Hever Castle

Hever Castle is a castle, which is located near the village of Hever Edenbridge, Kent, UK.

History

Hever Castle was the country seat of the Boleyn family. Erected in the 13th century as a country house, it was in 1462, rebuilt by Geoffrey Boleyn, the Lord Mayor of London to the mansion. The remains of the half-timbered apartment can be seen between the stone walls of the fortification. Some time after 1505 involved the Boleyn family Hever Castle. Anne Boleyn and her siblings Mary Boleyn and George Boleyn stayed here for part of her childhood before Anne was sent to 1513-1521 for education in the Netherlands and reached the French court. Three years after the marriage of Anne Boleyn by Henry VIII Anne and her brother George were executed in 1536 for treason. Her father Thomas Boleyn died in 1539. Subsequently Hever Castle came into the possession of Henry VIII, who appropriated it over in 1540 after his divorce Anne of Cleves, but probably only spent a short time there.

In the following years the building changed hands several times, the owners, among them were the Waldegrave family in 1557 and the Meade - Waldo family from 1749 to 1903. A last period used by the various private tenants building fell more and more. 1903 acquired the British- American millionaire William Waldorf Astor, the property with 51 hectares of land. After the marriage of his son Waldorf Astor Nancy Witcher Langhorne in 1906 he left the couple 's previous residence in Cliveden and moved to Hever Castle, that he had fully restored at great expense or newly built in pseudo- mittlelaterlichen style. A located outside of the moat was rebuilt in the village of pseudo- Tudor style and expanded. At its peak in 1916 with Lady Violet Mary Elliot - Murray - Kynynmound received Astor's youngest son, John Jacob Astor V. ( 1886-1971 ), who was ennobled in 1956 as Baron Astor of Hever, Hever Castle. The property is now a conference center, the castle, however, is open to the public. The impressive gatehouse is the only remaining part of mittlelalterliche Hever Castle.

Garden

Astor was create by architect Frank Pearson a 1.6 acre walled garden in the Italian taste, for which he imported many sculptures and planters from the Villa Borghese. A pavilion in the Palladian style, a loggia overlooking a large artificial lake with 7 -hectare island and a replica of the Trevi Fountain complete the ensemble. The wall of the loggia was designed in the Pompeian style, it contains niches for statues and a rotunda and other looted in Rome archaeological finds. The square yew maze was created in 1904. 2013, the yews were radically cut back, to restore the original shape. In the vicinity there is a set of shape bushes, which were cut as pawns and Anne- Boleyn - garden, which is designed with garden plants from their lifetime. Anne's tree garden with espalier fruit home hives. A small water maze was opened in 1987. The extensive, diverse landscaped garden includes, amongst other rose garden, a blue garden and Diana Walk with perennials in the prairie style.