Hever Castle

Hever Castle is an important historic castle on the English landscape, once the family home of one of England's most famous Queens - Anne Boleyn, the intriguing 2nd wife of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I.


There have been 3 main periods in the construction of the castle. The oldest part dates to 1270 and consisted of the gatehouse and a walled bailey. In the early 1500s the Bullen family bought the castle and added a Tudor dwelling within the walls and so it became the childhood home of its most famous inhabitant, Anne Boleyn. It later passed into the ownership of Henry's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. From 1557 onwards, the castle was owned by a number of families until finally in 1903, American William Waldorf Astor invested time, money and imagination in restoring the castle, building the "Tudor Village" and creating the gardens and lake.


The tour inside the castle (where we weren't allowed to take pictures) illustrated the Astor family's commitment to retaining the period beauty while incorporating modern conveniences. All power outlets are hidden so that the intricate wood paneling wouldn't be marred. Learning about the Astor family was also fascinating; they had several rooms dedicated to them and their stewardship of this property. Since 1983, the castle has been owned by Broadland Properties Limited and open to the public. The castle has a homey atmosphere and houses historic 16th century Tudor portraits, furniture and tapestries. Other artifacts include 2 magnificent Books of Hours (prayer books), both signed and inscribed by Anne Boleyn.


One of the most magnificent areas of the gardens is the Italian Garden, which was designed to display William Waldor Astor's collection of Italian sculpture. Over 1,000 men worked on the great design with around 800 men digging out the 35 acre lake at the far end of the garden - taking 2 years to do so! Within 4 years the 30 acres of classical and natural landscapes were constructed and planted.


It is impossible to capture the scope of the Italian Garden unless an areal shot could be taken. It has 2 colonnades of marble and foliage leading down to the lake with large internal lawns and smaller hedged-in gardens. This sculpture caught my attention. Seems a bit salacious, don't you? Hmmmm...


This is one of the internal gardens. Apparently, the hedges planted (and that were historically accurate for Italian garends) grow extremely slowly so the gardens are only reaching maturity now (that would take serious patience - 100 years after their planting?!). We were struck by how quiet and secluded it felt, and since it was such a smaller space, it felt cosy. Each of these interior gardens had their own water element, which also added a peaceful air. Perhaps the risque statue is making more sense now that we discovered this romantic, secluded hideaway.


This water fountain faces the lake at the end of the colonnades. It reminds me of Trevi Fountain in Rome - which is probably the idea. D and I decided to walk around the lake since it was a beautiful day (and a glorious property) and it was also the first time since 1939 that visitors have been allowed to walk the entire distance around the lake.


It proved to be quite the wildlife experience. In case the weather didn't scream that the season was spring, all the animal families would have. We immediately came across a swan pair with their cygnets. (I had to look up what baby swans were called. For the curious, a female swan is a "pen" and a male is a "cob.")


Not much farther down the path we came across a duck with her ducklings. It was fun watching them. Birds at the fuzzy feather stage are so sweet.


We had the lake area all to ourselves and thoroughly enjoyed the view.


To keep the theme going, next was the ewe and her lambs. Little did we know that we were entering their "pen" area, but our shoes got the picture quick. It became exceptionally difficult not to walk in sheep droppings, no matter how much we danced around. We tried to dodge the pies but it became impossible as the next pic will show.


If you look at the ground around this group of lambs, you will see droppings everywhere. We tried not to disturb the sheep (clearly not many people choose to take the lake walk since we saw no one else that day and the sheep looked well entrenched) but it was almost impossible because off the path the poop was even deeper (seems like there is a life lesson in that, doesn't it?). It was fun to be able to get so close to them. They were smart to stake out the shade, it had actually become quite a warm day, but since there was low humidity, it was just about perfect in the shade. D and I sat in the shade with the view of the first picture (on that lawn under a glorious, huge tree there) for lunch before we had to get back on the bus to head for home. We agreed that it was just nice to be out in the sun enjoying beautiful countryside.