Hever Castle
Hever Castle in the Kent Weald is a beautifully preserved moated medieval castle that achieved its lasting historical significance as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I. Anne grew up within these walls and received from the castle's setting the education, Continental refinement and personal ambition that helped make her the most intellectually accomplished of Henry's wives and the most consequential for English history. The castle passed through various hands after the Boleyn family's fall, was transformed by the American millionaire William Waldorf Astor from 1903 onward with enormous resources, and is now one of the most visited historic houses in England.
The castle dates from the thirteenth century and was developed into its present moated form in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Boleyn family acquired it in 1462, and it was here that the young Anne was raised, receiving her early education before being sent to the courts of the Duchess of Burgundy and then the French king, experiences that gave her the intellectual and social formation that distinguished her from the English court ladies of her generation. Henry VIII visited Hever several times while courting Anne, and the gardens contain statues commemorating both Anne and Henry.
The Astor restoration transformed both the castle and its grounds on a lavish scale. Astor added an entire mock-Tudor village adjacent to the castle to house guests, created the spectacular Italian Garden with its collection of ancient Roman and Greek sculpture, and constructed the thirty-five-acre lake that provides the most dramatic element of the grounds. The interior was redecorated and refurnished to a very high standard, and the result is a castle whose medieval fabric is complemented by Edwardian opulence.
The combination of the Anne Boleyn story, the moated medieval architecture and the exceptional gardens makes Hever one of the most rewarding and layered historic house visits in Kent.