a castle in Kent : where guests live richly in a fairy-tale world

In the encroaching semidarkness, four stallions stood silhouetted against the red trails of sunset, huge black sentries keeping watch over the fields of Kent.

As they lowered their heads to feed on mossy grass at the base of a sapling, a flock of swallows swooped overhead, lacing the thunderclouds together with an aviator’s grace.

The aroma of dusky, damp earth and wood smoke filled the air as we walked slowly through the forest on our way back to Hever Castle. The scrunching of our feet in the fallen copper-gold leaves was the only sound.

Back at Hever, tea was waiting by the fireplace in a sitting room surrounded by mahogany. We rubbed our cold noses and quickened the pace.

A vision of creamy china laid out by a roaring fire, plates laden with currant-studded scones and jam pots dripping with fresh raspberry preserves was suddenly too much.

We broke into a jog, a light mist clinging to our faces like soft fabric. Our footfalls echoed as the woods seemed to open up. We raced the storm clouds, our spirits loose.

Finally we spied Hever, deeply ensconced in the lush countryside. This fairy-tale setting was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, providing Henry VIII with private chambers in which to woo his young bride. Their notorious love affair and subsequent marriage made Hever a focus for all England, at least until Henry had Boleyn beheaded.

Through the centuries this small castle, which looks as if it were built of toy blocks by a child, passed through a succession of owners, eventually falling into obscurity and disrepair.

Enter the seismically wealthy American, William Waldorf Astor. When William’s father died in 1890, the son stepped into his handmade shoes as the richest man in America.

Only 42 and rumored to have inherited more than $300 million, he was devoid of the usual Astor characteristics. He hated the business side of life and reveled in the arts. In 1891 he left the United States for good.

Drawn to the elegance of Victorian England, he sensed Hever’s innate charms and immediately bought the castle and surrounding 365 acres. Dubbed the 1st Viscount Hever, he quickly added to the castle’s rich history with his flamboyant improvements.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the castle emerged refreshed and revitalized. The restoration reportedly cost $10 million, a staggering sum for that era.

To create a lake big enough for boats, Astor changed the course of the River Eden, which flowed nearby. Workmen struggled for four years to clear 35 acres to build a deer park and a maniacal maze of slow-growing yew, which is still confoundingly lovely.

Astor also had gardens constructed behind the lake similar to those at ancient Roman villas. Some English gardens, elaborate and detailed, are often austere and mathematical, easily understood. But much of Hever’s Italian garden is inexplicably winsome and surprising. Sculptured hedges are tall enough to hide stolen kisses. Soaring cypresses stand guard over ancient busts and columns.

Water cascades in a gallery of grottoes and ornate fountains, adding a rhythmic sensuality to this tranquil retreat. Although Astor was never thought of as a romantic, his garden seems to be a place wholly inspired by love.

The main problem was that the castle was too small to accommodate Astor’s weekend guests, among them Winston Churchill.

To enlarge a 13th-Century moated fortress was an obvious impossibility, so he enlisted his architect, F. L. Pearson, to create a Tudor village of more than 100 rooms on the far side of the moat. (In Boleyn’s time, there was a similar village for servants on the other side of the castle.)

Joined to the main structure of the fortress by a covered bridge, the new village was designed to give visitors the impression that each separate cottage had been designed by a different person. Inside the village, all quarters are joined by corridors and service areas.

When viewed from high in the castle, every chimney stack in the village is distinct. Some roofs are tiled, some covered in slate. Each carved gable and leaded window splits the light with a different pattern.

Tiny internal courtyards and dormer windows add a “Wind in the Willows” touch. A labyrinth of white-tiled cellars under the whole village and castle hides miles of pipes, boilers, sewage disposal equipment, generators, a private water supply and a firefighting system. All are still in operation after more than 80 years.

Astor always had been fascinated by what he referred to as “the curious arts.” His family believed that it was this interest in the supernatural that induced him to buy Hever.

After Boleyn was beheaded, people claimed that her unhappy spirit wandered around the fortress. On windy nights, in an oak-paneled chamber where Henry had courted her, one could supposedly hear doleful love songs sung in a minor key.

Astor invited the Psychical Research Society to investigate her ghost, keeping watch each night for several years during Christmas week, when it was believed that she was most likely to make her presence known. He was disappointed.

An avid host, Astor entertained many notables. His parties were somewhat unusual. The food and wines were outstanding, with dinners often of 14 or more courses. But he was paranoid about threats against his life, this fear of assassination said to be the fault of a drunken fortune teller he once consulted.

Concern About Ghosts

Probably the first owner to make use of the drawbridge over the moat in several hundred years, his concern with human intruders was far greater than his concern about ghosts. The bridge was pulled up each night, just as it had been in medieval times.

His guests, tucked away in the Tudor village, were effectively cut off from their host.

Astor had another peculiar obsession: punctuality. A careful schedule was often worked out for friends before their arrival, allotting them only so many hours for eating, riding, walking, driving, resting, dressing, letter writing and dancing. No deviation was tolerated.

The story of one astonished guest shocked her friends for years afterward. It seems it was “reading time,” but as she was not interested in burying her nose in a book, she strolled into the garden.

An agitated servant asked her why she wasn’t keeping to the schedule. When she grew indignant and asked to leave the castle, the embarrassed footman told her he wouldn’t dare call for a carriage until the time set for leaving by Astor.

