The Rural Forum are delighted to invite you to spend the day at Hever Castle, childhood home of Queen Anne Boleyn.
Spanning more than 700 years, the history of Hever Castle is rich and varied. The Castle was to become the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife, who became Queen of England for just 1,000 days. It was Henry’s love for Anne and her insistence that she became his wife rather than his mistress that led to the King renouncing Catholicism and creating the Church of England. From 1557 onwards, Hever was owned by a number of families including the Waldegraves, the Humphreys and the Meade Waldos. Gradually it fell into decline before William Waldorf Astor invested time, money and imagination in restoring the Castle. He commissioned the ’Tudor Village’, now called the ‘Astor Wing’ and the construction of the magnificent gardens and lake. The Castle is now owned by Broadland Properties Ltd, a company which has links to CULS and is supportive of our visit and the following Agenda.
Agenda
- Arrival: from 9.30am, guests to gather in the Music Room
- 10am – 11am: Private Guided Tour of the Castle while Castle closed to the public
- 11am – 11:30: Morning refreshments in The Tudor Suite
- 11:30 – 1pm: Talks – Hever Castle presentation on current developments on the Estate and plans for the future; Andrew Shirley from Knight Frank on global wealth and rural property trends
- Lunch in the Tudor Suite: 1pm – 2.30pm
- Garden Tour with Hever Castles Head Gardener: 2.30pm – 3.30pm
- Cream Tea in the Tudor Suite: 3.30pm – 4pm
Useful links concerning Hever Castle:
