HEVER CASTLE

Courtesy of our Tesco Loyalty points we were able to visit Hever Castle in Kent. This is not a National Trust or English Heritage property and the entrance fee was £10 for the house and gardens. Against our normal expectation of weather there were scattered showers, but we managed to mostly avoid these. In the courtyard of the Castle there were Morris Dancers one of whom was dressed as a unicorn and took great delight in nipping people's hats. Photo above is of his loving embrace of yours truly.

The Castle dates back to the 13th century and has a chequered ownership. Most notable is the fact that it was the home of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry V111th.Her family, the Bullens, owned the castle for many years and Henry was an occasional visitor. More latterly, it was bought at the beginning of the 20th century by the Astor family who spent a small fortune modernising the Castle and developing the magnificent gardens. While somewhat unprepossessing from the outside the interior is well maintained and contains loads of antiques and memorabillia from the previous owners. A gallery displays models of Henry and his six wives and various notables associated with that era. They are particularly well done and the documentation makes interesting reading.

In the Astor suite, there are lots of family photos,letters and recordings. They were (are) incredibly wealthy and played a full life in English society during the 20th century.

Outside, the gardens can only be described as magnificent. It was Rose week at the Castle and the Rose garden displayed every conceivable variety of rose - a tableau of colour which had to be seen to be believed. Opposite the Rose Garden was the Italian Garden - spectacular avenues lined with statues imported from Italy by the Astors and leading down to a large lake. At the lakeside there was an ornate pavilion which had lately been adopted as an outdoor theatre and is regularly used in productions.

Well worth the £10 in my view.