, when on the great sea the winds are buffeting the waters, to look from the land on another’s great struggles”?

Spot the Duck - gravel path view of Highcliffe Castle with its stone steps and French masonry
Spot the Duck - 3 wooden birds hidden within the spectacular Great Hall of Highcliffe Castle with its beautiful bright Jesse Window

This challenge stars all three of our companions again, this time hiding in the Great Hall by the magnificent Jesse Window. Can you find Beatrix, Dora and Rodney?

Did you know?

The Jesse Window at Highcliffe Castle is over 4m wide and 9m high; the central panel came from the parish church of St.Vigor at Rouen, which was partly destroyed at the time of the French Revolution, and dates to 1547.

When the panels were installed into the Great Hall in 1838, they only filled a quarter of the space, so Christchurch glazier, Charles Holloway, used fragments of 16th century glass collected from all over Europe to extend the design. With the help of Lord Stuart’s daughter, Louisa, they also painted new glass to fill in any gaps.

The Answers

Two young girls playing with the activity wall in the Family Room at Highcliffe Castle

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