HEVER CASTLE VISIT REPORT, 19th March 2025
We were so lucky that our visit to Hever Castle coincided with the first really warm day of Spring.
38 of us joined the coach and set off up the A3. There were a few traffic delays on the way and we reached the car park (next to the King Henry VIII pub) for Hever just before 11 a.m., giving us four and a half hours to look round.
We soon saw the first crowds of daffodils – the gardener estimated that they have a quarter of a million of them. Some of us joined a walk around the park to be shown and instructed on the blooms by knowledgeable staff.
Hever Castle is famous in history as the ancestral home of Anne Boleyn – hence the King Henry connection. The castle was renovated in 1903 by William Waldorf Astor, and the ground floor retains an Edwardian splendour. The first floor, however, has been decorated as far as possible to look as it would have done in Anne’s day.
There was plenty more to see, with vistas across the lake, and the castle forming part of many of the views. The rose garden looks lovely though of course it was much too early for roses – maybe another time?