1991 – Hever Castle

/ Concert Report / 1991 – Hever Castle
1991 – Hever Castle

During the 1990s the band regularly played at Hever Castle, often half a dozen times a year.

This photo is from a summer concert in 1991. The Band are performing to the crowds on the forecourt outside the castle .

Front Row (Left to Right)

— Chris Cannings — Rosemary Chatfield — Mark Hayman — Guy Franklin — Peter Evans — Alan Smithers — Matthew Vinal — Warren Elsmore — Pippa Evans — Amanda Lloyds — Viv Lovewell —

Back Row

— Fred Smithers — Anthony Warren — Betty Moore — Rebecca Dartnell — Andrew Ramsden — John Hunt — Trevor Smith — Peter Stoner — Mark Atherton — Charlie Everett — Albert Wallace — Hazel Hemsley —

Castle History

Hever Castle is located in the village of Hever, Kent, near Edenbridge, 30 miles (48 km) south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century. From 1462 to 1539, it was the seat of the Boleyn (originally ‘Bullen’) family.
Anne Boleyn, the second queen consort of King Henry VIII of England, spent her early youth there after her father, Thomas Boleyn, inherited it in 1505. The castle passed to him upon the death of his father, Sir William Boleyn. It later came into the possession of King Henry VIII’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. The castle is now open to the public as a tourist attraction.

Tourism

Hever Castle is now a tourist attraction, drawing on its links to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, its mazes, gardens and lake. There is an annual events programme with assorted events, including jousting tournaments and archery displays in the summer months and an annual patchwork and quilting exhibition in September. The castle has also become the venue for a triathlon.
The castle offers three floors containing antique furniture, Anne Boleyn’s prayer books, instruments of torture, and a large collection of Tudor paintings. There is also a museum of the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry.
The remains of the original country house timbers can still be seen within the stone walls of the fortification, while the gatehouse is the only original part of the castle. It has the oldest working original portcullis in England.
The grounds of the castle include a yew maze, planted in 1904. There is also a water maze, opened in 1999, the object of which is to reach the folly at the centre without getting wet, while in the children’s adventure playground there is a tower maze (currently undergoing reconstruction). The castle gardens contain a wide range of features, including an Italianate garden (including Fernery), rose gardens, herb garden, and topiary.

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