Hever Castle

Overview

Hever Castle - which was the childhood home of Henry VIII's second queen, Anne Boleyn - is one of the most famous estates in England, boasting a rich history spanning centuries.

From its origins as a medieval defensive castle in Kent during the reign of Richard II, it has had several famous owners throughout the centuries. Sir John Fastolf - a soldier during the Hundred Years War, who was immortalised as ‘Falstaff’ in Shakespeare’s Henry IV - lived at Hever. By the 16th century, it had become the premier Boleyn estate, where Henry VIII visited Anne Boleyn during their courtship.

Yet Anne is not the only Queen associated with Hever Castle. Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, lived there for the rest of her life after her marriage was annulled. But by the late 19th century, Hever was a shadow of its former self, an uninhabitable ruin, only to be restored and lovingly rebuilt by the American Astor family, who opened it to the public in 1963.

Join Dr Lauren Mackay to delve into centuries of Hever’s complex history, and tour the same rooms its most famous residents would have known well.