Gardens to visit in spring and summer – Hever Castle

Hever Castle is stunning in its own right, but the gardens are downright spectacular. They were designed and laid out between 1904 and 1908 – a very late addition to the Castle proper - by Joseph Cheal and Son, who turned some pretty unpromising marshland into the stunning gardens we see today.

One of the most magnificent areas to explore, especially in spring before the growth becomes too colourful and distracting – is the Italian Garden, which was designed to display William Waldorf Astor’s collection of Italian sculpture. Over a thousand men were hired to work on the great design with around eight hundred of them digging out the thirty-five acre lake at the far end of the garden, a task that took two years to complete. The garden is only now reaching its full maturity and includes the colourful walled Rose Garden which contains over three thousand plants.

Perhaps the signature of the gardens, unsurprisingly given the marshy nature of the terrain, are the many water features including Half Moon Pond, the Cascade Rockery, several grottoes, the formal loggia fountain which was based on the Trevi fountain in Rome, and the more informal and child-friendly Two Sisters Pond, complete with ducks.

In recent years, the present owners have made several changes in the garden including the Millennium Fountain which can be found on Sixteen Acre Island. The huge herbaceous border has been reinstated – adding employment for several weeders, stakers and pruners! A Sunday Walk has also been created, providing a peaceful woodland garden following the course of a stream and if that’s too quiet for you, a splashing water maze has been built on Sixteen Acre Island - a unique feature which is especially popular with children.

Hever Castle photograph by Lewisisms, used under a creative commons attribution licence

 

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