Kent: Henry VIII, Hever Castle & Chiddingstone Tudor Village｜United Kingdom

Visit Hever Castle in Kent, England, best known as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife. Built originally as a medieval moated manor house in 1270, it was later transformed into a luxurious Tudor residence by the Boleyn family and eventually revitalized into an Edwardian estate.

Originally constructed in 1270, the first iteration of Hever was a fortified, moated gatehouse and walled enclosure. In 1462, Geoffrey Boleyn purchased the property and transformed the interior into a comfortable Tudor manor.
The estate gained its historical fame when Geoffrey's grandson, Sir Thomas Boleyn, inherited it in 1505. It was here that his daughter, Anne Boleyn, spent her early childhood. During the 1520s, King Henry VIII frequently visited Hever to court Anne, and many historians debate whether discussions regarding their impending marriage and the English Reformation took place within its walls.

Following Anne Boleyn's execution in 1536 and the death of Sir Thomas Boleyn in 1539, the castle passed into the ownership of King Henry VIII. After Henry's divorce from his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, the castle was handed to her as part of her settlement.

After passing through several different families and gradually falling into disrepair, the crumbling estate was purchased in 1903 by the wealthy American multimillionaire William Waldorf Astor. Astor invested a fortune into restoring the castle, constructing the 'Tudor Village' (now the Astor Wing) to host guests, and laying out the magnificent 125-acre formal gardens and lake.

The Waldorf's descended from German immigrants and made their fortune trading furs and in Manhattan real estate and hotels. Nancy Astor, an American born in Danville, Virginia, married into the family and became the first female Member of Parliament in 1919. The family owned The Times of London before selling it to the Murdochs in the 1980's.

There will be time for lunch at Hever in one of the restaurants.

After lunch we will transfer for a shirt ride to the perfectly preserved Tudor village of Chiddingstone. We can walk the village, look at Chiddingstone Castle and stop at the 15th century Castle Inn for a pint.

Return to London