•  Hever, Kent

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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Hever like this:

HEVER, a village and a parish in Sevenoaks district, Kent. The village stands near the river Medway, 2½ miles SE by E of Edenbridge, and 3 SE of Edenbridge r. station; and has a post office under Edenbridge, and a small inn with the sign of Henry VIII. The parish includes also the hamlet of Linkhill, and part of the chapelry of Mark-Beech. ...

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Acres, 2, 608. Real property, £2, 714. Pop., 626. Houses, 118. The property is subdivided. The manor belonged anciently to the Hevers or Hevres; passed to the Cobhams and the Brocas; was purchased, in the time of Henry VI., by Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, great-grandfather of Queen Anne Boleyn; was given, by Henry VIII., after the death of Anne Boleyn's father, to Anne of Cleves; passed, by gift of Queen Mary, to the Waldegraves; was purchased, in 1745, by Sir T. Waldo; and belongs now to Edmund W. M. Waldo, Esq. A castle on it, close to the Medway, dates from an ancient period; was rebuilt, in the time of Edward III., by Sir William Hever; was again refounded by Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, and completed by his grandson, the father of Anne Boleyn; was the scene of Henry VIII. 's first acquaintance with Anne Boleyn, and of his course of courting her; retains curious traditiona1 associations of his visits to it; is now an interesting specimen of the domestic architecture of its period; forms a quadrangle, surrounded by a double moat, and surmounted by high pitched roofs and gables; is now occupied as a farm house, but retains its old arrangements; and was approached by a strongly portcullised gatehouse, which still remains. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Canterbury. Value, £600.* Patron, E. W. M. Waldo, Esq. The church is mostly decorated English; consists of nave and chancel, with tower and lofty spire; and contains an altar tomb of Sir Thomas Boleyn, and memorials of the Cobhams and the Waldos. There are a British school, and charities £9.

Hever through time

Hever is now part of Sevenoaks district. Click here for graphs and data of how Sevenoaks has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Hever itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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