If your screen does not print after clicking the button above, simply click on FILE in the top left of your browser menu, then click PRINT
Hever Castle And Gardens
Hever Castle
Hever
Nr Edenbridge
Kent TN8 7NG
Tel: (0)1732 865224
About Hever Castle And Gardens
Hever Castle And Gardens is situated not far from Edenbridge, Kent, and is a spectacular family attraction. It was the home of Henry VIII’s wife, Anne Boleyn (mother of Queen Elizabeth I), and is a mythic-style castle in grand condition, centred on a water-filled moat, with a nearby mock Tudor village and finely sculpted gardens. A family day out to Hever Castle will take around 4-5 hours as there are a host of things to see and do at this variegated family attraction.
A Hever Castle ticket provides an open door into 30 acres of tranquil gardens and a boggling rectangular yew maze, while the bewitching thirteenth century fortified manor contains all manner of Tudor portraits, furnishings, tapestries and other artefacts, including Henry’s door lock and two sumptuously illustrated prayer books, the Books Of Hours, both signed and inscribed by Anne Boleyn.
Established in 1270, Hever Castle at first boasted a redoubtable gatehouse and walled bailey, entered via a wooden drawbridge. In 1462, Hever Castle was given to the Lord Mayor of London, Geoffrey Bullen (Boleyn), who fashioned a comfortable home within the walls, and it was Anne’s intermittent abode prior to marrying Henry. She was later beheaded on his orders in 1536, on false charges of High Treason after failing to give him a son and heir. Hever Castle was transferred to Henry’s fourth wife, Anne Of Cleves, in 1539, and when she passed away, in 1557, Hever Castle fell to the stewardship of landed gentry like the Waldegraves – with Sir Edward Waldegrave the first Baronet of Hever Castle in 1642 - the Humfreys and, from 1793 to 1903, the Meade Waldos. They presided over decades of neglect but, Hever Castle was acquired by William Waldorf Astor, the US millionaire businessman, who restored it, established the ’Tudor Village’, gardens and lake, and made it the family attraction that it is now.
Owned since 1983 by Broadland Properties and accesible to the public, recently, the Tudor Village has become a residential conference centre. The focus of a delightful family day out remains the castle, though, along with newer features such as an adventure playground and novel island-based water maze. Furthermore, Hever Castle has bolstered its credentials as a family attraction with a costume figure exhibition based in the Long Gallery, while the gatehouse Council Chamber features an armoury with swords and armour, along with a panoply of period instruments of torture, discipline and execution. Just the ticket for anyone who might misbehave on a family day out!
The splendid gardens of Hever Castle were hewn from marshlands by Joseph Cheal & Son between 1904 and 1908, and include a grand Italian Garden that was laid out to show off Astor’s numerous Italian sculptures. More than 1000 workers were drafted in, with some 800 engaged in more than two years of excavation of a lake. By the close of the Edwardian era, 30 acres of landscaped and natural features had been fashioned, notably a vivid walled Rose Garden housing more than 3000 plants. A calming family day out can take in a perambulation about the numerous water aspects, including the Half Moon Pond, Cascade Rockery, shady grottoes, the loggia fountain – designed after Rome’s Trevi Fountain - and the Two Sisters Pond. Then there’s the Tudor Garden, a Rhododendron Walk, tree-lined Anne Boleyn’s Walk, the Millennium Fountain on Sixteen Acre Island, and a 110 metre herbaceous border and flowing water channel on the Sunday Walk.
Tours of Hever Castle and Gardens can be booked, the last guided by a Hever Castle gardener, while castle Ghost tours, combined with a meal at the Moat Restaurant, are staged in October and November (detailed at the Hever Castle website).
The pleasant ambience of the estate are perfect for meetings and corporate events, the Tudor Suite Dining Room overlooking the Tudor Village green spaces. It is one of three wood panelled rooms that hold up to 64 guests and features a big open fireplace. In addition, when Anne Boleyn resided at Hever Castle, the Great Hall, with its stunning panelling and carved Minstrels Gallery, was the main dining area. Guests can approach it via the Castle forecourt and drawbridge, with receptions in the Inner Hall or Inner Courtyard. The panelled castle Inner Hall can be utilised for drinks receptions as well, not to mention weddings – just the ticket for a very special occasion.
Further, Hever Castle caters for team-building days, taking in everything from archery to quad biking, digger driving, reverse steer land rover driving, and apache and pilot bike rides, while the splendid Hever Castle Golf Club has 9 and 18 hole Championship courses. Other features that can be booked include a falconry display, laser clay pigeon shooting and archery. Besides all this, the Tudor Village is open to private guests and boasts 20 rooms.
Hever Castle ticket holders can enjoy the Moat Restaurant and the Castle Shop in the gardens, with its exclusive and fine wares. Among them are oak refectory tables and chairs, steel hurricane lamps, pewter candlesticks, throws and leather doorstops. Home-made chutneys, preserves and marmalade come from the Castle kitchens, drawing on local ingredients, and kids can kit out with the medieval armoury’s wooden shields, swords, bows and arrows, chain mail vests, helmets and princess’ tunics. Worth the price of the ticket alone for would-be knights and princesses.
The Potting Shed sells a range of garden goods and plants, while the Book Shop is well stocked with history tomes. Hever Castle itself is pioneering a Biomas Heating System that aims to heat the Castle, Tudor Village and 18 estate cottages, flats, and the Moat Restaurant and offices, using wood from local woodlands. Hydro power from the lake outflow is also being considered. Local independent family-run companies from Kent, Sussex and Surrey provide 80% of supplies for the estate, making Hever Castle both a grand family day out and an eco-friendly family attraction.