Hever Castle & Gardens

About the venue

Double-moated castle near Edenbridge in Kent, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, restored by William Waldorf Astor. Weddings run in the castle, the Astor Wing and the Italian Garden for up to 220 guests, with 26 five-star bedrooms and a 27-hole golf course on the estate.

When William Waldorf Astor rebuilt Hever in the early 1900s, his craftsmen used original Tudor tools on the new Astor Wing so it would match the castle. The castle was built in 1383 and owned by the Boleyns in the 15th and 16th centuries, and Anne Boleyn spent her childhood here. Astor's Great Hall has a minstrels' gallery and a fireplace carved with the Boleyn arms.

Astor also laid out the gardens across 125 acres of a 680-acre estate. The Italian Garden was built to show his collection of classical sculpture, and it ends at a loggia and a fountain inspired by the Trevi in Rome. Beyond it lies a 38-acre lake, and the Rose Garden holds more than 5,000 roses. The Guthrie family's Broadland Properties bought the estate in 1983.

Guests stay in the Astor Wing and the Anne Boleyn Wing, which share 26 five-star bedrooms. Medley Court, a four-bedroom cottage, sleeps eight. Hever Golf Club has 27 holes, made up of the 18-hole Championship course and the nine-hole Princes course.

Weddings, parties and corporate events use rooms inside the castle once it closes to visitors. These include the Inner Hall with its carved Italian walnut panelling and the 70-person Long Gallery. The Tudor Suite and Guthrie Pavilion are the larger rooms, and the pavilion holds 220 in the evening.

Built in 1383

Anne Boleyn's childhood home

Astor Wing made with Tudor tools

125 acres of gardens, 38-acre lake

Weddings for up to 220

26 five-star bedrooms

27-hole golf course

Long Gallery dinners for 70