HEVER CASTLE.

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Hey there Earthlings, Alternatives and Trollers. Put down that mouse and lend an ear. Welcome to The Bandersnatch blog where we talk weird, wacky and wondrous. I'm Mama Ogre and I have no idea what I'm doing.

Random blog day boo yah. As you should know Fridays is random blog day were we talk anything and everything and pretty much run with it. Today's blog is on the English castle Hever Castle.

Hever Castle is situated around 30 miles south-east of London and is located in the village of Hever in Kent, not far from Edenbridge. Hever Castle began its life as a country house built in the 13^th century. The first family on site was the De Hever's, specifically William DE Hever whose ancestor came to England with William the Conqueror, the castle eventually passed to the Cobhams and descended down the line until 1399 when John Cobham of Devonshire died. The scope family took on the estate for nine years until it passed from Sir Stephan scope to the Fastolf's through his widow Millicent Tiptoft marrying John Fastolf. The house was purchased by some members of the Fiennes family (relatives of explorer Sir Randulph Fiennes) until 1462 when it was sold to fund a family members building programme elsewhere. The Boleyn family (As in Anne Boleyn second wife to king Henry the 8^th) owned Hever from 1462 to 1539.

Hever castle has been through three different periods in construction, the first is dated back to 1270 and consists of the gatehouse and a walled bailey James Fiennes, 1^st Baron of Saye and Sele owned the castle then. The second construction turned the castle into a manor in 1462 by Geoffrey Boleyn, the younger brother of Thomas Boleyn, the third construction was done in the 20^th century by William Waldorf Astor after he bought the building.

Thomas Boleyn came into possession of the castle in 1505 and he lived there with his wife Lady Elizabeth Howard and his children George, Mary and Anne (Secondary wife to Henry the 8^th). It isn't known if Anne was born at Hever but she lived there until she was sent to the Netherlands in 1513 to receive her education in the court of the Archduchess Margaret. After Thomas Boleyn's death in 1539 the castle became Henry the 8^th's.

Anne of Cleves fourth wife to Henry the 8^th was given the castle in 1540 as part of their annulment settlement, which also included the title of the kings sister, £500 a year, a sufficient household and two extra houses. The castle still has one of the locks Henry the 8^th used for his safety. After Anne's death in 1557 Hever reverted back to the crown where it was taken up by Sir Edward Waldegrave, a member of Mary Tudors council who had been assigned a commissioner for the sale of Crown lands. He promptly assigned himself the castle and the estate.

From Walgrave the castle passed through several more hands, starting with the Humphreys in 1714, who ended up selling the estate in 1749 to the Waldo family, the estate passed through several branches of the Waldo family before it was inherited by Edmund Wakefield Meade-Waldo, who was connected to the Waldo's through marriage (Hence the double barrelled name), Edmunds son also named Edmund ended up selling the castle now in a state of horrid disrepair to William Waldorf Astor.

William Waldorf Astor, the richest man in America, purchased Hever castle in 1903.He'd received an inheritance upon the death of his father in early 1890. Astor set about restoring the castle (Having grown in disrepair under the Meade-Waldo family) between the time of1903 and 1908, adding the Astor wing and both the gardens and the lake. In 1963 Gavin Astor, Williams grandson opened up the castle and grounds to the public for the first time. In 1968 after a series of flooding, the castle and the 3000 acres of land had become too expensive to manage and they were sold to current owners the Gutheries in 1983.

The Guthries are a Yorkshire family based in Scarborough. Chairs the private property group Broadland Properties(founded in 1950). Broadlands have many holdings across Britain and Poland, ranging from agriculture and sporting estates to commercial premises and developments. Thanks to Broadlands and the Gutheries, Hever castle is now a tourist attraction drawing on its connections to Queen Anne Boleyn and King Henry the 8^th (Tudor) as well as its gardens, maze and lake. There is an annual events programme with numerous assorted events, including jousting tournaments and archery displays during summer and an annual patchwork and quilting exhibition in September, the castle also became a venue for a triathlon.

I have been to Hever Castle several times since childhood and I have loved the place in each and very visit, I am a major history nut and I'm pretty sure my first visit there as a very small child is what fuelled my love of History....specifically Tudor history. The tickets are split to include both online tickets and at gate, and prices -though vary for what you are wanting to do- can be expensive for regular visits unless you have bought the annual membership, HOWEVER the tickets are worth seeing the castle and grounds as well as the memories you make. I highly recommend going to Hevor castle once or twice in your life time and highly recommend it to photographers and those seeking places to get married.

THE WEBSITE BIBLIOGRAPHY:

https://www.hevercastle.co.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hever_Castle

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26640532

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