Christmas at Hever Castle

Christmas at Hever Castle

Back in December of 2017 my mum surprised me with a trip to Hever Castle to see all the Christmas lights and decorations. I was unaware of the trip until the night before. Hever Castle is one my favourite places and I have been on many occations, I remember the first time I went and thought we were going the wrong way due to the bumby country roads. 

A History of Hever Castle

The first family believed to own the castle were the De Hever's. Descended from a Norman baron who came to England during the Norman Conquest led by Duke William of Normandy. The manor was divided between his daughters, one sister bought her sister's share of the inherited ground, making the estate come under the control of the Cobham family. The Cobham's held Hever till 1399, and the castle was then owned by the Scrope family unill some time in the 1400's. The Fienne were the castle's next occupants and owned it until 1462. 

Hever eventually, came into the hands of the Geoffrey Boleyn in 1462, his son William inherited the castle in 1463 after his death. He married Lady Margaret Butler, their son Thomas would go on to own Hever with his wife Elizabeth and children George, Mary and Anne. 

As you will discover on future posts I a deep love and invested interest in the Boleyn family, especially Anne. Due to her rise in status, Hever probably became the most famous and well known during the Tudor era. 

Anne is the most famous Boleyn, but not much is known about her childhood. Her year and place of birth are unknown but she lived at Hever till 1513 when she was sent to the Netherlands to receive an education. When she returned to England in 1522, she joined the household of Catherine of Aragon but would often go visit her family at Hever. While Anne and Henry VIII were courting, he would ofter stay at nearby Bolebroke Castle. Several of their love letters were received while Anne was living at Hever. After Anne's execution, her father carried on living at the castle till his death in 1539. Thomas left the house to his elderly mother Margaret, but his brother James took over ownership and sold it to Henry VIII for £200 in December 1540.  

In 1540 Henry married Anne of Cleves, in the same year they divorced. As part of the annulment settlement she was given the title of "The King's Sister", £500 a year, a sufficient household and 2 houses. She was also allowed to lease a number of manors to help her status and income, Hever was one of them. Anne owned Hever till her death in 1557, little is known about how much time she spent at the castle. Once Anne died it was given to the Waldegrave's by Mary I, they held the castle till it was sold in 1715.

The castle was then sold to the Humphrey family, it passed from father to son and then daughters before being sold in 1749. Not long after the Waldo family brought the castle, there were no children to inherrit so the family died out in 1841. It was then given to the Meade-Waldo family, a connection to the original Waldo family by marriage. There was no love for Hever and it became a working farm being leased out to farmers. It was then sold in 1903 to William Waldolf Astor. Between 1903 and 1908 he rebfurbished Hever and created the lake and gardens. It passed to his son in 1919, and was placed in a trust for his son Gavin who inherrited in 1971. In 1963, the castle was first opened to the public, following floods in 1968 the cost of Hever proved to much and it was sold to John Guthrie.

The Guthrie family chair, Broadland Properties LTD, the company purchased Hever in 1983. They are commited to the future of the castle and have invested a lot for it to keep its historical integrity. They have also set out to make the estate environmentally friendly and have introduced several ranges of wildlife. 

Christmas

I have never been to Hever for Christmas before, so this was a first for me. As soon as I walked down the main path from the Top Gate entrance to the castle, everything that could be had been decorated. In the Castle Forecourt there was a fire pit, a merry go round and a few other fairground games. Due to being there so early none of the outside lights had been lit yet, but more on that later.

When I went over the drawbridge and into the forcourt of Hever, placed in the middle was  four Christmas trees, some candle lanterns on the floor and on a table was the traditional Nativity Scene. There was also fake snow being blown from an upstairs window over us as we waited to go in the front door. As soon as step into The Entrance Hall, like the outside, everything that could be decorated had been. There were evergreens, candles and trees all over the place. 

One of the first rooms that I gained entry to was the Inner Hall, in which there was a massive heavily decorated tree in the corner next to the portrait of Henry VIII. This was the only decoration I remember being in this room, I know the fire had been lit so it made it warm and cozy. Behind us The Drawing Room and Library, these too had been decorated with trees and the odd evergreen.

Up next was the most breathtaking and decorated room in the castle, The Dining Hall. Like every room so far there where trees in each of the back corners, garlands on the fire places and hanging from the ceiling. Both tables had been set out ready for a festive and beautiful meal, along with candles, crackers and small evergreen arrangements. Again the fire had been lit witch made the room feel more festive and cosy, making it incredibly hard to have to leave. 

Due to this was being three years ago, I can't find all the pictures and can't fully remember everything that I saw, but you can be assured everything was beautiful and festive. Every beedroom had a tree in one corner,  there were garlands wound up the bannisters of the four post bed. I haven't got pictures of The Long Gallery, but I can remember roughly what it looked like. All the way along the gallery there were trees decorated in different styles, unsurprisingly hanging from the ceiling and round the lights were even more garlands. I think there was also Christmas Carols being played in the background as walked along. There are normal wax figures of Henry and his wives or the life of Anne in the three alcoves of the gallery, but this time they had been changed to show different scenes from Christmas periods. 

As I entered the newest parts of the castle, they too had been decorated in fine festive attire, but as much as the rest of the castle had been. There was still trees in all the rooms but many were smaller then what I had seen in the other rooms, it also felt more modern then the rest had been. Not all the rooms had been decorated, if they were there was only a little bit just to give it a slight festive look. 

As we went outside, things were slowly starting to come to life. The year I went the they had used the story of the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas", as we walked around the garden trails you followed the song lyrics. Out in the gardens this had been decorated, there was the odd tree but it was mostly lights. The Courtyard Shop had been decorated with trees, little wildlife figures and lights. There was also stalls and shops open you could buy things from. 

Near the Two Sisters' Lawn was Santa's Grotto, this had to be prebooked and meant that children could see Santa and get a little gift from him. As it got darker, the outside lights really made a difference. Everything that could accommodate lights, you know had lights on it and it looked dazzling and amazing. All the trees came to life alongside all the topiaries, which looked like realistic animals. There were multi coloured lights shining on the front of the castle giving a different look. Overhead there was also string lights everything on every path and everywhere they could get them.

As I walked the path back to the car park you could still see the castle and lights in all their glory, which was so fantastic to see. I hope at some point to go back to Hever for Christmas not just because they change the theme in the garden, but because I love Hever and will always go back whenever I can. I would also recommend it for anyone that is like me and loves Tudor history, Chirstmas or just wants to see something different.