HEVER CASTLE-KENT,ENGLAND

The Water Maze

Courtyard

"Anne of the 1000 days "was a movie I saw eons ago. It had generated a lot of interest in my mind about this person who left such a mark on history. She was Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, who had six wives. For the love of Anne, he broke away from the Roman Church as they would not allow him to divorce his first wife who was Catherine of Aragon. He founded The Church of England and after getting his first marriage annulled, married Anne. How very important she must have been to him! However, this love did not last long and Anne had to die within three years of her marriage. She met a rather gruesome end, as she was beheaded at the Tower of London. Charges against her were horrendous. She was accused of incest. Anything was possible with this King, as he now wanted to marry Lady Jane, whom he married within ten days of the beheading of Anne. Henry wanted a son to continue his dynasty. He did have a son from this third wife, but that son ruled for about six years and died early. Anne incidentally was the mother of Queen Elizabeth I who reigned for a long time, and also started building up the British Empire. The defeat of the Spanish armada in 1588 associated her name forever with what is popularly viewed as one of the greatest victories in English history. Elizabeth's reign is known as the Elizabethan era, famous above all for the flourishing of English drama, led by playwrights such as Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, and for the seafaring prowess of English adventurers such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, who set sail across the ocean, exploring new worlds.

Hever was the castle where Anne lived with her parents , a brother George and a sister Mary. Hever is about 30 miles from London. King Henry would visit the castle and stay there too. There is a room in the Castle which was set aside for the King when he visited. The King also brought in a huge retinue when he came.
The oldest part of the castle was built around 1270, and consisted of the gatehouse and a walled bailey, all surrounded by a moat and approached by a wooden drawbridge. In 1500, the Bullen (the original name)family added a comfortable family house inside the protective wall. Hever Castle still has one of Henry's private locks, taken with him on his various visits to noble men's houses and fitted to every door for his security.There are a lot of things kept on display at the Castle, which makes the place worth a visit. A copy of The Book of Hours owned by Anne, with the words, "The time will come", written by Anne is kept in the Castle. Letters written by Henry and Anne are also kept on display.

The Boleyn family had tragic lives. First Henry VIII had a long affair with Mary Boleyn. Then he married Anne, had her beheaded along with her brother, with whom he accused Anne of having an incestuous relationship. The parents of these three children died soon after these beheadings. The lineage too ended with this. The Castle also passed into the hands of King Henry VIII, and was passed on to one of his other wives, Anne of Cleves, as settlement for divorce.

Hever Castle was purchased by the rich American tycoon Waldorf Astor in the beginning of the 20th century. He developed the castle and restored it to it's olden glory. He bought furniture and furnishings as they would be at the time when Anne lived there. He also got huge gardens laid out all around the castle. Today there is a beautiful Italian Garden which has a lot of statues including some which are about 2000 years old. There is a water maze, a yew maze and also a rose garden. There even is a lake at the end of the Italian garden. The layout of the gardens and the surroundings are very beautiful. The moat surrounding the castle along with its draw bridge gates takes one back in time to experience the ancient times when people lived there in the middle ages.

We went to Hever by train from London. The train ride took about 40 minutes. The view from the train of the English countryside was amazing. Hever station is very small. It is unmanned, so one cannot purchase tickets there. There was a map outside the station giving directions to the Castle. The road to the castle was narrow and there was no path for pedestrians. The walk took us about 20 minutes. There was hardly any traffic on the road so the walk was very comfortable. The English countryside with large shrubs and flowering trees is beautiful at this time of the year. Walking along farms, horses grazing in them, a little inn, a pub, a church and hey presto, we had reached the Castle! As soon as one sets eyes on the castle, one feels a sense of having arrived - the castle is actually as one visualises a castle to be! Draw bridge, a moat, fortification, towers, winding stairs, large surrounding gardens, and peace and quiet!! To add glitter to gold(sone par suhaga-for my country folks) the castle is supposed to be haunted!!! What more does one desire? It is enough to transport one back to the medieval ages, and experience history as it happened. Romance, intrigue, plotting, rebellion, false accusations, beheading, all so theatrical, seems like a story,except for a fact that this story actually happened. It wasn't only a story, it was his-story!