Day 1 Defender Henry tour
We set out to journey south from the centre of London to the high Weald of Kent , the garden of England. Here we spent time at Hever castle the childhood home of Anne Boleyn and Penshurst Place, the home of the Sidney family for 450 years.
The weather was fine and sunny after a few days period of intense rain so we were very pleased to walk around the splendid gardens of Hever castle in warm sunshine. The Italian gardens were in full bloom and roses of every colour were all over, every corner you turned around the colour was simply beautiful. The rose garden was superb and the aroma of scented roses was intoxicating.
One flower bed was set out in red white and blue flowers to match the union flag and celebrate the jubilee. The Italian gardens were set out just over 100years ago by JJ Astor and a team of 9 gardeners maintain them in peak condition all year round. After lunch by the castle moat and looking at the fine honey coloured stone castle we set of only a few miles to Penshurst Place.
Set in grand parkland, Penshurst has for me a special magic about it, I think because it has been in the ownership of the same family for 450 years that the place has a real soul. Henry VIII confiscated the place after he executed it’s owner at the time, the Duke of Buckingham. The house itself is much larger than Hever and the ground s are larger too.
The walled garden area is an absolute delight to wander around, deep yew hedge rows hide so many surprises. You can walk through an archway and there’s a pond with water lilies and a fountain, walk through another and there’s an apple orchard, another reveals a knot garden. The pleasure just goes on and on but the real highlight is the new Jubilee walkway. Only opened on the 7th June to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee and it’s a magnificent piece of natural artwork. In full colour along its length, are flowers of all type, in fact the colours of the rainbow starting from red orange, yellow, blue to indigo it’s a real masterpiece.
Both Hever and Penshurst were crown property for some time before being given to Anne of Cleves as part of the Divorce settlement. She did very well indeed out of not being married to Henry any more, as well as keeping her head.
To me though, Penshurst is Elizabeth and Dudley, it was here that they both spent time on holiday and here it is that the famous La Volta painting is on display in the very room that the event took place.
One flower bed was set out in red white and blue flowers to match the union flag and celebrate the jubilee. The Italian gardens were set out just over 100years ago by JJ Astor and a team of 9 gardeners maintain them in peak condition all year round. After lunch by the castle moat and looking at the fine honey coloured stone castle we set of only a few miles to Penshurst Place.
Set in grand parkland, Penshurst has for me a special magic about it, I think because it has been in the ownership of the same family for 450 years that the place has a real soul. Henry VIII confiscated the place after he executed it’s owner at the time, the Duke of Buckingham. The house itself is much larger than Hever and the ground s are larger too.
The walled garden area is an absolute delight to wander around, deep yew hedge rows hide so many surprises. You can walk through an archway and there’s a pond with water lilies and a fountain, walk through another and there’s an apple orchard, another reveals a knot garden. The pleasure just goes on and on but the real highlight is the new Jubilee walkway. Only opened on the 7th June to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee and it’s a magnificent piece of natural artwork. In full colour along its length, are flowers of all type, in fact the colours of the rainbow starting from red orange, yellow, blue to indigo it’s a real masterpiece.
Both Hever and Penshurst were crown property for some time before being given to Anne of Cleves as part of the Divorce settlement. She did very well indeed out of not being married to Henry any more, as well as keeping her head.
To me though, Penshurst is Elizabeth and Dudley, it was here that they both spent time on holiday and here it is that the famous La Volta painting is on display in the very room that the event took place.
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