But no rigid schedules exist for guests at Hever today. The Tudor village is a hotel-retreat for groups of 10 or more, housed in the same luxurious trappings of Astor’s era.

It’s a wonderful feeling to open your eyes in the morning in an old-fashioned four-poster bed in a traditional English bedroom of scented wood.

Country House Feeling

Nests of doves murmuring beneath the windowsill are the first sounds you hear. Each of the 18 bedrooms, with private bath, is furnished in a different style, but the overall feeling is that of a magnificent country house.

The ghosts of tenants past may glide noiselessly on slippered feet through the oak-paneled halls. On late winter afternoons, when rain beats against the windowpane, you hear the clip-clop of horses’ hoofs on the cobbles outside.

It is then that you may be aware of the ghost’s presence, when your eyelids become heavy and half-closed in the dimming light.

As we finished the last of the scones at 5 p.m., the clock on the mantle in the Tudor suite chimed. A young woman came in to light the lamps, leaving behind a scent of roses as she exited with the tea tray.

Within the grounds, which are open to day-visitors only on weekends from April through October, overnight guests can indulge in clay-pigeon shooting, archery, fishing and horseback riding.

Numerous golf courses dot the surrounding countryside, and the castle has a heated swimming pool as well as tennis and squash courts.

But the most intriguing pastime is simply exploring the castle.

After tea we were given a private tour. Among the regal rooms, the library is irresistible, its carved ceiling a copy of one at Hampton Court.

Walnut armchairs date from the reign of Charles II. Yet for all its museum-like masterpieces, it remains a cozy, seemingly familiar room, with plush rose sofas and fine British cabinetwork.

Book Carried to Death

In the half-domed bedroom Boleyn occupied as a girl, the “Book of Hours” prayer book, which she carried to her execution on Tower Green, rests in a tiny glass case, inscribed in her handwriting:

“Remember me when you do pray

That hope doth lead from day to day.”

The sad words followed us as we made our way down a 100-foot gallery. Running the length of the castle, the gallery was an essential part of any Tudor house, providing room for exercise in bad weather and a place for social gatherings.

On his visits to Hever, Henry VIII held court seated in an end alcove. Long gold shafts of light blazed high in a stained-glass window bearing the royal coat of arms, the leaded panes becoming colorless with the fading day.

You could spend weeks studying the priceless antiquities of Hever, treasures acquired with care, such as the huge leather and iron boots standing by the door to the library.

Looking as if they belonged to a medieval Goliath, they were worn by postilions in the 17th Century to protect the leg that rested between two horses.

The dining hall, with carved minstrel’s gallery and open fire, is an ancient setting for a memorable feast, as is the Tudor village dining room, an intricately carved chamber.

For special occasions, “Henry VIII Evenings” can be arranged, with a five-course Tudor banquet accompanied by traditional entertainers. If mayhem is more your style, try a “Murder Evening” or an Edwardian dinner. Hever accommodates only groups for overnight stays, so these theme parties can prove great fun.

The regular dinner menus at the castle include typically British first courses, such as stuffed mushrooms with Stilton or a chef’s superb homemade soup, and main courses of roast poussin with bacon rolls or breast of duck with black cherry sauce.

Various Pasta Dishes

A vegetarian menu also is offered, featuring various pasta or egg dishes and home-grown vegetables with fresh herb butter.

The subtle clack-clack of billiard balls drew us to the billiards room after dinner. As honey-colored brandy was poured from a cut-crystal decanter into hand-blown snifters, cigars were offered.

A marble lighter flared up under the thumb of the butler, and the room was soon full of the masculine, smoky aroma of expensive tobacco.

I could almost see old Waldorf himself through the haze, twirling his mustache in the shadows, nodding his approval.

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Hever Castle is 75 minutes from central London, with Gatwick Airport only 30 minutes away. British Rail service goes from London’s Victoria Station to Hever or Edenbridge. The castle is three miles southeast of Edenbridge, off the B2026 road between Sevenoaks and East Grinstead.

The nearby town of Tunbridge Wells is a good hunting ground for antiques and paintings. Other country manors to explore within a few miles of Hever include Chartwell, home of Winston Churchill, Penshurst Place and Scotney Castle gardens.

The Brands Hatch motor circuit, where you can drive a racing car around the famous circuit, is only 50 minutes from Hever. Lingfield race course is about 20 minutes away.

Hever Castle will accommodate groups of 10 or more guests in the Tudor village (they will consider groups of eight). Maximum capacity is 33. Rates are 74.95 (about $125 U.S.) per person, double occupancy, and 95.50 (about $160 U.S.) for a single.

Prices include tax, service and a full English breakfast. All rooms have direct-dial phones, color TV and private bathrooms. Accommodations are available all year.

Dinners average 19 (about $30 U.S.) to 35 (about $58 U.S.) per person. Hever can also be used as a conference venue, particularly for executives who want to get away in conditions of great comfort and security. Management also will arrange wedding receptions and special parties.

The castle and gardens are open to the public from April through October. In summer, the Kent Repertory Co. produces plays and concerts at the open-air Lakeside Theater on the castle grounds. Picnics by the water can also be arranged.

For more information on travel to Great Britain, contact the British Tourist Authority, 350 S. Figueroa St., Suite 450, Los Angeles 90071, (213) 628-3525.