On the 28th December, the Estate again was featured on Countryfile as one of the highlights of 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BWKROBBMok

For other recent TV coverage, please check out our YouTube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/LeesCourtEstate

The 67th East Kent Ploughing Match held on the 28th September and hosted by The Countess Sondes had a record attendance of just over 4200 visitors.

The Lees Court Estate has been described as the finest in Kent. It has been in the Sondes family for 700 years and became the centre of The Countess Sondes’ life on the death of her husband, Henry George Herbert, The Fifth Earl Sondes in 1996.

The Estate is approximately 7,000 acres with a core of 2,663 acres around the villages of Sheldwich and Badlesmere. It incorporates three principal traditional let farms and about 550 acres of woodland. There is also a large in-hand farm.

The Estate is currently involved in four major projects;

• The research & development, growing and marketing of innovative Non-Food Crops
• Lees Court Estate Project, a joint conservation study with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology which includes and indepth questionnaire
• Working with the United Nations to develop a Global Farming Alliance

Through these projects The Countess hopes to build on the Estate’s core work and ensure it continues to prosper.