Hever Castle

Today I visited Hever Castle in Kent, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn and the place where Henry VIII came to court her. It has a fascinating history as many of you know, being the home of two Tudor queens, firstly Anne Boleyn and then it was given to Anne of Cleves after Henry VIII divorced her as a parting gift. He had of course by then claimed it from the Boleyn family as his own, as a king was entitled to do! It was also the home of the Astor family from 1903 onwards and the Astors spent a small fortune restoring the home back to its original style, and although very tastefully done, sadly very little of it is authentic and original. After the house was badly damaged by flooding in 1983 it became a financial strain after paying for all the repairs and so in 1983 was sold to it's current owners who run it as a business.

We had a private tour of the house which was surprisingly small with narrow twisting staircases, and then a tour of the gardens by the head gardener. The gardens were stunning - particularly the roses. I have more images here which show more of the castle and beautiful gardens.