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Hever Castle, Kent

Hever Castle represents a period of great social change in Britain. When the castle was first built around 1300 it was designed as a functional fortification. Edward the First, a strong and ruthless king was in charge, but society remained generally violent and unstable. By Tudor times, the period for which the castle is most famous, people were living more stable lives, and the rich no longer felt the need to hide behind thick walls. By the reign of Elizabeth the First wonderful houses such as Longleat and Montacute were created. These lacked defensive capabilities. Hever straddles this social divide. It was built as a castle, but in 1500 was to become more of a country house, when a comfortable dwelling was built inside the original walls. This was the country house where Anne Boleyn, future wife of Henry the Eighth spent her childhood. By 1903 the American billionaire William Waldorf Astor felt attracted to Hever's romance, purchased Hever, and spent millions of dollars restoring the castle, building the mock Tudor village behind it, and creating the gardens and the lake. His money built on the image of romance. Castles had always been spiritual as well as military buildings, their architecture closely mimicking that of sacred sites from Neolithic times onwards. Visitors now enjoy a romantic, dreamy landscape, a quality that is always latent in seemingly unromantic buildings dedicated to warfare.

The house has many interesting exhibitions inside linked to Tudor life, Henry the Eighth and Anne Boleyn. In the grounds there is an exhibition dedicated to country houses through the ages, a book shop, a gift shop, two restaurants, a yew maze and an imaginative water maze. There is also a large, exciting children's playground which features a wooden maze in which the six entrances are named after a wife of Henry the Eighth. Displays are organised on various aspects of Tudor life. Sometimes you might be joined in the audience by Henry the Eighth and his retinue. On bank holiday weekends a band often plays in front of the castle which adds to the atmosphere. There is also a lakeside open air theatre where performances are held from June until August.

As noteworthy perhaps as the Anne Boleyn connection, but made less of at Hever, is the fact that Nancy Astor, the wife of William Waldorf Astor, was the first woman MP to sit in the House of Commons.

 

Opening Times: The gardens open at 10.45am and the castle at 12 noon. From 1st March to Easter Hever is open Wednesday to Sunday 10.45am - 5pm, from Easter to 31st October open daily 10.45am - 6pm, during November open Thursday to Sunday 10.45am - 4pm. From 1st to 21st December the castle, shop and restaurant remain open 10.45am - 4pm. Last admission is one hour prior to closing. The yew maze and water maze are open from Easter to October only. Please note that on 1st May last admission is 4.30pm.

Directions: The castle is situated three miles south east of Edenbridge in Kent off the B2026 in the village of Hever. Dogs on leads are welcome. Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on Hever Castle.

Access: most of the gardens are accessible to wheelchairs. Most steps are ramped. Wheelchairs are available to hire. In the house only the ground floor is accessible. Both restaurants are accessible, and both have adapted toilet facilities. All wheelchair users are admitted free, although their carers will be charged normally. There is designated disabled parking near the Mote restaurant. Assistance dogs are admitted to all areas.

Contact:

telephone: 01732 865224

box office: 01732 866114

e-mail: mail@hevercastle.co.uk