Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn will unveil the Boleyn Apartment on the first floor of the castle on 25th March 2024 providing an immersive experience of Tudor history.
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The apartment, the only surviving suite of rooms in the world that the Boleyn family definitely occupied, are being re-interpreted with genuine Tudor artefacts, and furnishings to create an atmosphere that it would feel very much familiar to Anne and her family, should they walk into them today.
What makes Hever’s project unique, is the fact that rooms in other houses lived in by the Boleyns, in the UK and Europe, have either been destroyed or modified beyond their recognition.
At Hever Castle visitors will have the sense that they are stepping back in time as they retrace the footsteps of the Boleyns.
With the use of tapestries, friezes, genuine 16th century English oak furniture, coats of arms and the associated traditional smells of all the natural fixtures and fittings will bring alive this most fascinating time in our history and completely immerse you in what it was like to live in a grand house almost 500 years ago.
The Children’s Bedchamber will show what life was like for Anne Boleyn as a child at Hever Castle and letters and a writing desk will be in the Best Bedchamber, the location where it is thought Anne would have written to Henry VIII during their courtship. It is believed that she spent a great deal of time at Hever between 1505 and 1513, before being sent to the court of Margaret of Austria in Mechelen, Flanders to continue her formal education.
The Great Chamber will demonstrate the multi-functional purpose of rooms such as this with artefacts such as lutes, poetry, replica books and French influences, which highlight that the Boleyns were a family at the forefront of the cultural Renaissance in Europe. Anne’s father was a diplomat, noted for his considerable charm.
The re-interpretation of these rooms is a major undertaking, having been planned and researched for over a year by Hever Castle’s Curatorial team, with advice from historian, Dr David Starkey.
The re-interpretation will also see items from Hever Castle’s permanent collection relocated, such as the Book of Hours prayer books signed by Anne Boleyn, which will be displayed to visitors elsewhere in the Castle.
Tickets to visit Hever Castle can be bought from here.
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How to get to Hever Castle
Most visitors tend to drive or arrive in coach parties, as it’s that sort of destination, but it’s pretty accessible by public transport if you don’t mind a modest countryside walk as well.
The nearest railway station is at Hever, which is then about a 20-30 minute walk to the Castle estate entrance, which is next to the main church in Hever village. Trains from London Bridge to Hever take about 45 minutes, via East Croydon.
Note that trains to Hever station are hourly, so time how long it takes to walk from the station to the castle, to ensure you know how much time to give to walk back and not miss your train.
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