A Tudor Weekend Away in Kent
Of all the counties in England, Kent can boast an embarrassment of Tudor riches to enjoy. This is primarily because of its position close to London and en route to the Continent but also because of its connection to the Boleyn family. In this 6-day itinerary, we will travel from east to west, visiting some of the best Tudor places the county has to offer.
Day One
Dover Castle
Built as a mighty defensive fortress overlooking the English Channel, Dover Castle is an icon of the English landscape. Dating from the reign of Henry II, its massive central keep housed the castle’s royal apartments over at least three centuries, including during the Tudor period.
Another range of lodgings existed north of the keep, but the latter tower was likely still in use to house high-profile visitors on their way to and from the Continent during the sixteenth century. This included the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, who stayed there in 1520; Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, who most likely lodged there on their way to and from their historic visit to Calais in 1532; and Anne of Cleves on her first night on English soil in 1539.
There are several phases of history to be explored at Dover Castle, from its medieval origins to its use in the Second World War. However, for enthusiasts of the Medieval and Tudor periods, the recreated royal apartments and the re-enactors that bring them to life will be the main draw. It is possible to spend nearly a whole day at Dover, but if you limit your time to exploring the inner bailey, you should be able to hop in the car and finish off your day by making the 12-mile trip to the pleasant seaside town of Sandwich.
Panoramic view of Dover Castle, Chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Landscape with Dover Castle in the distance, Yale Center for British Art, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Sandwich
The inclusion of Sandwich in a Tudor itinerary may surprise you, for it is not a location that is usually associated with Tudor history. However, it received a handful of royal visits during the sixteenth century. Henry VII visited in 1488, 1492, 1494 and 1500. Then, in 1532, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn paid the town a fleeting visit following their successful three-week sojourn to Calais.
Elizabeth I also visited the town in 1572. On this occasion, we know she stayed in a house called ‘King’s Lodgings’ on Strand Street. Confusingly, this is NOT the King’s Lodgings that survives today. Although a fine and ancient building in its own right, sadly, the original has been lost. The current building that goes by this name seems to have been rebranded at a later date. This is despite what a nearby notice board says that perpetuates the myth that the royal bones once rested there.
Today, Sandwich is known as ‘the most complete medieval town in England’. Although small, it is full of charming ancient buildings, including the half timber-framed Guildhall built in 1579. It would be a lovely place to end a hard day’s sightseeing!
The Guildhall, Sandwich, Clemensfranz, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Day Two
Canterbury Cathedral, Kent
Canterbury is a medieval jewel, and in the sixteenth century, it was also a site of popular pilgrimage for those wishing to pay homage at the shrine of the martyred Thomas à Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Today, in the heart of the city centre, the oldey-worldey feel of the medieval city endures along cramped medieval streets like Butcher’s Lane.
For the modern-day visitor, two locations have particular significance to the Tudor story. The first is Canterbury Cathedral, and the second is St Augustine’s Abbey.
Canterbury was and remains, the seat of the premier prelate in the land: the Archbishop of Canterbury. As mentioned above, it is most closely associated with Thomas à Becket, who was martyred in the Cathedral in 1170. However, from a Tudor point of view, one of the most interesting events that took place there was a grand reception of Charles V, The Holy Roman Emporer and his stepmother, Queen Germaine de Foix, in 1520, just ahead of the Field of Cloth of Gold.
On his way to this historic meeting, King Henry VIII lodged at the archbishop’s palace adjacent to the cathedral. With him were Katherine of Aragon and his younger sister, Mary Tudor, alongside Thomas Wolsey and all the other notables of the court. A fabulous account survives of the celebration that was held there over two days. You can read more about this spectacular occasion here.
Suicasmo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
William Smith’s 1588 map of Canterbury, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
St Augustine’s Abbey
The ruins of this once-great abbey are a 10-minute walk from the cathedral. In the sixteenth century, the monastery lay just outside the city walls. Sadly, like many others, it was dissolved at the Reformation in 1538. However, the King retained the abbot’s lodging, remodelled and rebranded as The King’s Manor.
This was one of several similar buildings salvaged from monastic ruins that formed a chain of convenient but lavish lodgings for the King along the London-Dover Road. One of its first occupants was Anne of Cleves as she journeyed towards London on her way to marry the King at Greenwich in early January 1540. Tragically, virtually all of this building has been lost, and just one distinctive wall survives. It’s hard to miss!
While you are there, make sure you check out the nearby Fyndon Gate. Although restored following bomb damage during the Second World War, it was once the main gateway to the abbey complex and the King’s Manor, and its beauty is something to behold!
Day Three
Leeds Castle
The picturesque setting of Leeds Castle makes it hard to argue with Lord Conway’s assertion in the early twentieth century that Leeds is ‘one of the loveliest [castles] beheld in the whole world’. It is surrounded by 500 acres of delightful parkland, while the buildings themselves perch upon two small, linked islands overlooking the lake, where swans glide imperiously across the water.
