Images: Hever castle from moat, interior half-timber courtyard, detail of courtyard gable window, “bedroom of King Henry VIII”, long gallery, upper floor gallery (photos: C.A. Stanford).
Acquired: 1539
Hever castle is a double-moated site, its outer face showing crenellated stone, its inner keep’s courtyard largely timbered. From a fourteenth century defensive site, it became the property of a wealthy mercer of London, one Sir Geoffrey Bulleyn. His granddaughter Anne, whose childhood home this was, would become Henry VIII’s second queen. During this era, her father Thomas built a fashionable long gallery over the great hall, and a new entrance hall was also added.
Upon Thomas’ death in 1539, the king claimed the estate in right of his late wife, and two years later bestowed the property on his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, in whose possession it remained for life. Eventually the castle was acquired by a wealthy American-turned-British peer, William Waldorf Astor, who rebuilt much of the structure and surrounding gardens. The castle today is open to the public.