ever Castle is a fortified manor house located near Edenbridge to the south of London. The earliest recorded details regarding its construction is in 1272 when Sir Stephen de Penchester was granted a licence to crenellate or the right to fortify a residence. In 1384 Sir John de Cobham was granted a new license to crenellate his house, He built a fortified manor house surrounded by a moat. Major alterations were made to the castle in Tudor times after it was bought by Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, the great-grandfather of Anne Boleyn. The Boleyn family added a Tudor-style dwelling within the walls. The castle is dominated by a rectangular broad moat and the arched entrance is defended by a large gatehouse with two buttresses and machicolations above. The passage through to the inner courtyard was protected by a wooden door and three portcullises. The corners to the right and left of the gatehouse are defended by two rectangular towers which are slightly shorter than the gatehouse itself.

Anne Boleyn's father, Thomas Boleyn, owned the castle and Anne lived at the castle as a child. King Henry VIII first saw Anne on one of his visits to the castle and soon afterwards Anne was appointed a maid-of-honour to Henry's first wife Catherine of Aragon. Anne became Henry's second wife, but after failing to provide a male heir for the English throne Henry had Anne convicted of treason and executed. The ownership of Hever Castle was stripped from the Boleyn family. Later the castle passed into the hands of Henry's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves. Several different families then took ownership of the castle over the following centuries.