Leeds established itself as a favoured royal residence from the thirteenth century onwards when King Edward I purchased it for his wife, Queen Eleanor. During the sixteenth century, Henry VIII lavished money on refurbishing apartments in the Gloriette (the castle’s keep and the location of its most privy apartments) for his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Katherine certainly stayed at Leeds Castle with Henry in 152,0 en route to the Field of Cloth of Gold, while Katherine Parr lodged there in 1544 alongside the King, following his triumphant return from the Seige of Boulogne.
Although many alterations have been made to the building over subsequent centuries, and many of its sixteenth-century interiors have been lost, you can still see some remnants of its Tudor glory days. Look out for decorative spandrels in the fireplace of the Queen’s Gallery, which is adorned with the castle of Castile and the pomegranates of Aragon, the large Tudor bay window in the Henry VIII Banqueting Hall, and late sixteenth-century busts of Henry VIII, Mary I, Elizabeth I and Edward VI.
The Archbishop’s Palace, Maidstone
On your way to the next destination, you may wish to stop off briefly to visit the Archbishop’s Palace, which stands adjacent to the River Medway in Maidstone. It also belonged to the Archbishopric of Canterbury. With deep roots in England’s Anglo-Saxon past, it became firmly established during the medieval period as a large complex of buildings arranged around a central courtyard. Today, only a fragment of those medieval buildings survive.
Alongside other locations, including those at Otford and West Charing, the palace at Maidstone was strategically positioned to allow the Archbishop and his household to move comfortably between his London seat at Lambeth and the centre of the diocese at Canterbury.
Henry VIII wrestled the house off Thomas Cranmer and gave it to Thomas Wyatt, the Elder. However, it did not stay in the family for long. It was returned to the Crown in 1554, following Thomas Wyatt the Younger’s involvement in the Kentish uprising against Mary I. Subsequently, in the 1580s, Elizabeth I gave it to the Master of the Jewel Office, Sir John Astley. It was Sir John who was likely responsible for the appearance of much of the surviving building.
Sadly, the palace is not normally open to the public except on Heritage Open Days, although you can view it from the outside. It currently serves as the registrar’s office and is owned and cared for by Kent County Council.
From here, you can travel towards our next destination: Igtham Mote.
Day Four
Igtham Mote
Although Igtham Mote has no notable royal connection, nor is it associated with gripping tales of treachery and intrigue, the reason why it needs to be on your travel itinerary is that it is simply one of the most delightful medieval / Tudor houses you are likely to visit in England. You are unlikely to forget your first sight of its mesmerising charms as you descend along the path that leads down from the visitor car park.
Igtham Mote (pronounced ‘Item’ Mote) is a mid-fourteenth-century moated manor house built by a minor gentry family. It has been described by one architectural historian as ‘the most complete small medieval manor house in the county’.
Its early sixteenth-century owner was Sir Richard Clement, whose monumental brass can be seen in the local parish church. He first served at court under Henry VII and then, later, as a gentleman usher during the early days of the reign of Henry VIII.
Sir Richard bought Igtham Mote in 1521 and set about a major campaign of renovation. He added a long gallery to connect the two halves of the family quarters and rebuilt and refronted the private apartments. Within a decade, he had risen to participate ‘at the highest levels in county politics’. Although in 1534, he would end up in Fleet prison for his troubles!
When you visit today, there are plenty of authentic medieval and Tudor interiors to enjoy, including the painted badges of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon on the ceiling of the chapel, which date the renovations of Igtham to the early part of Henry VIII’s reign.
For our next stop, we are back on the trail of the Archbishop of Canterbury, visiting one of the Archbishophric’s premier country houses: Knole.
Igtham Mote Images © The Tudor Travel Guide.
Knole
To become Archbishop of Canterbury meant that outside of the royal family, you had reached the pinnacle of Tudor society. Archbishops were considered ‘princes of the church’ and, as such, required property befitting their status. Knole became such a property after the early medieval manor house was aggrandized by Archbishop Thomas Bourchier in the 1450s.
It was not part of the chain of palaces that linked Lambeth and London with Canterbury. However, Knole was still perfectly positioned about halfway between the two and stood at the centre of a large deer park. This made the house the perfect country retreat for any self-respecting medieval or Tudor Archbishop.
Between November 1532 and March 1533, just as the King’s Great Matter was coming to a climax, Henry VIII sent his errant daughter, Mary Tudor, to live in Knole while the King continued to press for the annulment of his marriage to her mother, Katherine of Aragon.
In the mid-1530s, after doing nothing to assist or endorse Henry VIII’s destruction of Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cranmer came under increasing pressure to exchange Knole and other properties belonging to the archbishopric with the King. Thus, it became a royal possession in 1537.
In 1566, Elizabeth I presented the house and estate to her cousin, Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, who substantially remodelled the medieval palace between 1603 and 1608. The Sackville-West family retain ownership of some of the house and parkland today, but the estate was gifted to the National Trust in 1946 to be opened to the public.
The house has been substantially renovated over the centuries. However, Bourchier’s medieval inner gateway survives, there is a fabulous Great Hall to enjoy (including a pair of sixteenth-century andirons that bear Anne Boleyn’s falcon badge and are thought to have belonged to her or the Boleyns), and a couple of long galleries overflowing with Tudor portraits. If you want to hear an on-location tour of the house, check out my podcast via The Tudor History & Travel Show.
