Romance Wanderlust: Hever Castle

Once again we pack our bags for a Romance Wanderlust trip. This month we are off to Hever Castle in England, which is primarily famous for having been the childhood home of Anne Boleyn. History buffs will recall that Anne’s romantic life did not end well, and yet this is a popular wedding site because it is incredibly beautiful and romantic in a “but then she was decapitated” kind of way.

The oldest part of Hever Castle dates from around 1271 when the existing Hall was expanded into a castle. During the 1300s it was enlarged and got a moat and a tower and more crenellations. The Boleyn family moved in in 1504 and stayed through Anne Boleyn’s childhood, her courtship and short life with Henry VIII, and death.

Eventually one of the Boleyns sold the castle back to Henry VIII and he gave it to his wife Anne of Cleves, a woman who embodied the phrase, “living well is the best revenge” by accepting Henry’s request for annulment (which meant that, technically, she was never his wife) and living the rest of her days wealthy and popular.

The castle went through a series of owners and suffered from neglect until William Waldorf Astor bought it in 1903. He devoted much of his fortune to restoring the castle and the grounds, adding a new wing in the Tudor style (where the bed & breakfast is located) and the Italian Gardens which he created as a showcase for his collection of Italian statuary.

Today Hever Castle has everything a romantic Anglophile could possibly want from life. There is history which involves sex, power, money, betrayal, and feminism. There are walls paneled with bog oak. There are gardens with nooks in which you can make out and a yew maze in which you can make out some more. There’s a moat, a lake with swans, and a Japanese tea house, because of course there is. There’s a water maze at which you can expect to get wet. Should you choose to get married on the grounds, and many people do, you can order fireworks as part of the package. Annulments and beheadings are not included.

Although I have not been to Hever Castle, our guest reviewer HeatherT has. I begged her to take a white nighty and a candlestick with her, but she declined since the housing is on the grounds but not actually in the castle. Here are her impressions:

Late last fall, on the weekend after Thanksgiving, I stayed at Hever Castle.  At first, I was disappointed that I would not be staying in the castle itself but instead would be in the newer wing.  It is a disappointment only by contrast.  If you think about it as “you stay in the wing created in the 1920s by one of the wealthiest men in the world for his guests” it sounds a lot more appealing, particularly when you see the size of the rooms in the castle proper – I think Anne Boleyn’s room was about the size of my pantry, and definitely not en suite.  In contrast, this is a picture of the room where I stayed:

I know, right?

I arrived in the early evening and they were having some kind of fair on the grounds, intended to be like a Tudor market with 21st Century sanitation. There were stalls with old-fashioned treats and “rides” like large swings and what not.  The trees were lit up with faerie lights — it was all very festive.

The B&B doesn’t serve dinner, so I got reservations at the fabulous Henry VIII Pub, which is right outside the castle main gate. But at night that gate is locked, so one must go out a side gate and (since I didn’t have a car) walk along a country lane around the castle grounds (less than a mile).  When I got to the pub, I was seated at a tiny table right next to the fire – perfect on a crisp autumn evening, perfect for people watching, and perfect for a leisurely evening of good eating and reading my book.  

The food was excellent. I recall I had steak pie and veg and this was no mushy peas outfit – this was absolutely smashingly delicious.  Having devoured my huge dinner, prudence would have suggested that I stop, but undaunted, I ordered the Banoffee (banana cream) Pie for which the pub is famous.  A gorgeous slice of pie arrived, topped with a cloud of whipped cream and perplexingly, accompanied by a pitcher of thick cream.  Reader, I ate it. I poured that thick cream on my plate, and I dipped my cream pie into the cream, and it was good.  

Afterwards, sated and very happy, I walked down the pitch-dark country lane back to the castle and reflected that villeins back in the Boleyn days would have walked down similar hedgerows to the castle in the dark.  At the castle, I was able to stop at the front desk, get a glass of wine, and sit with other guests in a comfortable sitting room where a fine fire kept us all cozy.

The next morning was a Monday, so the castle was closed, but this is actually perfect for guests of the B&B.  After a lovely breakfast (of course I could eat more – I’m no amateur), the guests of the B&B get a private guided tour of the castle.  The best part, and I really wish I had been paying attention when I booked, is that the guests also have free access to the entire castle grounds, which as Carrie mentions are worth exploring.  This means that on Mondays the 30 or so guests of the B&B can wander the grounds and adjacent wild “park” at their leisure without anyone else being around.  Alas, I had to get back to London, but I would go back to Hever* again any time.

*I went at a time when the dollar was very strong against the pound, so staying at Hever was surprisingly affordable for such a luxurious accommodation.  

What about you? Have you been to Hever Castle? Shall we all go for a visit?