Hever Castle and Gardens

Hever Castle and Gardens: Part Three

If you love your Tudor history, Hever Castle is the perfect place to get up close to several significant pieces of 16th century history. Built in 1271, it is the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII who was Queen for only 1,000 days and mother of Elizabeth I. Anne’s family name was Bullen but when she was in France in the king’s court, she decided to adopt the way a French person would spell it phonetically.

As well as the beautiful gardens the castle itself is well worth visiting. It’s not very big for a castle, and some of the rooms are quite cosy you could say. Audio guides are included in Castle admission prices. They are available in English, French, German, Dutch, Russian and Chinese.

The Great Chamber – used by the Boleyn family for entertainment. music, reading, poetry readings and occasional dining.

I’m not usually keen on photographing interiors and especially when I only have my phone with me as the light can be poor, but I do like to grab shots of little details that I find interesting.

Henry VIII portrait and the costume as used in **Wolf Hall and The Mirror and the Light** (TV series)

King Henry VIII’s Bedchamber, though it is believed that he would never have actually stayed the night here. The costume of Anne Boleyn from **Wolf Hall and The Mirror and the Light** (TV series)

Intricate design on the door of the Great Hall

Another of Henry VIII costume in what is known as his bedchamber

Anne Boleyn’s Book of Hours c, 1425 – 50 This prayer book was hand-written and illuminated in Bruges. Inside Anne has written her famous inscription “le temps viendra” (the time will come). She signed her name Anne Boleyn and and drew a small astrolabe or armillary sphere.

More detail of carvings on fireplaces, the dining table in the Great Hall and two German swords used for beheadings.

It takes about an hour to go around the castle and the Castle is usually busiest in the morning and early afternoon. I would recommend late afternoon to avoid school parties.

William Waldorf Astor used his fortune to restore and extend the Castle in the early 20th century.

[Wolf Hall is a British television series adaptation of two of Hilary Mantel’s novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies, a fictionalised biography documenting the life of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII. The second series was adapted from The Mirror & the Light, the final novel in the trilogy. Both are excellent series and available in the UK on iPlayer.]

If you want to know more about Hever Castle, Anne Boleyn and the rooms in the castle then I recommend visiting the website (link below).

Hever Castle & Gardens
Hever
Edenbridge
Kent TN8 7NG

Hever Castle and Gardens: Part Two

Although we didn’t manage to see all of the beautiful gardens we tried our best! Here are a few more photos from the estate.

A closer view – if you click on this image you might be able to make out the topiary chess set on the far right in the Tudor Garden

Castle from the opposite side and topiary

Shady area close to Anne Boleyn’s Walk – and the festival theatre

The Blue Corner – The plants are concentrated around huge rocks and steps leading to Sisters’ Pool Lawn and include blue hydrangeas, ceanothus and blue seasonal perennials.

Hundreds of tulips in the border leading to the Two Sister’s Lawn and Pool

The 38 acre lake, the brainchild of William Waldorf Astor, was excavated and constructed by 800 men who were contracted in December 1904 to “carry on the works regularly and continuously by day and night (except on Sundays) when so ordered” and complete the work in two years! The lake was filled in July 1906.

It takes about an hour to walk around the lake and you might just make out the Japanese Tea House folly on the left-hand side. There is also a water maze too. The boats and pedalos are available for hire on Weekends and Bank Holidays from Saturday 5 April 2025 and daily during school holidays. You can also take a 20 minute trip on the Lady Astor steam boat which you can just make out to the right of the photo above.

Hever Castle & Gardens
Hever
Edenbridge
Kent TN8 7NG

Jo’s Monday Walks

Hever Castle and Gardens: Part One

Whilst in Surrey over the early Spring Bank Holiday, I suggested that my daughter and I had a day out visiting Hever Castle and Gardens in Kent. It was a hot day so we didn’t have enough energy to stroll around the lake, nor did we visit the Tudor Garden with the topiary chess set! Two good reasons to return.

Dating back to the 14th century, Hever Castle was once the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and Mother of Elizabeth I. It is well worth a visit especially of you are interested in Tudor history.

But for this post I am only exploring the beautiful gardens which were laid out between 1904 and 1908 by Joseph Cheal and Son. Until William Waldorf Astor bought Hever Castle in 1903, only a modest garden existed around the castle walls. One of the most magnificent areas of the gardens is the Italian Garden, which was designed to display William Waldorf Astor’s collection of Italian sculptures.