The Brown Gallery at Knole House. Image © The Tudor Travel Guide.
The Great Hall at Knole House. Image © The Tudor Travel Guide.
Day Five
Hever Castle
Although renowned as the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, perhaps the more interesting events that occurred at Hever relate to the 1520s when Henry VIII’s courtship of Mistress Anne was underway. It was at Hever that Anne sought refuge as rumours of their involvement spread at court, where she received love letters from the King and where likely she decided to accept Henry’s proposal of marriage over the Christmas of 1528.
Of course, the Boleyns were not the only notable owners of the castle. Anne of Cleves spent a good deal of time there following her divorce from Henry. In fact, recent research has shed a good deal of new light on the mark made by this ‘other’ Anne on the castle’s fabric. So, for example, it is now believed that Anne of Cleves added the Staircase and Long Galleries to the castle and not Thomas Boleyn, as had been previously thought.
Hever Castle and St Peter’s Church (centre). Images © The Tudor Travel Guide.
Although the incredibly wealthy Astor family extensively remodeled the interiors of Hever in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, the footprint of the castle and its rooms would have been familiar to the Boleyns and to Madame de Cleves. Furthermore, work is currently being done to better showcase the different social histories of the castle. As part of this, some previously unseen rooms on the first floor will soon be opened to the public for the first time and dedicated to telling the story of the Boleyn family at Hever.
When you visit Hever, of course, be sure to pay a visit to the nearby parish church of St Peter to see the tomb of Thomas Boleyn and that of his infant son, Henry, whose small memorial cross is inlaid in the ground, close to his father’s grave.
Penshurst Place
Conveniently for any Tudor time traveller, Penshurst Place is a stone’s throw from Hever Castle. This makes it easy to combine the two, particularly if you travel by car.
Aggrandized over the centuries from its original medieval form, during the sixteenth century, it was owned first by Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, before being forfeited to the Crown when he was executed for treason in 1521.
For a time, Henry VIII made Thomas Boleyn steward of the castle, caring for it on behalf of the King and meanwhile enjoying use and income from the estate. There is much speculation about whether Henry used Penshurst as a base during his courtship of Anne. It is possible, but there is no proof, and more likely is that the King lodged at Hever, enjoying the hospitality of the Boleyns within their own home.
Gardens at Penshurst Place. Image © The Tudor Travel Guide.
Baron’s Hall, Penshurst Place. Image © The Tudor Travel Guide.
However, we know the Boleyns were at Penshurst at some point, as there is a small memorial brass plaque laid into the floor of the Sidney Chapel in the adjacent parish church. It is similar to the one found at St Peter’s, Hever. This brass cross marks the grave of another Boleyn child, Thomas, who is also thought to have died in infancy.
To my mind, Penshurst has a particularly fine great hall with a rare central hearth, an original medieval solar and a pleasing Elizabethan long gallery. This gallery may have an air of familiarity about it as it has been used in period dramas about the Tudor period, notably Wolf Hall, The Other Boleyn Girl and Anne of a Thousand Days.
Day Six
Sissinghurst Castle and Garden
The final day of your Tudor travels is reserved to enjoy the singular delight of the English garden. Each has been chosen because they are not only touched by Tudor history but also have links with the Boleyn family.
Our first garden is at Sissinghurst. These were created in the twentieth century by the author, Vita Sackville-West and her husband, Harold Nicolson. It is considered one of the finest gardens in England. As Tudor history lovers, we can delight in the fact that you can still see remnants of a once-great Tudor House, creating a perfect backdrop to the profusion of flowers that fill Vita and Harold’s dreamy garden.
During the late fifteenth century, the estate was purchased by Thomas Baker. His grandson, Sir John Baker, was an eminent politician, being Privy Councillor to Henry VIII, and all subsequent Tudor monarchs. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1545 to his death in 1558.
During the 1530s, Sir John’s daughter married Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset. Thomas Sackville was Elizabeth I’s cousin, hence the connection to the Boleyns. One of his two sons, Richard, built the tower, expanded the large courtyard house and played host to Elizabeth I at Sissinghurst in August 1573.
Pashley Manor Gardens
The final stop on our journey is Pashley Manor Gardens. Although a gorgeous timber-framed house is on-site, only the gardens are accessible.
The manor was, at one time, owned by Thomas Boleyn. In recognition of the links to the Boleyn family, you can see a haunting statue of Anne Boleyn buried deep in the heart of the garden. I recommend trying to time your visit to when the wisteria is in flower. It covers the rear of the house and is magnificent! With all your time travelling complete, you can take tea on the terrace and be intoxicated by its heady scent as you reminisce on all the Tudor treasures you have seen.
The Statue of Anne Boleyn was designed by Philip Jackson. Image by Kate Wilson.
Front of house with Rosa Gloire de Dijon. Image by Kate Wilson.
Herbaceous borders. Image by Kate Wilson.
Places to Stay in Kent
A number of these locations have holiday accommodation onsite, including:
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