eXploring Kent | Hever Castle

Hello everyone! We did another mini exploration of Kent last Saturday afternoon. Hever Castle is in the little town (maybe village even?) of Hever, a 40min drive from our house. It was sunny when we set off and we stopped by a pub not too far from the castle for lunch which we soon found out was a rather posh pub.

We stopped by this posh pub for a posh pub grub - The Wheatsheaf, Bough Beech

The hubby was very tickled by something which we were talking about

It was a warm Saturday afternoon - yay to sleeveless tops

Hever castle is the childhood home of Anne Bolyn who was King Henry VIII's second wife, who was queen for only 1,000 days. This castle has a rich history spanning more than 700 years. We were told by friends that this is a nice place to visit on a sunny day and wow I did not quite expect it to be this nice, especially the gardens. When we first arrived we saw lots of families bringing their picnic stuff and laying mats on the grass enjoying themselves in the sunshine. Kids were running and having fun.

Welcoming us as we walked into the castle grounds

Oink Oink

Ahh the castle with a moat around it

We could barely open our eyes in the sun

The garden itself is a massive 125 acres and the website says "it is recommended you spend 1.5h in the gardens". Yes because it is that big and that beautiful.

Purple

Red

Pastels (I like)

Our favourite was in the English Rose Garden where there are more than 4,000 rose bushes and all I could smell was these roses. It was a stunning display, with each rose displaying its full glory. In fact I think I saw the biggest roses I've ever seen here at the Hever Gardens. We spent the most time in this part of the garden. Whilst K found a bench to relax and stare into space (I mean the roses), I was busy milling about taking photos on my phone. Later on I read on their website that they even have their own breed of rose, aptly named as the Hever Rose, launched in 2011.

K wants to know the secret of these beautiful blooms.

Pastel pink rose

Yellow roses

We were told by the ticket office to visit the gardens first as the Italian garden is booked for a wedding at 3pm. I looked around and sighed dreamily looking at K "why didn't we think of getting married here?" Ahh a girl can dream can't she? :)

In the Italian garden overlooking a lake which you can rent a boat and start rowing

The lake

More flowers than leaves. #bigwin

We spent so long in the gardens that we didn't leave too much time for the castle itself. Not that we mind. Excuse our first world problems here (sheepish look) but we do admit we have visited too many castles that they all look pretty much the same to us now. We did a quick tour of the castle and before we left the venue I seriously thought of signing up for the gardens' annual pass. It means we can come back to enjoy the gardens as many times as we like in the next 365 days. I thought it was a brilliant idea but K dismissed it saying we won't come back anytime soon because it's still a moderate drive from our home. Plus with weather turning cold in the next few months, in reality would we make full use of the annual pass? Hmm.. he is always the one to pull me back to the ground. The more logical one.

A peek into the rose garden

I figure I better type less for this one and share more photos instead. All the photos were taken on my iPhone. Truly a gem in Kent I say. It is less touristy too which is good.